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So Mr. Clayton's project of Compro

Sec. 37. And be it further enacted, That it shall be
the duty of the attorneys for said Territories, respec- defeated.
tively, on the complaint of any person held in involun-
tary servitude therein, to make application in his be-
half in due form of law, to the court next thereafter to
be holden in said Territory, for a writ of habeas corpus,
to be directed to the person so holding such applicant
in service as aforesaid, and to pursue all needful mea-
sures in his behalf; and if the decision of such court shall

The next session of the same Congres under very different auspices. The War had been terminated, so that no longer be deterred from voting for Sla clusion by a fear that the prosecution

be adverse to the application, or if, on the return of the tilities would thereby be embarrassed.
writ, relief shall be denied to applicant, on the
ground that he is a slave held in servitude in said Terri- Taylor had been elected President, r
tory, said attorney shall cause an appeal to be taken the votes of Delaware, Maryland, Nor

therefrom, and the record of all the proceedings in the
case to be transmitted to the Supreme Court of the
United States as speedily as may be, and to give notice
thereof to the Attorney General of the United States,
who shall prosecute the same before said Court, who
shall proceed to hear and determine the same at the

first term thereof.

Yeas, 15 (all Northern, except Benton); Nays, 31. Mr. Davis, of Mass., moved to strike out section 12, and insert as follows:

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That so much of the sixth section of the ordinance of the 13th July, 1787, as is contained in the following words; viz. There shall be neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be and remain in force in the Territory of Oregon.

This was defeated; Yeas, 21; Nays, 33.

The bill was then engrossed for a third read

ing; Yeas, 33; Nays, 22; as follows: Yeas For Clayton's Compromise :

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lina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Le and Florida-a moiety of the Slave State Gen. Cass, now the avowed opponent of Restriction. Many of the Northern De considered themselves absolved by this vo all extra-constitutional obligations to the and voted accordingly.

Dec. 13. Mr. J. M. Root, of Ohio, the following:

Resolved, That the Committee on Territori structed to report to this House, with as little practicable, a bill or bills providing a Territorial ment for each of the Territories of New Mexico a fornia, and excluding Slavery therefrom.

A call of the House was had, and the p question ordered.

Mr. W. P. Hall, of Mo., moved that th do lie on the table. Lost: Yeas, 80; Nay The resolve then passed: Yeas, 108; 80, viz.:

Yeas-All the Whigs from Free States, and all mocrats, but those noted as Nays below, including lowing, who had voted against the same principle former session:

MAINE.-Asa W. H. Clapp, James S. Wiley-2. NEW-YORK. - Frederick W. Lord-1.

OHIO. Thomas Richey-1.

INDIANA.-Charles W. Cathcart, Thomas J. Henle

L. Robinson, William W. Wick-4.

ILLINOIS. Robert Smith-1.

Messrs. Clark and H. Williams, of Maine, Birds Maclay, of New-York, Brodhead and Mann, of Pa. of Ind., Ficklin and McClelland, of Ill., who vote the South at the former session-now failed to vote

Mr. Jackson, of N. Y, who then voted with the had been succeeded by Mr. H. Greeley, who voted w

North.

Nays-All the Members voting from the Slave with the following from the Free States: NEW-YORK.-Henry C. Murphy-1.

PENNSYLVANIA. - Charles Brown, Charles J. Ingers Оню.-William Kennon, jun., John K. Miller, V

Sawyer-3.

ILLINOIS.-William A. Richardson-1.
IOWA. Shepherd Leffler-1.

Total Nays from Free States-8.

Mr. Robinson, of Ind., moved a reconsi tion of this vote, which motion (Dec. 18 motion of Mr. Wentworth, of Ill., was lai the table: Yeas, 105; Nays, 83.

The Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation having passed the House in the usual form, up to the Senate, where it was debated se days.

Feb. 21st.-Mr. Walker, of Wisc., moved amendment, extending all the laws of the Un States, so far as applicable, to the Territo acquired from Mexico.

Mr. Bell, of Tenn., moved to add further tions organizing the State of California, to admitted into the Union on the 1st of Octo next. This was rejected: Yeas, 4 (Bell, Do of Iowa, Douglas, Davis); Nays, 39.

Feb. 26th. Mr. Dayton, of N. J., moved t the President be vested with power to prov a suitable temporary government for the 1 ritories. Rejected: Yeas, 8; Nays, 47.

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Total, thirteen from Free States; eighty-eight from Slave States. (Only two from Slave States absent or silent.)

Nays-all the Whigs from Free States, and all the Democrats from Free States, except those named above.

So the House refused to concur in this amendment, and the bill was returned to the Senate accordingly.

The Senate resolved to insist on its amendment, and ask a conference, which was granted, but resulted in nothing. Messrs. Atherton, of N. H., Dickinson, of N. Y., and Berrien, of Ga., were managers on the part of the Senate, and insisted on its amendment, organizing the Territories without restriction as to Slavery. Messrs. Vinton, of Ohio, Nicoll, of N. Y., and Morehead, of Ky., were appointed on the part of the House. These, after a long sitting, reported their inability to agree, and were discharged.

The bill being now returned to the House, Mr. McClernand, of Ill., moved that the House do recede from its disagreement. Carried: Yeas, 111; Nays, 106.

Mr. R. W. Thompson, of Ind., moved that the House concur with the Senate, with an amendment, which was a substitute, extending the laws of the United States over said Territories, but leaving them unorganized,

And that, until the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and fifty, unless Congress shall sooner provide for the government of said Territories, the existing laws thereof shall be retained and observed.

The question being reached on amending the Senate's proposition as proposed by Mr. Thompson, it was carried: Yeas, 111; Nays, 105.

(All the Southern members in the negative, with Levin and a few of the Northern Democrats; the residue, with all the Northern Whigs, in the affirmative.)

The House now proceeded to agree to the Senate's amendment, as amended: Yeas, 110; Nays, 103, (the same as before; the friends of the Senate's proposition voting against it, as amended, and vice versa, on the understanding that Mr. Thompson's amendment would exclude Slavery.)

The bill as thus amended being returned to the Senate, it refused to agree to the House's amendment, and receded from its own proposition; so the bill was passed and the session closed, with no provision for the government of the newly-acquired Territories.

OREGON.

Aug. 6, 1846. Mr. Douglas, from the Committee on Territories, reported to the House a bill organizing the Territory of Oregon.

Said bill was discussed in Committee of the

Whole, and the following amendment agreed to:

And neither Slavery, nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in said Territory, except for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.

On coming out of Committee, this amendment was agreed to-Yeas, 108; Nays, 44. (The Nays are all Southern, but Charles J. Ingersoll, Orlando B. Ficklin, and possibly one or two others; and all Democrats, but some half a dozen from the South, of whom Robert Toombs has since turned Democrat.) Stephen A. Douglas did not vote. The bill passed the House without further opposition, was read twice in the Senate, and referred; and Mr. Westcott, of Florida, made a report thereon from the Committee on Territories; but the session closed without further action on the bill.

This Congress reassembled, Dec. 7th, 1846. On the 23d, Mr. Douglas again reported his bill to provide a Territorial government for Oregon, which was read twice and committed: Jan. 11th, 1847, was discussed in Committee, as also on the 12th and 14th, when it was resolved, to close the debate. On the 15th, it was taken out of Committee, when Gen. Burt, of S. C., moved the following addition (already moved, debated, and voted down in Committee) to the clause forbidding Slavery in said Territory:

Inasmuch as the whole of said Territory lies north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, known as the line of the Missouri Compromise.

The purpose of this is clear enough. It was intended to recognize the Missouri line, not as limited to the Territories possessed by the United States at the time said line was established, but as extending to all that has since been, or hereafter should be, acquired, so as to legalize Slavery in any Territory henceforth to be acquired by us south of 36° 30′.

Mr. Burt's amendment was negatived: Yeas, 82; Nays, 114.

The vote was very nearly sectional; but the following members from Free States voted in the minority:

PENNSYLVANIA-Charles J. Ingersoll-1.
ILLINOIS-Stephen A. Douglas, Robt. Smith-2.
IOWA-C. S. Hastings-1. In all, 5.

No member from a Slave State voted in the majority. The bill then passed: Yeas, 134; Nays, 35, (all Southern).

Jan. 15. The bill reached the Senate, and was sent to the Judiciary Committee, consisting of

Messrs. Ashley, Ark. Berrien, Ga.
Breese, Ill. Dayton, N. J.

Westcott, Fla.

Jan. 25. Mr. Ashley reported the Oregon bill with amendments, which were ordered to be printed.

29.-Said bill, on motion of Mr. Westcott, was recommitted to the Judiciary Committee. Feb 10.-Mr. Ashley again reported it with amendments.

March 3.--It was taken up as in Committee of the Whole, when Mr. Evans, of Maine, moved that it be laid on the table. Defeated: Yeas, 19, (all Whigs but Calhoun, of S. C., and Yulee | Mr. Houston, of Delaware, voting in t of Florida); Nays, 26, (24 Dem., with Corwin as before: otherwise, members from of Ohio, and Johnson of Louisiana.)

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States in the affirmative; those fron
States in the negative.]

Aug. 3.- This bill reached the Se Mr. Badger, of N. C., moved its inde ponement: negatived, 47 to 1, (Yule then sent to the Committee on Terri

Mr. Westcott, of Fla., immediately moved that the bill do lie on the table; which prevailed: Yeas, 26; Nays, 18 (a mixed vote, evidently governed by various motives); but the negatives were all Democrats, but Corwin and Johnson aforesaid. This being the last day of the session, it was evident that the bill, if opposed, as it was certain to be, could not get through, and it was, doubtless, in behalf of other pressing business that many Senators voted to lay this aside. It was, of course, dead for the ses-mittee reported some days before the sion.

Dec. 6, 1847.-- The XXXth Congress assembled; Robert C. Winthrop (Whig) of Mass. was chosen Speaker of the House. President Polk, in his Annual Message, regretted that Oregon had not already been organized, ganized, and urged the necessity of action on the subject.

Feb. 9. Mr. Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, reported to the House a bill to establish the territorial government of Oregon; which, by a vote of two-thirds, was made a special order for March 14th. It was postponed, however, to the 28th; when it was taken up and discussed, as on one or two subsequent days. May 29th, it was again made a special order next after the Appropriation bills. The President that day sent a special imessage, urging action on this subject. July 25th, it was taken up in earnest; Mr. Wentworth, of Illinois, moving that debate on it in Committee cease at two o'clock this day.

Mr. Geo. S. Houston, of Ala., endeavored to put this motion on the table. Defeated: Yeas 85; Nays 89, (nearly, but not fully, a sectional division). Mr. Geo. W. Jones, of Tenn., moved a reconsideration, which was carried: Yeas, 100; Nays, 88; and the resolution laid on the table: Yeas, 96; Nays, 90.

The bill continued to be discussed, and finally (Aug. 1) was got out of Committee; when Mr. C. B. Smith moved the Previous Question thereon, which was ordered.

Aug. 2.--The House came to a vote on an amendment made in Committee, whereby the following provision of the original bill was stricken out:

That the inhabitants of said Territory shall be entitled to enjoy all and singular, the rights, privileges, and advantages granted and secured to the people of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, by the articles of compact contained in the ordinance for the government of said Territory, passed the 13th day of July, seventeen hundred and eighty-seven; and shall be subject to all the conditions, and restrictions, and prohibitions in said articles of compact imposed upon the people of said territory, and

The House refused to agree to this amendment: Yeas, 88; Nays, 114.

The Members from the Free States who voted with the South to strike out, were

NEW YORK. - Ausburn Birdsall-1.

OHIO. William Kennon, jun., John K. Miller-2. ILLINOIS. Orlando B. Ficklin, John A. McClernand, William A. Richardson-3.

INDIANA.-John L. Robinson, William W. Wick-2. Mr. John W. Houston of Delaware voted in the majority.

The Senate had had under con from time to time through the Ses of its own, reported by Mr. Douglas, finally referred to a select Committeeton, of Delaware, Chairman--and by

of the House bill. It was then drop Aug. 5.-Mr. Douglas reported t bill, with amendments, which were pr Aug. 10. - After some days' de Senate proceeded to vote. Mr. Foote moved that the bill do lie on the ta feated: Yeas, 15 (Southern); Nays, 3

On the question of agreeing to thi ment:

Inasmuch as the said Territory is north o deg thirty min., usually known as the [line c souri Compromise.

It was rejected: Yeas, 2 (Bright glas); Nays, 52.

Mr. Douglas moved to amend the bi serting after the word "enacted:"

That the line of thirty-six degrees a minutes of north latitude, known as the Miss promise line, as defined in the eighth section entitled, "An Act to authorize the people of th Territory to form a Constitutional and Stat ment, and for the admission of such State into 1 on an equal footing with the original States, an

hibit Slavery in certain Territories, approved M 1820," be, and the same is hereby, declared to the Pacific Ocean; and the said eighth section. with the compromise therein effected, is hereby and declared to be in full force and binding future organization of the Territories of the States in the same sense, and with the same un ing with which it was originally adopted; and

Which was carried: Yeas, 33; Nays, 21

Johnson of M

Johnson of La

Johnson of Ga

The bill was then engrossed for a third

[This vote was almost completely sectional. ing: Yeas, 33; Nays, 22; (nearly the sa

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before-Westcott of Florida added to the Nays-and thus passed).

Resolved, That, as the people in Territories have the same inherent rights of self-government as the people in the States, if in the exercise of such inherent rights the peo

ple in the newly-acquired Territories, by the Annexation of Texas and the acquisition of California and New-Mexi

Aug. 11. The bill, thus amended, having been returned to the House, the amendment of Mr. Douglas, just recited, was rejected: co, south of the parallel of 36 degrees and 30 minutes of Yeas, 82; Nays, 121.

Yeas from Free States:

NEW YORK.-Ausburn Birdsall-1.
PENNSYLVANIA.--Charles Brown, Charles J. Ingersoll-2.

Total-3.

Otherwise, from Slave States, all Yeas: from Free States, all Nays.

Aug. 12. The Senate, after voting down various propositions to lay on the table, etc., finally decided to recede from its amendments to the Oregon bill, and pass it as it came from the House: Yeas, 29; Nays, 25 (all from Slave States).

So the bill became a law, and Oregon a Territory, under the original Jefferson or Dane Proviso against Slavery.

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850.

The XXXIst Congress commenced its first Session at Washington, Dec. 3, 1849; but the House was unable to organize-no person receiving a majority of all the votes for Speaker -until the 22nd, when, the Plurality rule having been adopted by a vote of 113 to 106, Mr. Howell Cobb, of Ga., was elected, having 102 votes to 100 for Robert C. Winthrop of Mass., and 20 scattering. It was thereupon resolved -Yeas, 149; Nays, 35-"That Howell Cobb be declared duly elected Speaker;" and on the 24th President Zachary Taylor transmitted toboth Houses his first Annual Message, in the course of which he says:

No civil government having been provided by Congress for California, the people of that Territory, impelled by the necessities of their political condition, recently met in Convention, for the purpose of forming a Constitution and State Government; which, the latest advices give me reason to suppose, has been accomplished; and it is believed they will shortly apply for the admission of California into the Union, as a Sovereign State. Should such be the case, and should their constitution be conformable to the requisitions of the Constitution of the United States, I recommend their application to the favorable consideration of Congress.

The people of New Mexico will also, it is believed, at no very distant period, present themselves for admission into the Union. Preparatory to the admission of California and New-Mexico, the people of each will have instituted for themselves a republican form of government, laying its foundation in such principles, and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

By awaiting their action, all uneasiness may be avoided and confidence and kind feeling preserved. With a view of maintaining the harmony and tranquillity so dear to all, we should abstain from the introduction of those exciting topics of a sectional character which have hitherto produced painful apprehensions in the public mind; and I repeat the solemn warning of the first and most illustrious of my predecessors, against furnishing any ground for characterizing parties by geographical

discriminations.

Jan. 4. Gen. Sam. Houston, of Texas, submitted to the Senate the following proposition : Whereas, The Congress of the United States, possessing only a delegated authority, have no power over the subject of Negro Slavery within the limits of the United States, either to prohibit or interfere with it, in the States, Territories, or District, where, by municipal law, it now exists, or to establish it in any State or Territory where it does not exist; but, as an assurance and guaranty to promote harmony, quiet apprehension and remove sectional prejudice, which by possibility might impair or weaken love and devotion to the Union in any part of the country, it is hereby

north latitude, extending to the Pacific Ocean, shall establish Negro Slavery in the formation of their state governments, it shall be deemed no objection to their admission as a State or States into the Union, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States.

Jan. 21. Gen. Taylor, in answer to a resolution of inquiry, sent a message to the House, stating that he had urged the formation of State Governments in California and NewMexico.

Feb. 13, 1850.-Gen. Taylor communicated to Congress the Constitution (free) of the State of California.

Jan. 29, 1850.-Mr. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, submitted to the Senate the following propositions, with others, which were made a special order and printed:

1. Resolved, That California, with suitable boundaries, ought, upon her application, to be admitted as one of the States of this Union, without the imposition by Congress of any restriction in respect to the exclusion or

introduction Slavery within those boundaries.

2. Resolved, That as Slavery does not exist by law, and is not likely to be introduced into any of the territory acquired by the United States from the Republic of either for its introduction into, or exclusion from, any part of the said Territory; and that appropriate territorial governments ought to be established by Congress, in all the said Territory, not assigned as within the boundaries of the proposed State of California, without the adoption of any restriction or condition on the subject of Slavery.

Mexico, it is inexpedient for Congress to provide by law

5. Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish Slavery

in the District of Columbia, whilst that institution continues to exist in the State of Maryland, without the consent of that State, without the consent of the people of the District, and without just compensation to the owners of slaves within the District.

6. But Resolved, That it is expedient to prohibit, within the District, the slave-trade in slaves brought into it from States or places beyond the limits of the District, either to be sold therein as merchandise, or to be transported to other markets without the District of Columbia.

7. Resolved, That more effectual provision ought to be made by law, according to the requirement of the Constitution, for the restitution and delivery of persons bound to service or labor in any State, who may escape into any other State or Territory in the Union. And,

8. Resolved, That Congress has no power to prohibit or obstruct the trade in slaves between the slaveholding States, but that the admission or exclusion of slaves brought from one into another of them, depends exclusively upon their own particular laws.

Feb. 28. Mr. John Bell, of Tennessee, submitted to the Senate the following propositions:

Whereas, Considerations of the highest interest to the whole country demand that the existing and increasing dissensions between the North and the South, on the subject of Slavery, should be speedily arrested, and that the questions in controversy be adjusted upon some basis which shall tend to give present quiet, repress sectional animosities, remove, as far as possible, the causes of future discord, and secure the uninterrupted enjoyment of those benefits and advantages which the Union was intended to confer in equal measure upon all its members;

And, whereas, It is manifest, under present circumstances, that no adjustment can be effected of the points of difference unhappily existing between the Northern and Southern sections of the Union, connected with the subject of Slavery, which shall secure to either section all that is contended for, and that mutual concessions upon questions of mere policy, not involving the violation of any constitutional right or principle, must be the basis of every project affording any assurance of a favorable acceptance;

And, whereas, The joint resolution for annexing

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instructed to report a bill in conformity wit and principles of the foregoing resolutions.

A debate of unusual duration, eai and ability ensued, mainly on Mr. Cla lutions. They were regarded by unco ing champions, whether of Northern or ern views, but especially of the latte ceding substantially the matter in d the other side. Thus,

January 29th. - Mr. Clay having 1 briefly commented on his propositions, he desired that they should be held o out debate, to give time for considera made a special order for Monday or following. But this was not assented t

Mr. Foote, of Mississippi, spoke again generally, saying:

If I understand the resolutions properly, the jectionable, as it seems to me,

1. Because they only assert that it is not that Congress should abolish Slavery in the ] Columbia; thus allowing the implication to Congress has power to legislate on the subject in the District, which may hereafter be exerc should become expedient to do so; whereas, I Congress has, under the Constitution, no such all, and that any attempt thus to legislate w gross fraud upon all the States of the Union.

2. The Resolutions of the honorable Sena

that Slavery does not now exist by law in the 1 recently acquired from Mexico; whereas, opinion that the treaty with the Mexican republ the Constitution, with all its guaranties, to al ritory obtained by treaty, and secured the pr every Southern slaveholder to enter any part tended by his slave-property, and to enjoy therein, free from all molestation or hindranc

3. Whether Slavery is or is not likely to be ir into these Territories, or into any of them, is a tion too uncertain, in my judgment, to be at positively affirmed; and I am unwilling to solemn legislative declaration on the point. future provide the appropriate solution of resting question.

4. Considering, as I have several times heret mally declared, the title of Texas to all the embraced in her boundaries, as laid down in he 1836, full, complete, and undeniable, I am un say anything, by resolution or otherwise, which the least degree draw that title into question, a is done in one of the resolutions of the honorab tor from Kentucky.

6. As to the abolition of the slave-trade in th of Columbia, I see no particular objection to it, it is done in a delicate and judicious manner, a a concession to the menaces and demands of fa

and fanatics. If other questions can be adju one will, perhaps, occasion but little difficulty.

7. The resolutions which provide for the resto fugitives from labor or service, and for the estab of territorial governments, free from all restr the subject of Slavery, have my hearty approv last resolution-which asserts that Congress has to prohibit the trade in slaves from State to equally approve.

8. If all other questions connected with the s Slavery can be satisfactorily adjusted, I see tion to admitting all California, above the 1 degrees 30 minutes, into the Union; provided new Slave State can be laid off within the limits of Texas, so as to keep the present equa ance between the Slave and Free States of the and provided further, all this is done by way promise, and in order to save the Union, (a me as to any man living.)

Mr. Mason, of Virginia, after exp his deep anxiety to go with hi went furthest, but within the limits o duty, in adjusting these unhappy differ added:

Sir, so far as I have read these resolutions. but one proposition to which I can give a heart and that is the resolution which proposes to Territorial governments at once in these Te without a declaration one way or the other as

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