The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1849-05-05
Speech of HENRY III. SHELLEY. of
Minnesota. before the Committee on
Elections of the Elouse of Represen.
tatiVes.
Delivered December %, 1913.

1 tatives.
Delivered December %, ls45.
Mr.. CHAIRMAN: Having been elected by
the people of Wisconsin Territory to repie-
sent their interests, as Delegate in the
Congress of the United States, should con-
slider myself as recreant TO The trust reposed
in NE by those who have honored me with
their confidence, did not take every proper
means I'D secure my seat, and be thus placed
in position where may render some SER
vice to my constituents. No question has
hcen. or can he raised, with regard to the
LEGALITY of the election. The certificate OF
the acting Goveruo, is prin,a fac'e evidence
of that fact. Il remains then Only to show,
! il possible, that the resduun, ot Wisconsin,
Territory, after the admission Of the State,
remained in the possession of the same
rights and immunties which were secured
to the people Of the whole Territory by the
organic law. In doing this shall be as
brief as the nature of the case will admit;
but being convinced that a favorable report
from your honorable Committee is vtaily
important, | must be permitted to present
all the facts bearing upon the case, and sus-
tain by such arguments as | may, based upon
the facts, the position assumed by those who
sent me here.
The honorable gentleman from Norti,
Carolina, (Mr. BoypEN,) at your previous
meeting, attempted to show that the act for
the admission of the State Of Wisconsin,.
was, ipso .facfo, a repeal Of the organic law
of the Territory: To support this proposi-
ton, he supposed a case in which all The
population of Il Territory should be included
within the limits of State, excep. few
individuals, or one man, who might elect
one Of their number or himself, as Dele
gate to Congress, and lie entitled to adli,is-
sion, upon the principle assumed in the
present case. Mr.. Chairman, might meet
this fairly, by another superstition by no
'i'"HS 81 ihipicootiC. Nao SCIfVbSfN
contemplated, by respectable portion of
the people, to ask Congress to make the
Wisconsin river the northern boundarysof
the State of that name If this had been
done, some fifteen or twenty thousand in
habitants would have been lett in precisely
lhe same situation in which the present
ipopulation of Wisconsin Ierrtory now
find themselves Would Congress have re-
fused, under such circumstances, TO receive
u Delegate elected by the people according
to the provisions of the organic law? Hhe
case SUPPOSED Is an extreme ole, Congress
has full power to prevent any abuse Ut such
privileges, But when Iargf portion of
Territory i, lett without, the boundaries Of
Il State, and no provision is made for re-
pealing or modifying the orginic law, does
not that very fact, taken in connection with
the obligation of a Governmeit to afford TO
all its citizens the protection of lazy, make
it perfectly clear that The residuun, remains
under the tuii operation of the same .orgssie
law? To suppose otherwise would be to
maintain that Il Government has the right,
at pleasure, to deprive its citizens 81 all
civil rights; a hypothesis reRusnant to the
spirit Of our institutions and IF the age.
The imprcscriptahle. inalienahIe birth
right of the subject IS laid down as one of
the national rights OF citizenship, oil which
none can be deprived without their consent.
Il Payley's Pail. b. III. chap. 8. Judge
Iredeli IN lTolcotsvs. Ja,sson,.S Dell. Rep.
1884, Vattxii, i'll his Law of Natipns, b. |.
Ichap. 2, thus lays down the rule: /" If ma
zion is obliged to preserve itself, it is no less
obliged carefully to preserve all its mem
bers." Aud, again: " The body of a nation
cannot then abandon a province, town, or
even single individual who is part of it,
unless compelled TO do it by necessity, or
indspensably obliged to do It, for the
strongest reasons, founded on the public
safety.''
| Having thus shown, that the point Of in
ternatiobal law, as received by all civilized
countries, is clearly in our favor, | wlE