The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-19

ing admission, and al will soon be INCORPORATES
into the Union. Arld'as each ile@ State ID added
a reinforcement of Senators ard Representative,
will join the majority, making the ineq,ulit5
which now exists betwcen the two sections
still greater, and Placing il in the power OF thu
North to carry On The abolition scheme, withou1
check or hindrince
| come now to the bill on your table, for the
I admission of California into the Union as
State
| This bill is designed to effect another great
step in the progress of abolition, and if passed
cuts off the South from Pacific ocean forever
ltishere, without precedent or example in the
history of this Government. Why is this Why
all this haste to bring this remote province
into the Union as State? Why is this Gov
ernment called upon to abandon the practice
which has prevailed, without material change,
for nearly seventy years
1t will be remembered, that when the Union
was formed, the United States, in their fedora
tive character did not own n foot Of land upon
this continent. The public domain, was owned
by individual States, under grants from the
British crown. In 1880, the Congress passed a
resolution recommending to the several States
to cede their unappropriated lands to the United
States. In October of the same year the Con-
gress passed another resolution in which it was
q 9 Resolced, That the unappropriated lands that
may be coded or relinqushed to the United
States by any particular State, pursuant to the
Recommendation OF Congress, shall be disposed
of for the common benefit Of the United States {"
5Agreeably to this Recommendation, Virginia,
in March, LISA coded to the United States the
territory northwest of the Ohio river In April
following, resolutions for the government Of this
territory were passed, which were superseded by
the ordinance of 1887, which ordinance contin-
ued of force untilit was rendered imperative by
the admission into the Union of the States
formed out of the Northwest Territory.
The State of Ohio was admitted in 1902, hav-
ing been governed as territory eighteen wears
The State OF Indiana was admitted in 1916, Hi
nois inoI8l8, Michigan in 1887, and Wisconsin
'inl845, having been governed us territories
thiitytwo, thrty-four, tifty-three, and sixty-one
years, respectively. These dates refer back to
the resolutions OF, I7S4. AT intermediate peri
ODDS, acts We're passed by Congress, granting
them the power to form local legislatures for
their goyerrnnent--the acts of such legislatures
to be subject TO the approval of Congress. The
States Of Alabama and Mississippi are formed
from territory cedcd to the United States by
South Carolina and Georgia The State of
Mississippi WAS admitted in 1877, and Alabama
ritories. Louisiana was purchased of France by
the treaty of, Paris, in 1903. and the State of
I1ouisiana was admitted in - after nine years
OF territorial pupilage.o Iadeem it unnecessary
to extend this examination. what harepre-
scented, the practice of the government, from 1854
until now, will be clearly SEEM In all the cases
and in all other eases Of the same
kind, the president appointed the governors and
lndges OF each territory, whose salaries were
paid ontqof' the public treasury of the United
States. " Preparatory to the admission of these
territories into the Union rs States, Congress
passed laws fixing their boundaries, directing d
census OF the inhabitants to be TAKEN author
ling each to meetin convention to form State
constitution, and prescribing the qualification of
voters. Inthecase of Michigan. this rule was
slightly varied, but which / viii not stop to con-
slider, for the reason that the case is not analo-
gous to that now presented by California. I,
h Sir, why was this practice at first deemed.
Because the jurisdiction and sover-
eighty, in and overall these territorial districts,
were conveyed TO the United States, by the re-
spcctive deeds of cession, and Congress was
bound to exercise jurisdiction over
them, that they might be disposed Of for the
common benefit Of the United States, and there
by fulfill the pledge made by Congress in the
resolution Of 10th October, 1880. a slt lsltel n,
iJsB BY the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Terri
tories of California and New Mexico were ceded
TO the Units States; and Congress is bound, for
the same reason, to exercise. jurisdiction. over
them. BY what authority, then, have the congre-
CATION of Adventures, from all nations calling
the people Of California, entered upon
these lands, and appropriated to themselves the
mineral wealth they contain, in dcrogation Of the
rights Of the United States; By what authority
have these trespassers upon the public property
met IN convention, formed what they call a State
and sent their Senator'S and Repre-
here, to ask admission into the Union.
II they have the right, under these circumstances,
to ask admission, have they not the same right to
ask admission into the Union Of Mexico, or an
nexation to the British empire, and thus to wrest
this vast territory out OF your hands, and place
you under the necessity OF reconquerng itI' Have
they not, in setting up these pretensons without
authority from Congress- committed an act of man
ifest usurpation, dsregarded your Just authority,
and taken from Congress the right to exercise
exclusive jurisdiction over California; If they be
remanded to the territorial condition, may they
not declare their independence OF this Government
and form political connection with any other
power they may electi If the doctrine Oft the
absolute sovereignty OF the inhabitants of terri
tory, previous to grant of power to them by the
General Government to form State, which is the
basis of this movement, be n'ue, do not these re-
sultS ClcdTly ioHoW! Anu is IL not eQudIy CiedT,
that il it be true, Congress has no jurisdiction
over them, and all acts heretofore passed by Con-
gress for their government, have been but SO many
acts of usurpation' The error Of all this doc
trine is this: The fact is overlooked, that there
is period, during which the inhabitants of a ter
ritory do not posseas the attributes of sovereignty
Will it be asserted that the conquered inhabitants
Of California were vested with absolute sovereignty
the day after the execution of the late treaty with
Mexico, by which that territory was acquireda
If so, is il not clear that the United States pur-
chased only under the rule of careat emptor, and
therefore, took nothing by the treaty ~ At what
time, then, since the execution of the treaty, did
the inhabitants Of California acquire the attribute
OF sovereignty Fs tjt
Z The true doctrine upon this subject was laid
down by Mr.. Lowndes, while acting as chairman
of the committee, to whom was referred the con-
stitution of Missouri. In his report TO the House
Of Representatives, he said: 1syiieb a7gaFg .
g In this view the committee are confirmed, by
a consideration of the embarrassments and dis
asiers which a different course OF proceeding
might sometimes produce, When a people are
authorized to form State, and do so, the tram