Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-03-30


ritory Of the United States"
There 1t is, sir. There it is-the overrulins
tl1t OF the great dominant party of the Unitct
States and yet you rest i'll regard to th
thing upon the poor provision of this first sec
ton OF the Peace Conference article.
Sir, that is not ALL Who is to decide thi!
question of common law which arises in you
territory? Where can you fly for refuge, fo
succor, or for security? You 20 to the Fede
ralfJudge. Whose Federal Judge, sir? 0
our appointing? No, sir. No, this expounde
of your rights is to he Federal Judge appoint
ed by Mr.. Lincoln.
Nor is that all Your whole granted territory
these pretended grants 10 you which like tht
apples of the Dead Sea melt away the very
moment that you get them in your grasp ars
TO be employed and held not only under the
decision of the Chicago plntform and the JUS
Interpretation of the section which | read
but, when you come to Congress, the great tri
bunal Of the nation, and make your appeal
thcrc-the appeal Of only seven-poor sepc'
what do your opponents count against you
Nineteen to seven! All the world 10 nothing.
You are at their mercy, you have nothing tc
hope for.
BuS, sir, tit was said the other day that you
did not want any more territory This was
SAID by some gentleman in debate whose name
canaot nrw call 10 mind. You sercn do not
want any more territory-not u foot mprc
Make yourselves easy'upon that subject you
have territory, but it is territory in the moon,
which you cannot reach, even if it have better
foundation than Sancho Panza had to his gov
ernmcnt Our good friends of the North take
care to head you off, sir; they give you no
chance to et.therc Look at the 81 scctionl
That 3rd section denies you the right ''ol
transit in or through any State or territory"
| My friend announces himself State.rights
man, and should be very happy indeed TO re-
ccive him as one Of my own fraternity, as the
advocate of the resolutions Of $500. lie told
US that this was but an attribute of State
power, the non.pcrmiSSion on the part of these
States TO carry our property in transit through
them; and then my honorable friend sent down
perfect avalanche Of persons upon us. and
asked: Have We not q right to prevent that
avalanche from passing through our territory 7
Sir, every day, every hour, every moment Of
every day, the mechanics ofthe North are pass.
ing on to the South and are taking their ma
chinery with them Of every character and de-
scription; but I'VE poor seven, I'VE miserable
starvlings Of the once great Confederacy,
are To be denied the poor privilege of passing
with our property in transit through one Of
these States. )Qf what advantage, then, ITO us is
the territory Of Arizona and the beautiful Mes
slim valley? How are we to get TO them y
Suppose we start off upon our journey from
Richmond. You are resolved 10 take up your
residence in Arizona or in the Mcssia Valley.
How are you to get there? If you go by sea-
you have to doukIc the stormy Cape before you
reach the gulf of California. You will scarcely
encounter u voyage Of SO much peril and dan
ger You prefer to go by some other route, the
route by land. How are you to accomplish itY
by this 3rd section you cannot pass through
the States and territories The soil Of
Ohio You must not SGT foot upon. You
may pass down the beautiful Ohio
and 20 on dancing upon the waves
of the great Father Of waters - the Mis-
sissippi. But what will you do when you get
to Louisiana which is now out Of the Union?
Is she going to pcrmit this avalanche upon her?
Will she permit you 10 reach the Gulf Of Mex
leo? This, Of course, must depend entirely
upon her discretion. And when you have
passed into the Gufof Mexico how get across
Texas? Attempt it in another direction. You
are headed of by Kansas, the Indian Territory
and ARKANSAS And this is true, whether you
begin your journey from Richmond or St.
Louis. These fair and beautiful valleys, for
tuch Jl.ty nndnnbt"dlv nrn iennt vnp hrt rnu
without permission from Others. And there
YOU are, with capacious domain, with grants
of land claimed in the sovereign capacity and
attribute of the old Commonwealth OF 'lrGl-
MIA. and vet so fenced and hedged in by these
provisions that nothing Of these possessions
which yon ought to enjoy, but which your
masters tell you you shall not enjoy, is lett to
You in any practical sense.
But, s;rSwc were told that we wanted no
more land) )that we have plenty of land to fill
IN for one hundred years to come. did not
cxpect to hear this upon this floor. 10 not
know the gentleman who uttered the remark
Want no more land Content to remain but
seven States in this vast collection Of Northern
States WANT no expansion! No more power
than they will grant you They are nineteen
now, while you are but seven; and let me tell
you sir that before this administration goes out
or within two gears afterwards, these nineteen
States will have swollen up to twcnty.seven.
It will be twenty.seven 10 seven. Where Is
the glory of Virginia then 7? Want no more
land Your inhabitants, when they emlSrntc,
are TO be driven to the old settled States OF the
South there to be forced TO give from thirty
to one hundred dollars an acre for land. The
Government lands, at one dollar and twenty five
cents an acre arc to be denied them. Won may
20 into Texas it is true, but you could not pro-
baby, get land there for one dollar and twenty
five cents an acre.
think il is n hard case to tell me that If ]
shall be Obliged to cmigrate with my large
. Il nF
that must give all the earnings of my life for
the purchase Of few acres oil land IN South "a
rolina or one of the ncighboring cotton States.
| cannot 20 into the Southern regions Whlch
can produce the cotton, the rice, the indigo,
and am practically excluded from all the dement's
OF our new grants through the operation OF the
several causes to which have referred.
Well, sir, after what is here said OF this state
Of things, it is not for me to complain OIL 1t.
never complain of any gentleman for his opin-
ion. Upon that subject the gentleman has
right to lis opinion, and have right to mine ;
we differ }that is all, and there the matter ends.
Sir my friend yesterday said something upon
the subject of future acquisition OF Territory.
do not know how it can be that We should
differ so, widely upon that question. Now,
when look to our instructions from the
General Assemblyjof Virginia. find this Ian
guage:
Resolved, That in the opinion Of the Gen
eral Assembly Of Virginia, the propositions
embraced in the resolutions presented to the
Senate Of the United States, by the Hon. Jno.
j. .Crittenden, so modified as that the first ar
tcle proposed ms an amendment to the Consti
tuition of tho United States, shall apply to al
| tba tcrritnry of Tho limited States now held, OF
hereafter to be acquired, south of latitude sc
deg. 80 min, and provide that slavery Of the
African race shall he efectually protected, Il
necessary, as property therein, during the con
tinuance OF the Territorial Government; an1
the fourth article shall secure to the owners o.
slaves the right Of transit with thel: slaves be
tween and through the uon.slaveholdlng States
and Territories, constitute the basis OF such ar
adjustment Of the happy controversy whlct
now divides the States Of this Contederacy, n:
bo .,,o,t.J l,1, il,o poonla nG this COm