The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-01-12
THE TERRITORY OF NEBRASKA

suffer fines and imprisonment but to receive
gold medals.
TIE TERRITORY OF NEBRASKA
A copy of the Report presented in the Sen.
ate on wednesday, by Mr.. Douglas, from the
committee ON Territories in explain alton of the
bill reported from the same committee for or
ganizng the Territory Of Nebraska:
REPORT
The Committee on Territories, to which was
referred a bill for an act to establish the Ter
ritory Of Nebraska, have given the same that
serious and deliberate consideration which its
great Importance demands, and beg leave to
report it back to the Senate, with various
amendments, in the form of substitute for the
bill
The principal amendments which your COM
mittee deem it their duty to commend to the
favorable action of the Senate, in a special re-
port, are those in which the principles estab-
llshed by the Compromise measures of 1850 so
far as they are applicable to Territorial organ
ization, are proposed to be affirmed and carried
into practical operation within the limits of the
new Territory.
The wisdom of those measures is attested not
less by their salutary and beneficial effects in
allaying sectional agitation and restoring peace
AID harmony to an irritated and distracted
Ieople, than by the cordial and almost univer-
cal appreciation with which they have been re-
ceived and sanctioned by the whole country
In the judgment of your committee those
measures were intended to have a far more
comprehensive and enduring effect than the
mere adjustment of the d faculties arising out
of the recent acquisition Of Mexican territory
They were designed to establish certain great
principles, which would not only furnish ade-
quate remedies for existing eyils but, in all
time to come, avoid the perils of a similar agi-
tation, by Withdrawing the question of Slavery
from the halls of Congress and the political
arena, and committing it to the arbitrament of
those who were Immediately interested in and
alone responsible for its consequences With
the view of conforming their action to what
they regard the settled policy of the Govern
ment, sanctioned by tho approving voice of the
American people, your committee have deemed
it their duty to incorporate and perpetuate in
their Territorial bill the principles and spirit
OF those measures.
If any other considerations were necessary
to render the propriety of this course impera-
tive upon the committee, they may be found in
the fact that the Nebraska country occupies
the same relative position to the Slavery ques-
ton as did New Mexico and Utah when those
Territories were organized 1t was disputed
IN the country acquired from Mexico On the
enc hand, it was contended, as legal PROPOSE
ton, that Slavery having been prohibited by
the enactments of Mexico, according to the
laws Of nations we received the country
with all it's local laws and domestic institutions
attached to the soil so far as they did not con-
| fict with the Constitution of the United States
and that a law either protecting or prohibit
| ing Slavery was not repugnant to that instru-
ment as was evidenced by the fact that one
half of the States of the Union tolerated
while the other half prohibited, the institution
of Slavery. On the other hand it was insisted
that, by virtue of the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, every citizen had a right to remove
to any territory of the Union, and carry his
| property with him, under the protection of law
whether that property consisted in persons or
things The difficulties arising from this diver
sity Of opinion were greatly aggravated by the
fact that there were many persons, on both
sides of the legal controversy, who were I'M
/ willing to abide the decision of the courts on
! the matters in dispute. Thus, among those
who claimed that the Mexican laws were still
in force, and consequently that Slavery was
already prohibited in those territories by valid
enactment, there were many who insisted upon
| Congress making the matter certain by enact
ing another prohibition. In like manner, some
of those who argued that the Mexican laws
had ceased to have any binding force, and that
the Constitution tolerated and protected slave
property in those territories, were unwilling to
trust the decision of the courts upon that point,
and insisted that Congress should, by direct
enactment remove all legal obstacles to the in
PRODUCTION of slaves into those territories
Such being the character of the controversy
in respect to the territory acquired from Mexi-
CO. similar question has arisen in regard to
the right to hold slaves in the proposed Terri
tory Ct Nebraska, when the Indian laws shall
be withdrawn and the country thrown open to
emigration and settlement. BY the eighth Sec
ton of An act to authorize the people of the
Missouri Territory to form a Constitution and
State Government and for the admission of
such State into the Union on an original foot
ing with the original States, and to prohibit
/ Slavery in certain Territories, approved March
s, 1920, it was provided, "That in all territory
ceded by France to the United States under
the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thir-
ty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude,
not included within the limits of the State con-
templated by this act, Slavery and involuntary
servitude, otherwise than in the punishment Of
crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly
convicted shall be and is hereby, forever pro
hibited Provided, aItoayt That any person
escaping into the same, from whom labor or
service is lawfully claimed in any State or Ter
ritory Of the United States such fugitive may
| be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the per-
son claiming his or her labor or service as
aforesaid"
Under this section, as in the case of the Mex
lean law in New Mexico and Utah, it is dis
puted point whether Slavery is prohibited in
the Nebraska country by Udlid enactment. The
decision Of this question involves the oonstitu-
tional power of Congress to pass laws prescri
bling and regulating the.domestic institutions Of
| the various Territories of the Union. In the
opinion Of those eminent statesmen who hold
that Congress is invested with no rightful au-
thority to legislate upon the subject of Slavery
in the Territories, the eighth section of the act
preparatory to the admission of Missouri is null
and void; while the prevailing sentiment in
large portion of the Union sustains-the doctrine
that the Constitution of the United States Sc
cures to every citizen an unaIienable right to
move into any Of the Territories with bis prop
erty, of whatever kind and description, and to
hold and enjoy the same under the sanction of
law.
Your committee do not feel themselves call
cd upon to enter into the discussion of these
controverted questions. They involve the same
grave Issues which produced the agitation, the
sectional strife and the fearful struggle of 1850
AS Congress deemed it wise and prudent to re-
frain from deciding the matter in controversy
then, either by affirming or repeating the Mex
lean laws, or by an act declaratory of the true
intent of the Constitution, and the extent of
the protection afforded by it to slave property
IN the Territories, so your committee are not
prepared now to recommend departure from
the course pursued on that memorable occa-
sion, either by affirming or repeating the eighth
section of the Missouri act or by any act de-