The Washington union., 1857-06-02

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gressive declared that slavery Was abolished forever
throughout country reaching from the Mississippi river
TO the Pacific ocean, stretching thirytwo degrees Of
longitude, and twelve and half degrees of latitude
its eastern side, sweeping four-hs to say more,
Of the original province Of Louisiana
That the United States government stipulated in favor
of the inhabitants to the extent here conended for has
not been seriously denied, far | know but the
gument b that Congress had authority repeal the third
article OF the treaty Of 1893 In far it secured the
right to hold slave property in portion of the ceded
territory leaving the right to exist in other parts In
other words that Congress could repeal the third article
| entirely at its pleasure This deny.
| The compacts with North Carolina and Georgia
treaties also, and stood the footing of the Louis
lana treaty on the assumption of power to repeal the
one it must have extended TO ALL and Congress could
have excluded the saveholsrs of North Carolina from
the enjoyment Of his lands in the Territory the State
OF Tennessee where the citizens of the mother State
the principal propretois
And so in the case OF Georgia Her citizens could have
been refused the right to emigate the Mississippi
Alabama territory, unless they left their most valuable
| and cherished property behind them
The constitution framed in reference to facts then
existing or likely to arise the instrument looked to
theories of government In the vigorous debates in the
convention, reported by Mr. Madison and Others
rounding facts and the condition and necessities of the
country gave rise to almost every provision and among
those facts it prominently true that Congress dare
not be nrsed with power to provide that If North Car
olna or Georgia ccded her western territory the citizens
OF the State n either casc could be prohibited at the
pleasure of Congress- from removing t their lands then
granted to large extent, in the country likely to be
ceded unless they left their slaves behind That such
an attempt, in the face of population fresh from the
of the revolution and then engaged In with the
great confedeacy of Indians, extending from the mouth
of the Ohio to the Gulf OF Mexco would end in open
! volt, all Intelligent isleii KNEW
In view of these fncts let inquire how the question
stands by the terms of the constitution aside from the
treaty? How it stood in public opinion when the Georgia
ecssion made in 1902 is apparent from the fact that
guarantee required by Georgia the United States
| he Of s}aypp
tuition was relied to the rights of Georgia and
her citizens during the territorial condition Of the
try She relied on the ndsputabe truths that the States
were by the constitution made equals in political rights,
and equals in the right to participate in the
property of all the States united and held in trust for
them The constitution having provided that the citi
of each State shall be entitled all privileges and
immuntes of citizens of the several States the right to
enjoy the territory equals reserved to the States
and to the citizens of the States respectively The cited
clause is not that citizens of the United States shall have
equal privileges in the Territories but the citizen of each
State shall come there in right of his State and enjoy the
common property He his equality through the
equality of his State by virtue of that great fundamental
condition Of the Uniofthe equality of the States.
Congress cannot do indirectly what the constitution
prohibits directly If the stakeholder prohibited from
going to the Territory with his slaves, who parts of
his family in and in fact it will follow that
owning lawful property in their States carrying with
them the equality of their State to enjoy the prop
ery may be told you cannot here with your slaves
and he will be held out at the border BY this subter
of millions, might be almost eectualy excluded from
removing into the Territory Of Louisiana north of thirty
six degrees thirty minutes if the law declared that
ers Of slaves class should be excluded if their
slaves were left behind.
just well might Congress have said to those of the
North you shall not introduce into the territory south Of
said line your cattle horses the country is already
overstocked; you introduce your tools of trade
machines the policy Of Congress is to encourage the
culture Of sugar and cotton south of the nc and to
provide that the northern people shall manufacture for
those of the South and barter for the staple articles slave
labor produces And thus the northern farmer and me
chanic would be held out the stakeholder for th
ty years, by the Missouri restriction.
If Congress could prohibit species of property law
full throughout Louisiana when it acquired, and law
full in the State from whence it brought Congress
might exclude any or all property
The before will illustrate the construction
contended for DR.. Emerson citizen of Missouri
he had equal right to go to the Territory with every
citizen of other States. This is undeniable, sup
pose. Scott DR.. Emeson's lawful property in Mis-
souri, he carried his Missouri title with him and the
precise question here is whether Congress had the power
to annu that title 1t is idle to say that if Congress
could not defeat the title directly it might be done in
directly by drawing narrow circle around the slave
population Of Upper Louisiana and declaring that If the
slave went beyond it he should be free. Such assump
ton is evasion, and entitled TO consideration
and it is equally idle to contend that because Congress
has express power to regulate among the In
dian tribes and to prohibit intercourse with the In
dians therefore, DR. Emcrsons title might be defeat
ed within the country ceded by the Indians to the
United States early 1906 and which embraces Fort
Smelling IAN. State Papers, vol. |, p 734.) We nua
meet the question: whether Congress had the power to
declare that citizen of State carrying with him his
equal rights secured to him through his State could be
stripped his goods and slaves and be deprived of any
participation in the property II this be the
meaning of the constitution equality of rights to
enjoy a common country equal to thousand miles
square) may be cut off by geographical line and great
portion of our citizens excluded from it.
Ingenious indirect evasions Of the constitution have
been attempted and defeated heretofore In the passen
ger cases. 4 How. r. the attempt made to impose
the masters crews and passengers of vessels the
constitution having prohibited tax the vessel itself
but this held the attempt to be evasion and
pronounced the tax Illegal
admit that Virginia could and lawfully did, prohibit
slavery northwest of the Ohio by her charter of ccsson
and that the territory taken by the United States
with this condition imposed. i also admit that France
could by the treaty of 1s03 have prohibited slavery in
any part of the cedcd territory and imposed it the
United States fundamental condition of the cession,
in the mean time, till States admitted in the
Union
concur with Judge Baldwin, that federal power is
ercised all the territory within the United States,
pursuant the constitution and the conditions of the
cesson whether il part Of the original territory of
State of the Union of foreign State ceded by deed
or treaty the right of the United States in it de-
pends the contract of cesson which operates to ncor
porate well the Territory its inhabitants into the
Union Baldwin, Constitutional Views, s4)
NY opinion is, that the third article of the treaty of
1903 cedng Louisiana to the United States stands pro-
teced by the constitution and cannot be repealed by
Congress.