The southern press., 1850-09-03
one whenever State refuses to appear or to re-

i There is one case IN which the Supreme Court
could decide incidentally question of boundary
between States; that il is between persons claim
ing the same land under grants Of different States
/ II was supposed that many cases of that sort
would arise in the disputed territory in the several
instances referred to in the early part of my arg-
ment. But such would be one involving
merely individual rights, and between parties who
could be reached by the process of the courts, and
be bound by its power Ii the power claimed
for the court, which have been considering, be
| valid, then tins provision would have been unne-
cessary. But there are no useless provisions in
| the Constitutions. IL seems to me that there can
be no one familiar with the history of our Consti-
tuition, who will believe that the States i'm ratfyins
| it, ever contemplated the submission to the Sr
preme Court of questions involving the corpus of
their sovereignty. II the Supreme Court can de-
prve State of part OF the territory it claims il
| may, far as the question Of power is concerned
deprive il of all, and thus annihilate it. CouM
such thing ever have been contemplated; You
avoid all difficulty, if you limit its Jurisdiction to
! controversies affecting merely questions of pro-
perty, and not its sovereign rights; and especially
not such involve its very existence.
In denying to the Supreme Court jurisdiction in
the case are discussing, | am but carrying out
the views solemnly expressed of my own wise
and patriotic State on "a memorable occasion. She
had a question of disputed boundary with Mary
land. That State threatened to bring the case be-
fore the Supreme Court. Virginia, under the lead
Of that great statesman and jurist, Littleton w
TazewelI, declared her unalterable purpose not to
submit question involving the extent of her SOW
ereign limits to any tribunal not of her own seec-
ton. Jefferson, John Taylor, Roane and their
compeers, in more questionable case, utterly
denied the jurisdiction OF the Supreme Court, and
repudiated and denounced its decision. aude
to their denuncation of the opinion Of the court in
the case Of Cohen rs. the State of Virginia And
we are told in the life Of John Hancock, written
by the elder Adams contained in Sanderson's Sc
ries, that the former, 60 in favorng a confederate
Republic, did not indicate with less scrupulous-
the dignity of the individual States, and
that in a suit brought against the State of Mas
sachusetts in the Court of the United States in
which he was summoned as Governor to answer
the prosecution, he resisted the process, and main
tanned inviolate the sorereignity Of the Common
wealth.
If the effort shall be made to drag Texas before
the Supreme Court, hope her Governor will
profit by the example Of John Hancock, and VIM
dlcate the dignity, and preserve inviolae the SOW
eregnity of his Common wealth.
But may be asked, if the Supreme Court has
not jurisdiction in such case, where is a final ar
bitter to be found. reply emphaticaly, nowhere
The Constitution provides none, nor did it design
to provide any. Our Constitution is "a compact
between sovereign States, who have reserved to
themselves respectively all such questions They
are to be adjusted by negotiation, mediation, ar
bltration, and the other resources which are al
mostlnhnlte ofamicable ad djusment and beyond
this no remedy is provided, and it is scarcely pos
slble any can be necessary. They are to be set
tied as they were in the case between Virginia and
Maryland not to mention many others.
There are other provisions Of the Constitution
which must be violated Lefoie New Mexico can
be brought into this Union as IA State.
The Constitution declares that person shall
be n representative who shall not have attained
the age Of twenty-five, nor senator who shall
not have attained the age Of thirty, and been, in
the case Of representative, seven years, and in
n a citI ,nf
United States; and who shall not, when elected,
be inhabitant of the State in which he shall be
chosen Now, sir, how is this requisition of the
Constitution to be complied with? How many
persons are there in New Mexico qualified for
representatives and senator's? | see my friend
from New York [Mr: Dual smiles He doubt
less recollects that this objection was urged in the
case Of the admission Of Texas, and probably that
answered it on this floor. But | will show
him they not analogous. There were in Texas
at the time Of her admission at least one hundred
thousand persons who were native American ct-
zens. 1t was true they had tXpatriated them
selves, and were at that time citizens of Texas.
l showed however, by the law Of nations, as
recognized by our own courts, that the moment
they were brought again under jurisdiction
they became restored to their original rights and
privileges. They became at once, in the language
of jursts, redntegraie citizens. But there are
not one thousand American citizens in New
Mexico. The most authentic accounts do not
make the number greater than five hundred, and
no account makes them more than twelve hundred.
For the argument, let suppose that there are
that number. Nearly one half of them are fe-
males. More than half Of the remainder are un-
der the ages of twenty-five and thirty. So that
the range within which the selection of a repre-
sentative and two senators would be confined
supposng there are twelve hundred Americans
thereto about three hundred persons The truth
is, it would be confined within narrower limits.
Of the sort of people Of whom this number il
cor his 10 I.,al inf oil
is certain they not such would be likely to
be elected senators and representatives in the old
States, they would not be in New Mexico.
Will anybody seriously contend, to give a repre-
sentative on this floor and two senator's to such
number of persons, would not be an outrage upon
the spirit Of our insttutions' Will anybody say
that such people should have in the Senate an
equal vote with New York, Virginia, and the
other States, in deciding upon the great interests
Of this naton'
have shown the narrow range in which the
selection of Representatives and Senators would
be confined. Let us now what sort of people
would be the electors. U pom this point prefer
to draw upon Mr.. Webster. | can say nothing
which will carry with it the same weight of au-
thory, or which is so graphic. In speech which
he deliver ed in the Senate in March, lS49, he
thus describes the people of New Mexico:
'New Mexico is secluded, isolated-a place by
ltsef-in the middle of the mountan-6ve hun
dred miles, believe, from Texas.
'Mr. RuSK. FIVE hundred miles from the
settled portions of Texas.
Mr. WEBSTER. Further from anywhere else
1t does not belong anywhere. 1t has no belong
ings about it. Sir at this moment, it is absolutely
more retired, and shut out from communication
with the civilized world than the Sandw ch Is
lands, most of the islands in the Pacific Ocean.
1t presses hard on Typee, and the people are in
fnitey less elevated in mind and condition than
the people Of the Sandwich Islands-far less
worthy of our association-fr less fit to send
their Senators here, than are the inhabitants of
the Sandwich 1slands-fnr less worthy are they
than the better classes Of Indians in neighbor-
hood Commend me to the Cherokees, the Choc-
taws-if you please, to speak of the Pawnees,
the Blsckfeet, and the Snake Indian, and the Flat
heads-any thing except the - Indians, and
am satisfied with them, instead of the people Of
New Mexico. They haze notion Of our instiiu-
ftons, or Of amy free institutions. They any notion
OF popular gorernmeut! Why, not the slightest
mol he Mighiest earih .4ud Lhe nuesion Is nsked