The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1856-08-27

PorCon Ol ller teFIltOfy iyiil5 iloFJh OF 90 ueg.
80 min. and incorporating it in the territory
Of New Mexico, with the guaranty that ''whcn
admitted as State, the said territory, or any
portion of the same, shall be received into the
Union with or without slavery, as their consti.
tuition may prescribe at the time of admission"
Hence all that territory, to which it is now pro-
posed to apply the Missouri restriction for the
first time, under the plea ofrostoring the Mis-
souri, compromise of the 9Th of March 1920, is
protected from any such invasion of the rights of
the inhabitants to form and regulate their own
domestic affairs in their own way, by the SOL
emn guarantees contained in the compromise
measures Of 1850 which bIotted out the geo
graphical line as a dividing line between free
territory and slave territory, and substituted
for it the cardinal principle of self government,
in accordance with the constitution. But it
will also be observed, that the bill under consid-
Grafton does not propose to limit the restriction
to the territory acquired from Texas nor the
country on the east side Of the Rio Grande, but
extend it across the river over portion of the
territory acquired from Mexico, which was nev-
er claimed by Texas, nor embraced in the Lou
isiana purchase, and to which there is no pre-
text for srasserting that the Missouri compromise
ever applied. Ifin the application of the 8th
section Of act ofthe 9th Of March 1920, (com-
monty called the Missouri compromise,) over so
large district of country to which it never had
any previous application, it be the policy of the
House ofRcprescntatives to return to the cob
solctc idea' ola geographical line as dividing
line in all time to come between slave territory
and free territory, a perpetual barrier against
the advancement Of slavery on The one hand
and free institutions on the other, the measure
falls short Of accomplishing the whole ofthoir
object in not extending the line to the Pacif-
ic ocean. Your committee can perceive many
weighty considerations founded in policy a.
though wanting the sanction Of sound constitu-
tional principles which might be urged in favor
of such measure, inasmuch as the barrier once
erected from ocean to ocean--permitting slavery
on the one side and prohibiting it on the other
--ifmiyersally acquiesced in and rcligiously Oh
served as a patriotic offering upon the alter of
our common country, would put an end to the
controversy forever, and form a band of peace
and brotherhood in the future. But unortnn-
ately, when this eXpcdent was proposed by the
Senate in 1913, it was Indignantly repudiated by
the House Of Representatives, and as conso-
quence the whole country was plunged into a
whirlpool ofsectionll strife and angry crimjna-
ton, which alarmed the greatest and purest
patriots of the land lof the safety of the repuJ-
lie, and was only rescued from the impending
p3rils by the adoption Of the compromise 1noae-
ures of 1850, which abandoned the policy Of a
line, and substituted for it The great
principles Of self government and State equality
in obedience to the Federal constitution. in
view Of the history of the past, your committee
can perceive no safety in the future except in a
strict and religious tilelity to the true princi-
pies Of the constitution as embodied in the ad-
justmcnt of that unfortunate controversy, and
adopted by the whole country as rules of action
to be applied in all future time, when in the
progress Of events it Should be necessary to or
ganizc Territories or admit new states The
Kansas Nebraska act was the logical sequence
ST the compromise measures of 1850 and rem
dered imperatively necessary in order to estab-
lish and perpctuate the principles ofsclrgovcrn
m2nt and State equality in the organization Of
Territories and the admission ofnew Statcs-
For these reasons your committee cannot con.
cur with the House of Representatives in the
to blot out from the organic act Of
Kansas and Nebraska those essential provisions
and cardinal principles, the faithful observance
OF which can alone preserve the just rights Of
the inhabitants Of the territory and maintain the
peace, unity and fraternity Of the republic The
great object is to with draw the stormy question
from the halls of Congress and REMAND its de-
cison to the people of the several States and
Territories, subject to no other conditions or re-
strictions than those imposed by tho constitu-
tion Of the U. S. Those provisions of the bill
under consideration which introduce and estab-
lish slavery, together with those which abolish
and prohibit it, are alike obnoxious on the
score Of principle, inasmuch as they assert and
exercise the right of Congress to form and rcgu-
Iatc the local affairs and domestic institutions of
a district and distinct people without their con-
sent and regardless of their rights and wishes.
To avoid all misconstruction, however. upon
this point, your committee deem it proper to
remark, that their objections do not apply to
that part fthe bill which extcndi the provis-
ions of the fugitive slave law to the Territories
Of Kansas and Nebraska, and provides Chat
any person lawfully held to service in any other
State or Territory, and escaping into either the
the Territory Of Kansas or Nebraska, may be
and removed to the person or place
where such service is due, underany law Of the
United States which Shall be in force upon the
slbject."j. In this clause your committee arc
are rejoiced to find La frank, conscientious ac.
Of the duty fCongress to pro
vide efficient laws for c1rrging into faithful exc.
c1tion the provision ofthe constitution Of tho
United States which provides for the rendition
of thc fugitive slaves as well as all other obliga-
tons imposed BY that instrument
The preservation Of our tree Insttutiops de
pend upon faithful obseryaneeof tho, Constit,r.
ton in Ill its parts: and the assurance thus
furnished that the representatives ofthe people
are ever ready toprevidesenew ana additional
guarantees when supposed to bdaIicccsSary for
the faithful performance Of that constitutional
obligat' o., which has been the subject ofseyer
est criticism in some portions ofthe country, can
not fail to crafty every true friend of the Union