The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-12

Convention sanctioned the three-Hfths repre-
: sentation OF slaves. and II was just two day
: afterward that the old Congress Of the Confet
GRAFTON. sitting In the same city. was pre-
vailed upon to pass the ordinance Pre-
hibiting slavery in the Northwestern Tel
ritory. That article was undoubtedly tn
price paid by tho South for the three-nfth
representation and for the fugitive slave
clause embodied In the Constitution, and Vir
ginia's acaulescence was unQuestionably on
Of the many sacrifices made by her In order t
secure that union OF the States which she re
Rarded IA of Importance. II will
be recalled that she had opposed the same pro
vision. although offered by Jefferson himsel
only n few years before. yet now she assenteC
to II for the same reason that she accepted tn,
Constitution itself, although that documen
contained a provision for the continuance Of the
slave trade. to which she was earnestly opposed
II.
There were two reasons for tho opposition od
the North to the admission OF Missouri IA q
slave State. Hitherto there had been a tacit
agreement carried out In practice that the bal.
ance of power between the free and slave
States should be preserved II had been the
fear that this balance might be disturbed
which had rendered some Of the Eastern States
opposed to the purchase of the Louisiana ter
ritory. The new States had entered the Union
with alternate regularity. as slave and free.
Thus Kentucky and Vermont had come in
at about the same time; then Tennessee
and Ohio: next Louisiana. and some years
after Indiana: then Mississippi and I'LL
nois. Alabama as a slave territory and Maine as
free. were readyto enter as States: and Arkan-
sas and Michigan were in sight. There was.
however. no other Northern or free territory
ready to enter the Union as an offset to Mis-
souri,. and here entrance as n slave State would
not only break the rule which had been hither-
to observed. but might. at no distant time. turn
the scale in favor OF the slave-holding States.
and give the South that majority in at
least one branch OF the Federal legislature
which the North had enjoyed. The pros
pect Of such q political change caused the
Northern majority in the House OF Representa-
tives to determine not 70 admit Missouri ex-
cept with n prohibition OF slavery. although her
people were composed almost entirely OF slave
holders from the States Of Virginia. Kentucky.
Tennessee and North Carolina who had emil
grated thither and carried their slave prop
erty with them: indeed, the original white
inhabitants Of Missouri had owned slaves
both under Spanish and French dominion.
There was a social and economical view
of the matter which may have had al
most rs much influence as the political
aspect. though the South MAY not have fully
appreciated it's relation to the position OF the
North with regard to the admission Of Mis-
souri,. We refer to the fact that the mere ex-
istence Of slavery in a given territory shut out
the laboring white mar of the North quite as
effectuallv as could any law Of Congress pre-
clude a stakeholder from taking his slave
property to a given region.
1t was on Feb. 10. 1919. that a bill for the
admission OF Missouri was brought up for con-
sideration in the House Of Representatives.
Mr.. TallmadGe OF New York moved an amend
ment to limit the existence of slavery in the
proposed State, and to provide for gradual
emancipation. both of Mr.. Tallmadge's pro-
posals. namely. that the further introduction
OF slaves should be prohibited. and that all
children born within the State after the ad-
mission thereof should be free at the age OF %.
were passed. but only by small majorities.
The debate had been very violent. Mr.. Cobb OF
Georgia declaring. II you persist. the Union
will be dissolved" and Mr.. Tallmadge. retort-
ing. Sir. il a dissolution OF the Union must
take place. let 1t he SO! II civil war. which
gentlemen so much threaten. must come. l can
only say. let 1t come" The bill. as amended.
was passed by 81 to SO. and sent to the Senate
for its concurrence. The Senate struck out
both clauses restricting slavery, and returned
it to the House. The latter chamber refusing
" INV III NlV u'tloNi vi tlc pChulC NEO tllls |
of course. was lost. We should here mention
that. meantime. the Territory Of Arkansas
had been cut Off from the Territory
of Missouri. and on Feb. II an attempt
was made to insert a prohibition OF slavery in
the bill to provide an Arkansas territorial gov
This attempt was ultimately de-
feated by a majority of .. thanks mainly to
the efforts OF Henry Clay. who at the time was
Of the House. Mr.. Clay believed that
the Southern people were entitled to equal
rights in the Territories. although he was all
his life in favor OF emancipation, as he proved
when. before the assembling OF the Kentucky
Convention in 1893. he urged
emancipation upon his State. and as he was to
prove again in lS49 when he wrote his cele-
brated emancipation letter.
1t has long been a current belief that Henry
Clay was the author OF the Act of 1920. gener-
ally known "a the Missouri Compromise act:
that 1t was a Southern measure, and in the ma
OF a compact between North and South.
This belief has been made the basis Of the as
sertlon that the repeal OF n portion of this act
by that party. the Democratic. which was in
Of doing Justice to the South. at the sug-
ges'ion OF n Southern Wing. Archibald Dixon
Of Kentucky. was n breach OF good faith to-
the North and a violation of a covenant
between the North and the South. The au-
thor Of this book points out that, as a
matter of fact. the evidence all goes to show
that Mr.. Clay had nothing to do with the
OF the Missouri Compromise that
the compromise was not in any sense a South
ern measure: that the prohibition OF slavery in
the Territories was proposed by Northern men
exclusively. was opposed continuously for two
OF Congress by every Southern man,
and was, finally, forced upon the South by a
Northern majority not exactly ut the point of
he bayonet, but by bringing pressure 10 bear
lpon the South's love for the Union which Mt
time was so great as to impel her rep
-esentatives to surrender her just rights
'ather than sever the relations to which
her people were devOtcdly attached. The
also shows that the so-called compro-
Mise was not only not a compact between the
North and the South. but was not SO regarded
)r treated even by the North at the time, see
ng that it was repudiated by the Northern ma
GRITTY at the next session OF Congress in less
han a year after its passage. which. of course.
you'd not have been done had the measure
1een regarded AS truly n compact. As a mat
er OF fact. the measure was not a compromise,
mt "a aurraDInr "a G,ITrarIor by thn Cn,,.L