The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-01-04
WHOLE NUMBER 613.

SobiOu 10 TcHuoTBu IUCCoBuub
whilst the territorial condition remsined,
dangerous excitement among the people Of
the seversl States.
Thus has the status of a territory during
the intermediate period from it's fret settle
ment until It shalI become a State, been
irrevocably hSed BY the final decision of the
Supreme Court. Fortunate has this been
for the prosperity Of the Territories, as we'll
as the tranquility of the States. Now EN-.
ierants from the North and the South, tho
East and the West, will meet in the terri.
tories on q common platform, having
brought with them that species of property
best adapted, in their own opinion, to pro.
mote their welfare. From natural causes
slavery will in each case soon virtually
settle itself, and before the territory is pre-.
pared for admission as State into the Un-
lon, THE decision will, one way or the other,
have been a forgone conclusion. Mean
while The settlement of the new territory
will proceed without serious interruption,
and it's progress and prosperity will not be
endangered or retarded BY violent political
| struggles.
When in the progress of events the in
habitants OF any Territory shall have reach
ed the number required to form a State, they
shall then proceed in a regular manner, and
in the exercise Of the rights of popular SOW
| ereIgnity, to form Constitution preparatory
to admission into the Union. After this
has been done, to employ the laugupge 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 tn Air admission" This
sound principle has happily been recognized,
IN some form or other, by an almost unini.
nous vote OF both Houses Of the last Con.
gress.
All lawful means at my coumlnd have
been employed, and shall continue to be en-
ployed, to execute the laws against the AT.
rican Slave trade. After e. most careful
and rigorous examination Of our coasts and a
thought investigation Of the subj act, we have
not been able to discover that any slaves
have been imported into the United States
except the cargo by the Wanderer, mum.
bering between three and tour hundred,
Those engaged in the unlawful enterprise
have been vigorously prosecuted ; but not
with as much success as their crimes have
deserved. A number of them are still under
prosecution.
Cur history proves that the fathers OF tho
Republic, in advance of all other nations,
condemned the African Slave trade. Il
was, notwithstanding, deemed expedent by
the trainers Of the Constitution, to deprive
Congress of the power to prohibit "the mi.
grafton or importatio of such persons as
any OF the States now existing shall think
proper to admit" "prior to the year one
thousand eight hundred and eight"
II 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 importation of slaves. 1t did not extend
to other States or to the trade carried on
abroad. Accordingly, we ind that so early
as the 22d March, 1874, Congress passed an
act imposing severe penalties and punish.
: ments upon citizens and residents OF the
United States who shcul ID engage in this
trade between foreign nations. The provis.
ions of this Act were extended and enforced
by the Act of 10th May, 1900. ,
Again: The States themselves had 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 previous to 1908. Sew.
eral of them exercised this right before that
period, and among them some containing the
greatest number OF slaves. This gave to
4 Congress the immediate power to act Id fe.
gard to all such States, because they them
selves had removed the constitutional bar.
rier. Congress accordingly passed an act
on the sSth February, 1903, "to prevent the
i importation of certain persons into certain
States, where by the laws thereof, their ad.
mission is prohibited" In this manner the
importation of African slaves into the United
tSfa1oR W N n nf nPohihitnh
some years in advlnce of 1903.
} AS the year 1903 approached, Congress
determined not to suffer this trade to exist
even for single cay after they had the pow.
er to abolish it. On the 2 OF March, 1907,
they passed an act to take effect "from and
after the list of January, lS03," prohibiting
the importation Of African slaves into the
! United States. This was followed by sub
sec 4ent acts OF a similar character, t. which
5 | need not specially refer. SIch were the
principles and such the practice OF our an.
cestors more than fly years ago in regard
r TO the African slave trade.
1t did not occur to the reyered patriots
4 who had been delegated to the Convention,
t and afterwards became members of Con.
e gress, that IN passing these laws they had
d. violated the Constitution which they had
. framed with SO much core and deliberation.
. They supposed that to prohibit Congress, in
: express terms, from exercising specified
power before an appointed day, necessarily
j involved the right to exercise this power at
G ter thatday had arrived.
n II this were not the case, the framers o
i the Constitution had expended much labor Id
; vain. Had they imagined that Congress
. would possess 90 power to prohibit the trade
Is even before or after 1903, they would not
o have taken 80 much care to protect the States
o against the exercise of this power before thai
e period. Nay, more, they would not have
attached such vast importance to this proVis
al ion as to have excluded it from the possible
" ty Of future repeal or amendment, to which
t. other portions of the Constitution were ex'
Y, posed. 1t would, then, have been wholly
D. unnecessary to engraft on the fifth article o.
'e the Constitution, prescribing the mode o.
j. it's future amendment, the proviso, "that nc
|. amendment which may be made prior to ths
y year one thousand eight hundred and eight
,fl shall 10 any manner affect" the provision II
lr the Constitution securing to the States the
,. right to admit the importation of African
y slaves previous to that period.
e According to the adverse construction, the
y clause itself, on which so much care and dts
r cusson had been employed BY the members
vi of the Convention, was an absolute nuihsy
n from the beginning, and all that has sincs
{. been done under it mere nsurPation.
i'll II was well and wise to confer this poweE
"a IN Congress. because had 1t l'een left TO the
n States lie efficient exercise would have been
n ;mnoasible. In that event any enc ssst;
}. conld have effeceually cOntin.ed the trade
I'll not onIv for itself but for Eli thA fha, Ssl.