The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-09-08
MIR. DOUGLAS AS A HISTORIAN.

1
ticle which we hastily drew up last week, we
had not at hand the journals of Congress with
which to compare his garbled statements. We
pointed out several of the more glazing of his
misrepresentation, but we now propose to sift
the matter to the bottom, and to satisfy every
honest and fair-minded man who win read our
article that the statement of Mr. Douglas in re-
gard to what he styles " the Jeffersonian plan
of a Government for the Territories I" is gross
perversion of the truth of history. This state
ment is the foundation upon which he bulbs
his superstructure of popular sovereignty I"
and this proving to be a sandy foundation, his
edifice falls to the ground as matter of course.
Mr.. Douglas commences his history of this
Jeffersonian plan" by the immaterial error
of stating that the cession of territory made by
Virginia on the Ist of March, 1884, was the
first territory ever acquired, held, or owned, By
the United States If Mr.. Douglas will tuln
to the same volume of the journals from which
he derived his information in regard to Virginia,
viz: the 4th, he will find, at page 100, thi,t
Congress, on the 29th of October, 1882, accepted
from the agents of New York, by formal deed,
her claim to Western territory. We note this
error merely by way of showing the inaccurate
and careless manner in which Mr.. Douglas
deals with the facts of history. The truth ia,
that Virginia passed the first act of cession, but
higgled for several years about the conditions
of the grant, and in the mean time the grant I, f
New York was made and accepted by Congress-,
as above stated.
Mr. Douglas proceeds as follows:
2 1t is important that this Jeffersonian plas
| of Government for the Territories should be
carefully considered, for many obvious reasons,
| 1t was the first plan of Government for the Tel.
ritories ever adopted in the United States. J ,
was drawn by the author of the Declaration Q
| Independence, and revised and adopted /
those who shaped the issues which produced
the Revolution, and formed the foundations
upon which our whole American system of gov
eminent rests. 1t was not intended to be
either local or temporary in its character, but
was designed to apply to all territory ceded or
TO be ceded, and to be universal in its applica-
ton and eternal in its duration wherever and
whenever we might have territory requiring a
Government. ID ignored the right of Congress
to legislGte for the people Of the Territories ruth
out their consent, and recognised the inalena-'
bic right of the people of the Territories, when
organized in political communities, to govern
themselves in respect to their local concerns
and internal polity. 1t was adopted BY the
Congress of the Confederation on the 23d day
of April, 1884, and stood npOn the statute book
as general and permanent plan for the gov,
eminent of all territory which we then owned or
should subsequently acquire, with provision
declaring it to be Charter of Compact and
that its provisions should stand as fundamental
- IL Al
and those newly described, unalterable but by
the joint consent of the United States in Con-
gress assembled, and of the particular State
with which such alteration is proposed to be |
made Thus this Jefers0niaR plan for the |
goCernnlrnt Of the Ie1ritOries-that Charter o.
Compact = these fundamental conditions
which scere declared 10 be 'unaltera6le' Nth,
ont the consent of the people Of tie particular
Slate Territory 1cithin aohich such alteration |
is proposed to be made stood on the statute
book dohen the Convention assembled at Piila-
deLphia IN 1887, and proceeded to form, the
Constitution Of the United States"
1t viii be seen that Mr.. Douglas represents
this plan" of 1884 as law of the land, and
that it remained such up to the time when the
Convention assembled in Philadelphia, in 1887,
for the purpose of forming Constitution for
the United States. We will presently show
that he is wholly mistaken on this point. In
deed, it is difficult to understand how man
skilled in the routine Of Legislation could mis-
take the adoption of report of committee
for the passage Of law.
Ii win be seen that in the proceedings of the
Congress which we quote below from the Jour
nal, the plan is spoken of, not as an act an !
ordinance or bill, but as a report and the vote
is taken upon an amendment to the report. In
addition TO this fact, the first words quoted
from this Jefersonian plan" by Mr.. Douglas
himself, show that it could not, in the nature of
things, have been intended for an act of legis-
lation, to be put into practical operation, but |
merely an outline, declaratory resolution of |
the views of Congress upon what should be the |
government of territories yet to be acquired.
We quote from Harpers' Magazine, what Mr. |
Douglas quotes correctly from the Journals of |
Congress, as follows:
First. That the Territory ceded or to be ceded |
by the individual States to the United States. !
ichenerer the same shall hare been purchased of |
the Indian inhabitants, and offered for sale by |
the United States, shall be formed into add |
tional States, &c.
This, we suppose, must be conclusive 1t is |
rather difficult to ina. line how Congress could |
organize Governments over Territories, the |
sovereignty of which was yet to be donated by |
the States, and the soil purchased from the In, |
dian occupants.
The fertile brain of the Illinois Senator |
might have been able to overcome the practi !
cal difficulties in the case, and to satisfy his !
aspiring friends with imaginary Governorships, |
Judgeships, and Marshalships; but we will |
proceed to show that the honest men who |
ruled the country seventy years ago, never at
tempted that feat of political legerdemain. We
will show that this plan or outline of future
Territorial legislation, which Mr.. Douglas mis-
takes for veritable and complete Territorial |
organic act, acas taken up at the merit session of
Congress, and amended By the restoration of the |
4nti-Slapey PrOriso' We will further show
that it was still left as a mere programme for
future legislation, and that it was the basis of !,
the Ordinance of 1897, which was the first act
of legislation for the Territories, and which
forever excluded Slavery from every foot of
ground belonging to the Union.
Dir. Douglas quotes the leading features of
the " Jefersonian plan of Government for the
Territories" which define what are to be the
rights and duties of the citizens, and other
regulations, together with Proviso, containing
FIVE propositions. The four first require that
the new States to be formed shall forever re.
main as part of the United States, and subject
to its Government, that they must pay part