The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-06-19

the gentleman from Ohio belongs to that party.
i therefore put the question directly to him, and
ask him if he would vote for the admission Of
State with constitution recognizing slavery
put the question to him, and want him to an
swer il here, in the presence Of this House, and
before the American people. pause for reply.
Several VorcEs. He is silent.
Yes, CONTINUED Mr.. So the gentleman is
silent. call upon the House and the country to
note the import of that silence. If the amendment
proposed be such bare abstraction as he repre-
SCENTS il, why does he not respond to my plain, but
direct question: l am bound to infer, sir, that he
would not vote to admit State, if the people in
any of our territories should form constitution
with slavery. And am bound to infer the same
thing of all those other gentlemen around me, who
it. That plan, am bound to believe, was under
stood by the President to be nothing but the
adoption Of the principles Of this amendment for
the territories. That principle is, TO let the peo-
Pile decide this question for themselves when they
form State constitution; and yet, strange to say,
only two gentleman Of the Wing party from the
North, [Mr. BuTLER and Mr.. CAsEY,1 both. Of
Pennsylvania, have this day risen and declared on
this floor, that they would stand by that plan in
good faith. | call the especial attention of the
House and the country to this fact; and ask any
fair and candid man, if my colleague Mr.. TooMBsl
was not right the other day, when he charged
upon members Of mis- House who had pretended
and deception? You cannot escape from it. You
are for the plan only far it suits your interest
You will let the people settle the question, pro-
vided they settle it your way, but if they do not,
then you will reject their application to be admitted
as States. Sir, / want this House purged upon
this question. want no equivocation, no evasion,
no lodging, and, no skulking. If you are for the
Presidents plan if you in favor ofleaying this
question for the people, untrammeled, to decide
for themselves, have the manliness to say SOL and
if you are not, don't show the pusillanimity OF
attempting by fraudulent practices to make people
believe that you are when you are not. | intend
to speak plainly to the gentleman from Ohio, MIR.
VNToN.l He cannot deceive me in this matter.
How did he vote on the introduced last session
by the present Secretary of the Navy, to allow
the people of California to form constitution for
themselves untrammeled by Congress. That was
the Presidents plan. Was he then for it, or was
he for loading it with the proviso' Let him
J Mr.. VINTON intcrposed and said, he did not
vote upon il at all--he was in the chair.
Mr.. STEPHENS continued yes, sir, know
that But was he for the bill' Would he have
voted for it if he had been out of the CHAIR Or
would he vote for similar bill now, for the other
and he is again silent Now, sir, / ask is this
fair dealing, and do gentlemen really think they
can humbug me, and bamboozle the country in
this way by their pretending that their opposition
to this amendment is for no other reason than
because tits an abstraction, thrownin to embarrass
the admission Of California!
One word, sir, in reply to another gentleman
from Ohio, Mr.. GIDpIMcs ] who comes out boldly,
and declares his opposition to the admission Of
any more slave States. He says, that those
northern gentlemen who are willing to allow slave
States TO be admitted, are for putting their free
constituents Of the. North on a footing with
southern slaves. | deny il. Join issue with
him upon the fact. say that his assertion is
groundless and gratuitous. ! have heard great
deal upon this floor about the political power
secured to the South ON account Of the two
fifth representation. That gentleman has Just said
that one man with one thousand slaves in New
Mexico, would have as much power in this Go
yernment, as six hundred freemen of the North.
/ deny the fact, freeman in Pennsylvania and
freeman IN Ohio, has as much influence and
power in this Government under our Constitution,
as freeman has in Georgia, Virginia, or any other
slave State. And freeman in any one of those
States with thousand slaves, has no more power
or influence, has no more privileges ilnfnunties
or franchises under the Constitution Of the United
States, than freeman in the freest State Of this
Union has, This whole argument against the
South on account of the two.fifth representation
rests upon assumptions which unjust and UNI
true. Instead of giving the South additional
power, it is actually restrictive Of her power
= Here the hammer fell.) Mr.. S. withdrew the
amendment.
Mr.. STANTON, of Tennessee, renewed the
amendment. He said, the gentleman from Ohio
Mr.. VMToNl says that the proposition now be-
fore the committee is one about which there can
be no controversy--that 1t Is settle--and that he
will not throw doubt upon such proposition by
voting for it.. Does the gentleman, then, desire to
throw light upon it by voting against it Now,
the gentleman to be silent when he was
asked whether he had voted for tho admission of
a slavehoding State or whether he would vote for
the admission of such State hereafter under
stood the gentleman by his silence, to assume this
position: that he would not vote as a question Of
poliey--not upon legal or constitutional grounds
that he had committed himself not to vote
Mr.. VINTON. The gentleman has no right to
assert any such understanding.
Mr.. STANTON Why, then, did not the gen
tleman answer when the question was put to him
Now, | understand that the Legislatureseof four
teen of the Northern States have declared against
the admission hereafter of any slaveholding State
into the Union. This is the sum and substance
This is the gist of the whole question. This is the
pivot upon which it turns--this is the pivot upon
which this Union is baanced-- w
Mr.. DUNCAN interposed, and (Mr. S. yield
ing the hopr) was understood to suggest that the
declaration Of those Legislatures had been quali-
fed so far as to make it applicable to States mag
out of territory now free.
Mr.. STANTON, (resuming.) know that
the non-saveholding States have begged the ques-
ton, by assuming that the Territories recently
acquired from Mexico are free; but when the
question comes to vote here, their Represents
lives have invariably considered it necessary to
impose upon those Territories the Wilmot Pro-
viso, which, if their doctrine had been true, or if
they themselves believed it to be true, was alto
gether unnecessary ! can well conceive how
these gentlemen who always voted against the
Wilmot Provso, can consistently vote for the pro-
positions before the committee. honor those gen
tlemen who uniformity maintain the principle in
that Proviso, and, at the same time, declares HIM
self in favor of that proposition, say am una
BILE to comprehend the consistency Of his position
Mr. BISSELL Gnterposing, and Mr. S. yield
ing the foor) said, did | understand the gentle
man 10 assert, that fourteen of the nonslavehold-
ing States had passed resolutions declaring that
no saveholding Stats should hereafter be adj
mitted into the Union.
Mr.. STANTON. | understand so.
Mr.. BiSSELL. The gentleman is mistaken
altogether mistaken.
Mr.. STANTON. If am so, am happy to
be corrected. withdraw the amendment.
Mr.. CLINGMAN renewed the amendment,