The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-03-28
PROPERTY IN THE TERRITORIES
SIP Z E CHI
Oh
SENATOR A. G. BROWN,
OF MISSISSIPPI,
In tie Senaie March 6tL, 1860.

The Vice President. The resolutions OF
fered by the Senator from Mississippi are nov
before the Senate.
: Mr. Brown. Mr.. President, ask, belor
proceediny to my remarks, that the resolu
tons | have offered may be read.
The Secretary read them as follows:
ResolUel, That the Territories are the com
mon property Of all the States, and that it i
the privilege Of the citizens Of all the State
TO 90 into the Territories with every kind 0
description of property recognized by the Con
stitution of the United States and held unde
the laws of any Of the States; and that it il
the constitutional duty of the law-makin:
power, wherever lodged or by whomsoevel
exercised, whether by the Congress or by the
Territorial Legislature, to enact such laws az
may he found necessary for the adequate and
efficient protection Of such property
ResoICed, That the Committee on Terrific
rieS be instructed to insert in any bill they
may report for the organization of new Terri
tories, clause declaring it to be the duty o.
the Territorial Legislature to enact adequate
and sufficient laws for the protection of ali
kinds # property, as above described, within
the limits of the Territory, and that upon its
failure or refusal to do so, it is the duty Of
Congress to interpOse and pass such laws.
Mr.. Brown. When introduced these res
Olutions, Mr.. President acted under deep
sense Of duty. | had seen the Southern peo-
pie excluded from most-indeed, from all but
one-of the organized Territories of this
Union with their slave property; and believed
that the same thing would occur in reference
to the Territories about to be organized, un-
less Congress interposed its authority to pre-
vent it. |, therefore, in reference to Terrific
rles about to be organized, moved resolutions
| which looked to direct, immediate, and posi-
tive protection to the slave property in the
| Territories. As to the Territories already or
| ganized, | soon after introduced bill looking
to the overthrow Of their unffiendly acts, and
to the substitution Of laws friend to this spe-
! cies o: property. In all these [ sought what
! l believed TO belong to the Southern people
under the Constitution nothing more AT
| one time / supposed these resolutions would
meet the appreciation Of Democratic Senators
| generally. | have been undeceived on that
| point. Their refusal, however, to sustain
| them has in nowise shaken my confidence in
| their correctness; and | stand before you to-
| day sir, to plead the cause of these resolu-
tons. II | fail to convince the Senate that the
resolutions are right in principle trust shall
at least have the consolation of feeling that my
hearers believe Inc to lie sincere in Offering
them.
The resolution and the bill which subse-
quently introduced, and to which have al
! ready alluded, embodied these substantive
principles: first that a slave is property un-
der the Constitution of the United States
secondly that, being property, his owner has
the same right to take him to a common Ter
l Iv-1Nn &hn-o l.,Il l. -
the owner of any other species Of property
would have to take that species and hold it
there: thirdly. that, having the constitutional
right to take his property to the Territory, he
is of necessity entitled to have it protected
after he gets there, else the right would be nu-
+. gatory. Up to this point, have not found
myself differing materially with my Demo-
cratic friends; but at this point, as was well
said by my honorable friend from Indiana,
Mr.. Fitch, We begin 70 tiiHerge insist
that it is primarily the duty OF a Territorial
Legislature to afford me the protection to
which am entitled; but the Legislature full
ing or refusing, then | insist that it becomes
the duty of Congress to afford that protection:
and here comes the rub Is Congress. under
any circumstances. bound to afford me ade-
guate and sufficient protection for my slave
property? | insist that it is 4; that if slaves
are property under the Constitution, they are
entitled to the same protection which is af-
fOrded to any other kind of property; and that
whatever obligations were imposed by the
Constitution, are imposed directly upon Con-
gress, and not upon Territorial Legislature
Whatever appeal ], as citizen of one Of the
sovereign States Of this Unon address for the
maintenance of my constitutional rights, |
necessarily address to Congress; and why
Because all the powers imposed by the FEEDER
al Constitution to make laws were imposed
upon Congress, and not, repeat, upon a Ter
ritoral Legislature.
Sir, when the Constitution was formed,
there was no such thing as Territorial Legis-
lature, and there was no such thing for many
years afterwards No authority is found in
the debates which gave rise to the Constitu-
ton indicating that the trainers of that inStru-
ment supposed there ever would be such le-
gisiative body as Territorial Legislature ::
therefore, no obligations were imposed upon
such Legislatures by the Constitution The
obligations were imposed, l say again, upon
Congress, and Congress, acting within its le-
gitimate sphere. transfers these Obligations, in
a limited degree, to one of its own creatures !;
but Congress cannot, in the act of transferring
an obligation to an inferior, discharge itself
from the obligations imposed by the Constitu-
ton. II | am right, therefore, in assuming
that slaves are property, and that the owners
have the right to take them into the Terrific
ries, and have them protected, | must be right
in concluding that the duty rests upon Con-
gress to afford that protection. IF it is done
by the creature, well: if it is not done, then
it is the duty of the creator, upon whom the
obligation was imposed by the Constitution,
to interpose and see that il is done.
l am told, sir, that these resolutions, and
the bill by which followed them, cannot be
passed; not because they do not embody, in
the main, sound principles and are not capa-
BILE of being so amended as to bring them with
in reach of nearly all, If not, indeed all the
Democratic Senators. True, sir, know that
in no sort Of form can they retain their sub
stance, and yet command republican votes.--
Then, am told that they cannot be so amend
ed, and so thrown into shape as to command
the votes of conservative Democrats. Sir,
there was day when had great respect for
| the word conservative. | thought it meant a
| politician who would retain the substance of
proposition, aud yet so accommodate the de-
tails as to meet his brethren but conserva
| tiSm seems to Inc now to be sort of go-be
tween a divider Of principles, that demands a
little Of one thing and little Of another, and
not much of anything; sort Of political toll
keeper, who looks North South, East and
West for customers and cares very little
from what direction they come, if they only
| pay their toll. l thank God that | am not
{ such conservative. thank my Maker that
he so created me that am capable of feeling
earnest convictions; and that He endowed
me with sufficient moral COURAGE to express
them in the face of all opposition
have heard it suggested that a compro
mise might be effected by which, if the South
! would agree to surrender something of the
substance upon another question, she would
be allowed to retain all of the substance upon
this proposition; in plain English, that, if we
would agree to discriminating tariff, if we
would allow protective duties to be levied up
on coal and iron, and other Northern produc-
tons, then certain Northern men would yield
enough of their opposition upon this question
to give US that sort Of protection which would
be required for our slave property in the Ter
ritories. have heard such things talked of.
/ find the proposition embodied in very we'll
written letter OF a former member of this
body, distinguished gentleman of New Jer-
sey-I mean Commodore Stockton. / have
heard it spoken of here and elsewhere. 1t
tIlcICiOiC
to induce me to look at it, and address my
self to it. / send an extract of the letter oi
Commodore Stockton to the Secretary's desk,
and ask him to read it.
The Secretary read as follows:
Il am for pease-I am for the Union--and
therefore l am for concession, if concession
will insure peace. The North is infuriated
with q passionate, almost irreligious fanati-
cism the South maddened by the certainty
of the horrible results which that anaticisn
threatens, is assuming an attitude of serious
stern resistance. TO avert the inevitable pro.
gress of the conflict, would have the North
concede at once, and promptly and cordially
agree-L To recognize as final and conclu-
siYe the decision Of the Supreme Court. 2
Comply faithfully with the requisitions Of ths
fugitive slave law. 8. To recognize the righ'
Of our Southern fellow-citizens TO take theil