The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-12-30


element among the people of the several
States.
Thus has the the status of a territory, du-
ring the intermediate period from its first
settlement until it shall become state, been
irrevocably fixed by the final decision OF the
Supreme Court. Fortunate has this been
for the prosperity of the Territories, as well
as the tranquility of the States. Now, emi-
grants from the north and the south, the
east and the west, will meet in the terrific
rieS on q common platform, having brought
with them that species of property best
adapted in their own opinion, to promote
their welfare. From natural causes the
Slavery question WILL in each case, soon vir-
tually settle ITSELF and before the territory
is prepared for admission as 4 state into the
Union, this decision, one way or the other,
will have been a fOregOne conclusion. Mean
while the settlement of the new Territory
will proceed without serious interruption,
and its progress and prosperity will not be
endangered or retarded by violent political
struggles.
When in the progress of events the in
habitants of any territory shall have reach
ed the number required to form a State,
they will then proceed, in a regular man
ner, and in the exercise of the rights of pop
preparatory to admission into the Union
After this has been done, to employ the
language of the Kansas and Nebraska act,
they 'shall be received into the III MON with
without slavery, as their constitution
may prescribe at the time of their admss-
ion This sound principle has happily been
recognized, in some form or other by an al
most unanimous vote of both houses of the
last Congress.
All lawful means at my command have
been employed, and shall continue to be
employed, to execute the laws against the
African slave trade. After a most careful
and rigorous examination of our coasts,
and thorough investigation of the subject,
we have not been able to discover that
any slaves have been imported into the
United States except the cargo by the
Wdnderer, numbering between three and
four hundred. Those engaged in this I'M
lawful enterprise have been vigorously pros
ecuted but not with as much success as
their crimes have deserved. A number of
them are still under prosecution.
Our history proves that the Fathers of the
Republic, III advance of all other nations,
condemned the African slave trade 1t was
Notwithstanding, deemed expedient by the
trainers of the Constitution to deprive Con-
gress of the power to prohibit g the migra-
ton or importation of such persons as any
of the States now existing shall think pro-
per to admit" "prior to the year 1908"
1t will be seen that this restriction on the
power of Congress was confined to such
States only as might think proper to admit
the importation of slaves. 1t did not ex-
tend to other States, or to the trade carried
on abroad Accordingly we find that so
early as the 22d of March, 1874, Congress
passed an act imposing severe penalties and
punishments upon citizens and residents of
the United States who 81 oLld engage in
this trade between foreign nations The
provisions of this act were extended and en-
forced by the act Of the 10th of May 1900
Again: The States themselves had "A
clear right to waive the constitutional priv
ilege intended for their benefit, and to pro-
hibit, by their own laws, this trade at any
time they thought proper previous to 1908.
Several of them exercised this right before
that period, and among them some contain
ing the greatest number of slaves. This
gave to Congress the Immediate power to
act in regard to all such State, because they
themselves had removed the constitutional
barrier. Congress accordingly passed an
act ON the 2Sth day of February, 1909,
" to prevent the importation Of certain per
sons into certain States where, by the laws
thereof, their admission is prohibited" In
this manner the importation of African
slaves into the United States was to a great
extent, prohibited some years in advance of
1908.
AS tue year 1903 approached Congress
determined not to suffer this trade to exist
even for Il single day after they had the
power to abolish it. On the I'd of March,
1907, they passed an act to take effect " from
and after the LIST day of January, 1908,
prohibiting the importation of African
slaves into the United States. This was fol-
lowed 10y subsequent acts of similar char
acter, to which | need not specially REFER
Such were the principles and such the prac-
tice of our ancestors more than fifty years
ago, in regard To the African slave trade.
1t did not occur to the revered patriots
who had been delegates to the convention,
and afterwards became members of Congress-
that i'll passing these laws, they had viola
ted the Constitution which they had framed
with so much care and deiberation They
supposed that to prohibit Congxess, in ex-
press TERMS from exercising a specified pow
er before an appointed day, necessarily in
volved the right TO exercise this power after
that day had arrived.
II this were not the case the trainers of
the Constitution had expended much labor
in vain. Had they imagined that Congress
would possess no power to prohibit the
trade, either before or after lSOS, they
would not have taken so much care To pro-
tect the States against the exercise of ihs
power before that period. Nay, more, they
would not have attached such vast import
ance to this provision as to have excluded it
from the possibility of future repeal or
amendment to which other portions of the
Constitution were exposed. 1t would then
have been wholly unnecessary to engraft on
the 9TH article of the Constitution, prescrib-
ing the mode of its own future amendment,
the proviso that ''no amendment which may
be made prior to the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight shall in any man
ner affect the provision in the Constitution
securing to the States the right to admit the
importation OF African slaves previous to
that period.
According TO the adverse construction,
the clause itself, upon which so much care
and discussion had been employed by the
members of the Convention, was an abso-
lute nullitY from the bcpinnino and ali that