Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-12-03
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY.

territorial bill, the principle and spirit of those
and the amendment which was
and adopted to accomplish this
object, with proviso offered by Mr.. Badger,
was in these words :-"That the Constitution
and all laws of the United States, which are
not locally inapplicable, shall have the same
force and effect within the said Territory as
elsewhere within the United States, except the
eighth section of the act preparatory to the
admission of Missouri into the Union, approved
March 9Th, 1920, which being inconsistent
with the principle of non-interyention by Con-
gress, with slavery in the States and Terrific
ries, as recognized by the legislation of 1850,
commonly called the Compromise Measures
is hereby declared imperative and void, it be-
ing the true intent and meaning OF this act,
not to legislate slavery into any Territory or
State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave
the people thereof perfectly free to form and
regulate their domestic institutions their own
way subject only to the Constitution of the
United States, provided that nothing herein
contained shall be construed to revive or put
in force any law or regulation which may have
existed prior to the Act of the 9th of March,
1920 either protecting, establishing, or abol-
ishing slavery" The prohibitory section of
the Missouri Act of the 9Th of March, 1920,
was for the reason alleged, repealed, and the
principles and motive of the repeal stated to
be, to effect the true intent and meaning of
| Congress, and which was declared to be two
fold first, "not themselves to legislate slavery
into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it
therefrom y second, to leavethe people thereof
perfectly free to regulate their own domestic
institutions, in their own way, subject only to
the Constitution of the United States. The
bill as thus amended was passed by the Senate
by vote of thirty-seven to fourteen, the ma
jority including every Southern Senator pres
ent, except Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, and Mr..
Houston, of Texas, and twelve Senators from
the other States and on the 22d of May, after
a long and able discussion, it was passed by
the House, by vote of one hundred and thir-
teen to one hundred, there being in the ma
jority every Southern member but seven, and
most, if not all of these were opposed to it, not
because of the principles contained in the par
ticular amendment quoted, but on other
grounds. Unless words be used, as divers
oaths, to deceive and Congress intended by
false pretences to delude, is it not clear thai
this amendment declared, and sanctions the
doctrine of popular sovereignty as maintained
by Judge Douglas? That doctrine is, that
territorial government has right to legislat
| =. Al - snto
nal poity, subject only to the Constitution o
the United States. The amendment declare
its very purpose to be, "to leave the peopl
thereof IA territory perfectly free to form an
regulate their domestic institutions in thei
' own way, subject only to the Constitution G
the United States;" and this purpose was es
, pecially avowed in regard to sidve property
! Such property indeed gave rise to the yer
agitation which it was the object of Congress
e to terminate. That alone constituted the dar
l. ger in which the country was supposed to b
and consequently the principle was the MOI
particularly prepared to meet that danger.
u u was decided to leave the people perfectly fir,
4 to regulate it as domestic institution of the
= own, in their own way. 1t declares, first, viii
IT is not the intent and meaning of the act: %
!; is not to legislate slavery into any State
a Territory, nor to exclude it," secondly, VIII
IT was its intent: To leave il as a domestic il
n stituton to the people, to be settled in the
own way with no other restriction than Il
Constitution of the United States may in
, pose.
" One or the other of these two conclusions
= inevitable. That if Congress believed tn
~ had the power themselves to legislate up
). the subject, they thought it wiser to surrend
it to the people of the Territory, or that tn
= believed that they had not the power, and
clared it to be in the people, so as to settle
of doubts as to the right of the latter to exerci
l. it. The power which, upon either hypothes
+ they refused to exert, was to legislate slave
n into any Territory or State, or to exclude
II therefrom; and that which they declared
id be in the people, was the power 'to legisla
I'd slavery into or exclude it from such Terrific
., or State" 1t will be seen, too that in this
n gard, the people of Territory are placed
at the same condition with the people of Sta
ID and that the power in question is not mo
70 dsclaimed as to the latter, than as to the ft
n mer, and that the power left to EACH is left
a the same terms and to the same exte
Whatever, therefore, under this act, the peol
"a of State can do, the people of Terrific
n can do,-the sole limitation upon the author
&c of either is declared to be in the CONSTITUTE
of the United States. What is the extent
ct such limitation? Taking private property
nc public use without compensation, or the i
~ \, piled one of prohibiting the ingress into I
cs Territory of private property Is either mt
TT applicable to an organized Territorial Cover
Id ment than to Slater Is private property
~ propriated to public use by laws ABOLISH
~ slavery, or prohibiting the right to bring su
he property into either2 Certainly not,-su
legislation is to be found, to greater or |,
r extent, in almost every State in the Uni,
n and no one has had the temerity to call it
u doubt. This was, of course, known to &c
in gress in %, and they could not, thereto
d, have imagined that the validity of such leg
ne lation could be questioned on any such &C
=, stitutional ground. They thought that sla,
10 ry was a domestic institution, merely Deepen
il ing for its existence or exclusion, upon t
legislative will of those with whom it was,
s, was to be domcied They, therefore, not
10 ~ did not except it from the will of the peop
y who were to be left perfectly free to 70
- and regulate their danes tic concar,ns in N