Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1854-05-05

act not only according to my own cherished |
convictions of duty. but according to the Of !
ten declared convictions Of the General As /.
scnbly Of my State.
The inyiulabiity of that compromise line
has often been declared hy the General As |
scmbly and, us late as lS47, in these
word, -
Re,Dlr,d, That the peace, permHncucy, and well
fare of the National Onion depend upon strict adj
hcrcncc to the letter and spirit of the eighth section
uf the act of Congress the United STATES, entitled
An act to authorize the people oi the Missouri ter
ritory to form Constitution and state government,
and for the admission Of such State into the lnon
on an equal footing with the original states, and to
prohibit slavery in certain territories" approved
March u, ls2O.
with an instruction to the Senators, and
request to the Representatives, in Congress,
to vote accordingly.
d" The peace, permanency and welfare OF
the Union depend upon strict adherence to
the Missouri Compromise Of 1920 So re-
solved the General Assembly of Missouri as
late as lS47. | believed the Assembly was
right then Ibelieve it now-and so believing,
shall adhere" to the compromise now, as
then, in spirit and in letter"
| Should oppose any movement to impair
that compromise, made in an open, direct,
manly manner much more shall | oppose it
if made in a covert, indirect, and unmanly
way The bill or bills before US undertake
to accomplish their object without protesting
it-upon reasons which are contradictory
and unfounded-in terms which are ambi-
cuous and Unconstitutional bv throwing on
| other. the responsibility of it's own act.
1t processes not to interfere with the
sovereign right of the people to legislate for
/ themselves and the very first line of this
solemn profession throws upon them horse
| load of law, which, they have no right to re-
! fuse. or time to read, or money to purchase,
or ability to understand. 1t throws upon
them all the laws of the United States which
are not locally inappllcable and that COM
| prphends all that are not specially made for
other places also, it gives them the Consti-
! tuition of the United States, but without the
privilege of voting at presidential or congress
>ioml elections, or Of making their own Judi
riarv. This is non-interterencc with n
vengeance \ community to be buried under
a mountain Of strange law, and covered with
a Constitution under which they arc not to
have one single political right.
Why this circumloCution this extension
of a mountain of irrelevant law, with the eX-
ccuton ol the only one relevant and appli-
| cabcl Sir it is the cooked, InSidiOus and
! uusillanimOus way of et1cctlng the repeal of
tn, Missouri Compromise line. Ii includes
all law for the sake of leaving out one law a;
and effects repeal 10y an omission, and lcgls-
latcS hv an exception. t Is new way oi re-
rcalin,r law. and Il lungliug attempt to
smurrlr slavery into territory, and all the
country out to the Canada line and up the
Rocky Mountains The crooked line Of this
smuggling process is this Abolish the
comrromisc line, and extend the constitution
over the country the constitution recognises
slavery therefore, slavery is established as
soon a. the line i, abolished, and the consti-
tuition extended: and being put there by the
constitution, it cannot be lcgiSatcd out.
This is the English of this smuggling process
and certainly nothing more unworthy of L.
si,lation-morc derogatory to legislative
body--was ever attempted to be made into
: law. Sir, the constitution was not made iol
territories. but for States Its provisions are
all applicable to States. and cannot be put II
operation in territories. They cannot yot'
for President, or Vice President, or member
of Congress, nor elect their own officers, OF
prescribe the qualifications of voters. or ad
minister their own laws by their own Judges
sicrit>. anc attorneys; and the clause extend
g iug the constitution to them is Il cheat and al
v illu.;on. aud a trick to smugglc slavery int
t the territory Nor is it intended that the.
. shall have any legislative right under tn
constitution, even in relation to slavery
:, They may admit it because it is to be thcr
. by the constitution they cannot exclude 1t
: because tn. constitution puts it there Tha
o is the argument and it is a iuggle worth
a of the trick of one cgg under three hats a
the same time-and under neither at an
= time Besides, the constitution is an OF
c ganic. not an administrative act. 1t is
n code of principles, not of laws. Not claus
e in it can he executed except by virtue Of
l. law made under it-not even the clause fc
n recovering fugitive slaves
= But am not done yet with the beauties
1f this mode of repeating law by an exception
l. There Is further consequence to he detecte
y in it. The Missouri Compromise consists
II two distinct parts first, an abolition
Il slavervin all the ancient Louisiana north ar
le west d Missouri secondly, provision f
'e the recovery of fugitive slaves in the territ
I'd rv made free BY the omitted extension
r this section, both these parts are repealed.
he tract Of country larger than the old thirtet
t, Atlantic States, and bordering a thousar
n miles On the British dominlons, is made q
IL ASYLUM for fugitive slaves There will be l
OF law to recover a slave from all that vast r
IS gion
a The constitutional provision is limited
States the provision in the act of l7sT
:.
th second part Of the Missouri Compromise e
Q tended tiis right to all the territory nor
nv and west of Missouri; and that being T
IN pealcd, that right Of recovery is lost o
as ect to this on the part of the State of MI
e. suuri-;ho State TO be most injured by co
Sc yrrting all the territory north and west
ce her. uLitc out to the British line, into
IS. ASYLUM for runaway slaves. The blund
nd caurut he corrected (at least in the opini
N Of those who deny the constitutional power
he Congress to lcgislate on slavery in tcrrtori,
it. by an act Of Congress
ma Then comes the reason for excepting t
he Missouri Compromise from the extensi
ite which is given to mass of laws which II
lrs not there, and denied to itself which is the
II the reason had been because it was alrca
his there, il would have been logical and 60
ut urchcnshle reason but that is not the cat
III assigned and those which are assigned |
m equally numerous and curious, and wort
=, of examination. First, because it was sup
cd seeded bv certain acts of 1850; next, that
'h. is inconsistent with those acts then that
," is imperative; and finally that il never v
,ur there, being dead in its birth under the u
Al -titution, and void from the beginning
lsc Let us look into these reasons, SerIdtin,
cs, the lawyers say and first of supersesslon.
cSs is said that the measures of 1850 supersec
m this COM lrolniSe of lS20. If 50, why treat
aid now rs still existing, and therefore to he
pe- pcaled bvan exception in order to get rid
Ike it, fit was repealed in 1850, why do 1t o
aid again in sj4 Why kill the dead Bu
scd was not superseded but acknowledged Il
ely confirmed by every speaker in 1890 that
lad fcrred to the subject, and by the very act {
and mentionedit This being matter OF fact,
has proven hv all sorts of testimOny-parol, W
nod f,, hn