The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1854-01-24
REPORT OF THE cOMmIrrEEoN TERRITORIES

III inc OcUhlc OH tuc 1lO lustlnt. MT tfDth
LASS, from tho Committee on Territories, made
the following report:
Tho Committee on Territories, 10 which was
referred bill for an act to establish tho Ter
lritorY Of Nebraska, have given the same thai
I sorious and 1onDcf!iYo cSnsfucfsrf5n wrfcnfl
great importance demands, and beg leave Il
report il back 10 tho Senate with various a.
mendmcnts, in the form of substitute for The
bill
The principal nmondmonts which your com
mttoe doom it their duty TO command TO tn,
favorable action OF the Senate, in special re
port, are those in which the principle establish
ed by the compromise measures of 1850, so fai
as they arc applicable to territorial organiza
tion, or proposed TO be affirmed and carried in
to practical operation within the limits of the
new Tcrr;tory.
Tho wisdom Of those measures is attended
not less by their salutary and beneficial effects
in allaying sectional agitation and restoring
peace and harmony to an irritated and dis
tracted people, than by the cordial and almost
universal appreciation with which they have
been received and sanctioned by the whole
country. In tho judgement of your commit
toe, those measures were intended to have Il
far more comprehensive ard enduring effect
than the mere adjustment of the difficulties a.
rising out ofthe recent acquisition of Mexican
TERRITORY. They wcrc designed to establish
certain great principles, which would not only
furnish adequate remedies for existing evils,
but in all time to come, avoid the peris of n
similar agitation, by Withdrawing the quos-
tion of slavery from tho halls of Congress and
tho political arena, and committing il to tho
arbItrament of those who wero Immediately
interested in, and alone responsible for, its
| consequences. With tho view of conforming
their action to what they regard the settled
policy of tho governments sanctioned by the
| approving voice of tho American people, your
committee have deemed it their duty to ncor-
porate and porpetuate in their territoriai bill
| the principles and spirit of those measures
Ifany other considerations were necessary TO
render the propriety of this course imperative
upon the committee, they may be found in the
fact that the Nebraska country occupies tho
same relative position to the slavery question
as did New Mexico and Utah when those Ter
ritories were organized. 1t was a disputed
| point whether slavery was prohibited by the
law in tho country acquired from Mexico
On the one hand, it was contonded, as a legal
proposition, that slavery having been prohibit
ed by tho enactmants of Mexico, according 10
| the laws of nations we received the country
with all its local laws and domestic institutions
attached to tho soil, so far as they did not con
| ilict with the constitution of tho United States
and that law, either protecting or prohibiting
| slavery, was not repugnant to that instrument,
os was evidenced by tho fact that one half of
the States of the Union tolerated, while the
other half prohibited. tho institution ofslavery
| On the other hand, it was insisted that by vir-
| tue of the constitution of tho United States,
every citizen had rig hit TO remove TO any Ter
rilory of the Union, and carry his property
| with him, under protection of law whether that
| t.I IN, frhn
difficulties arising from this diversity Of opin-
ion wero greatly aggravated by tho fact That
there were many persons, on both sides of the
legal controversy who was unwilling to abide
tho decision of the courts on the matters in
dispute. Thus, among those who claimed that
the Mexican laws were still in forco, and, con-
sequcnty, that slavery was already prohibited
in those Territories by valid enactment, thcro
were many who insisted upon Congress ma
king tho matter certain by cnacting another
prohibition In liko manner some of those
who argued that the Mexican laws had ceased
10 have any binding force, and that tho consti-
tuition tolerated and protected slave property
in those Territories, were unwilling 10 trust
tho decision of the courts upon that point, and
insisted that Congress should by direct enact
mept remove all legal obstacles to tho intro
duction of slaves into those Territories.
hDuCn DclllH tue VI luO COlltIOftISy
in respect to the territory acquired from Mcxi-
co, similar question has arisen in regard to tho
right TO hold slaves in tho proposed Territory
of Nebraska, when the Indian laws shall be
withdrawn and tho country thrown open to
emigration and settlement. BY tho Sth sec
ton of"An act to authorize the people of tho
Missouri Territory to form constitution and
state government, and for tho admission of
such state into tho Union on an original foot
ing with the original States, and, to prohibit
slavery in certain Territories approved March
6, 1920, it was proyided: "That in all terrific
ry ccdod by France 10 the United States un-
der the name of Louisiana which lies north of
thrty-six degrees and thirty minutes north lat
itude, not including within tho limits of the
State contemplated by this act, slavery and
involuntary servitude otherwise than in the
punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall
have boen duly convicted, shall be, aud is here
by forever prohibited: Prorided, dtcdys,
That any person escaping iuto tho same, from
whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in
any State or Territory of tho United Statos,
such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and
conveyed TO tho person claiming his or her la
Dor OF service as aforesaid
Under tho section, as in tho case of the |
Mexican law in New Mexico and Utah, il is q
disputed point whether slavery is prohibited in
the Nebraska country by caiid enactment
The decision of this question involves the con- |
slitutional power of Congress to pass laws
prescribing and regulating the domestic nsti- |
tutions of the various Territories of the Union |
In the opinion Of those eminent statesmen who
hold that Congress is invested with no right |
ful authority to legislato upon tho subject of
slavery in tho Territories, the eighth section of
the act preparatory to tho admission of Missou
ri is null aud void, who tho prevailing senti |
mont in large portion of the Union sustains
the doctrine that tho constitution of tho Untcd
States secures to cvcry citizen an unalienable |
right TO moyo into any of tho Territories with
his property, of Whatever kind and description, |
and to hold and onjoy the same under the sane
ton of law. Your committee do not feel them |
selves called upon to enter into the discuss
ion of these controverted questions. Thoy in |
volved tho same grave issue which produced
the agitation, the sectional strife, and tho fear
ful struggle Of 1850 As Congress doomed it |
wise and prudentto refrain from deciding the
matter in controversy then olthor by affirming
or ropeaing the Mexican laws or by an act
f ,,,t. r,ft