Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1860-01-26
.SPEECH
v18T sdi oglAH or
HON NJ 8. REEVES,
Cor oroE coUErY.1

.
The bin to prohibit slavery in Nebras
ka, having been returned by the Cover.
nor, the question before the Council being
"Shall the bill pass. the Governors veto
to the contrary Notwithstanding" Mr
Reeves arose in his place and said (: al:
| Nh. PREsIDENT:- fl,4 =.
Ii is due to ourselves as well as to the
executive branch of The 5fvernment. tha
we should review the positions assumed
by the Governor in his veto smessagee eac.
companying the return Of this bill to 5ht
Council. Agreeing, as l do. in the Ipair
with his ExceAency upon political sub.
Igects, doregreti the necessity which dom
2els me to dissent from the doctrines and
views which he has laid down in his mes
sage vetoing the bill to prohibit slavery il
Nebraska.
3 II also regret that duty, and a sense o.
Justice conStrain me to dissent from the
opinion of His Excellency the Presiden
of the United States, expressed in hi
annual message to Congress that "neithel
Congress, the Territorial Legislature, MOI
any human power can legislate slavery
ont of the Territories. .a7
1t is clear to my mind that the power
exists to legislate upon this subject; anC
the only important question is, where j:
the power reposed +!
1t is now generally conceded, at leas
by the great Democratic party, that the
power does not exist in Congress. Blu
if Congress ever did possess the power i
was delegated without reserve to the peo-
pie of the Territories in the provision
contained In the fourteenth section Of
the Kansas Nebraska Act, which deClar-
ed it to be "The true, intentand meaning
Of this act not to legislate slavery into
any territory or State, or to exclude il
therefrom, lbutto leave the people there.
of perfectly free to regulate their own do
mestic institutions in their own way.H8l
1t would seem, then, to be well settl d
that Congress does not possess the right
or power to legislate upon this subject il
this Territory; because if it ever posses.
sed the right, that right has been dele
ted to US.
An additional argument in favor of the
right and power of the Territories to leg
islate upon this subject is to be found in
the 9th section of the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, 9thal the Legislative authority oi
the Territory shall extend to all rightful
subjects Of legislation excepting GER
tain specific subjects; but the right t
legislate upon the subject of slavery is moi
thus excepted. s@
1t may, however, be objected that sla-
very is not a rightful subject of legisla.
tion. If this be so, / would inquire why
then was the power delegated or recog-
nized by Congress in the provision thai
"the people shall be left perfectly free t.
regulate their domestic institutions in
their own way?" Slavery is just a.
clearly a domestic institution, as the re.
lation of husband and wife, or guardian
and ward and in truth il seems to me
that the provision was inserted with spe-
cial and particular. reference to the in
stitution of slavery, as appears from the
provision at the end of the section, that
it was not intended to arevive any law or
regulation upon that subject The
opinion advanced in the message that, the
power was granted not to the "LegisIa-
ture," but to the t'peoplen Of the Terri
tories, does not seem to have very much
force. at hEs ea 4" LtA =
: The power conferred upon the people
was to regulate. The only legal and le-
gitimate mode Of regulating" such .sin-
stitntions' is by legislation; and hence il
follows that the people regulate their do
mestic institutions through their legisla-
ture. ..F, - .rfa'.ig d -
o Surely it will not be contended that the
people in their own proper persons must
regulate the relations of husband and
wife, master and apprentice, or other kin
dred subjects; YET if such is the "inteHt
and meaning of the Act In reference TO.
the subject of slavery it is unquestiona-
bly, so in reference to all other "domestic
instutions.' % '9
Another opinion advanced is that the
people cannot regulate this institution
until they have called a Convention to
form a State Constitution. 4r ~
To this argument it is sufficient to an
swer that when the people are assembled
through their Delegates in Convention to
form a Constitution they are acting IN a
State scapaeitygand asI such possess an
inherent right to legislate. upon that sub
ject, not delegated or derived fronlanY,
earthly power; right which, 10 use the
language Of the President, %neither Con
gress, nor the Territorial Legislature, or
any other human power" can give to or
take away from them. goH a5tar,Il
The power to legislate on the sub biect Of
slavery was delegated to ahe people of a
Territory, not to the. people of a Slate
for the obvious reason that the people of
a State already possessed it.
If it was the 'true intent and mean
ing" of the Kansas-Nebraska Act to con-
fer the right to regulate the institution Of
slavery on the people in the capacity of a
Constitutional convention, its passage was
simply nabsurd work of supeEetToga-
ton, because Congress never possessed
the right to confer or withhold any such
powers W a b1H lgo1
Mr.. President, Ilhave thus far treated
this subject of legislating on slavery as a
delegated power, but / do not wish to be
understood as endorsing that view Of the
subject. I believe sir, that the people