Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-09-02

fully voted for just suci' oeie5"''o''' "a p"'''
| ,I;s essay itself points out prominent OK
ample.
The Constitution provides;
The Congress shall have power
.STc constitute tribunals inferior to the SUI
premc Court"
And another power is conferred on Congress:
TO make all laws necessary and proper LOT
CARRYING into execution the foregoing powers
Such necessary and proper laws must I'M
lst The situation and extent oil territory I"
which the jurisdiction of the inferior oour'
shall reach. End. They must limit the .lurls'
diction itself in accordance with the dictates oil
article iii of the Constitution.
The power thus given to fix and limit the
jurisdiction, is a power which the ConStitu-
ton has vested in Congress" And yet in
another part Of his essay, Senator Douglas
distinctly recognizes the power and duty OF
Congress to transfer this power which the
Constitution has vested in Congress" to Il
Territorial Legislature, lie even cites "actS
of Congress- for which he has repeatedly
voted, operating this transfer. We give his own
words:
The acts of Congress, establishing the
several Territories Of the United States, pro
vide that 1.-THE jurisdiction Of the several Courts
herein provided for, both appellate ami original,
and that Of the Probate Courts and Justices oil
the Peace, shall be as limited by law Incoming
such laws as the Territorial Legislatures shall
from time to time enact.
Indeed, the main intent and pnrport OF Sc
major Douglas essay affords an example Of il
denial of the doctrine, that "ETcry power con-
icircd on Congress by the Constitution must
be exercised BY Congress, without transfer OF
delegation to any other agent, The ILLINOIS
Senator runs into the very error which he seems
most DESTROYS to avoid. While denying to Con-
yreSs the power of delegating to Territorial
Legislature mere subsidiary functions of lcgiS-
lation, he strips Congress Of the powerexpressly
vested iii Congress by the Constitution, to adj
nit new States into this Union.
Paraloxical as this may appear, it is never
thcleSs apnaren, that Mr.. Douglas has involved
himself in this cross contradiction. His whole
purpose is 10 proyc, that by virtue OF what he
calls 'thc principle Of our political syS-
TEN" the residents of 4 Territory, by the
mere organization of 4 Territorial Legislature,
Immediately assume 10 themselves the position
of an independent sovereign comnuniiy--ln
othcr words, they constitute Nafe oil the
Union, entitled to all the privileges of any
other State Of the Union, save only direct re-
presentation in the General Government. In
other words, that an independent sovereign
State may be admitted to the Union, through
the mere action of the residents o! 4 Territory,
without an act Of Congress declaratory OF such
admission; that the squatterS of 4 Territory
NAV admit themselves into the Union. This
is not Il play upon words, or Il bubble with
ideas. 1t goes directly to the substance and
essence of the admission of Il State to the
Union. which mainly involves, in every in
stance. the creation Of L new, distinct and SOW
creisn political community, allied under the
same General Government, to all the States of
this Union.
There is but ono escape from the contradlc-
! tons and pcrplcxiticS in which Senator Doug
las has involved himself, and that mode Of rs
cape altogether up>ctS his whole theory Of ter
ritorial sovereignty.
The true doctrine is, that although the pow
CT Of Congress to admit new States into tins
Union, is of such nature that it cannot be
delegated or transferred in any manner, there
are other legislative powers (which the Constr
tuition has vested in Congress" which are me
cessary and proper" to prepare and open the
way for the exercise oi the power OF adinls-
sion; ard these powers subsidiary andprcpara'
tory to admission, are of such nature as TO
hermit their delegation to ether officers OF the
Federal Government; as for example, to the
President of the United States, TO whom they
have been more than once transferred by act
of Congress; or, as later usage has 1t, to tunc-
,ionarios and asscmblagcS residing and con
vcncd in the territories, under the appointment
all supervision of the President and Of Con-
srcsS.
Time forb;dS Us to exelnpliiy this matter fur
thcr. We reserve Interior cA'uncnt Cor ano-
,hcr article. We have said enough to show
how easy it is, even in the hurry of cdito.
rial comment to brush away the attcnuated
cobwcbS Of error, which Senator Douglas has
so deliberately prepared.
\ few mouths ago, an anti-savcry speech, in
which John Minor Bolts had attempted to cS-
tahlish the ccnstituiionality o! the NilInot
Proyiso, was thrown in our face by certain
sapient politicians in Virginia, who vauntc'l the
argument as "unanswerab!c." y single cdi-
toral in the Enquirer demolished the poor
contriyance so cfec;ually, that our opposition
contemporaries have not referred to it since
Now the same disciples of Dominic Samp-
son stand with eyes and mouths wide open,
pronouncing Senator Douglas argument in
favor Of Territorial sovereignty, ''uhan>wcra-
be-" Prodigious.."
Don't Lc alarmed, McssrS. Ready -to-halt-
We will show you, before we quit the subject,
that Mr. Douglas has had no better luck than
Mr. Bolts, in the effort to dcmolish the Con-
stitutional rights Of the South. This whole
web OF this essay, which, Black Republican
newspaper says, should be styled "Hon 10
keel, siarery ont cffhe territories ''Hhow re-
Soect to Congressional n"thoritY, in warp and
wcof and every fibre is as iliinsy and unsub-
stantial even as the equally obnoxious anti
slavery cruditieS Of Mr.. John Mino: HottS.
THE TRUE ISSUE.
The Southern Argus" prciaccs the publca-
ton of Senator Douglas essay on territorial
government with the following concise and &C
curatc recognition Of the issue involved: