The North-Carolinian., 1850-02-23

! Government, while | am here in the dis
charge Of my duty as Senator. If they
have this power. then they have inslubitably Y
the power to protect me in the possession
of my property. Why do they use ii fer
the purpose of wrong;ng and .iefraudine
me 1! Some such scenes as this would be
likely t" occur. If the power contended for
by MIR Clay should be exercised, even in
,, the extreme case Of the abolition Of slavery
| in Virg mia and Maryland. And they
would show most concIusively that then
the Federal Government will have become
the Government of the North, not of the
whole. WIN Mr. Clay maintain that sucl.
state Of things can be brought about b.
Constitutional legislation
Mr. Ciay's first subject is the admission
of California. His resolution atfirms t!,a,
"with suitable boundaries'' it should be
admitted What these suitable boundaries
are, is left to become as fruitful a subject
of strife as that of the admission itself
And in his speech he does not even alude
to that matter, and indeed evades every
substantial ground of controversy in the
whole question. lie nothing. but
that the people of. Gn.) California, have
by some means adopted d constitution and
ask to be admitted into the Union. They
have cternally irterdicted slavery. and
this, he thinks, should satisfy the North,
because it gives them in effect all they ask;
aud it should satisfy the South, because
the lntcrdlctIon was not pronounced by
Congress, but by the people, acting for
| themselves. The fact that these constitu-
ton makers were not peOple-a COM
munity. in any proper sense Of the term;
that they had no legitimate authorities over
them that had 20 boundary aud consc-
,.irk tk T.,
permanent sovcrnment; that they had no
law of citizenship fixing the term of resi-
dence for votes that they were organized
into quasi civil community by an officer
Of the army without authority of law that
they called into Convention and the quail
fcation of voters fixed, by his prociama-
ton; that they were caj joled and threatened
into submission 10y assurances of Executive
Agents, that Congress could not give them
government, that their only hope was to
make one for themselves and that ii they
acceded they thereby secure the favor and
utmost support Of the Administration, and
finally that the above officer of the army
presided over the Convention thus irregu-
larly called together-these facts, we say,
enbodying the merits of the whole question
and calling SO loudly for the condemnation
ola people who profess to hold laws as the
foundation Of all true social order aud all
desirable liberty, are all passed over by
Mr. Clay As if they had no existence or no
import Hence this part of his discourse
is utterly worthless, and does not touch
the real issue.
The next resolutions declare that slavery
does not exist and is not lik ely to be in
troduced into Deseret and New Mexico.
and therefore it is expedient to provide
them territorial governments neither intro
duciny nor excluding slavery. That Con-
gress has the power to introduce or exclude
slavery by law, Mr. Clay strongly maintains.
tie has two arguments for it. As land
holder. Congress has the right to dispose
of the lands to the best advantage. 1t
might appear that the Introduction OF slavery
would enhance their value. that its ex-
clu,io would have that effect. Would
not this . i've it the right to introduce or
thus tn. establishment of the worship OF
Juggrrnaut, or of the old Aztec Gods,
might contribute 10 the sale Of the lands !;
would not this give the right to enact
idoIatry ? The second argument is like
the first. There is no doubt, says MIR
Clay. that Mexico had the power to es-
tabish or to forbid slavery in these regions.
But by the treaty of cesson, all the ghts
and powers of Mexico were transferred to
the United States. and consequently this
unlimited authority over slavery exists in
the Federal Government. So If we should
acquire the Russian possessions, inasmuch
as there is no doubt of the power Of the
Car to send political oifen into Sbe-
ria, the President would thereby gain the
right of banishng all persons to the North
Pole. who might incur suspicion of disaf-
fection to the party Of Taylor and Fill
more!
Finally. Mr. Clay seems to have become
aware that he was fast driving upon the
rrosse,t ab,ur,ites, aud he carelessly
qualities his argument, as if it was aitoge-
Their only matter Of form, by admitting
that the powers SO acquired could not Of
course transcend the Constitution. Thus
having Zealou,iy elaborated his argument,
he end, by crushingit up and throwing it
into the fire. But he does it with the air
of man who, has demonstrated his pro-
position. Why the very essence of the
whole dispute, is the constitutional power
Of Congress To legisiate on the question OF
slavery And on this seems to hang the
decision Of the point whether the Mexican
law abrosa,ing slavery is OF any force now.
Ii seems beyond question that all laws in
ceded district, which it would be beyond
the competency Of the COVE ernmcnt taking
the cessicn, to enact, must be considered
abrora,cd by the very fact Of cesion. But
an this Nr Clay elu.les, and, except in the
petty view of the powers-of the government