Washington sentinel., 1854-02-24
TERMS OF ADVERTISING
This bill requires, before it operates on these


Indians, that a treaty shall have been made
! with the President of the United States, ceding
| to this government their possessions. / hope
| that treaty will he executed in good faith.
| trust that no improper means will be used for
the purpose of inducing them thus to give their
assent. With full and abiding confidence in
the integrity, as well as the humanity, of the
present Chief Magistrate, doubt not that it
will be faithfully executed. If this section re-
quires additional guards to protect the rights
Of the Indians, trust the committee will see
that it is done. Above all things let US deal
Justly and fairly with the remnant of these once
| mighty tribes.
Mr. President, there has been much said, III
the course Of this discussion, upon the effect OF
the ordinance of 1887. ] shall not attempt to-
day to discuss the question whether that ordi-
nance resulted in the exclusion of slavery from
the territory upon which it operated. know
the fact that the Territories of Illinois and In
diana were constantly making applications to the
federal government for the suspension of that
restriction. The senator from Ohio, Mr..
CHASE the other day, undertook to claim that
| that was considered by Congress as an irrepeal-
| able act, and therefore it was that, when these
constant applications were made to Congress,
| they were uniformly rejected. In order to es-
| tabiish that fact he quoted from report made
by the celebrated John Randolph, in the House
of Representatives. Now, ! submit to the
senator from Ohio whether it was very fair, in
quoting from that report of Mr.. Randolph, to
commence in the middle of sentence, and
publish that to the Senate and the world as the
whole Of what he said Now find, upon ex-
animation, that that portion of the report which
the senator has studiously avoided quoting, as
signs the reasons why the eighth article in the
ordinance Of 1881 ought not to be suspended.
will read that portion of the sentence which
the senator from Ohio has omitted:
That the rapid population of the State of Ohio
sufficiently evinces, in the opinion OF your com
mittee that the labor of slaves is not necessary 10
promote the growth and settlement Of colonies IN
that region. That this labor, demonstrably the
dearest Of any can only be employed to advantage
III the cultivation of products more valuable than
any known to that quarter Of the United States"
This is Immediately followed by what the
senator from Ohio quoted the other day. Now
this report assigns the reason and that reason
was found in the character of the soil, and in
the productions of that region of country.
think that, when the senator undertakes to quote
a report, he is not justifable in commencing in .
the middle of sentence, especially when the
first portion of it assigns the reason for the
opinion given. Now, sir, slavery existed IN
both of those Territories. By the census OF
1910. there were one hundred and sixty.eight
slaves in Illinois, and in 1920 there were nine
hundred and seventeen showing very clearly
that slaves must have been taken to that coun-
try between 1910 and 1920. These slaves were
taken there in defiance Of your ordinance OF
1897 When the people came to form their
State constitution and ask for admission into
the Union, they thought proper, in the exercise
of cs undnuinhle rights to exclude slavery. III
that ordinance had never been passed, i do nol
believe that slavery would have existed in any
of the States carved out Of that Territory. The
productions and climate Of that region would
| have rendered slave-abor Improbable, and
hence infer it would have been excluded. So
that, in my judgment, slavery was excluded by
| higher law than the ordinance of l787--Me
| lap Of fnaturc-the same law which expelled it
| from the New England States at the close OF
the last century The same law will, in my opin-
ion, exclude it from the Territories which you
now propose organizing.
Now. with regard to the compromise of 1920,
as it has been called, and the compromise Of
1850, / have very few remarks to make
was NO party to what is alleged to be the COM
promise of 1920 So far as | have been able
to discover, it was an ordinary act of legisla-
ton passed, grant you, under extraordinary
circumstances. 1t was supposed by many at
that day that the Union was in danger; and, in
order to obtain a majority in Congress for the
admission of Maine and Missouri into the
Union, what was called the Missouri compro-
mise was passed. How many laws have found
their way to the statute-book by compromise
of conflicting opinions? Upon every question
affecting local or sectional interests contra
riety of opinions is found to exist, and these
can only be reconciled by concession, by con-
cilation by compromise. / see nothing in the
act of 1920 which makes it more of q compact
than hundred other laws passed by Congress.
And even if it were compromise, as was no
party to it, am under no obligations to sup
port it. / cannot recognise the right of my
predecessors to settle questions for me, espe-
cially when they transcend the limits prescribed
by the Constitution. They had no more power
then than have now. They acted upon their
Nor do consider myself bound, as legislator
here, by the compromise of 1850. So far as
the legislation of that Congress touched the
question Of slavery, it undoubtedly abrogated
the act of 1920. The one established geo.
graphical line beyond which slavery should not
exist the other recognised no lines, but left
the whole question to the free and unbiased
Judgment Of the people,
The act of 1920 imposed unconstitutional
restrictions upon the sovereignty of the people.
The organization of New Mexico and Utah, in
| 1850, virtually repealed this restriction, and
| transmitted the whole question to the people.
| | grant YOU the law of 1920, and the series of
acts passed in 1850, were enacted under ex-
traordinary circumstances. On both occasions,
| it is said, the Union was in danger. That dan
| ger must have been much more imminent in
| 1850 than in 1920. At the latter period the
population of the United States was nine mill
lions; at the former twenty-three millions. In
the mean while the country was filed with POI
litical anti-slavery agitators, who were con-
stantly engaged in. infuriating the popular
- - l.
the wisest men in the country began to despair
Of the republic. Reckless fanaticism seemed
to be standing, with q torch, ready to burn
down that beautiful temple of liberty erected
by the patriotism Of our revolutionary fathers.
The storm which had been gathering for years
was about to burst upon our heads, carrying
desolation and ruin throughout the land Sec