The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-02-07


SPEECH OF MR. PHELPS, OF VERMONT.
Min POINTS of The Speech Of Mr. Phelps, on he Sub
jea of SldUery delrered IN the Senate Of The United
States, on the 23d Of January, 1880
This issue THAT of Slavery has forced itself
upon u.s. II is consequence Of conquest. 1t is
one of the fruits of the Mexican war 1t is
question to be settled but hon, no one can antici-
pate But it should not he discussed in anger
| regret the Clayton Compromise bill on this sub
| ject did not pass | advocated the measure, and
was willing, if necessary to sacrifice myself to
put an end forever to this disturbing question.
The resolutions of Vermont, on this subject,
have been misconceived and misrepresented. They
express the sentiment of the civilizedworld. They
! mplicate nobody. They treat slavery as a crime
entailed upon the country by our ancestors, and
now tolerated where it exists, as thing of mex
orable necessity. This is the defence that the
South has always for the existence of the insti-
tuition in their midst. Jefferson and Madison
held the same doctrine, and yet, when the people
of the North reiterate it, it is fanOtieism! Con-
gress has treated the institution in the same light
since the year 1894 It has declared the traffic in
slaves to be piracy, punishable by death In 1912,
the United States united with Great Britain for
| the suppression of the slave trade and yet be-
cause my constituency now oppose the opening of
new markets for slaves, in territories where sla-
very does not exist, it is denounced by every cpl
I taet IN che Whole catrg0ry'or vppfooriufh QUO
it is the right and duty fer every State TO express
not only its opinion against the propriety of ex-
tending slavery to our now free Territories, but
its opinion of the institution itself
IL has been asserted that one of the resolutions
of Vermont claims the right to interfere with
slavery in the States. The compromises of the
Constitution restricted Congress in relation to
this subject only in the States where slavery then
existed, for slavery had been previously excluded
from the Northwest Territory; and the resolu-
ton asserts no more than this fact But it is said
that the resolution asserts the power to interfere
with slavery in the new States Not so. When
the Territories became States the power of reg
ulating the subject passed from Congress.
The rest of the resolutions Of Vermont only
assert the power of Congress to prohibit slavery
| in the Territories of the United States. Surely
this is not an offensive pretension. Ii is power
that has been exercised ever since the organize
tion of the Government The superior light of
the present day may have dispelled the illusion
that Congress has power to legislate for the Ter
riories, for if the argument recently put forward
upon this subject be sound We shall be justified
in cutting these Territories odrif
We have heard Of encro achments of the North
upon the South The Ordinance of 1887 is called
an encroachment Ii this be so, who was its au-
thor 1t was Thomas Jefferson Again. at the
time of the Missouri Compromise, there was not
slave to be found north of 800 3O', and yet can
that Compromise be called an encroachment upon
the South Was the introduction of Louisiana
Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, and Texas, as slave
States an encroachment? Slavery was excluded
| from Oregon by Southern President and South
ern members, where slavery never was-never
could be was that an encroachment Of the North
upon the South Were all these things tramp
ling upon the rights of the South? And now
comes New Mexico and California. They ask to
| be left where they are now-without slaves. IL
we of the North desire that their prayer should
be granted are we still to be taxed with encroach-
ing upon the rights of the South Encroach-
ment indeedl If the power of this country be
exerted to plant slavery in these new Territories,
an institution which one of them has rejected in
their fundamental law, we might with propriety
call the effort an encroachment upon the rights
and liberties of people This is a species of
encroachment protest against.
But, it is said, we own the land but have no
right to control he people If this he true then
we surely relieve ourselves from all responsibility
by permitting the people of the new Territories
| 10 be what they have made tbemselves-a free
| people, and not impose upon them an institution
they have rejected with horror.
IL is said that we have refused 10 aid in the cap
ture of fugitive slaves, and that, therefore, we
| have violated the Constitution. Is this so 2 The
Supreme Court has decided that the free States
are not obliged by State legislation to aid in car
rying out this provision of the Constitution. How
then can we be guilty of not doing what we are
not required to do by the Constitution But it
! is said that the States have passed laws calcula-
ted to defeat the execution of the Constitution in
this respect If this be go those laws are uncon-
stitutional, and defend them not
The "incendiary publications respecting sla-
very, so much complained of by the South, are
only to be met by reason and sound sense, to be
| combated in its own element | do not Justify
such folly But the deep, abiding sentiment Of
the North, that slavery ought not to 90 into the
new Territories, is another thing. We propose
to carry out our opinions on this point, so far as
we have power, by regular, ordinary, constitution
al action IL it turns out that we have no const-
tutional power to do so, we must yield.
But, it is said, we possess no power to legislate
over these Territories. Is this SO 2 BY treaty
with Mexico, she coded New Mexico and Califor-
nia What is it that was ceded2 Is it the mere
land We have yet to learn whether there is
any public domain within their limits. What
was ceded to us 9-TAs s0rereigmg of The couatyy.
The sovereignty is coded, and the public domain
follows as mere incident to the transfer of SOW
| ereignty Can we take this cession This was
once disputed question, but il was settled by
accepting the cesson Of Louisiana. We have
done so in the present case Admitting it is COM
petent for us to accept the cessiou Of New Mexi-
co and California which cesson conveys the sover-
eighty If we become the repositories of power,
can we or can we not exerciset2 derive the power
indirectly from the treaty-making power 1t is alb
surd therefore, to assert that we cannot exercise
a sovereign power, of which we have become the
depository. The very cession Of a territory,
where the ceding power parts with its entire con-
troll over il TO asovereigu State involves political
power-the ownership of all that belongs to the
State. What is that ownership The highest
title known to the law, the eminent domain resi-
ding in the sovereignty of the State which is
necessarily followed by political regulations and
control IL we have no legislative power over
them, they are wi hout law, without government
possessing no political sovereignty of their own,
and subject to no jurisdiction The result, then
of cession from Mexico 10 the United States is
to make them independent of both powers They
must from necessity, adopt an organization and
leeislate for themselves and when they do this
not under our authority, but by force of an inhe-
rent right of self-government, they become ipso
fac,o independent, and the public domain residing
in the sovereignty Of the State as the source of
al. title, attaches TO this new irdepcc1en. screr
eighty, and thus our title to the land is extinct
By the express terms Of the Constitution, We are
authorized to make rules and regulations for the
government of the Territories; and there is no
limit to this authority this power, but the limit
of legitimate legislation and sound legislative dis
cretion Unless the right to make rules, &c, for
the Territories, carries with it legislative politi
cal power, the power conferred by the Constitu-
tion is impotcnt
We have heard much Of the purposes and de-
termination of the South. To what point do they
tend We maintain that Congress has power 10
legslate for the Territories On the other hand,
this power is denied. Is not this a question of