The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-08

Il II
| the effect Of territorial organization In order
10 give that effect, the organization must com.
mulieate the attribute Of sovereignty, or hs
itself the actsof sovereign power. We then
inquire, is the Congress of the United States
sovereign! or as to what subjects is it soyer-
eigns No one can claim sovereignty, per SC, for
| delegated authority. So FAR as power is dele
gated, 50 far is its operation final and complete
and no further. The Constitution, with album
| dant caution, guards this point,cby. declaring,
! that whatever power is not expressly ceded by
the States in that instrument is reserved to the
States respectively and the people Of the States
! thus declaring that the Federal Government Is a
mere trrstcee for the sovereign States Of this
Confcderacy, with well-deiined and strictly linn
tied powers. If, then, all the citizens of all the
States had a rightto 60 with their property upon
the public domain before territorial organizations
| if Congress must regard rs property whatever
was SO regarded by the States adopting it, then
/ itlfplows that territorial organization can give
| Congress no, powers which it did not before
possess under the Constitution If Congress
| does not possess hepower, then no relation
created by law with the habitaRs Of a territory
does communicate that power to either party.
II has been said, with much plausibilty, that
territorial legislatures have exercised powers de-
| MED to Congress under the Constitution; that
they have granted bank charters and created cor
poratiofs; that they have borrowedmoncy upon
the faith Of the territorial government, and ex-
ercised other acts OF sovereignty Conceding
the accuracy of this statement of facts notlingis
proved but that the territorial government did
what Congress disapproyed of, and that which
they We're not authorized to do. The creation
Of corporations one Of the highest acts of sove-
reignty, for it's creating legal owner to pro-
lperty invested with the rights Of person---m
authority denied TO- Congress, because not spe-
cited in the powers Of which this Federal Gov
eminent is . trustee. 1t assumes that under the
effect of an organic law extended to a territory
and accepted BY the Inhabitants, the powers Of
Congress are enlarged, and that by the sapproba-
ton of such act of territorial Legislature, Con
gress may, by implication, charter bank, which
it could not do directly by its own action. Debts
contracted by territory upon its faith and credit
are ofno legal obligation upon the people of that
Territory after it has become State And if
Congress have transcribed their power in legis-
lating for any territory, the argument derived
from this usurpation is-met by the maxim, that
| an evil usage must be abolished. lam aware
there must arrive a time when the power of
complete sovereignty shall be exercised; which
time, shall be able to show, is fixed by the Con-
Istitution itself Much, sir, may be learned by
reference to facts as well as the practice of the
Government Our whole policy in territorial or
! ganization, has been with view to the most
| prudent disposition Of the public domain with
reference to its profitable sale. .gsaggs, 4s ~
| When settlers occupied so much4of the public
domain as to render it manifest that there would
be a demand for the lands, an organic law has
been rendered to the habitaas, in order that, I'M
der acivl organization, land offices and otherfac
tiles for the sale ofand and tranfer titles should
| bemade. In these organic laws, Congress has
1 repudiated the idea OF sovereignty in the Terri
tories, by reserying the right Of reviewing, anG
! repeating if necessary, the laws enacted by the
I territorial Legislature. When the inhabitants d
a territory accept the organic law with AL its
conditions, the government is then organized
and continues until it expires, &c ri teraiai
in the sovereignty, of the State to be form.
ed out of said Territory. Now, the creation Of
this territorial organization and the existence o.
/ thus temporary government gave no Jus accre.
scendum either to this local legislature, the PEG
pie Of the territory, or to Congress. The laws
| ofthe United States, for the protection Of per
sons and property, were extended over them
but 1t was a government consistent with and nc,
| cording to the Constitution government limit
ed by the Constitution, and possessing no au-
thority beyond its grants SO that the right to
govern is not in this case a right Of absolute
sovereignty, but Of sovereignty qualified by the
provisions of fundamental law. NThe.decision Of
the Supreme Court, declaring that the right to
acquire territory implies the right to govern it
when acquired, is predicated upon the assuinp-
ton that the government to be administered
must be according to the Constitution Of. the
| United States. They sustain rather than con-
ficts with the conclusion to which | have ar
rived. The question then arises, at what time
does the right accrue, and to whom, to decide
upon and fix the domestic institutions and the
municipal law, of the territoriesa And who is
invested with that authority? 1T will be, seen,
by reference to. the same section ofthe C0nstitr.
ton referred to, as controlling the power over
territories, that Congress may admit new
States into this Union" afla2 3*sis>5..A - F..
I Areference to the Madison Papers will enlight-
enusast to thisproyision. A propositionwas made
to authorize Congress to form new States out
of the territories belonging to the United States,
which was rejected, and the proyisionabove quo
ted was adopted. Nothing could have been
wiser and more consistent with the principles Of
the trainers of the Constitution. The United
States are sovereign States, and the Constitution
is compact of sovereign States; and inasmuch
as Congress could not confer sovereignty upon 4
territory, it was left to the people of the terri
tory to assert their own sovereignty, and then,
as sovereign, come into the Federal Union
They wisely concluded that an act Of Congress
declaring territory sovereign State would in
fact invest il with no attribute of sovereignty:
but that the people of the territory, at a proper
time, being the only sourceof sovereignty, could
make the declaration for themselves. Accord
ingly, whenever $ s9te has been admitted into
the Uuion, It has been after their constitution
has boen adopted and their sovereignty annourc-
ed; and then, as one Of our gloroug sisterllood
she lrs been welcomed amongst us. This pow
er was withheld from Congress, and left with
the people. Norris the Constitution silent as to
the time SsbcnAllis eyentshall take place. The
indications in The Constitution are so clearly
imarked, Mr.. Chairman, as 70 leave no room for
conjecture. III Tie second section Of the first
article it il provided HAT there shall be an ap-
portionnient Of representation to population, md
that each State shall have at least one rcpresen-
tative. ii was distinctly foreseentlat Kentucky,
Tennessee, and the great Northwestern Terrific
ry was soon 20 be filed with inhabitants soon.
to demand admission into the Confederation; and