Red Wing sentinel., 1860-01-07


guilty of the Statea Now. emigrants from
the North and the South, the East and the
I West, will meet in the Territories on common
platform, having brought with them tha,
species of property best adapted, in their owr
opinion, to promote their welfare. From
natural causes The slavery question will in eacl
case soon virtually settle itself-and before the
Territory is prepared for admission as State
into the Union this decision, one way or tht
other, will have been foregone conclusion
Meanwhile the settlement Of the new Territory
will proceed without serious Interruption, and
its progress and prosperity will not be endan
gered or retarded by violent political struggles
! When 10 the progress OF events the inhab;t
ants of any Territory shall have. reached thu
number required to form State, they will
then proceed, iu q regular manner, and in the
exercise Of the rights Of popular sovereignty
to form constitution preparatory to admission
into the Union. After this has been done, tc
employ the language of the Kansas aud Ne
braska act, they "shall be received into tht
Union with or without slavery, as their consti
tuition may prescribe at the time of theil
admission: This sound principle has happily
been recognized, in some form or other, by al
almost unanimous vote Of both houses of the
last Congress.
All lawful means at my command have beer
employed, and shall continue to be employed
to execute the laws against the African slave
trade. After most careful and rigorous
examination of our coasts and thorough
investigation Of the subject, we have not beer
able to discover that ANY slaves have bee.
imported into the United States except thu
cargo by the Wanderer, numbering between
three and four hundred. Those engaged il
this unlawful enterprise have been vigorously
prosecuted; but not with US much success a
their crimes have deserved. A number o
them are still under prosecution. -
Our history proves that the fathers of the
republic. in advance of all other nations, con.
demned the African slave trade It was, not
withstanding. deemed expedient by the trainers
Of the Consultation to ueprive Congress of the
power to prohibit the migration or importa.
tion of such persons as any Of the States now
existing shall think proper to admit" +" prior to
tho year one thousand eight hundred and eight.
1t will be seen that this restriction on the
power of Congress was confined to such States
only as might think proper to admit the i'm.
States, or to the trade carried on abroad.
Accordingly, we tind that so early as the 22d
| Of March, 1874, Congress passed an &c,
imposing severe penalties and punish,ncnts
upon citizens and residents Of the United
States who should engage in this trade between
foreign nations. The provisions OF this ac,
were extended aud enforced BY the act OF l0tl
May. 1890. q - s& s<''' .
Again: the States themselves had clcau
right TO- waive the constitutional privilege in'
tended tor their benefit, and 10 prohibit, by
theis own laws, this trade at any time they
thought proper previous ate. 1908. Several o
them exercised this right before that period
aud among them some containing the creates,
number Of slaves. This gave to Congress the
Immediate power to act il regard to all such
States, because they themselves had removed
the constitutional barrier. Congress according
~ passed an act on the 26th of February, 1903
"to prevent the importation of certain per:
sons into certain States where, by the: law.
thereof their admission is prohibited" II
this manner the importation of African slave.
'nto the United States was, to q great extent
Ipr0bibitcd some years in advance Of 1908.
AS the year 1903 approached, Congress de
termined not to suffer this trade to exist, ever
for single day, after they had the power t
abolish it.; Ou the ;2d-of March, 1907, the;
:jpassed an act to take effect q from and afte
tho 1st day Of January, l8O8,' prohibiting
the importation of African slaves into tn,
}! United Suites. This was followed by subse
;iqnent acts Of . similar character, to which ]
need not specially refer. Such were tie prin
Icples aud such the practice of our ancestor
more than aAy years ago 10 regard to the Al
|rican slave trade. S. l!..5l.iIs SsIts:
1t did not5occur5 to- the revered patriots wht
had beer delegates to the convention, and Of
forwards becaine' members of Congress, thu,
in passing these laws they had violated .,th,
Constitution which they had framed with *
.lmuch care and deliberation. They supposed
that to prohibit Congress, in express terms
from exercising special power before an ap
Ipoinled day. necessarily involved the right t
exercise this power after that day had arrived
II this were not the case, the trainers Of tn,
Constitution had expended much labor in vain
Had they imagined that Congress wouls
, possess no power to prohibit the trade eitie
) before or after l608, they would not hay,
taken SO much care to protect the State
against the exercise Of this power before tha
) period. Nay more, they would not have at
tached such vast Importance TO this provision
: las to have exclodedsit from the possibiiitys o
future repeal or amendment. TO which othe
Iportione Of the Constitution wera exposed
1t would then have been wholly unnecessar,
TO engraft on. the 9Th article Of the Conslitu
ltion, prescribing the mode Of its own futur
amendment, the pr0viso. 8 that no atnendmen
(which may be- made prior to the year l6O'
shall in no manner affect" the provision in tn
4 Constitution securing to the States tue righ
to admit the Importation Of African slave