Columbus Democrat. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 18??-18??, 1851-01-04
SPEECH OF EX-GOVERNOR AARON
v. BROWN.


June last, Congress has acted on all the gteat
and exciting subjects which had called thi,
Convention together. Our business now is. Il
examine how lar that action has been or 0ushl
10 be satisfactory TO the South, have eIamin,
ed the bills with the strongest precipitation t,
be pleased and satisfied with them | am proud
OF my country-proud of her institutions proud
OF her brilliant and triumphant career. avn
therefore, painfully anxious thar nothing should
occur to retard her progress or 10 obscure hei
bright aad glorious future. But, sir, have triet
! in vain to be convinced that he South ha. re.
ceived ANYTHING like justice at the hands Of the
North. In every effort my mind stands battle
and rebuked in the vain attempt.
begin, sit, with the adm ,,ion of California
waive all irrcgulari,y in her application al
imputed Executive dicIation--all doubts abou
tue citizenship of those who participated in the
formation of her constitution. Sill am com
PEELED to demand why was she permitted tc
come in with all this boundess extent Of country
1t was not necessary TO her people; On the can
trary we know that it WAS highly iaconpenien
to them. Why, then, was ii donel That mar
must be blind who does not see, and know, ID
feel that it was done for the sole purpose Of eI
Guiding the South forever from the shores of the
Pacific. The North had said. that she should he
excluded. The Wimot Proyiso was the inla
nous instrument selected for the purpose. The
people Of California, forgetting Tor the moment
how much they stood indebted TO Southern labor
and to Southern counses for their very existence
lent themselves TO the ngoriOus deed, Congress
by rejecting every proposition to curtail her en-
ormons boundary, ratified and confirmed it; and
thus the great work Of our exclusion was accom-,
pIi.hed Remember, sir, am not complaining
that California was admitted as State: nor am
Directing to any size aud bound ,ry which the
wants and necessities Of her people might de-
mand. My precise objection is, that she was
let in with an extent Of boundary which she did
not need and which she did not expect or desire
to retain, aud which, in reality, she is only hold
ing over against the South for the future benefit
Of the free soil States Of the North. Congress
ought to have said, "rake OF the common terri,
tory what you need-take largely AMI freely;
hut you shall not take an Nnw, cir, if Con.
grcss was to say this, with the view of dcpriving
the South ot her ar and just proportion Of this
common fund, tn device, though ingenious, was
nevertheless ltsran violation Vi tnl ronslilu-
ton.
So much as the admission Of California INTO
the unlon. What o. Utah and New Mexico.
embracing all the balance oi thu territory The,
have been organized into territorial governments
but with no clause repeating any laws o" Ordl.
nances of Mexico aboli,hing ,laverf which may
be n force in them For the want Of such
clause, maintain that they are as riiecualy
lost to the South a1 ilthey had been .unken by
m earthquake, II those laws and orlinancrs
are IN force, then, OF course, they ar" lost But
maintain that # it be only doubtful whether
hey are in torce or not, that very doubt i As fatal
10 the South as the Wmo, Proyiso, No South.
ern man will dare to take his property there ~
ii that doubt is removed Congress ought ti
have removed it, Her own discussion. had
started, and the master minds OF that body had
fixed and confirmed it, If her object really was
10 open those countries equally aid fairly to ali
The citizens of all the States, she should have
added the following section: BE il eaacied that
all laws and par $ of laws passed by Mexico,
which may be in iorce in said territories in re
larlon 10 slavery, be, and tie same are hereby
repealed.
Mr. President this short but expressive son
tence would have at once GAINED the fears and
dsconients Of the South. The cloud, which low
cred darkly over her horizon would have been
dispelled, and the rainbow Of hope and c0nildeUc"
would have shone with renewed brightness and
glory. But, no! the amendment was offered and
voted down, and the South doomed to submit
not to the constitution b0, 10 Mexican laws Il they
existed, or TO stay away, from well grounded ap.
prehension that they might exist Sir, that was
the fatal vote that prosraled the South in those
territories. She was the equal of the other States
She had as much right TO enter there Eith her
property as they had with theirs. Bat Congress
leaves an old Mexican ordinance, or the well
grounded fear Of it, to do that which Mexican
bayonets could never do to drive Southern men
away from the country.
And what are the explanations and apologies
for this extraordinary vote when given by South
ern menl I,is first alleged that these Mexican
laws are not in fact in force and then il is grave
ly insisted that you cannot repeal what is not in
torce!--lhat you cannot repeal nonentilJ In
passing new law how often does the legislator
find himself in doubt as to how many Of the old
laws may be in conflict with itl or, how ofen
does be doubt of what the opinions OF the Judges
might be on the SUBJECT and how sure is he in
either case, to give certainty and force to the
new enactment to declare that all laws aud
parts of laws which may be inconsistent with ii
shall be repealedp No man can give dignity or
respectabilhy to such a sophistry, and dismiss
it, 10 order to notice another. Iii said that such
a repeal Of the Mexican laws would be equva,
lent to the establishment of slavery in those ter
riIories, which cannot and ought not TO have been
done. v hat! to repeal tall laws and parts of
avs" in relation to slavery equivalent to The es'
Directly the reverse--t leaves
The whole country, rasd tdbuld, mere blank
with nothing for or against slavery. What then!
Way, il must remain forever unestablished, un.
ess Congress shall interfere and establish it,
This is forbidden by the great doctrine Of non
What thenl 1t must remain so
until the territorial legislatures es
absh it. The universal opinion has been tun,
ii very lately that territorial legislatures had no
such power. What, then, becomes Of slavery in
.hese territories, the common properly Of the