The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1854-05-06
WHOLE No. 6GG.
Ncbraslia.
MIR. BENTON'SiSPEECH,
(Continued.)

have stood upon the Missouri compromise for
above thirty years: and mean to stand upon it
to the end of my life; and in doing so shall
act not only according to my own cherished
convictions Of duty. but according to the Of
| ten declared convictions of the General As
sembly of my State.
should oppose any movement to impair
that compromise, made in an open, direct,
manly manner; much more shall l oppose it
ifmadc in covert, indirect, unmanly way.
| The bill, or bills before us, undertake to ac-
compish their object without protesting it
upon reasons which are contradictory and UNI
foundcd-in terms which are ambiguous and
Unconstitutional by throwing on others the
responsibility Gifts own act 1t processes not
to interfere with the sovereign right of the
people to lcgislatc for themselves: and the
very first line of this solemn profession throws
upon them a horse load of law, which they
have no right to refuse, or time to read. or
money to purchase. or ability to, understand.
1t throws upon them all the, laws of the
United States which arc not locally mappi-
cable: and that comprchcnds all that are not
specially made for other places; also, it gives
them the constitution of the United States,
but without the privilege of voting at prcsi-
dental or congressional elections, or of ma
king their own judiciary. This is non-intcr-
ference with vengeance. A community to
be buried under mountain ofstrangc law,
and covered with constitution under which
they are not to have one single political right
Why this circumlocution This extension
ola mountain of irrelevant law, with the cx-
ccpton of the only one relevant and applica-
bic! Sir, it is the crooked, insidious and ru-
Silanmous way CT c'iccting the repeal CT the
Missouri compromise line. 1t includes all
law for the sake of leaving out one law and
effects repeal by an omission, and legislatcs
by an exception.
1t is a new way of repeating law, and a
bungling attempt to snuggle slavery into the
Territory, ard all the country ont to the Can
ada line and up to the Rocky Mountains.
The crooked line of this process is this ga
bolish the compromise line and extend the
|
ton recognizes slavery therefore, slavery is
established as soon as the line is abolished.
and the constitution extended and being put
there by the Constitution, it cannot be lcgis-
lated out" This is the English of this snug
Cling process: and certainly nothing more
unworthy of leSislation-more derogatory to
a legislative body-was ever attempted 10 be
made into law. Sir, the Constitution was not
made for Territories, but for States.
Its provisions arc all applicable to States,
and cannot be put in operation in Territories.
They cannot vote for President Or Vice Pres
ilent, ..or members of Congress, nor elect their
own officers, or prescribe the qualifications of
voters, or administer their own laws by their
| own Judges, shcri(ls and attorneys; and the
clause extending the Constitution to them is
cheat and an illusion, and trick to snug
gle slavery into the Territory. Nor is it in
tended that they shall have any legislative
right under the Constitution; even in relation
to slavery. They may admit it because it is
to be there by the Constitution; they cannot
cAClhuc IL Dcti!lSc TIC NouSlltutlOH puts IL
there. That is the argument; and it is a jug
Gle worthy of the trick of one egg under three
hats at the same tinc-and under neither at
any time Besides, the Constitution is an or
ganization. not an administrative act. 1t is
a code of principles, not of laws. Not q
clause in it can be executed except by virtue
of law made under it-not even the clause
for recovering fugitive slaves.
But am not yet done with the beauties of
this mode of repeating law by an exception.
There is a further consequence to be detected
in it. The Missouri Compromise consists of
of two distinct parts; first, an abolition Of
slavery in all the ancient Louisiana north and
west of Missouri: secondly, provision for the
recovery of fugitive slaves in the territory
made fee. by the omitted extension of this
section, both these parts arc repealed. a tract
of country larger than the old thirteen Allan
tic States, and bordering thousand miles on
the British domnions, is made an asylum for
fugitive slaves. There will be no law to re-
cover a slave from all that vast region. The
constitutional provision is limited to States: the
provision in the act of 1877 is limited to the
Northwest Territory: the second part of the
Missouri Compromise extended this right to all
the territory north and west of Missouri and
that being repealed that right of recovery is
lost. object to this on the part of the State
AIissouri-thc State to be most injured by
converting all the territory north and west of
her, quite out to the British line, into an asy-
lum for runaway slaves. The blunder cam
not be corrected lat least in the opinion Of
those who deny the constitutional power of
Congress to lcgislate on slavery in Territorcs)
by an act of Congress.
Then comes the reason for excepting the
Missouri Compromise from the extension
which is given to a mass of laws which are
not there, and denied to itself which is there.
If the reason had been because it was already
there, it would have been a logical and COM