The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-06-21

her domestic institutions ON any basis consistent
| with republican principles. The South could lose
nothing by adopting this course. On the contrary, she
toouId all for ioieh she contends. The act au-
thorizing the convention TO frame government
for California would be silent the subject of sla-
very, and the rights Of the stakeholder would
not be trampled on, would his feelings be out
| ragged.
"Any territorial government is impracticabe,
for none receive the sanction of Congress
| which does not contain the Wimot restriction
| We have, then, 10 choose between the scheme OF
Mr. DOUGLAS and no action and if Congress ad-
journs without action, both sections of the Union
| will Mt once be aroused. Bitter feelings will gain
| the ascendant, leaving long train of disastrous
| circumstances which man distinctly est-
mate. Therefore earnestly hope that the bill re-
ported by Senator Douglas ioH meet tci the aUora-
DIE consideration Of Congress the only feasible plan
of extending protection 10 her citizens, ~d restoring
the tranquility Of the county"
The word .'eqnipalent'' does not occur yet.
1t is still insisted on that California has right
| to come in ''as soon as she can frame consti-
tuition" No allusion to an equivalent" to the
South. Let us go on to the next-date Feb
ruary 8, l849:
"But three weeks and three days allowed for
action, and we respectfully urge that they be i'm
proved. Let some scheme be adopted which saves
| the rights and honor Of the States and leaves the
people of the Territory to determine for themselves
the character of their domestic institutions. That
is the proper tribunal to decide this great question
| Such measure has already been brought forward,
and the choice is between that alternative and an
| adjournment of Congress without action-leayng
| California to its fate. No territorial bill can be
passed without the Wilmot restriction If this fact
be so, then the admission Of the Territory IN the form
of States is all that is left; and ferpenty hope
that zoe ioM not JorsUer lose the benefit of that
arrangement by miscellaneous delay and by fatal ultra
| ISM
| Still no equivalent" But we find another
phrase which is quite significant: The ad-
mission of the Territory in the form of States"
Observe the plural. Then, not only Califor-
MIA, but New Mexico Also is to come in as
State, without undergoing the preliminary form
of territorial organization. That is the
meaning. No? We shall see presently. But
in the mean time, note the fcrvency of the hope
THAT zee wiH not toreper lose the benefit Of that
arrangement territory coming into the Union as
States by nischierow delay and by tatal ultra
| ISM" Unfortunately, at this moment, the
country is not only losing the benefit of that
rangement hut it is suffering from the effects
of dlstracting agitation, and the obstruction of
| public business, ''by mischievous delay and by
fatal ultraism" The Union, of the 9Th of
| February, lS49, was an earnest advocate, it
seems, of the principle of adjustment recon-
mended by the PRESIDENT: ''the admission of the
territory in The form Of States" But the Pres
dents policy included California, which is al
ready applying for admission, and New Mexico
also, which may apply hereafter. The Unions
earnest advocacy and fervent "hope" included
both also-as will appear from the following, of
date February 10, lS49:
at has been asccrtained without doubt, that no
form of territorial government, under the authori
| ty of Congress, pass the House Of Representa-
tives without being trammeled with the wilmot
proviso slavery restriction. II is equally certain
| no bill with the restriction can become a law.
| Jphai, then, be don<' Ia there any Other mode
in ichieh the difficulty can be solved? In our judg
nsnt there u.s. and that mode is 10 provide at once
for The admission Of the acquired territories Of Cal
9ornia and Nsw Msrieo into The Union States,
soon they shall form republican constitutions
| a, propossd By the select committee in the report
| made by Senator DOUGLAS as its chairman, or as
| proposed in the minority report OF Senator Downs
Of the Judiciary Committee. BY this mode the gtes-
ti0n Of The Wiimof proviso Is apoided. No member
Of Congress from the North or from the South CON-
promits any constitutional or other principle. No
thing IL said about slavery or the Wilmot provso-
bat in providing for the admission Of the acquired
territories into the Union States, this, well
all other domestic municipal regulations, is left
| In he Mn vyho IN her
No southern man can justify himself in denying to
| them this right"
The reader will gather from the last series Of
extracts, that in February, ls49, the Union
newspaper advocated earnestly and with fervent
hope the admission Of California into the Union
as soon as she could frame a constitution; that
this was "the only feasible plan Of extending
protection to her citizens and restoring the tran
quility Of the country" that no territorial bill
could be passed without the Wilmot restriction,
and that, in fact, the proper tribunal To decide
the question Of domestic institutions in a Terri
tory was the tribunal Of the people Of the Ter
ritory; further, that this plan, 50 applicable 10
California, was applicable to New Mexico also,
the same being generalized in the phrase f" the
admission " the Territory ia the form Of
Suites" and applied to New Mexico by name !;
that not only would the honor Of the South be
saved by the adoption Of this principle, 80 con
sonant with the constitutional doctrines Of the
South. but. exclaims the Union, "by this mode
the H'imot proviso is aUoidedi' The reader
will also notice the emphatic expression Of the
fervent hope " that we will not forever lose the
benefit Of that arrangement by mischieroue delay
and by fatal uitraim."
Now. what was that arrangement II was
the very thing recommended 10 Congress by
President TaYLos in his annual message trans
mitted 10 Congress December "a, lS49 The
very policy which the Union for months past
has designated . feeble and temporizing"--
g temporizing and despicable"-a " miserable
SYSTEM" We call the Union's attention to
| the contrast here presented. Wretched reviler