The southern press., 1850-10-09

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, the District. and we have all heard other honora
BILE senators insist upon that consent al lnd'spen
sable do not insist upon it for myself. ! hav
only surrendered much to their objections; bu
if majority Of the Senate should waive the OBJ
lection, it would give me pleasure TO modify thu
plan accordingly
Secondly, the plan is an equal one. While II
restores to the slave the inesmable right of free
dom, it awards to him who, by authority of Con
gressS haa hitherto held the slave in bondage
Il just remuneration and indemnity for his lose
1t ia, then, adequate and equal.
Thirdly, the plan is not violent nor caprcious,
bpt i. del berate and prudent; for it makes th's
4 solemn transaction TO depend upon canvass 10 be
continued not less than three months, nor longer
than six months, among the people of this District
FOurthly, the plan tx brOad enough am M
| formed by what believe credible evidence that
the number Of slaves within the District, as escer-
tanned by the census, male and female, old and
! young, great and small, about six hundred, and
that their value is estimated by those who regard
them an subjects OF traffic, aS certainly do not,
AT three hundred dollars for each person, and in
the aggregate one hundred and eighty thousand
dollars. The amendment appropriates two hun
dred thousand dollars. Ii the sum is TOO grent,
nothing will be lost. If it is too small, the def
cheney can lie now or afterwards supplied
But my honorable friend from Massachusetts
/ (Mr. WiNrHRoPl objects that the amendment
contains provision for the support of the slaves,
or of any Of them, after their emancipation. SIR,
if could admit that this objection had weight, it
wosld he sufficient answer that in the judgment
Of other senators, such provision would only
tend 10 defeat the ol ject i'm view.
Ii honorable senators think ! err in tslis let
them submit such provision, and it do not en-
bar the bill, it shall receive my vote.
But | think the objection Itself is not well
grounded. The slave is held in bondage, not for
his own support and for his own benefit, but for
the support and benefit of his master 1t lis the
hat ,t,,,tno IN hn
support OF the master and not the master thar
supports the slave. II is not in humanity that II
| should be otherwise. Relieve the slave, then,
from the support of his master, and his whole
energies will be directed to making provision for
himself and his own family. The instincts Of the
common nature which he shares with us will do
the rest. But you may reply that these persons
are degraded. so as to be unable to take care OF
themselves. On the contrary, it is IN this District
that the institution assumes Its most che rtui or
least repulsve aspect. Here, m the centre ofthe
Union, in the capital Of this free empire, the Az.
rcan race has been held in bondage from genera
tion to generation, through period Of near two
hundred years. We all trust, we all believe, tina,
the ultimate result of the transfer OF this foreign
population to our shores is to be the bringing
| Of them to condition to support themselves, and
10 exercise the privileges of selfgOvernment. IL
is sad commentary upon the operations of our
own institutions say that two hundred years
have not been enough to bring these six hundred
persons, under such favorable auspices, to the ca
pabty OF providing for their own daily wants.
The next objection to the measure which ]
shall notice is that it is an ndscreet one. This,
think, was the language Of my honorable friend
from Massachusetts, MIR. WINrHnoP.] The OBJ
lection implies Assent to the Justice and wisdom OF
the measure itself, and takes issue only upon the
time, occasion, or circumstances in which 1t is
proposed. 1t comedies, moreover, that it would
be proper at different time, on some other occa-
/ sion, in some other circumstances.
! lie. us see, then, wherein the indiscretiOn con-
siss. And first to the occasion. One honor
| able senator Mr.. WiNTJRoPl says that by sup
porting il on this occasion we should incur the
risk Of losing the bill itself which is proposed To
DO amended, and thus losing the abolition of the
slave trade within the District of Coupbia. Sup
pose we do. What would be the loss' The
amendment before you secures the abolition Of the
slave trade, for ii abolshes slavery altogether.
When slavery falls, the trade, which is only an
incident oi il, must instantly cease. But the SEN
a;or is afraid that between the two, both will be
lost. That cannot happen. The passage of Ell
ther will accomplish the object in view.
Ii ihe amendment shall pass, you will have
better law than The bill of the Committee of Thir
teen IL the amendment shall fail, you will still
; have the bill Of the Committee of Thirteen.
But the bill Of the Committee Of Thirteen is no
put i" jeopardy. Ii is lost, or than lost, L
us already. If /; had NOT been, | should not hav'
offered my proposition rs an amendment. Th.
abolition OF the slave irade indeed, remains in tn
bill; but conditions have been annexed which can
not be accepted, and which compel us of the free
States to reject the bill itself. Ole of these cond
t'ons is, theconvertng into felony, punishable wit!
ten years's imprisonment, the act OF aiding or fa
vorn,g the escape of afugitive slave, even the
If harborIng slave with a view tn MD his escape
The punishment already denounced by the law il
severe enough, in my judgment, for an act that il
wrong because it erroneous in ITSELF but ont,
because it is declared by the statue to be wrong
The second condition which has been annexed L
the bill is the conierrIng Of right upon the Cor
poraons within the District to impose conditions
upon which freed men shall be allowed to emte,
and remain in the District, or depart from it; in
other words, TO prescribe free men, who are citi-
/ zens OF the Unit, States and Of the free States
BY the addition of these conditions, the bill has
been converted from law meorating slavery
! within the District into law to f,rufy slavery
and prescribe free men. When that was done,
my last hope, my last purpose, my last thought,
of supporting the bill was gone. And vet this
bill is the bill which the honorable senator from
Massachusetts complains that | am putting in
jeopardy. This, sir, and nothing other different
from this, is the boon which he SAYS was Just
within our grasp, and which have struck down
TO the earth. Sir, when my amendment shall have
been rejected, this bill will sull remain. wait TO
see whether he will embrace it, and take it to his
bosom. shall not harbor it, it would sting me
to death.
So much, sir, for the occasion. And now for
the indi1retion, so far as it depends upon time
ard circumstances. think it wrong to hold men
in bondage at any time and under any circumsran-
ces | think it right and just therefore, to abol-
Ish slavery when we have the power, at any time
at all times, under any circumstances. Now, sir,
so far as the objection rests upon the time when
this measure is proposed, beg leave to say that
if the present is not the righ: tine, then there
must be, there must have been some other
time, and that must be time that is already
past, or time yet to come. WE'LL sir, slavery
has existed here under the sanction of Con-
gress for fifty years undlsturbed The right
time, then, has not passed. 1t must, there
fore, be future time. Win gentlemen obIige me
and the country by telling us how far down in the
future the right time lies' When will il be dis
Greet to bring before Congress aud the people the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia ,
Sir, let not senators delude themselves had the
honor to submit to the Senate some weeks ago II
! proposition to admit New Mexico rs State 1t
was rejected then by vote unanimous except my
own--those who were in favor Of the measure vo-
ungwth IT'S opponents, because it was not the rrht
lime. They said the Constitution had moi been