Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-01-31
THE NEBRASKA BILL.
In Senate, Monday, January 80, 1854.

The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole,
proceeded to the consideration of the bill to
organize the Territory Of Nebraska.
Mr.. DOUGLAS. Mr.. President, when /
proposed, on Tuesday last, that the Senate
should proceed to the consideration OF the bill
to organize the Territories OF Nebraska and
kapzas, it was my purpose only to occupy ten
or fifteen minutes in explanation OF Its provi-
sions. desired to refer to two points; first,
az to those provisions relating to the Indians,
and second to those which might be supposed
to bear upon the question of Slavery
The committee in drafting the bill, had in
view the great anxiety which had been ex-
pressed by some members Of the Senate to pro-
tect the rights of the Indians, and to prevent
Infringement upon them. BY the provisions of
the bill, think we have 30 clearly succeeded
ia that respect, as to obviate all possible objec
ton upon that score. The bill itself provides
that it shall not operate upon any Of che rights
Of the lands Of the Indians nor shall they be
included within the limits Of those Territories
until they shall, by treaty with the United
States expressly consent TO come under the
operations of the act and be Incorporated with
10 the limits Of the Territories This provision
certainly is broad enough, clear enough, ex-
plicit enough, to protect all the rights Of the
Indians, as to their persons and their property.
Upon the other point--tha pertaining to the
question or Slavery in the Territories, it was
the intention Of the COMMITTEES to be equally
explicit. We took the principles established
by the Compromise Acts of 1850 as our guide
and intended to make each and every provision
Of the bill accord with those principles. Those
measures established and rest upon the great
principles Of self government that the people
should be allowed to decide the questions of
their domestic institutions for themselves, sub
iect only to such limitations and restrictions AZ
are imposed by the Constitution Of the United
States instead Of having them determined by
an arbitrary or geographical line.
The original bill, reported by the committee
as a substitute for the bill introduced by the
Senator from Iowa, Mr.. Dodge, was believed
to have accomplished this object. The amend
ment which was subsequently reported by us
was only designed to render that clear and
specific, which seemed in the minds Of some,
to admit Of doubt and misconstruction. In
some parts Of the country the original substi-
tute was deemed and construed to be an annul-
ment or repeal Of what has been known ne
the Missouri Compromise, while in other parts
it was otherwise construed As the object OF
the committee was to conform to the principles
established by the Compromise Measures Of
1850, and to carry those principles into effect
in the Territories, we thought it was better to
recite in the bill precisely what we understood
to have been accomplished by those measures,
viz: that the Missouri Compromise, having
been superseded by the legislation of 1880, has
become inoperatiye and hence we propose to
leave the question to the people of the States
and the Territories, subject only to the lmita-
tions and provisions of the Constitution.
Sir, this is all that | intended to say, if the
n,,not,nv, haar, fol nr fnr i1ar =. 0u
on Tuesday last but, since that time, occur.
rences have transpired which compel me to e
more fully into the discussion. 1t will be borne
in mind that tho Senator from Ohio Mr.. Chase
then objected to the consideration Of the bill
and asked for its postponement until this day
on the ground that there had not been time te
understand aud consider its provisions and
the Senator from Mae ,achusetts Mr.. Sumner
suggested that the postponement should be foi
one week, for that purpose. These suggestion,
seeming to be reasonable to Senators around
me, yielded to their request and consented Il
the postponement Of the bill until this day
Sir, little did suppose, at the time that
granted that act Of courtesy to those two Sena.
tors, that they had drafted and published to
the world document, ever their own sigma
lures, in which they arraigned me as having
been guilty of a criminal betrayal Of my trust
as having been guilty of an act Of bad faith
and been engaged in an atrocious plot against
the cause OF free government. Little did sup
pose that those two Senators had been guilty
Of such conduct when they called upon me Il
grant that courtesy, to give them an opportu
nifty Of investigating the substitute reported
from the committee. have since discovered
that on that very morning the National Era
the abolition organ in this city. contained an nd
dress signed by certain abolition confederates
to the people, in which the bill is grossly misrep
resented, IN which the action OF the members o.
the committee is grossly falsifed, in which oul
motives are arraigned, and our characters Gu
Illuminated. And, sir, what Is more; find thai
there was a postscript added to the address
published that very morning, in which the
principal amendment reported by the commit
tee was sct out, and then coarse epithcts applied
to me by name. Sir, had known those fact.
at the time granted that act of indulgence,
should have responded to the request Of those
Senators in such terms as their conduct de
served, 30 far as the rules &c the Senate and a
respect for my own character would have per.
mitted me to do. In order to show the charac.
ter of this document, Of which shall have
much to say in the course Of my argument,
will read certain passages:
We arraign this bill as a gross violation oil
/ u Hacreu plcuEc W. CRIMINAL Detraynl OF pre-
cious rights as part and parcel Of an atrocious
I plot to exclude from vast unoccuped region
emigrants from the Old World, and free labor.
ers from our own States, and convert it into
dreary region Of dcspotiSm, inhabited by mas.
tiers and slavesv
A SENATOR. BY whom is tho address
signed
Mr.. DOUGLAS. u is signed s. P. Chase,
Senator from Ohio; Charles Sumner. Senator
from Massachusetts,; J. r. Giddings and Ed
ward Wade, Representatives from Ohio; Ger.
rit Smith, Representative from New York: AL
cxander De Witt Representative from Massa-
chusetts Including, as ! understand, all the
Abolition party in Congress
Then, speaking Of the Committee on Terri
tories these confederatcs use this language
The prefenees, therefore, that the Territory,
covered by the positive prohibition of 1920, sus-
tains similar relation to Slavery with that
acquired from Mexico, covered by no prohibi-
ton except that Of disputed constitutional or