The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1860-08-31

the 6uUJ6Ct VI AlIlCdu oAovOAys AVs" 90 AAVOhuVN
to leave the legislation and the law of the re-
spective territories in the condition in which
| the act will find them. stated on former 0c
| casion that did not in committee vote for the
| amendment to insert the clause though it
was proposed to be introduced by majority
of the committee. attached very little con.
seqence to it at the time, and attach very lit
tie to it at present. It is perhaps of no partic.
ular importance whatever. Now, sir, IT un.
| derstand the measure proposed by the Senator
| from Mississippi, it aims at the same thing.
do not understand him as proposing, that If any
one shall carry slaves into the terrltory-al.
though by the laws of the territory he cannot
take them there-the legislative hands of the
territorial government should be SO tied as
to prevent it saying he shall not enjoy the
fruits of their labor. If the Senator from Mis-
sissippi means to say that
Mr.. Davis:
81 do mean to say it,"
Mr.. Clay:
"If the object of the Senator is to provide
that slaves may be introduced into the territory
contrary to the Ler loci, and being introduced,
nothing shall be done by the legislature to i'm
pair the rights of owners to hold the slaves thus
brought contrary to the local laws, certainly
cannot vote for it. In doing so | shall repeat
again the expression of opinion which an
nounced at an early period of the session."
Here we find the line distinctly drawn
between those who contended for the right
to carry slaves into the territories and hold
them in defiance of the local law, and those
who commended that such right was subject to
the local law of the territory. During the
progress of the discussion on the same day,
Mr.. Davis, of Mississippi, said:
"We are giving or proposing to give gov
eminent to a territory, which act rests upon
the basis of our right to make such provision.
We suppose we have a right to confer power.
| If so, we may mark out the limit to which they
may legislate, and are bound not to confer
If we give them power to legislate beyond that
we commit fraud or usurpatiOn, as it may be
done openly, covertly, or indirectly"
To which Mr.. Clay replied:
"Now, sir, I only repeat what have had &C.
casion to say before, that while am willing to
stand aside and make no legislative enactment
one way or the other-to lay of the territories
without the Wilmot PrOvisO, on the one hand,
with which understand we are threatened. or
without an attempt to introduce clause for
the introduction of slavery into the territories.
While am for rejecting both the one and the
other, l am content that the law as it exists
shall prevail and if there be any diversity Of
opinion as to what it means, am willing that it
shall be settled by the highest judicial author.
ity of the country. While l am content thus to
abide the result, l must say that cannot vote
for any express provision recognizing the right
to carry slaves there"
To which Mr.. Davis rejoined, that
at is said our Revolution grew out of a
preamble; and hope we have something of
the same character of the hardy men of the
| Revolution who first commenced the war with
the mother country--something of the spirit of
that bold Yankee who said he had the right to
go to Concord, and that go he would and who
in the maintenance of that right, met his death
at the hands of a British sentinel. Now, sir, if
our right to carry slaves into these territories
be constitutional right, it is our first duty to
| maintain it ="
Pending the discussion which ensued, Mr..
Davis, at the suggestion of friends, modified
his amendment from time to time, until it
assumed the following shape:
'Nor to introduce or exclude African slavery.
Provided that nothing herein contained shall be
construed so as to prevent said territorial legis-
| lature from passing such laws as may be neceS-
sary for the protection Of the rights of proper
ty of every kind which may have been or may
be hereafter conformably to the Constitution
of the United States, held in or introduced into
said territory"
To which, on the same day, Mr.. Chase,
of Ohio, offered the following amendment {:
Provided further, That nothing here in con-
tanned shall be construed as authorizing or
permitting the introduction of slavery or the
holding, OF persons as property within said ter
ritory."
Upon these amendments one affirm
ing the pro-slavery and the other the anti.
slavery position, in opposition to the right
of the people of the territory to decide the
slavery question for themselves-Mr Doug
las said:
1.-THE position that have ever taken has
been, that this, and all other questions relating
| to the dOmestic affairs and domestic policy of
the territories, ought to be left to the decision
of the people themselves; and that we ought
to be content with whatever way they may de-
eide the question, because they have much
| deeper interest in these matters than we have,
and know much better what institutions suit
them than we, who have never been there can
decide for them. l would therefore have much
preferred that that portion of the bill should
have remained as it was reported from the com.
mittee on territories, with no provision on the
And l do hope yet that that clause will be
stricken ont. l am satisfied, sir, that it gives
no strength to the bill. 1 am satisfied, even if
it did give strength to it, that it ought not to be
there, because 1t IS uiolation of p,incipe-a vi.
olation of that principle upon which we have
| oil reSteU our OeIeuCe OI Iue course We nave
taken on this question. do not see how those
of us who have taken the position we have
taken; that of non Intervention and have
argued in favor of the right of the people to
legislate for themselves on this question, can
support such provision without abandoning
all the arguments which we used in the Presi.
dental campaign in the year l848, and the prin.
ciples set forth by the honorable Senator from
Michigan (Mr. Cass) in that letter which is
known as the Nicholson Letter. We are re-
CURED to abandon that platform we are re.
quired to abandon those principles, and stulti-
fy ourselves, and to adopt the opposite doctrine
and for what? In order to say, that the peo.
pile of the territories shall not haze such instit,l.
tons as they shall deem adapted to their condition
and IT, tcants. do not see, sir, how such q
provision can be acceptable either to the PEG.
pie OF the North or the South"
Upon the question, how many inhabitants
q territory should contain before it should
be formed into political community with
the rights of selfgovernment, Mr.. Douglas
said:
The Senator from Mississippi puts the ques
ton to me as to what number of people there
must be in territory before this right to gov
ern themselves accrues. Without determining
Inc precise number, will assume that the right
ought to accrue to the people at the moment
tney nave enough to constitute government;
ana Sir the bill assumes that there are people
enough there to require q government and
enough to authorize the people to govern them
serves. Your bill comedies that
l. q 49,