The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-12-22
Remarks Of Mr.. Mason, of Virginia.
IN SENATE.-December II, 1851.

THE COMPROMISE MEASURES.
On the Resolution of Mr.. Foote, of Mississippi
declaring the compromise measures to be a
final settlement of all the questions growing
out of the subject of domestic slavery
Mr.. MASON. Mr.. President, do not know
that | should have taken part in the debate on
this resolution, but that have thought it proper,
and perhaps necessary, to place myself right
upon some questions which have arisen hereto
fore and were adverted to at a former period by
the Senator from Mississippi Mr.. FooTE,l in
reference to the action of certain Senators from
the Southern States, myself included, upon the
bill for the reclamation of fugitive slaves, which
passed during the last Congress, and which
formed of that series OF measures which
some gentlemen term the compromise In or
der that may be distinctly understood upon this
question, will ask the permission of the Senate
to read the remarks made by the Senator from
Mississippi during the present session, so far as
they refer to it. Those remarks, as reported,
were rs follows:
cit is also not forgotten by me, and hope that
it is not forgotten by the Senator either that this
particular act would have been passed by the two
Houses of Congress at much earlier period of
the session before the last than it was but for the
fact that it not deemed polite by certain
Southern senator's, who had special charge of the
subject, to report bill for the reception and re-
storation of fugtives from service until it should
be ascertaned that all the other questions connec
ted with the subject ofdomestic slavery were like
ly to be satisfactorily disposed of in Congress -
The Senate will remember my former exposition
of this matter here, and cannot have forgotten my
statement OF an important matter of fact connected
with this delicate point when declared, in hear
| ing ofhonorable Senators from the South, who
| could not deny the truth of what said, that the
honorable Senator from Michigan, [Mr. CAss I
and other senators from the States of the North,
now present, and whom | could easily name, re-
quested me to see the Senator from Virginia, fMr.
Mason, and the Senator from South Carolina, TO
whom am now replying, at a very early day of
/ the session then IN progress, and TO urge upon
them both the importance of their reporting bill
without delay which, when it should become a
law, would secure full justice to the South in re-
gard to fugtlves from service, pledging themselves
to vote for any bill which should be thus reported
which should be free from constitutional obiec-
| tons. Tbs motives of honorable senator's in not
reporting this bill earlier, have never arraigned
nor do on the present occasion, They were
doubtless conscientious in their action, though
thought them at the time iniudicious in the course
adopted by them, as still do the reason given
me for delaying the reporting of this bill, that il
| the question involved therein should be satsfac-
torily adjusted at that time, it might prove mpos SSH
|
| getic action in cooperation with the other South
ern States, for the vindcation of their essentia
rights, never having been considered by me TO be
of character sufficiently solid to entitie it to ope
rate potentially upon the deliberations Of Con
gress."
Such Is the reference made to this subject by
the Senator from Mississippi, as contained in the
report from which read He said there, and
said correctly, that like reference had beer
Il. q, H., A.. A .
purpose being then, as 1t was the other day, to
show that those senators who IL was supposed
had the most particular charge of the bill ad
verted to, had not broughtit forward or pressed
it upon the consideration of the Senate in such
a manner as the Senator from Mississippi, and
those Northern ssnatoFs with whom he advised
deemed II became them to do. have looked
back to his former reference to this subject, and
desire now to give history of the action of the
Senate on that bill, and of the agency of those
having il in charge, so far as the same has been
questioned by the senator-'hat series OF
measures to which have ndyerted, and which is
called :" the compromise 1t IL well known
that notwithstanding this batch of measures had
been aggregated into one bill, the omnibus,
and that from being overloaded, or the passen
gers quarreing by the way the omnibus broke
| down, and each measure left TO take care of it
self They were separated. A great effort had
been made to keep them together. But il
failed and each bill stood upon its own merits
| The bill for the admission of California passed
! August 49, 800 IL had on the day previous
been ordered to third reading. On the same
dayit passed, motion was made by the Senator
from Illinois, Mr. DOUGLAS chairman of the
| Committee on Territories, to take up, as next
in order, the bill providing government for the
territory of New Mexico. The Senator from
South Carolina, at the head of the Judiciary
| Committee, Mr.. BUTLER, 1.-THE committee that
| reported the fugitive slave bil-interposed, and
said that, according TO his view, the bill for the
reclamation of fugitive slaves had the preoed.
ence, and should be taken up next in oder 1t
was at that time that the Senator from Mssis-
sippi took the first notice of what he supposed,
and il would appear yet supposes, to have been
some delinquency, either on the part Of the
Senator from South Carolina, who had reported