The National tribune., 1902-01-09

| the part of those opposed to the impos
| ton of the restriction of slavery upon the
| people of Missouri it was contended that
the measure was contrary to the prece
dents established by Congress in the
cases of Kentucky, Tennessee Louisiana
Mississippi, and Alabama, all of which
had been admitted into the Union witt
slavery; that it had infringed upon that
article in the treaty Of purchase, which
guaranteed to the people of Louisiana the
possession Of their property: and that
Congress had no power to prescribe to 8
State any particular form Of Government
other than that it should be Republican
| and that, even if they had the abstract
power, it would be folly to use it, since
the people Of the State would have Il per
feet right to change or amend their Con
stitution whenever, and in whatever way
they might think proper.
The friends of the restriction clause
argued, on the other hand, that Congress
had power to impose restrictions on
States asking admission; they had done
so in the case of Louisiana, and in the bill
then under consideration there was a
clause which forbade Missouri for five
years to tax the lands of soldiers
Mr.. McNair listened to the debates and
watched the faces of those great states
men, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Cal
houn, and others. At one time he was
in doubt as to the justice of their cause
and the next convinced that it was right,
and that they would win in the end.
The Nation was rocked from center to
circumference. Men of all classes began
discussing the great question of slavery MS
it had never been discussed before.
Mr.. Smith" said Mr.. McNair, to a
delegate, rs they were walking down the
hall of the Capitol building, this debate S
goin' to stir up a fire that may consume
hn N1tt har fiyn
Mr.. Smith. who was a man Of good
judgement and foresight, though only a
pioneer, answered:
ITS gettin' dangerous. 1t may not
come in our day, Mr.. McNair, but | ven
ture to say this slavery question will end
in blood"
Il wish it was settled and over with.
As for my darkies, I'd willingly give them
their freedom if | could, but it would
leave 'em in a worse condition than they
are now"
THAT'S so. Any man who knows how
onery and worthless the free niggers are,
any way, will shrink from freein' as good
and happy set o darkics as | have.
Them fellers in the North don't under
stand the negro, nor do the people o the
South understand them o the North.
wish there was no North and no South
but this day the line has been run which
separates 'em, and the Lord knows what
it will take to unite EN-"
The delegates waited, and the discus
sion dragged on. The House showed very
plainly it was not prepared to abandon
the position it had taken in favor Of
abolishing slavery in Missouri but the
application of Maine for admission into
the Union, which was made about this
time. enabled the Senators to exercise lit
tie gentle pressure upon their neighbOrs
of the lower House by a resort to the
well-knOwn device of coupling the two
measures into one and the same bill. This
was done, and the opponents of the Mis-
souri, restriction in both Houses of Con-
gress declared the two measures must
stand or fall together; that unless Mis-
souri, was admitted into the Union, and
without conditions as to slavery, Maine
should be kept out. This action precipi-
tated a debate, which ran through several
weeks, and finally eliminated in one of
those deadlOcks, the appointment of a
committee of conference, and the adop-
ton of a measure, or rather a series of
measures, known as the Missouri Com
promise.
The honor of having suggested this
means of escape from a deadlock which
threatened the integrity of the Union, be-
longs to Mr.. jesse Il. Thomas, Senator
from Illinois, and a Southern man by
birth, though Henry Clay is most general
ly considered to be the author of the
compromise, and did lend to the measure
the weight of his great name and abilities,
and it is very probable it could not have
been carried without his assistance.
BY the terms of the agreement known
as the Missouri Compromise, the clause
prohibiting slavery WAS stricken from the
bill authorizing the people of Missouri to
form a Constitution. This left them free
to organize the State with or without
slavery, as they might prefer, but with
out any express guarantee as to its ad-
mission into the Union, though it seems
to have been clearly understood that this
was to be the effect of the measure. In
return for this concession, which. in the
light Of Il subsequent decision of the Su-
preme Court, yielded nothing, Maine was
brought into the Union, and a provision
was inserted into the Missouri bill by
which it was stipulated that slavery
should be excluded from all the territory
cedcd by France to the United States un-
der the name of Louisiana, north of 80
degrees and 30 minutes north latitude.
This is what historians term the Mis-
souri, Compromise, important in our coun-
try's history only in the fact that it was
the origin of an igitatiOn which ended in
a four years bloody war. The COM
promise itself was never seriously re-
garded by either party, and in 1887 de-
clared unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court of the United States.
CTO be cOntinued)