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

Washington, Monday, July s, 1850.

"AifSu 10 SoNcfIl-
slment When this constitutional is adopted, they
have a right to ask, and Congress is bound to ad
i init. the sovereign State into the Confederacy.
Itcannot be gravely asserted That the sovereignty
accrues to the State by the acknowledgment or
expression of consent on the part of Congress.
! AS well might the independence Of q govern
ment be ascertained by its recognition by other
Governments. Independence must exist before
It is recognized and sovereignty must spring
from its proper source, the action OF the people,
and its acknowledgement by Congress admits its
/ previous existence %
When the people of territory grow into
numbers sufficient to constitute a State under
the Constitution, and shall abolish or establish
slavery in their constitution, no one has right
to question their authority so to do. do not
invoke theauthority Of Congress oprotcet slaves
as property in the territories. / ask for no log
islation upon the subject. They are already
| recognized as property by the Constitution and
laws, and the courts afford ample protection to
the rights Of property. Legal rights must OF
necessity be decided by the courts, Amerc ter
ritorial government owing its existence to an act
| OF Congress, subjecting It's laws to the veto Of
Congress, and leaning for the expenses Of its adj
bministrtion upon Congress, can surely lay no
| claim to, the attributes of sovereignty The
Constitution and laws which bind Congress bind
! them, and they can neither create nor destroy
institutions recognized and guaranteed by that
iC0nstitution Ii; i am asked why any particular
point of time should be denoted us that in which
a territory may acquire and assert tiiesoyereign-
| ty of State reply, that the reasonis the same
as that which cenfers the right of self-direction
and seRcontrol upon an individual who has
reached the age of twenty-one years A time
must be designated and that decision must be
! the result Of prudence and sound reason The
| object Of our system is to extend republican
institutions; and when a territory shall have
passed the years of its minority, and acquired d
population sufficiently numerous to entitle it to /;
representative this floor it has all the elements
Of sovereignty, and can perfect it by the proper
| combination and concentration Of those ele-
| meTlts. sSs W.
But this question is presented in most prac-
| teal and important aspect when we consider the
results of the Mexican war. New Mexico ana
California are integral portions Of our territory
| by the treaty of peace, watch we have reason to
4 believe has been ratified between the countries.
They will require'a territorial organization at
our hands, and we are already told BIZ gentle
| man from New York, Mr.. MURPHY, that mas
much as the laws Of those provinces already
forbid slavery it cannot exist within their limits
without Legislative enactments. TO sustain this
j position, he has referred to the opinion OF Lord
Mansfield in the case of Campbell against Hall
Q Cowpers Reports) where Lord Mansfield
i lays down the doctrine that the laws of com
quered country continue in force until they are
altered by the conqueror; "A doctrine which, il
taken in its full extent, seems subversve of ali
/ the received principles Of the law of conquest
4 and which, however applicable to the English
i Government, lis totally repugnant tn our institu
4 tons and our fundamental law There can be
4 no civil dominion over any territory Of the Uni
ted States, which is not founded upon the Con
i stitution. From this source it must emanate
andas soon as either by treaty or by the ,sworC
! D territory is incorporated within the limits Of
4 the United States the Constitution immediatel,
attaches to it and is operative upon it, and what
\ ever is repugnant to, or subversive Of its pro
visions must fall before its power. This mus,
be manifest for il otherwise, we might have an
\ established religion in those provinces, against
the express provisions of the Constitution, and
the security ofpersons and of property might be
4 utterly lost against all the guarantees provided
for their protection. The conquered nation
would give law to their conquerors, and the re
suit of victory would be the subsection of the
4 victors 1t is true, that the laws Of nations dc
recognize the force of all laws, even incoaquer-
! ed countries, which are necessary for peace and
tranquility until repealed or altered BY the con-
1 querors But il is only of such laws.as are not
in conflict with the conquered Power. When
ever the laws in California and New Mexico con-
fict with, and are repngnant to, the Constitu-
of the United States, that Constitution at once
overrides such laws, and by the very act of ces-
sion or of conquest, becomes the supreme law
! of the land. / - t-lz a ~ ss1aaIFasa Efara fl2s
| 1t would be monstrous conclusion at which
49, thofo fta oil
war, the population Of the conquered territory
have the power to dictate the terms on which
! their conquerors shall occupy their country. 1t
would be equally repugnantto the principles Of
! right and justice so to adjust the matter, that
large portion of the citizens of the United States
even the very men whose lives were periled in
the war; should be excluded from occupying the
land that they had won with their swords. We
deny the right of Congress to legislate upon the
subject, either to extend or to forbid slavery ,
we ask for no Legislation at the hands of Con-
/! gress in the premises; neither are we willing
that the Mexican population, eonfessedly infe
ror in all the elements of civilization and capa-
| city for seIfgoyernment, should erect a barrier
to The emigration Of the citizens of fifteen States
of this Republic. No, sir; we invoke neither
the aid of Congress to legslate- slavery into ex-
istence there, nor will we admit the authority of
the present population to control It, unless in
condition to be erected into State government
and ready to perfect such. an organization. The
Constitution recognizes slaves rs property.
Whenever territory is acquired, It is the proper
ty of all the people of all the States, and the
Constitution secures to every citizen the right 10
occupy that territory on equal terms with any
other citizen of any of our conferated Statos.
Gentlemen sometimes appear astonished that
this subject excites so much interest with the
representatives ofthc Southern States. Think
that this surprise will cease when they are adj
vsed that in all the phases of this matter pre-
sentcd in the shape Of alternatives, the South
must be loser and cannot gain If the Missouri
Compromise extended TO the Pacific prevails, (and
to this we consent,) the slayeholding States sur
render much, and get nothing in return If the
Wilmot Proviso is adopted, all this lost to those
States and all the territories of the United States
are monopolized by the citizens of fifteen States
to the exclusion Of the other fifteen. Should it
be determined that as soon as aterritorial gov
eminent is formed, the people of the territory
can settle this question legislatiyely, the same