Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-01-25
UNLOADING THE oMNIBr.
YALUE OF TIE LApTNu.

meditations Let Us give brief look at
them
First comes what is called the majority
Report, by Thomas Corwin, Chairman, who
informs US IN the last sentence Of it, that the
resolutions and bills reported we're not, after
all, voted for throughout by a majority Of
the committee, but only by a majority Of a
quorum. a quorum would be seventeen; ; 50
it is lnisrrible that their majority report with
its resolutions and bills were voted for by at
least nine out Of the thirty tArcc-possibly BY
one or two more. The report is long
We can do better than to copy it. Itsays the
newspaper press has reported a great many
idle and false stories which have had very
disturbing effect on the public mind Of the
South. 1t ought to do better, OF be punish
ed The report says that the outcry about
personal liberty laws does not amount to any
thing. If the laws are Unconstitutional they
have no validity, and 50 the courts will de-
eide, Still, such a racket has been made
on that subject, that the committee request
the State Legislatures to look over their
personal liberty laws, and repeal such as
conflict with constitutional provisions or with
laws Of Congress for the rendition oi fugi-
tiyes from labor. The majority Of quorum
aforesaid think also that the somewhat cele-
brated Fugitive slave law Of 1850 has some
weak and some unpleasant features which
ought to be altered for the better.
They admit also, that there has been a
great deal Of lying about the republican par
ty, and say the lies are taken Ior truth very
widely. in the Syuth-which Is true beyond
doubt,-moTo shame for the Lars and iol
those who believe them, because they vii
not hear word Of truth in their refuta.
tion.
They then 60 over the compromise g
ground Of former years, and really think that
the subject Of slavery ought to be got out ot
congressional and party warfare. We have
heard that sort Of talk a good many years,
now and loudest and oftenest from the
men, S0utherners and NOrtherners alike, like
Toombs, and Douglass, who have done every
thing possible to force the subje1t into Con
gress and into party always for the purpose
of giving the slayeholding oligarcby addition
al political power. The same sort of men
are now at work, plotting and fomentins re
bellion for the same end.
But how does the committee propose to
take the slavery question out of Congress
and party politics? They assume 1st, that
in the present territory 1f New Mexico slave
ry is established by territorial law, Congress
not having vetoed the slave code Of that
territory, and they propose to take it at once
into the Union as a slave state. Thus they
say, "aH claim,d BY The South ,riR BE- obtained,
[true enough too, ,pdile The Northern portion
Of Our remaining territory iciH be smjlcl 10
such lao as he Constitution and Congress
may furnish for as Gorcrument " We
wonder if the majority Of = quorum were
simple enough to believe that after having
granted "al claimed by the South" about
New Mexico. there would be no Congression-
al and party disputes about all this ire
naming territory" IN reference 30 slavery !
They think in the 81 place, that something
must be done about slavery in the District
Of Columbia, &c, and about the Interstate
slave trade and in the 80 place, that there
must be some tinkering done to the fugitive
slave act and to the acts for surrendering
fugityes from justice and in the 4th place,
they say they cffer set Of resolutions very
excellent for the seHt,ncEts contained in
them, though they do not propose action on
any "specifc subject" If adopted they viii
have,it is believed by those whoreport them,
a sort of soothing effect on the nation, like
that of Mrs. WinslOw's Syrup on teething
children, we suppose. The "majOrity Of a
quorum" by their chairman acknowledge
that they have had long incubation, and If
the chickens are found to be not worth the
raising, they hope Congress will get up a
brood of their own which will be better.
The report seems to us feeble document,
and the miscel llaneous schemes which it pro-
poses Will come to just nothing at all. If
adopted, they would as a whole do more hurt
than good.
Hon. Charles Francis Adams, of Massachu-
sets, offers minority report of his own.
He admits that in the earnest hope Of some
adjustment which would restore the peace Of
the country, he was ready to concur in some
Of the proposed measures, and said sos
though be did not like them, but he soon
found that the members in the Committee
from ten of the fifteen "aggrieved states"
were not going to be satisfied with any thing
short of this extreme demands Of the extreme
men OF their section of country. 1t was to
be all take but no give,on their part. In re-
ference to one subject of the Presidents
message referred to the Conmittee-the
validity OF the Presidential election, the
following resolution was proposed:-
he'olsfa, That peaceful acquiescence in the eIec
llon Vi ehei magistrs c, accomplished in accord
ance with every legal anu conttitptio,1I
ment' Is high aud imperative duly Of cyerv cool
citizen Of the United States" eOO'
10 ms great surprise no less than seren of the
members referred to,relused record.heir names
al al on L. Mr.. Adams therefore asks what
is the us1 of tllkins about cannron ;sos
chdeF the aspect Of aif,irs waici such re-
ius2l indicates? Aud Le continues =
The general conclusion TO which the spbsc,;h,r
NAs u lion eiOse observation oi tuv at,,u