The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-06-28

and the Anglo-Saxon mind will not be contend
ed until it is done We have acquired posses
SONS on the Pacific we need roads th,lher tt
protect them We have planted our banner
west of the Rocky Mountains i; we need Amer
Ican muscle to hold them aloft Between US
and them interpnse Nebraska and Kansas The
sovereignty is ours-ihe possession must fol-
low BY organizing these Territories, we have
American law, created Gy .4mer,con soiii, from,
the Atlantic to the Pacific We have a safe
conduit for our overland emigration. We have
peace with the Indian tribes We have increas
ed commercial advantages, and il, creased wealth
as a nation.
might here meet the objections that have
been raised to the organization of tUo Terrific
lies instead of one. The uni just charge has
been made, on this floor, by several, that it was
the scheme OF southern men whereby one Of the
States to be formed out of these Territories was
TO be slave State. | desire to call the attan-
ton OF those who make such charge to the
history of the bill. Do they not know that the
delegates sent here by the people interested in
the organization Of that country propose, this
DIVISION : DO they not know that the sZ, of
the territory TO be organized requires division
simllar To that desIgnaled? Have they studied
the topography of the country, the character of
the soil, and the climate | ,row not, or they
would not have brought forward such objec-
tions
Let me remark that the forteth parallel Of lat
i.udr, which is proposed as boundary between
the two Terrli orles, is nearly on the line divid-
ing the waters of the Platte and Kansas rivers
line soh,ch Nature has run for he boundary
OF States; line that will insure to each Terrific
ry common interest, each having rich and
fertile valley for its commercial center; a line
that will be ot immense Importance to the pros
perty and commerce of Iowa; line that will
place the commercial and political center of
Nebraska on parallel which the great COM
Inercal emporiums of the Atlantic, and the har-
Dor o. San Francisco. To me, then, as an Iowa a
Representative, as we'll as TO the people that are
now settled in Nebraska and Kansas and those
hereafter to settle there, the division, the bound.
ary, the separate organic ,tions are all peculiar
ly acceptable. The people Of one of the Terri
tories will have common commercial and poll
tical center in the valley ofthe Platte. The
people of the other, in the valley of the Kansas
A community of interest will manifest itself in
every way. Sectional interests will not find
foothod.
That the organization oftllese Territories will
have most beneficial influence upon the char
acter of the West, none deny. With a
population and commercial influence that is fast
approaching a majority, the Mississippi valley
|
commercial power. To this end should all
western men aim not in the spirit of sectional
ism, but in the spirit of laudabIe enterprise -
/ And what, let ME ask, will much expedite
the accomplishment of our desires, as the ex-
| tension of The boundaries Of our settlements p
Every year adds TO the population of the West,
and diminshes the proporionate population of
the East Yet every legitimate Inducemeni
should be neld out to encourage greater emf
grafton, not alone for the political benefits tina,
the West are to derive, but for the general wei
fare and happiness of The nation. The PROPOSE
ton now pending, of all others, is the most
important to that end You that are young, look
to Minnesota With advantages not equal to
either Nebraska or Kansas, her organization has
added tens of thousands TO our population, anG
millions to our wealth and commerce. You tha,
are older, look to the effects ofthe organizations
of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. You tha
have felt the silver frosts of Heaven on youl
brow, witness the results of the first politica
organization west Of the Alleghanies Are no
all these teachings of no ordinary character p
Are they not lessons that should be studied b,
all statesmen
| come now to consider, for few moments
the principle Of self g'pernmem as recognized
in b 9TH the Senate bill and the Substitute
; principle which ori ginated prior to the Revolu
heart. Born, myself, in the State of New York
within the pale of government, that recogniz {
this principle, eagrated lS years ago, to the
Territory OF Wisconsin Most of my manhood
has been spent in Territory, and yet l have
never perceived the reason why | was not jus
as good American, just as good citizen
just as warm a lover Of liberty in the one as il
the other. Although, by conventional lines,
might be Temporarily deprived of the privilege
of choosing Chief Magistrate, one who, by
the anomalous form of our Government, is 1
President of States well as President of tn.
people yet never thou Iht myself without tn,
, pale of popular sovereignty or deprived of tn,
power to designate the form OF institution t.
which ! sh ,nld cormit my power. A. al
; American citz,n, | claimed that protection
which must be guaranteed to ali As ciize,
of Territory, | exercised the right OF choosin!
my peers. Although, in the nature of our in
siiutions, the territorial officers must be ap
pointed partly by Executive and partly by po
= pular will yet never has absotate po,cer bee
= conferred upon any one Individual, mr. an it b
Z on any one that may be appointed under tn
provisions of this bill. And here let me remark
: that the practice OF former Presidents is send
J ing citizens from the states t, fill official place
u in the Territorics is fast becoming obs 2e:e,
much so, that it is an crception II the rule whe
. . one not accep' able to The people is appointed
u and t. at these exceptions should be less fire
> quent in all Territories, is my earnest desire
But in the bill before us, a principle tar abov
that of choosing our Offices is involved a pril
ciple which governs the very rule by whc
officers are appointed principle that regulate
the tenor of our property, our happiness, and a
our social and political rights My coIleagu
Mr.. Cook, in his published speech, says: tn;
the provision of this bill which repeaIs the eig,
csI.- Il c.L
g vested rights =" Does he intend, thereby
say that person, not a stakeholder, is prohibi
ed from settling in Nebraska or Kansas, HI
illustration, if it means anything means this
for what other" vested rights has le man
the property If the United States than another
# He talks about "ves ed rights under the prem
n ton laws. Let me ask him, if he were Ii
T. owner of slaves, whether he should, tn
Y account, b. deprived of the benefits of
, preemption law that it passed for the benefit
a every citizen' And yet, his very arguneI
) implies that such should be the case
g As much as regret the existence of SLAYER
as injurious as believe il to be to the p lite;
70 ins itutions of the country where il exists, an
q fraught with as great evils as are discussion
upon to aftc. the Territories We propose
: organize. Ify you admit, sir, as northern ma
that the spirit of enterprise and the sp rlt of Ell
q igration is weaker in the North than in II
Is Soath, then perchance, slavery nigh, a"qu
J. foothold in those Territories But where
,r the northern man that will ad nit this A ga
grant, tor the sake of argument, that it wou
W result in thee eating Of an additional slave Sta'
\. I ask every Abplil,onist in the country # ii
| condition of the prs seut slave populltipn wou
n be worse than il is Would his burde
" be increased ? Would his letter b. tightens
p In fine, sir, dars til a say that one more toou
- be adied 20 ihe numterP lncreas. of nuube
' | follows prosperity in some instances, and tng
70 IN this, tar the ameii0ratlon of tn, 81
condition Of the slave would add To the leng
e of life; but 10 increase in the numbers t0
|, 30 rn, that is impossible. Were th II, | 81
e the worsr f1a OF the Apo'itinnGst5 t. be- real
, zed, BY the passage ot this btll cannot s
o how the principle they press II woe tte 4
n to be weakened VINO d,es no. k III II
n the number Of slaves decrease in State, II
:. period of final ab"Itii"n al slavery apprDacke
| Look at Massachusetts Cnnnpcticut, aud Ne
y. York as evidence of tpp fact 81 might | no
/. point TO Maryland, Nr-inia, Kentucky a;
:, Missouri, had not the exc .tement and asitati'
n OF nothern Abotsoaisls put off the dry OF Ell
rs ancipaion.
Ru, t. tine practical operations o. this b!