The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-03
platform, shall feel authorized to refuse reeog-

/
responding Is fresh from the great theatre OF con-
yentional action IN Nashville, where he has en-
Joyed an opportunity of interchaneinp sentiments
and commmgllng opinions with many of the most
able, accomplished, and patriotic men in the ma
| ton, In regard to the great questions which now
distract the peace of this republic. He knows
well that in that convention the views and wishes
OF Mr.. Calhoun were held in the highest reve-
renee; and ! feel authorized courteously To de-
mand of him whether or not he understands Mr..
Calhoun TO have preferred, at any time, the Mis-
souri, Compromise line to non intervention, Well.
sir, if he cannot deny that Mr.. Calhoun did pre-
fer non-intervention TO any mere geographical line,
would like TO know how he reconciles his pre-
sent attitude with that great respect for the wis
dom of his illustrious countryman which we had
q right to expect him to exhibit who now occupies
the seat which Mr.. Calhoun once so highly
adorned. Well, sir, at any rate, shall solace
myself under the merciless assailment to which
have been subjected Of late, and especially in the
State Of South Carolina, with the fact that, if
am IN error In prefeTing non-intervention to the
Missouri Compromise, err with John c. CAL
houn and Thomas Jefferson; and among those
who have a proper regard for the opinions Of
these ilustrious sages, shall not be over hastily
condemned for supporting a bill upon every clause
or which the principle OF non-intervention ia
most plainly stamped, Sir, i am most profoundly
astonished that the honorable Senator from South
Carolina, Mr.. BARNwELL,] who has addressed
us with so much ability on this occasion, should
have undertaken to urge upon us, as he has done,
that he should be cOntented with no Congress
sional adjustment which does not accord to the
South recognition of the right to carry slaves
into our vacant territories below Sc deg. 80 min.
Is this non intervention? Is it non-intervention
to exclude the South above 36 deg. 80 minl Is
not better to open the whole country equally to
the North and the South, as this bill proposes to
40, without any attempt to exclude the inhabi-
tants of either from any part of the Territory2-
Is not this latter plan at least the one which Mr..
Calhoun advocated when Gving2 Is it not the
one which he would advocate if now alive =
Surely this must be true, or he must be imagined
by his warmest admirers to have been capable of
the most shameful inconsistency-an inconsist-
ency Of which /, for one, would deem it almost
impious to accuse him.
But the honorable Senator from South Carolina
says that he desires special protection for South
ern rights below the line of 36 deg. 80 min. for
a reason which he very frankly assigns And
what is it; pray' Why, this simply; he breads
the authority of the honorable Senator from Ken
lucky [Mr. CLAY upon the question whether the
Mexican laws against slavery are or are not now
valid and operative. What, sir has it come to
this John G. Calhoun, when alive, proved that
all these laws had been invadated and utterly re-
scinded by the entrance Of the Constitution into
these Territories. He not only so asserted, but
argued in this chamber in support Of this view of
the subject with unanswerable eogency Other
distinguished Southern statesmen have declared
their concurrence in this opinion Of Mr.. Calhoun;
and now, Notwithstanding all this, the gentleman
from South Carolina suggests that the question
has been exceedingly dark and doubtful, since the
honorable Senator from Kentucky has expressed
a different opinion, and calls upon us to interfere,
in order to Southern rights from the destruc-
ton with which they are threatened by Mexican
laws, which we had been all along taught to be-
lieve had become altogether extinct. Yes, sir, it
is Senator from the proud State Of South Caro-
LIMA x.yhD an, al d I =
against the already nullifed laws of Mexico. 1t is
he that begs that u congressional enactment may
be passed which may give additional force and va
lidity to the most undeniable constitutional rights
II Is the voice of the successor Of John G.. Cal
houn in this chamber, that is heard to cry out in
behalf Of the South and her institutions, "Help
me, Cassus, or sink ~ Sir, l would scorn to
ask; or to receive aid from Congress in support
Of our equal right to enter this Territory with our
property, with our Northern brethren. never en-
tertained the least doubt in my life that the MeXi
can laws on the subject Of slavery had become
void in consequence of the entrance of the Consti-
tuition with It's guarantees into the region where
these laws once existed; nor will | consent to
weaken rights guarded and protected by the organ
ic law of the republic, by demanding the in
terposition Of Congress for their maintenance.
propose now, III support Of these views, to read
another short extract from Mr.. Calhoun speech
upon the Oregon bill, in the year l848. COM
mend it specially to the consideration of his sue
cessor, here among us, and hope that he may pro
fit by it:
awe are next told that the laws Of Mexico pre-
clude slavery; and, assuming that they will re-
main in force until repealed, it is contended that
until Congress passes an act for their repeal, the
citizens Of the South cannot emigrate with their
property into the territory acquired from her. L
admit the laws of Mexico prohibit, not slavery,
but slavery in the form it exists with u.s. The
Puros much slaves our negroes, and are
initial and ~ r ~.
the laws Of Mexico can have the effect attributed
to them. AS soon as the treaty between the two
countries is ratified, the sovereignty and author
ity Of Mexico in the territory acquired by it be-
comes extinct, and that of the United States is
substituted in its place, carrying with it the Con-
stitution, with it's overriding control over all the
laws and institutions of Mexico inconsistent
with it. 1t is true the municipal laws of the ter
ritory, not inconsistent with the condition and the
nature Of our political system, would, according
to the writer's on the laws of nations, remain UNI
til changed, not as matter of right, but merely
of sufferance, and as between the inhabitants Of
the Territory in order to avoid state of anarchy
before they can be brought under our laws. This
is the utmost limits to which sufferance goes
Under it the peon system would continue, but not
to the exclusion Of such Of our citizens as may
choose to emigrate with their slaves or other
property that may be excluded by the laws of
Mexico. The humane provisions of the laws of
nations go no further than to protect the inhab
itants in their property and civil rights under
their former laws, until others can be substituted
To extend them further and give them the force
Of excluding emigrants from the United States,
because their property or religion are such as are
prohibited from being introduced by the laws Of
Mexico, would not only exclude great majority
of the people Of the United States from emigra-
ting into the acquired territory, but would be to
give higher authority to the extinct authority
of Mexico the territory than to our actual
authority over it. / say the great majority, for
the laws of Mexico not only prohibit the intro
duction of slaves, but of many other descriptions
of property, and also the Protestant religion,
which Congress itself cannot prohibit To such
ibsurdity would the supposit!on lead.''
Mr.. BUTLER. Mr.. President, have no idea
# taking the part of my friend and colleague MR.
BARNwELL] in this debate. His own views will
'peak for themselves. If they have attracted at
IGNITION and assault, they can sustain themselves,
and need no auxiliary; and certainly it is not my
intention to take such notice Of my friend from
to induce him to disregard his
nvowal that he does not design to speak again in
this debate. But, sir, | wish to observe that l
think he holds to rather strict account for the
~ IN the of Nv