Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1860-01-04

the right of the master. Had any sucI
attempt been made the Judiciary woul
doubtless have afforded an adequate rem
edy. Should they fail to do this hereafter
/ it will then be time enough to strengthen
their hands by further legislation. Ha,
it been decided that either Congress or tn
Territorial Legislature possess the powc
to annul or impair the right to property i
slaves. the evil would be intolerable Il
j the latter event, there wculd he struGgl
for majority of the members of the Le.is
lature at each successive election, and tn
sacred rights of property held under til
! Federal constitution woull depend for tn
time being on the result. The agitation
would thus be rendered incessant whilst tn
/ Territorial condition remained. and its pain
full influence would keep alive Il dangcrou
excitement among the people Of the severa
! States
/ Thus has the status of Territory. dur
inc the intermediate period from Its frs
settlement until it shall become a State
been evo;a5ly fixed by the final dc:isicl
OF the Supreme Court. Fortunate has hecl
this for the prosperity Of the Territories
as well as the tranquility of the States
Nov, cmigr.lnts from tie North, and tht
South, the Lat and the West, will NEE
in tie Territories on common platform
having brought with them that species o
property best adapted. in their OWE opiu
ion, to promote their welfare. From nat
ural causes the slavery question will i: eacl
case soon virtually settle itself: AM before
the Territory is prepared for admission Il:
State into the Union, this decision, orC
Wy or the other. will have been forcaonC
conclusion. Meanwhile the settlement Of
the new Territory will proceed without SC.
rious interruption, and its progress anJ
prosperity will not be endangered or r.
garded 10y violent political struggles.
When in the progress of events the in.
haGitants Of any Territory shall have reach,
el the number required to from State,
they will then proceed, in regular man.
ncr, aud in the exercises of the rights OF
popul1r sovereignty. to form a constitution
preparatory to admis ION mo the Un;,n.
After this has been done. to employ tie
language of the Kansas and Nebraska act,
they shall be received into the Union with
or wiohout slavery. as their constitution
mar prescribe at the time of their alnis-
sion" This sound principle has happily
been recognized. III some from or other, by
an almost unanimous vote OF both houses OF
the last Congress.
All lawful means at my command have
bceI. employed. md shdii, cOn,in,.c TO ire
employcd, TO execute the laws against tie
African slave trade. After a most careful
aud rigorous examination Of our coasts and
a thorough Investigation of the subject. We
hive not been able to discover that any
sllve5 have been imported into the United
States except the cargo Icy the Wanderer,
numbering between three and four hundred.
Those engaged in this unlawful enterprise
have been vigorously prosecuted: but not
with as much success as their crimes have
deserved. A number of them are under
prosecution.
Our history proves that the fathers of
the republic, in advance Of all other nj
tions. condemned the African slave tradc
1t was, notwithstanding deemed cxpedicrt
5v the trainers of the constitution to de-
pgive Congress of the power to prohibit
the migration or importation of such per-
sons as any of the States now existing
shall think proper to admit" prior to
the year one thousand eight hundred and
eight"
1t VIII 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 eZ-
tend to otser States. or to the trade carried
on abroad Accordingly, we find that SO
early as the 22d of March, 1874, Congress
pls-ed an act imposing severe penalties ard
punishmentS upon citizens and residents of
the United States who should engage in
this trade between foreign nations. The
provisions of this act were extenled and
enforced by the act of 10th May, 1900.
Again. the States themselves had a clear
right to waive the constitutional privilege
intended for their benefit and to prohibit
by their own laws, this trade at any time
they thought proper to, previous to los.
Several of them exercised this r gAt bcfoie
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 States, because
they themselves had removed the constitu-
tional barrier. Congress accordingly pass
ell an act on the 25th of FEBRUARY, lSO},
''to prevent the importation of certain per-
sons into certain States, where by the laws
thereof, there admission is prohibited. -
In this manner the importation OF African
slaves into the United States, was to a
great extent prohibited some years in ad-
vance of lS0S.
As the year 1908 approached, Congress
determined not to suffer this trade to exist
even for u single day after they had the
power to abolish it On the 2d of March,
1907, they passed an act to take effect
from and after the lst day of January,
I.O3," prohibiting the importation of At
rican slaves into the United States. This
was followed by subsequent acts of SIM
liar character, to which [ need not speci-
ally refer Such were the principles and
such the practice 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 Con
gross, that in passing these laws they had
violated the constitution which they had
framed with so much care and deliberatiOn
They supposed that to prohibit Congress,
in express terms, from exercising a specii-
ed power before an appointed day, necessa-
rily involved the right TO exercise this pow
er after that day had arrived.
If 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 1903, they
would not have taken SO much care to protect