Wabash express., 1860-01-04

will then proceed, in n regular manner, and
in the exercise of the rights of popular SOW
| ereignty, To form constitution prepara-
tory 10 admission into the Union. After
/ this has been done, to employ the langu
age of the Kansas and Nebraska act, they
''shall be received into the Union with or
without slavery, as their constitution may
prescribe at the time of their admission" !"
This sound principle has happily been
recognized, in some form or other. by an
almost unanimous vote of both houses Of
the last Congress.
All lawful means at my command have
been employed, to execute the laws against
the African slavetrade. After most care
full and rigorous examination Of our coasts,
and thorough investigation of the subject
We have not been able to discover that any
slaves have been imported into the United
States, except the cargo by the Wanderer,
numbering betw cen three and four hun
drei Those engaged in this unlawful
enterprise have been vigorously prosecu
ted; but not with as much success as their
crimes have deserved A number Of them
are still under prosecution
Our history proves that the Fathers OF the
Republic, in advance of all other nations.
condemned the African slave trade IL
was, not~ outstanding. deemed expedient
10y the trainers Of the Constitution to de-
prive 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 thouss nd eight hundred and eight"
IL will oe seen that this restriction on
the power Of Congress was coofined to such
States only as might see proper to admit
the importation of slaves. 1t did not ex
tend to other States or To the trade carried
on aboard. Accordingly we find that so
early as the 23d of March; 1894. Congress
passed an act imposing severe penalties
and punishments upon citizens aud resi-
dents of the United States who should
engage in this trade between foreign ma
tons. The provisions of this were exten
ded and enforced by the act of 10Th May.
1900.
Again: The States themselves had a
clear right to waive the constitutional priv
ilege intended for their benefit. and to pro-
hibit, 10y their own laws, this trade at any
time they thought proper previous to 1903.
Several OF them exercised this right before
that period. and among them some contain
ing tho gratest number Of slaves. This
gave to Congress the Immediate power 10
act in regard TO all such States, because
they themselves had removed the constitu
tional barrier. Congress accordingly pas
sed an act on 2Sth FEBRUARY, 1903. ito pre-
vent the importation into certain States
where, BY the laws thereof, their admiss.
ion is prohibited In this manner the i'm
portasion of African slaves into the United
States was, to great extent, prohibited
some years in advance of 1908.
As the year 1903 approached. Congress
determined not to suffer this trade to exist
even for a single day after they had the
power to abolish it. On the Cd Of March,
1907, they passed an act to take effect
"from and after the lst day Of January.
leOo, prohibiting the importation of AZ
rican slaves into the United States. This
was followed by subsequ mt acts of a simi-
lar character, to which need not specially
refer. Such were the principles and such
the practice OF our ancestors more than fit
I ty years ago in regard to the African slave
trade.
! 1t did not occur 10 the revered patriots
who had been delegates to the convention,
aud afterwards became members of Con-
gress, 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 speci-
fed power before an appointed day. neces-
sarily involved the right to exercise this
power 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 1908, they
would not have taken so much care to pro.
tect the States against the exercise of this
/ EQfnra hat navioA Nav fhov
would not have attached such vast impor-
tance to this provision as to have excluded
it from the possibility of future appeal or
amendment, to which other portions Of the
Constitution were exposed.
Itwould then have been wholly unnec-
essary TO engraft on the fifth article Of the
Constitution, prescribing the mode Of its
own future amendment, the proviso, THAT
no amendment whicl may be made prior
to the year le0S shall in any manaer affect"
the provision in toe Constitution securing
TO the States the right to admit the imper-
tation Of African slaves previous to that
period
According to the adverse construction
the clause ITSELF on which so much care
and discussion had ben employed by the
members of the convention, was an abso-
lutte nullity from the beginning, and all
that has since been done under it mere
usurpstion.
1t was we'll and wise to confer this pow
er on Congress, because, had it been left
TO the States. its efficient exercise would
have tetn impossible. In that event any
one State could have effectually continued
the trade not only for itself, but for all the
other slave States. though never so much
against their will. And why? Because
African slaves, when once brought within
the limits OF any one State, in accordance
with its laws. cannot practically be exclu
ded from any other State where slavery
exists. Aud even il all the States had
separately passed laws prohibiting the i'm
portation Of slaves, these laws would have
. failed Of effect for want of a naval force to
: capture the slavers and to guard the coasts.
Such force no State can employ in time
Of peace without the consent of Congress.
These acts of Congress, il is believed
have, with very rare and Insignificant ex-
: ceptions, accomplished their purpose. For
, period gilmore than half q century there
has been perceptible addition to the
number of our domestic slaves. During
this period their advancement 10 civiliza-
+ tion has far surpassed that of any Other
, portion Of the African race. The light and
the blessings of Christianity have been ex
! tended to them, and both their moral and
/ physical condition has been greatly i'm
/ proved.
Reopen the trade, and it would be diff
cult to determine whether the..effect woulc
be more deleterious on the interests of tbs
! mas er or on those Of the native born slave
OF the evils to- the master, the one most t,
, be dreaded would be the introduction O
D wild, heathen and ignorant barbarian
t among the sober, orderly and quiet slaves
e whose ancestors have been on the soil fo
, several generations. This might tend I,
D barbarze. demoralize, and exasperate tn,
n whole mass, and produce most deplorabl
c consequences.
+ The effect upon the existing slave woul,
e If possible be still more deplorable. A
c present he is treated with kindness am,
" humanity. lie is well fed. well clothed
and not overworkcd. His condition Is in
t comparably better than that of the coolie
!, VIII ich modern nations Of high ciyilizatio
e have smployed as substitute for Africa
e slaves. Both the philanthropy and tn
self-interest Of the master have combine
g TO produce this humane result. But Il