The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-02-15

izcns OF any other State, which should
adopt different limitations According
to this construction, il all the State
Constitutions, save one, prohibited Slave
ry, it would be in the power of that sin
gle State, by the admission Of the right
of its citizens to hold slaves. to commn,
nicate the same right to the citizens Of
all the other States within their own OK
elusive limits, in defiance of their own
constitutional prohibitions and to rem
der the absurdity still more apparent
the same construction would communi.
cate the most opposite and irrcconcila-
bic rights to the citizens Of different
States at the same time. 1t seems
therefore, to be undeniablc, upon any m.
tional Interpretation, that this clause
Of the Constitution communicated 10
rights i'll any State which its own citi-
zens do not enjoy; and that the citizens
of Louisiana, upon their admission into
the Union, in receiving the benefit of
this clause, would not enjoy higher or
more extensive rights than the citizens
of Ohio. 1t would communicate to
the former no right Of holding slaves,
except in States where the citizens al
ready possessed the same right under
their own State Constitutions and laws.
upon the whole, the memorialists
would most respectfully submit that the
terms Of the Constitution as well as the
practice Of the Governments under it,.
must. as they humbly conceive. entirely
justify the conclusion that Congress may
prohibit the further introduction Of
Slavery into its own territories and also
make such prohibition condition of toe
admission Of any new State into the
Union.
:" If the constitutional power Of Con
gress to make the proposed prohibition
be satisfactorily shown, the justice AID
policy of such prohibition seem to the
undersigned TO be supported by plain
and strong reasons The permission Of
Slavery in new State necessarily draws
after it an extension of that inequality
of representation, which already exists
in regard to the original States. 1t can
not be expected that those Of the origin
al States. which do not hold slaves. can
look on such an extension as being poll
tically just. As between the original
States the representation rests on com
pact and plighted faith and your mem.
olialists have no wish that that compact
should be disturbed, or that pli.htod
faith in the slightest degree violated
But the subject assumes an entirely diff
fcremt character. when new State Pre-
poses to be admitted. With her there
is no compact aud no faith plightcd; and
where is the reason that she should come
into the Union with more than an equal
share Of political Importance and poll
teal power Already the ratio of re.
presentation. established hy the Consti.
tuition. has given to the States holding
slaves twenty members of the House Of
Representatives more than they would
have been entitled to. except under tie
particular provision Of tie Constitution
In all probability this number will be
doubled in thirty years Under these
circumstances We deem it rot an I'M
reasonable expectation that the iuhaAi.
tants of Missouri should propose to come
''o w. o"',"' 'e,u''' e'"s ''0 VA. III
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;"e ~ '.'e ''i'o w ":'. '.,'' ''''.'Sn ~
alton of Congress We present it with
,p "" i va, , ', ,', lot,' VI liz; 80 '."p'
,l'o f, ~" ;''"' 9p'''' i"' IT
Lo,;s,a,nre ''01 " WV "'''''"'
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Your mcmorialsts were not without
the hope that the time had at length ar
rived when the Inconvenience and the
danger Of this description Of population
had become apparent in all parts Of the
country, and in all rarts If the civilized
world. 1t might have been hoped that
the new States themselves would lave
had such a view Of their own permanent
interests and prosperity as would Lave
led them to prohibit its extension and
increase. The wonderful increase and
prosperity Of the States north Of the
Ohio is unquestionably to be ascrbcd in
a great measure to the consequences of
the ordinance Of ,7S7 and few. indeed
are the occasions III the history Of ma.
tons in which so much can be done. by
a single act for the benefit Of future
generations. as was done by that oril-
nance, and as may now be done by the
Congress Of the United States We cp.
peal to the justice aud to the wisdom IF