Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-06-24
bled, which should p~rotec. them in the 'jnst

+, bled, which should protect them in the Just
preservation of rights and property.
The cession Of Tennessee oy Nol'" Oa'O''''A
equally subjected that territory 70 eong,es.
80, ,,,,. and Congress proceeded to nulllfy
~" ..so,atter sovereignty" government which
T".,oosce had established for herself.
In the treaty for the purchase Of Louisiana,
u.ootiated by Mr.. Jefferson, it was provided
That the Government Of The United States
should mako provision so that the inhabitants
of the territory, shareholders among the rest,
while in a territorial condition, should be
'tmaintained and protected in the free enjoy
ment Of their liberty, property and the religion
which they profess"
After this, Congress passed an act, which
ras signed BIZ Mr.. Jefferson, vesting, for the
time, the entire government and protection of
these rights of persons and property in the
President of the United States.
When the slavcholding territory Of Florida
was ceded, a similar treaty was negotiated by
another Democratic President, and a similar
act @as passed by another Democratic Con-
gress.
BY the treaty Of Guadalupe llidalgo, another
Democratic President and Senate stipulated
that in the territories acquired from Mexico,
the inhabitants should be by the u. S. Govern
mcnt ".maintained and protected in the free
enjoyment Of their liberty and property"
Every net Of Congress for the organization
or regulation of u territory is nothing more nor
less than Congressional intervention for the
protection Of persons and propcrty-nor have
they ever departed from this rule of protection,
except to prohibit %slarery, in some exceptional
instances, all of which exceptions the Demo,
cratic party now characterizes as unconstitu-
tional acts.
In no instance is this Congressional intervcn-
ton more palpable than in the Kansas Nebraska
act. Congress not only directly intervcnes
here to provide for the execution Of the fugi.
tive slave law, but also to provide that slave
property, however small in value, may be made
the subject of appeal to the Supreme Court.
Congress also intcrvcnes to provide that the
President of the United States may, through
his appointee, the Governor of the Territory,
VETO ANY ACT OF THE TERRITORIAL LEGisLA-
TURF. The conclusion is certainly clear that
Congress may itself exercise the power which
it thus delegates I. the President. Congress
also intcrvenes TO place the entire Unaneial
pocer Of the territory in the hands Of the ap'
~pointees of the President, and subject to his in
structions. TO cnumcratc every feature of con
gressional intervention contained in this act,
would be to rccitc the whole statute.
And since the passage of this act, we have
seen an army raised by act of Congress, and
sent to protect persons and property in the ter
ritority of Utah and another for the same
purpose ofprotcction in Kansas itself And yet,
IN the face Of all this. the Examiner" tells us
that the doctrine Of Congressional protection to
persons and property in the territories, was
never recognized by the Democratic parity
Tell lis, ~neighbor, what has been recognized,
if this has not, and where on earth we are to
find n line of precedent establishing recosnl-
ton, if this is not one: