Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1854-02-04

parties shall have been duly convicted shall be forever
prohibited"
mains in force slavery be excluded from the pro-
posed Territories The BILL reported by the committee
repeats to the extent only of allowing the people living
within the limits Of such States may be formed out OF
said Territories to have not to have slavery their
constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission
and also Of extending to the people living within the
limits Of said Territories before organized into States the
like privilege. From the provisions in the bill above al
luded to will appear manifest that unless the eighth
section Of the Missouri Compromise act is repealed
citizen living within slayehoding State emigrate to
said Territories and carry along with him his slaves until
after the people living within the shall have met
together and through their appropriate representatives
decided whether slavery shall exist not Under this
state of the case could doubt that the decision
would be against the SHAREHOLDERS for the laws up to
this point would exclude all Shareholders from the Terri
tories whilst would admit abolitioniss freesolers
foreigners and all others opposed slavery the right
decide the question would be confined alone the
nents of slavery and to those opposed to its coming into
the Territories.
That this would render the provisions of the bill
ported by the committee wholly imperative, far they
intended to benefit the people living within the limits
of the sayeholding States, there be shadow Of
doubt and amount to the leaving of the whole question
far any practical result is be attained precisely
it exists under the provisions of the Missouri Com
promise act promises the substance but only
the shadow to the people of the South " 1t keeps the
word of promise the and breaks it to the hope
whilst all that is real and valuable is left to be APP
proprated by the people living within the limits Of the
States IN which no slavery exists The objections taken
by me to the bill entertained by every Southern
man. SO far as learn in both Houses of Congress,
whether Wing Democrat, and to these offered
the amendment which to have given much Of
fence to you and which, have before said, sub
sequenty in substance adopted by the committee and
Incorporated into the bill.
That amendment repeats much of the Missouri Com
promise act forever prohibits slavery north of thirty
six degrees thirty minutes north latitude by declaring
he cd
rtory contemplated by this act to any other Terri
tory of the United States but that the citizens Of the
several States Territories shall be at liberty to take
and hold their slaves within any Of the Territories of
United States, Of the States be formed therefro
if the said entitled aforesaid and approved ore-
said had neyor been passed" This amendment does
nothing more nor less than repeal the Missouri Compro
mise act so lar as slavery Is concerned and leaves the
whole question, as to the right of the citizens of the
savehoding States carry their slaves into said Terri
tory just it would have been if the restriction
tanned in the Missouri Compromise act had never been
created by Congress- in other words it declares Con-
gressonl nonintererence with the subject of slavery
both il the States and Territories of the United States
and secures to the citizens of the slavehodng States
equal right with the citizens Of the onslavehoding
States to into said Territory and when there be
secure IN their and property whether their
perty consist in slaves or in any thing else.
Now, the amendment agreed upon by the committee,
and about which consulted before 1t offered,
not only received my entire appreciation but before
remarked, in substance that previously offered by
me- 1t declares that the Constitution, and all the laws
OF the United States which not locally nappcabe
shall have the force and effect within the said Ter
rory OF Nebraska elsewhere within the United States,
except the eighth section of the preparatory the ad
mission of Missouri into the Union, approved March 9th,
1920 which superseded by the principles of the leg
aton of 1850 commonly called the Compromise measures
and is hereby declared imperative"
You will not deny that the amendment offered by me,
and this afterwards agreed upon by the
mtee are in substance the same They both alike
1T he ia cal
culated to agtae the question of slavery the other
not be less likely to do so.
And yet, because opposed the bill, originally
ported by the committee and proposed remedy its de-
fects by offering amendment which is approved of by
the whole Southern delegation in both Houses of Con-
gress, you have not only denounced agitator,
and called upon oil the editors Of the State to clash
into proper respect for the sentiments Of the party that
elected me-, but charged with "associatng myself
with Mr. Sumner of Massachusetts, (whom you style
most pesent Abolitionist, for the unmanly purpose
of embarrassing the National Administration and with
assaung the noblest achievement Of Mr. Clay, and
tempting to the majestic proportions Of the proudest
monument Of his greatness"
You will surely, Mr.. Editor perceive that if have
attempted to embarrass the National Administration,
Judge Douglass and the committee the head of which
he presides have attempted to do the thing by in
cooperating into their bill the amendment which proposes
to do precisely what mine did, and that if ! agi-
tator he and those with whom he is associated
be considered less And, unless greatly misin
formed the President and his Cabinet agtators ALSO
LOT II Is every Were mere SAID by his friends that he and
they are in favor of total repeal of the Missouri
promise act and that they give their hearty approval
the amendment agreed upon by the committee
So far regards the charge that assaultng the
noblest achievement of Mr. Clay" only say that
whilst venerate the memory of that great man, and
would as far any living protect his fame and
his great reputation for patriotism and devotion his
country against every assault yet, when consider the
circumstances under which the Missouri compromise
passed. the necessity which drove him propose and
urge upon Congress its adoption the best he could do
for the Shareholder at the time; and when further
slider the injustice it does to the citizens of all the slave
holding States in depriyng them of equal privileges with
the citizens of the other States wit ofemgratng the
Territories Of the United States and carrying along with
them their property and when there OF being shielded by
the broad mantle Of the Federal Constitution, which
throws its mgs alike around the citizens Of all this great
Republic, whether in the States Territories, and pro-
tects them both in their persons and property and when
further consider that the great principle settled in the
compromise of 1880 that of Congressional noninter
ference with the subject of slavery both in the States
and Territories and that Mr. Clay himself was the author
of this principle, feel that am doing no injustice to
his memory or to his fame when urge its application to
the Territories in question.
You will now understand that my object was not to
agtae to embarrass the National Administration but
to carry out principle settled by the compromise mea-
sures Of 1850, by applying it to the Territories lying
north Of 80 degrees 30 minutes of north latitude That
the bill originally reported by the committee did not
fully do this is evidenced not only in the fact that it
not approved by the members from the aveodng States
but that the committee themselves afterwards amended it
by incorporating into it the principles of the amendment
offered by The Southern members saw as all others
must see that whilst the BILL reported by the commit
tee proessed to sustain the rights of the South was
IN effect betrayal OF them, and surrender of
every Shareholder TO be sacrificed the Of his more
willy and cunning Northern opponents If to arrest such