Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-01-07
THE rEaalroay OF NEBRASKA.


A copy Of the Report presented in the Sem
ate on Wednesday, by Mr.. Douglas, from the
Committee on Territories, in explanation Of the
bill reported from the same committee for or
ganizing the Territory Of Nebraska:
REPORT.
The Committee on Territories, to which was
referred bill for an act to establish the Ter
rit0ry 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 q substitute for the
bill.
The principal amendments which your COM
mittee deem il their duty to commend to the
favorable action Of the Senate, in special re-
port, are those in which the principles eetab-
lished by the Compromise measures Of 1850, 80
far "a they ara applicable to Territorial organ
ization, are proposed TO be affirmed and carried
into practical operation within tho limits Of the
new Territory
The wisdom OF these measures is attested not
less by their salutary and beneficial effects in
allaying sectional agitation and restoring peace
and harmony to on irritated and distracted
people, than by the cordial and almost univer-
sal 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 fur more
comprehensive and enduring eject than the
mere adjustment Of the difficulties arising out
Of the recent acquisition Of Mexican territory.
They were designed to establish certain great
principles, which would not only Furnish adc-
qnate remedies for existing evils, but in all
time To come, avoid the perils of similar agi-
tati0n, by Withdrawing the question OF Slavery
from the halls Of Congress- and the political
arena, and committing it TO tho 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 tho settled policy Of the Govern
ment, sanctioned by the 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-
tion as did New Mexico and Utah when those
Territories were organized. II was disputed
point whether Slavery was prohibited by law
in the country acquired from Mexico On the
u, y
ton, that Slavery having been prohibited by
the enactments Of Mexico, according to the
laws If nations we received the country
with all its local laws and domestic institutions
attached to the soil SO far rs they did not con.
ffict with the Constitution of the United States;
and that 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 right to remove
to any territory of the Union, and carry his
property with hin, 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 tho
fact that there were many persons, on both
sides of the legal controversy, who were un-
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 ia 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 aud protected slave
property in these territories, were unwilling to
trust the decision of thee 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
10 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 of Nebraska when the Indian laws shall
be withdrawn and the country thrown oren to
emigration and settlement By the eighth sec
ton of An act to authorize the people Of the
Missouri Territory to form Constitution and
State Government, and for the admission Of
such State into the Union ON an original foot
lug with the original States, and to prohibit
Slavery in certain Territories approved March
6, 1920, it was provided, "That in oil 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-
templaicd by this act, Slavery and involuntary
servitude, otherwise than in the punishment OF
crimes whereof the parties shall have been dolly
convicted, shall be and is hereby, forever pro
hibited: Provided, aiways, 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 az
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 ia
the Nebraska country by uaiid enactment. The
decision OF this question involves the constitu-
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 il invested with no rightful an.
thority to legislate upon the subject of Slavery
in the Territories. the eighth section of the act
preparatory TO the admission Of Missouri IL null
and void; while the prevailing sentiment in a
large portion Of the Union sustains the doctrine
that the Constitution OF the United States Sc
cures to every citizen an unaienablc right to
move into any Of the Territories with his prop-