Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1850-04-03

/. Iivered in the House Of Representatives {
4 iih. United States, March lS. 1880.
Mr.. CuAleaAN-i have no, sought n
5 loor with The expectation 0f saying any
thin which will shed new lish, upcn ih
! vexed and difficult question /; but more par
+, ,icularly for the purpose Of exhIbling l.
, my constituents that sm not indiileren
upon a suii ,cl, ia the settlement Of whc
, thew, in common with the whole counlr,
feel a deep interest shall express. sill
the sentiments entertain upon these topic
, as tecomes the Representative Of fceemen
"without fear, favor, or affection" and re
gardless of denuncialions or criticisms her
or elsew here. am no, ore Of those whit
assume the extreme ground on either side
| do not regard The Institution olslaver!
as il exists in our Southern States will
that degree OF horror which some Of m!
Northern brethren express; neither do
regard ii as 'great moral. political, ane
religious blessing" with some geu.lemel
from the South. | simply view it in int
language of Thomas Jefferson. as "a grea
moral and Doltica! evil" Taking this view
OF the subject, i. could not be expected that
! should engage in crusade for its extinc-
ton where il exists on the one hand, or on
the other desire, and much less promote
its extension to territory now free. ! am
willing 10 leave i, " here the Constitution
and the laws under which we live have
placed it. am not responsible either for
its continance there and if tis course
and disgrace" those who uphold itare to
answer it, and not /.
The gentleman from Louisiana, Mr..
Morse says, we ought to ",alk' upon this
subject, and misquo,es grea, author to
furnish proof. Sir, we have had too much
'.talk" already, and too lutte reason upon
this question the quotation is. "He that
will not reason is a bigo., he that dares
not is slave and he that can not is fool.
The whole difficulty, as apprehend,
originates in the different construction Of
the power Of Congress under the Cons,i'u-
hon to legisIa,e on the subject of Slavery
in Territories-the North asserting the
right, the South denying it. This is,here-
fore, fair subject Of argument, Of sound.
calm, dlspassiona,e reasoning. II ii should
be found that we do not possess that pow
er, the North is bound TO submit; il, on
the other hand, it is conferred BY that in.
s,rumen,, the South are equally bound TO
bow TO its mandates.
Before proceed to this question, de-
sire TO remark. that SO far as the territory
acquired from Mexico is concerned. ,ha, ii
is noa free. The constitution and laws OF
Mexico made it SO beyond doubt; and
The distinguished gentleman from Georgia
(Mr.. .Toombs) admits this, and insists that
we are bound to remove this impedimenl.
and thus enable them 10 carry their slaves
thither. Being. then, free when ceded to
The United States, this territory must re-
main SO, until this law is repeated by Con-
gress. or unit! some loca! sovereignty, ,hav.
ing jurisdiction over the subject shall an.
nul il.
For my own part. | most ardently de-
sire that it shall remain free and shall
never, by ac! or vote OF mine do ausht 10
make it otherwise.
Slavery ! hold exists nowhere in this
country. except by local laws and positive
regulations. So far as the States are con-
cerned, they have the sole power over ii;
and so far agree with the Baltimore plat
form, that "Congress has no power to in
,eriere with Slavery in the STATES. or to
take even inciPient steps tending thereto"
Bu, with regard to the Territories. i, pre-
sents very different question. They are
without local legislatures, and the power
of making laws for them must necessarily
devolve upon Congress, or else does not
exist at all. That Congress has this right,
infer from The very ac; Of acquisition. and
that whether acquired by conquest or BY
cession. Can il be possible, that country
may be transferred, and the right Of the
conquered or ceding country to govern it
be thus extinguished, and the conquering
country acquire 10 right TO leglslate for
that territory? Where ask is the sove-
reigniy Of the country! 1t resided in Mex
ico. She certainly neither does nor can
claim il now. 1t is not in the people Of
New Mexico and California. for they are
seeking to acquire that. with your consent,
by admission into the Union. According
to the logic Of gentlemen ou the other side,
it has no, vested anywhere, but is simply
in obeyance.
These conclusions, which would place
this Territory beyond the action Of the
Congress. hold to be unsound, and moi
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