St. Mary's beacon., 1862-04-17

WI. laws tucH tOok tie nOOr AMI spoke
at length against the whole measure.
promising that he had only offered the
amendment he did, aud voted as he did,
with the view OF rendering the bill as lit
tie objectionable as possible. He pro-
ceeded to argue the total absence of all
power in Congress to abolish slavery any
where. and in repelling the idea Of Mr.
Pomeroy. of Kansas. that slavery did not
exist iu this district hy Law. and arr
gucd that slaves were held as all other
property. just as lands, horses. &c. The
law presumed the existence Of property,
and protected it as such in possession.
He cited ancient authorities as well as
modern. on this snblect Mf. ID. in this
connection passed to the consideration of
the constitutional prosisio on the subject
OF appropriating private property fur pub
lie uses. This could only b. done in ca
scs Of necessity with full compensation.
How then cmld slaves be taken any more
than lands, IN the arbitrary way prupos-
ed ? at price one-half their value.
The rule of the Constitution was Of
double force as applied {" slaves. 90 pro-
pcrty can only be taken for public usc.
OF what use are liberated slaves TO be to
the Government!
Mr. ID. spoke at length, tcuehiag q
great variety of topics; and finally (turn-
ing towards Mr.. Sumner. Of Massachu-
sctts,) asked what light had the isms OF
Tho..lnr. D,rLo. ~ .,,oI, al -. A.. l.
forced upon she people of this District
Had they not thu sauac right to their
own oIi' ions as those philanthropists !
True and phIlosophic principles, he said
had been announced Oh this subject by
the gentleman froa. Wisconsin (Mr. Doc
li,tle) to the effect that the negro and
white iaccs never could live and associatc
together on an equality Let the people
"f this District then say for themselves. at
least, whether they will have these ne.
srocs among then, when they havs bec,,
liberated.
If you will not allow them to veto as ia
whether they will own slaves or not, at
least do not compel them to sojuurn on an
equality with the free negroes lie went
iuto statistics to show how largely the
number Of free negroes had Increased in
the District since 1850, having increased,
according to the census Of 1860, to over
Il 900. and probably since this war COM
u,enced there arc several thousands more
here now in addition. They would soon
be here. he supposed, IN the halls of Con
grcss. cruwding out the white ladies' and
gentlemen attending here.
He would not speak for the army of the
Potomac, but for that of the West he
knew he could declare that they regarded
the people of the South ~ having n right.
fLl pr"l erty in thcir slaves, and were
opposed to the purposes here enumerated
aud ut least two thirds of them never
would have entered the army after the
disaster Of Bull Run. il they had supposed
they would be aiding in carrying cut such
schemes. Having now got this grea,
army BY representations Of desire 10 res
tore tho Union on the basis of the Gen.
sti'uticn. was it to DC shown that it had
been deceived, and mustered in on false
pretenors?
Mr.. D in chasing declared that the
people Of This District were not frce~-had
not as much freedom as the slaves here
proposed to be- freed. They had 10 rep
rcsentativcs of their own choosing. and
therefore were to ne sacrificed. He men-
toned the case Of one lady (Mrs BelI)
who owned Eve slaves. yielding her each
fr"n, $3.50 to 5000 per year. whom now
it was intended to take from her al $500
apiece.
Mr. Wilson. Of Massachusetts. got the
6o"r. and. OH his motion, the bill was posi-
pcncd until Tomorrow. 49,.
On the 25th the same bill bcing under
discussion. Mr.. Wilson made bitter abo-
lition speech. In reply Mr. Kennedy, of
Maryland, said: .... .'
"IIe did not intend to speak upoa this
question, but OH account Of the indisposi-
ton Of bis colleague he would speak
briefly, and would enter the protest Of
Maryland. All her prosperity. her dig
nifty, aud general welfare. were involved
IN this question. She has no other rcli-
ance but the pledge of the hyal State.
against interference with the Constitu-
tion; to stand by that instrument was all
that she asked
He quoted resolutions of tho Maryland
Legislature to show the opposition Of tha.
State to any such measure. aud referred to
the pledge Of non-interferetce made l.,
the inaugural address by the President
He held that such measure would tend
greatly TO injure the Union cause by uni
ting upon the secession policy the latent
element of Uniunism existing in the re-
bclious States. He read at length from
the Congressional recor1 the report of
Of the Lower House. com.
posed Of members from all parts of the
North. on the subject Of abolishing slavery
in the District. in which it was held
that it would be an outrage to ahqlish
slavery here without the consent of Mary=
land and Virginia. and as gross an inter.
fercnce with the rights of the States as