The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1854-04-15

ready shown, beyond controversy, by the
records Of the legislature and by the journals
Of the Senate, that New York never did
| give her assent to the admission of Missouri
with slavery! Hence, | must be permitted
to say, in the polite language of her own re.
| solutions, that the statement that New York
! yielded her assent to the admission Of Mis-
souri, with slavery is in 'dcrogation Of truth =
and, secondly, the statement that such as
S nj was given in reliance upon the faithful
observance Of the Missouri compromise is
| equally in derogatlon of truth New York
never asscntcd to the admission Of Missouri
! as a slave State, never asscntcd to what she
now calls the Missouri compromise, never
observed its stpulations as compact, never
has been willing to carry it out but on the
contrary has always resisted it, as have dc.
monstrated by her own records.
| Mr.. President have before me other Jour
mails, records, and instructions, which prove
that New York was not only the free State
that rcpudiatcd the Missouri compr' m Sc of
1920 within twelve months from its date. !
will not occupy the time Of the Senate at this
late hour Of the night by referring 10 them,
unless some opponent Of the bill renders it
necessary. In that event, | may be able to
place other senators and their States in the
same uncnyiabl3 position in which the scna-
tor from New York has found himself and
his State.
! | think have shown, that to call the act
Of the 9th Of March, ls2O Il compact, bind
ing in honor, Is to charge the northern
| States of this Union with ao act of periidy
unparalleled in the history Of legislation or
Of civilization. have already ady,rted to
th, facts. that in the summer or 1870 Mis-.
sour; forIncl her constitution in conformity =
with the act orthe 9th Of March that !, was
nrcscnted to Congress AT the nnxt .rs.inn
that the Senate uarsed ioipt resolution de-.
claring her TO be one Of the Etst,a oc tho
Union. on an equal footing with the original
States. and that the Hons. of Represcnt;,
tive, rejected it. and refused TO allow her TO
com. into the L Uuion. because b.r constitution
did not prohibit slavery.
These facts created the necessity for new
COMPROMISE. the old one having failed Of lis
object which WAS. to brine Missouri into the
Union. At this pcriod in tL, order q,
eycnts-in February. ls2l when tbc excite.
mcnt was almost bcyom restrain, and q
great fundamental princjrlc. involving ia,
right Of the people Of the new States To reg.
ulnte their own domestic in,titutions y,s di.
yiding the Union into two great hostile par
tissEUcnry CLAY of Kentucky. came for.
ward with a new compronise. which had III,
ctIec, 10 ctange the issue. and make the re,
snt Of the controversy tnrn upon a d,T,rcn,
point He brought in a resolution for IN,
admission Of Missouri ipto IN. Union po, i,
pursuance of tbc act of 1920 not in ohcdi
ence 10 the understanding when il wa.
odoptrd and not with her constitution ~ il
had been formed in conformity with that act
hut hc proposcd TO admit Missouri, into tl,,
I-nion unon a Fundamental condition
which condition was to be in the nature of Q
solemn compact between ihe United State,
ON the one part and the State of Missouri or
the other part, and 10 which "fundamcnta
condition" the State Of Missouri was required
to declare her assent in the form Of "a sol
cmn public act Thi joint resolution pas
sc and was approved March ., 1921, an'
is known aa Mr.. Clay's Missouri cOmpro
II c in contradistinc i1ltot tat of 1890, ,whicl
was introduced into the Senate by Mr.
Thomas, of Illinois. In the month of June
1921, the legislature oi Missouri assembled
and passed the solemn public act" and fur
nishcd an authenticated copy thereof TO TIN
Pre- idcnt Of the United States, in compli
ancc with Mr.. Clay's compromise, or join
resolution. On August ~, 1921, Jane
Monroe, President ct the United States, is
sued his proclamation, 10 which, after rcci
ting TIE fact that on the "a OF March, 1921
Congress had passed a joint rcs'lution 'pro
viding for the admission OF the State of Mis-
souri, into the lnio", on certain condl
ton; y and that the general assembly of Mis-
= souri,, on the 18th OF June, having, "by
solemn public act, declared the assent OF sal'
State OF Missouri to the fundamental condi
ton contained in said Joint resolution" an
having furnished him with an authenticate
; copy thereof he, Fin pursuance of the rcsc
u luton of Congress Aforesaid declared tn
admiss on Of Congress to DO complete.
do not deem it necessary to discuss Il,
nncs,ion whether the conditions upon whic
. Missouri was admitted were wi.c or unwis,
u II is sufficient for my present purpose to 2,
u mark. that the Fundamental condition" ,
her admission related To certain clauses
), the constitution of Missouri in respect to til
u u migration of free negroes into that Sta c
r. causes similar to those now in force in I'll
y constitutions of Illinois and Indiana, an
~ perhaps other States; clauses similar to I'll
/. pto'isiNho VI ~" III ''' ~ ''.' '''N III III
q ny of the Old States OF the Union; and,
:, will add, clauses which, in my opinion, Mi
;, souri, had a right to adopt under the Const
:, tuition of the United States. 1t is no answ,
" to this position to say, that those clauses
i. the constitution OF Missouri were in Violate
:, Of the Constitution. II they did conili
- with the Constitution of the Urited State
- they we're void; II they were not IN coni'lc
= Missouri had right to put them there, an
n to pass all laws necessary to carry them int
:. effect. Whether such CO nilirt dld exist is
d question witch, 10y the CIn.tituton, ca
\ only be determined authoritativcly by u
h Supreme Court OF the U tied states. Co'
i, grc.s is not the appropriate and compctcl
:, tribunal to aljut icate and determine que
tons of conflict between the Constitution
- a State and that Of the United States la
n, Missouri been admitted without any cond'tic
=, or restriction, she would have had an oppo
>, tunity of vindicating her constitute al
- :, rightS in the Supreme Court--thc tribun
- created by the Constitution for that purpos
~ .. BY the condition imposed ON Mlsson'
Coryrcss M, only derived that State of