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


his pledge, and the pledge of his friends on the
subject of the wilmot proviso He had spoken
against il. He bad expressed his determination not
TO vote for il. With this he satisfied he would
go further, and say that the speech, far as 1t re-
lated to the proviso, challenged his admiration and
excited his gratitude. Ii replete with sound
views, eloquenty and happily expressed. And no
| one could read il attenyely without conceding TO
its author great ability. II the distinguished gen
tleman had closed his speech with his argument
against the proviso, there would not have been
man in all the country more willing than himself
to award him the highest honors. But the speech
was marred by the expression of opinions, in its
closing paragraphs, to which he (Mr b y and the
southern people generally would dissent. General
| Cass had Gf Mr.. b. correctly understood hm)
ayowed his opinion To be, that the Territories have
the right to exclude slavery; and he was under
stood TO sustain the action OF the people in Caliior
mia in forming a State government. Against all
these parts of the speech Of General Glass; he (Mr.
3D. entered his solemn protest He felt bound TO
do this, because in the late Presidential canvass he
had the friend of General Cass, given a differ
ent Interpretation to his views, as foreshadowed in
the Nicholson letter. True, he had not done this
without misgivings, at first, of its correctness.
But gentlemen the person of General Cass
than himself had interpreted the Nicholson let
ter to that, when the people of Ter
| ritory were duly authorized to form a State
| constitution they could then admit exclude
slavery at will and whether they did the thing
| or the other was not matter To be questioned by
Congress. He now conceded as he had done in the
Presidential canvass, that, whenever people duly
authorized to form State constitution have exer-
cised this authority and asked admission into the
| Union, it is not properly subject of inquiry
| whether their constitution admits excludes
IL. -.
stood Gen Cass going further than this-to the
extent of giving to the people of the Territories the
right exclude slavery during their territorial ex-
istence and indeed before government of any sort
had been established by Congress. He understood
the doctrine advanced by Gen. Cass TO be, that
the occupanta OF the soil where government ex-
isted-as in New Mexico, California, Deseret, Sc,
had the right to exclude slavery; and against this
doctrine he raised his humble voice; and though
he might stand alone without one Southern repre-
sentative to sustain him, he would protest against
! it to the last
In the late Presidential canvass men of all parties
had assailed this doctrine. The Wings charged
Gen Cass with entertaining these views, and the
Democrats had indicated him against the charge.
The doctrine universally denounced by men of
all parties in the South
Mr.. CLEMENS, one of the Senators from Ala
February took the same view of the subject.
He said:
81 have something now, Mr.. President to say
to the Senator from Michigan, in conclusion.
did not intend to call forth from him any remarks.
did not make any allusion to him in spirit of
unkindness; brought no charge of inconsistency
against him. | did not comment upon his Nichol-
son letter, cay that it meant one thing and his
speech the other day meant another. did not
intend TO allude to that matter in any way. But
Mr.. President, must inform the Senator from
Michigan that the construction which he puts
upon the Nicholson letter was never put upon it by
his party in the State of Alabama. must tell him
that, if his present construction is the right one
have been greatly instrumental in misleading the
minds of the people of my State in advocating his
claims. denied that the construction he has now
placed upon his letter was the true one The
construction placed upon it was that the popu.
lation of a Territory, when sufficiently numerous
to form State should decide the question of sla-
very for themselves. That sir, was the construc-
ton put upon il by myself and by his party am
sorry if i have misunderstood him, but did not
mean TO make the question a theme of discussion
in the Senate. must remind the Senator of a
fact which, from his knowledge of public
affairs, can scarcely have escaped his attention.
must remind him of the fact that leading Demo
crat, formerly of the other House, was read out of
the party because he said precisely what the Sena
tor himself has said about the Nicholson letter.
| We put the ban upon him for such n construction,
and excluded him from the ranks of the Demo
cratic party in Alabama. allude to Mr.. Yancey.
We did that gentleman foul injustice and owe him
much PREPARATION. He was not the only one; there
were some half dozen distinguished members of
! the same party in Alabama who shared a similar
fate for putting the construction on that letter
which the Senator from Michigan now puts upon
it,"
That the Democratic leaders and presses IN
the South should have so misconstrued the
Nicholson letter, is the more remarkable from the
fact that the subject was distinctly and EN-
phatically brought before the notice of the
Baltimore convention by Mr.. YANcEY, who
was interrupted in speech by delegate from
Pennsylvania, and intenogated as TO the differ
ence between General CAss's views and those
embodied in minority resolution which Mr..
Y. was advocating, and who said
81 will answer the delegate from Pennsylvania.
General Cass, ] understand, holds that, while
Congress cannot interfere with slavery in the
States Territories, the inhabitants of Terri
tory, while yet under territorial government,
may make such regulations will exclude slaves
from being held in such Territory"
No member of the convention undertook to
assure Mr.. YAEcEY that he was mistaken-that
General CAss held no such opinion. That such
tcds his opinion, seemed 10 be tactly admitted
by that body. Did not the Union know that
Mr.. YANcEY was right! Did il not knOp, dur
ing the whole canvass. that General CAss was
receiving the benefit Of great misconception, as
TO the meaning of an important passage in the
NICHOLSON letter, on the part Of the Democrats
of the South. OF course the Union knew all
thisl And yet it has the effrontery TO talk about
General TAYLoR's having allowed himself-by
his silence during the Presidential canvass--lobe
understood at the North as being favorable TO
the views of the North, and at the South as
being favorable TO the views Of the South on
the subject of slavery
Whatever political differences may divide the
American people, there is one point on which they
all aorce and that ie an ardent desire TO acc their