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■giy-
I'ssiesss, licseiorratic Htf>ublican
Ticket,
FOR PRESIDENT,
MARTIN VAN BUREN.
FOR VICE-PRESIDENT,
RICHARD M. JOHNSON.
ELECTORAL TICKET.
THOM\S F. HENDERSON, of Franklin.
WM. I. BULLOCH, of Chatham.
SAMUEL GROVES, of Madison.
THOMAS HAYNES, of Baldwin.
REUBEN JORDAN, of Jones.
WILSON LUMYKIN, of Walton.
WILLIAM PENTICOST, of Jackson.
THOMAS SPALDING, of Mclntosh.
JAMES C. WATSON, of Muscogee.
WM. B. WOFFORD, of Habersham.
THOMAS WOOTEN, of Wilkes.
[By Authority.]
LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES,
ra««K» XT TUB TWENTY-FOURTH COXCCESS,
riasT cession.
([Public —No. 24.]
AN ACT explanatory of the act entitled " An
act to prevent defalcations on tlie part of-dis
bursing agents of the Government, and for
other purposes."
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Bepresentatiees of the United States of Ameri
ca i» Congress assembled, That, the act enti
tled '• An act to prevent defalcations ou the
part ol disbursing agents of the Government,
and for other puqioses,’’ approved the twenty
■fth of January, eighteen hundred and twenty
••ght, shall not be .construed to authorize the
pension of anypeaunoner of the United States to
be withheld.
Affmoved, May 20,183 G.
[Public —No. 25.]
AN ACT authorizing the Presideutof the United
States to accept the service of volunteers, and
toraise an additional regiment of dragoons or
mounted rilleuieu.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives of the United States of America in Con
gressassembled, That the President of the Uni
ted States be, and be hereby is authorized to ac
cept volunteers who may offer their services either
as infantry or cavalry uot exceeding ten thousand
meu, to serve six ur twelve months after they
shall have arrived at the place of rendezvous,
unless sooner discharged; mid the said volunteers
shall furmsb their own clothes, and, if cavalry,
their own horses, and when mustered into service,
shall be armed and equiped at the expense of the
United States.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That the .
•aid volunteers shall be liable M be called upon
to do military duty only iu cases of Indian hos
tilities, or to repel invasions, whenever the Pre
sident shall judge proper, and when called into
actual service and while remaining therein shall be
subject to the rules and articles of war, and shall
be iu all respects, except as to clothing, placed
on the same footing with similar corps of the
United States army; aud in lieu of clothing, eve
ry non commissioned officer aud private, in any
company, who may thus offer themselves, shall
be entitled when called into actual service, to re
ceive in money a sum equal to the cost of the clo
thing of a Doti-commissioned ufficer or private
(as the case may be) iu the regular troops of the
United States.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the
■•id volunteers, so offering their services, shall be
accepted by the President in companies, battal
ions, squadrons, regiments, brigades or divisions,
whose officers shall be appointed in the manner
prescribed by law iu the several States and Ter
ritories, to which such companies, battalions,
squadron, regiments, brigades, or divisions, shall
respectively belong. Provided, That, where any
company, battalion, squadron, regiment, brigade,
•r division, of militia, already organized, shall
tender their voluntary services to the U. States,
such company, battalion, squadron, regiment
brigade, or division, shall continue to be command
ed by the officers holding commissions in the same
at the time of such tender; and any vacancy
thereafter occurring shall be filled in the mode
pointed out by law in the State or Territory
Wherein the said company, battalliou, squadron,
regiment, brigade, or division, shall have been
Prininully raised.
#ec. 4, And be. it further enacted, That the
Presdeut of the United States be and he is
hereby authorized to organize companies, so ten
dering their service*, into battalions or squad
rons, battailions or squadrons into regiments, re
giments into brigades, aud brigades iuto divisions,
••soon as the number of volunteers shall render
Such oigauization in his judgment expedient; and
the President shall, if ueccssary, apportion the
staff, field amj general officers among the respec
tive States or Territories from which the voluu- i
leers shall lender their services as he may deem
proper; but until called into actual service, such
comparing, battalions, squadron, regiments, bri
gades, or divisions shall not be considered as ex
empt from die performance of militia duty as is
required by law, in like manner us before the
passage of this act.
Sec. 5, And be ii further enacted, That the
volunteers who may be received into the service
of the United Staes, by virtue of the provisions of
this get, shall be entitled to all the benefits which
may be conferred on persons wounded in the ser
vice of the United States.
Sec, B. And be it further enacted, That there
be raised and organized, under the direction
•f the President of the United States, one addition
al regiment of dragoons or mounted riflemen, to
be composed of the same number and rank of the
•fficers, non-commissioned officers, musicians and
Mirales, pqpipiising (he regiment of dragoons now
|q ffie »eivice of |h<i United States, who shall te-
T«jye thp yapfe pay and allowances, bo subject to
'be samp ruips ipifl regulation*, and bengaged for
•he like term and upon the same conditions, iu all
’MMcu whatever as are stipulated for the said
r *|’meotof dragoons now iu the service.
The Standard of Union.
1 . ® KC -7- And be it further enacted, Thut the Pre-
I sidetit ol the United States may disband the said
I regiment whenever in his opinion the public in-
I terest tto longer requires their services, & the sum
ot three hundred thousand dollars required t« carry
I intoeffeet the provisions of this act is hereby ap
propriated out of any money iu the Treasury not
j otherwise appropriated.
i Stic. 8. be it further enacted, That so much
11 of this act as relates to volunteers shall be in force
for two years from ami after the passage of this
1 act, mid no longer.
Approved May,23d, 1836.
[ Public, No. 26.]
I AN ACT making appropriation for the suppres
sion ol hostilities by the Creek Indians.
I lie it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That the sum of five hundred
thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby ap
propriated, oat any money itt the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, to defray any expenses
which have been, or may be incurred iu suppres
sing hostilities by the Creek Indians, by calling
out, by the President, of any part of the militia ’*
the United States, according the provisions of
the constitution and law ; which sum, if expended
i shall be expended under the direction of the Se
; ceretary of War conformably to the provisions of
the act of Congress, of second of January, seven
teen hundred and ninety-five; of the act of fifth
of April, eighteen hundred and thirty two, making
appropriations for the support of the army : and of
the act of the ninteenth March eighteen hundred
and thirty six. providing for the payment of vol
unteers and militia corps in the service of the
United States.
Approved, May 23d, 1836.
Mr. Pinckney's Report.
The select Committe, appointed under the
following resolution of the House of Repre
sentatives of the United States of the Bth
of February, 1836, viz:
“ Resolved, That all the memorials which have
been offered, or may hereafter be presented to this
Hoase praying for the abolition of slavery in the
District of Columbia ; and also the resolutions of
fered by aa honorable member from Maine. (Mr.
Jarvis.) with the amendment thereto proposed by
au honorable member from Virginia (Mr. Wise ;)
together witn every other paper or proposition that
may be submitted in relation to this subject be re
ferred to a Select Committee, with instructions to
report: That Congress possesses no constitu
tional authority to interfere, in any way, with the
institution of slavery iu any of the States of this
Confederacy: and that in the opinion of this House,
Congress ought not to interfere, in any way, with
slavery in the District of Columbia because it
would be a violation of the faith, unwise, impol
itic. and dangerous to the Union : assigning such
reasousfor these conclusions as, in the judgement
of the committee, may he best calculated Co en
lighten tit® psblic mind |to allay excitement, to
repress agitation, to secure and maintain the just
rights of the slave-holding States, and of the peo
ple of this District and to restore harmony and
tranquility amongst the various sections of this U
uioa
Respectfully submitted the following report
in which they have unanimously concur
red.
The subject referred to is one of grave
import. Your committee approach it with a
deep sense of its magnitude and absorbing
interest. They have long considered the
movements iu relation to this matter as
fraught with incalculable evils, not onlv
to the slaveholding Slates, but to every
portion ofourcommon country. They re
joice, therefore, that the great body of the
people of the non-slaveholditig States have
come forward, as they have done in the true
spirit of American patriotism, to sustain
their constitutional obligations to their
Southern brethern, and to arrest the distur
bance of the public peace. They rejoice par
ticularly that the Federal Legislature acting
under a deep sense of its responsibility to
the nation, has also interposed its warning
voice, and given a solemn expression of its
judgement upon this exciting subject ; and
they feel assured, that as the Representatives
have responded to the people so the peo
ple will firmly and patriotically sustain the
position now taken by their Representa
tives.
As moderation is essential to the discov
ery of truth your committee will carefully
abstain from every thing that may cause of
fence or inflame excitement in any section
of the Union. But while they would make
every allowance for the motives of individ
uals, where the objects contemplated are ut
terly destructive to society, they cannot
too strongly express their condemnation of
the conduct of the abolitionists, and their
utter abhorrence of the consequences to
which, if persisted in it must inevitably
lead. They feel assured that no man, or
set of men will be permitted to put the
country and the Government at defi
ance by persevering in machinations
which threaten to bring the citizens of
the different states in collision and to over
throw the whole system of civil society it
self, in the slaveholding portion* of the U
nion. Your committee believe that the
strength ot the agitators has been greatly
exaggerated by themselves and others ; but
whether their number be small or great,
there catj be no doubt that they have done
and are doing, incalculable evil ; and every
true patriot must be aware that a crisis has
now arrived in the political condition of the
country, in which neutrality would be crim
inal and iiiwhich he must determine between
the suppression of abolition, and the destruc
tion of the Union and take his stand accor
dingly, for or against his country.
Your commitee have learned with sur
prise, that the reference of this subject has
caused dissatisfaction in certain portions of
the South. While they deeply regret this
circumstance, they beg leave to remark,
that it is not only abundantly justified bv
precedent, but in entire accordance with the
established usage and invariable policy, in
relation to matters of this character ; me
morials praying for the abolition of slavery
in the Slates, or in the District of Columbia,
having always been either referred or laid
on the table. On the present occasion, the
! subject was referred for the express purpose
l of having a report “calculated to sustain
the just rights of the slaveholding States,
1 and of the people of this District, and “by
i allaying excitement, and repressing tigita
' tion, to insure the future repose and per
'[ inaiient tranquility of l|ie country. The
[ House was unwilling, on the one side, to
' invade what was believed to be the right.
GEORGIA, TLENOAY llOBiWliW, JEAE 14, 1536
of petition, (a right equally dear to every
portion of our people, and which, it is
thought, could not have been denied in this
instance, without establishing a precedent at
least as hazardous 10 the South, as to any
■ other section of the Union:) and it was desi
rotis, on the other, to acsomplish for the
. South, what could not have been effected
i by refusing to receive memorials, the union
of an overwhelming majority, in solemn
and determined stand against the views
and objects of the applicants. Whilst the
denial of the right of petition could have
produced none other than the most mischiev
ous effects, your committee are thoroughly
satisfied that the course adopted bv the
House will produce a state ofpublicopinion
and feeling in the non-slaveholding States,
eminently favorable to the constitutional
rights and interest of the slaveholding sec
tions of the U*w>n.
The resolution under which your com
mittee were appointed, naturally divides it
self into several branches or propositions,
each ol which shall be considered in its or
der.
They are instructed to report, in the first
place—
That Congress possesses no constitution
al authority to interfere in any way with the
institution of slavery, in any of the States of
this Confederacy.
Your committee will merely allude to
this proposition, in obedience to the express
direction given them by the House, and
not for the purpose of entering into any ar
gument respecting it. Unquestionably, if
there is any political or constitutional prin
ciple, which the people, of the United
States considered as settled beyond all pos
sible dispute or controversy, it is that the
institution of slavery, as it exists in the
States ot this Confederacy, is municipal,
not national, and that it belongs exclusive
ly to the States, and can only be effected by
State legislation. The power to regulate
or act upon it, is one of the reserved pow
ers of the States; a power which was not
only not given, nor even intended to be gi
ven, by the framers of the constitution, to
the General Government, but which the
States expressly and carefully guarded and
retained to themselves, by that amendment
of that instrument, [article 10] in which it
is declared, that “ all powers not delegated
by the constitution to the United States,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reser
ved to the States respectively, or to the
people.” The subject of slavery in the
States, then, is not an open question or
matter of debate. The fact that Congress
possesses no authority whatever to legislate
respecting it, is one that can neither be
strengthened by argument, nor made clear
by discussion. And your committee con
sider it most fortunate for the peace of the
country, that it is so. He is indeed but
little acquainted with the human heart, and
has derived but little advantage from the
lessons of history, who can imagine for a
moment, if he knows any thing of the
general character, or considers the political
and physical strength of the people of the
South, thateven if the power of legislation
on this subject had been expressly confer
red on Congress by the constitution, it
could not be exercised against the consent
of the States interested, without the cer
tainty of civil war, and the probable disso
lution ol the Union. The declaration,
however, which the House has so solemnly
and decisively made upon this point, cannot
fail, as your committee believe, to produce
the most beneficial results. As the aboli
tionists care little for emancipation in the
District, except as the precurser of a far
more extended and general scheme, the
presumption, is, that having now no pos
sible hope of Governmental interference
with the States, and seeing the more than
probable consequences of the exercise of
such a power, il it were possessed, they will
discontinue their machinations in relation
to the District; a consummation devoutly
to be wished by every patriot, in every sec
tion of the Union. But be the issue what
it may, the House of Representitives has
done its duty by placing this solemn decla
ration upon record. It is not only peculiar
ly proper in itself, considering the present
state of the abolition question, but, if any
justification were necessary, it is amply
justified by precedent. In ‘1790, (and from
that period to the present, the abolitionists
have steadily aimed at general emancipa
tion) several petitions, praying for the ab
olition of slavery in the States, having been
presented and referred, the House finally
adopted a resolution, amongst others, in
which it announced to the petitioners, and
to the country, “ that Congres has no au
thority to interfere in the emancipation of
sl.txes, or nt the treatment ol them, in any
of the States, it remaining with the sev
eral States alone to provide any regula
tions therein, which humanity or policy
may requite.” Upon the whole, your
committee consider the instruction given
them by the House upon this point, rath
er as a decisive expression of a great fun
damental principle of constitutional law,
than as a < all upon them to sustain a ques
tionable position. They are aware that
some members voted against the instruc
tion upon this point, under the impression
that, whilst the principle asserted is un
questionable in itself, its assertion by the
House, in this form, might seem to imply
doubt, and to countenance the idea that it is
really debateable-. In this view, the mem
bers who thus voted, may be joined per
haps by many intelligent and worthy citi
zens of the slaveholding Slates; but your
committee cannot beleive that the assertion,
ia any form, by the House of Representa
tives, of a principle so important, and at
the same time of so strong a local bearing,
and particularly by a vote so nearly ap
proueb’mg unanimity as is recorded on its
journal in favor of this instruction, can
have a tendency to weaken that principle,
or its binding and paramount influence up
on Congress and the country in all time to
come.
Ihesr Csnssciesste—Our Country— titerParlu<
The precedent above quoted from the
Congress of 1790, shows that the House
of Representatives of that day, so far from
fearing the effect of such action upon its
part, sought to record its solemn conviction
upon this question of power in themselves,
and lias handed down to us its judgment,
in precise accordance w ith our own. That
House was largely, if not entirely, compos
ed of men of the revolution and many of
its members are known to have been also
members of the convention which formed
the Federal Constitution. Since that pe
riod, nearly Haifa century has rolled away,
and now that the successors of the House,
acting under the same considerations, sol
emnly re-afiirm the principle laid down by
those great and good men, and avow’ it to
be not only the settled opinion of this Con
gress, but of the great body of the people
ot the United States, may we not hope, and
indeed conclude, that it will be hereafter
deemed a solemn and deliberate exposition
of the constitution, and that all attempts in
future to violate those sacred compromises,
which lie at the very foundation of our
constitutional compact, or to excite appre
hension on this subject, will be effectually
counteracted and defeated. Your commit
tee cannot but indulge a most confident and
animated hope that these good effects will
be produced by the present action of the
House.
Your commitee are instructed to report in
the second place—
That, in the opinion of this House,
Congress ought not to interfere, in any
way, with slavery in the District of Colum
bia.
Ist. Because it would be a violation of the
public faith.
To obey this instruction of the House
in the manner pointed out by the res
olution it will be necessary to exam
ine, to some extent, the relations be
tween the Federal Government and the Dis
trict of Columbia ; the probable objects of
the provision in the constitution, authori
zing the cession of the District to the Uni
ted Slates ; and the consequent expectations
which may have been rationally entertain
ed by the States that made the cession, as
to the exercise, by Congress, of the pow
ers granted to it over the ceded territory.
Before entering upon this examination,
however, it may be well to remark, that the
powers of Congress over this District in
volved in this discussion, are wholly inde
pendent of, and derived from a source en
tirely separate from, the general legisla
tive powers granted to Congress by the
constitution. As the legislature of con
federated States, the powers of Congress
are equal, and of universal application,
throughout all the States, and they were
given to Congress before the cession of the
District, and were held and exercised inde
pendently thereof. This will be made man
ifest by a brief statement of facts. The
first Congress under the constitution, as
sembled on the 4th of March, 1789, and
the Government provided for by the con
stitution was organized on that day. The
general powers conferred on the different
branches of the Federal Government were
exercised from that day forward, and the
union of the States, under constitutional
government was then perfected and put in
practical operation. The cession from
Virginia, of that portion of the District of
Columbia that belonged to her was not
made until the Sd of December of that
year—nine months after the Federal Gov
ernment had been in operation;* and the
cession by Maryland of that portion of
the District that belonged to her, (and in
which the Seat of Government is in fact
located,) was not made until the 19th day
of December, 179 it—more than two years
and nine months after the existence of
the Government in its present constitution
al form. Congress did not, in fact, remove
to the District thus ceded, nor did the dis
trict thus ceded become practically the
seat of Government until the year 1800;
and the laws of the States by which the
District was ceded were declared, by an
act of Congress of the 16 th July, 179C,$ to
“be in force within the Disk until the re
moval of the Government to it, and
until, Congress shall otherwise by law di-
It appears, then, thatil;e Federal Govern
ment was in operation under the constitution
nearly a year before Congress possessed any
power of local legislation over any portion of
the District of Columbia, and nearfy three
years that power became as ex-tensive
a * tne present bounds of the Dist. or included
that portion of the ten miles square in which the
seat of Government is in fact located. It also
appears, that the first act of the Federal Le
gislature in reference to its jurisdiction then
partly to be was to provide for the
continuances in all their force, and in eVery
particular, within the District, of the laws of
the States, that made the cession,until Decem
ber 1800; a period of nine years after thetime
when the powers of Congress, Ss a local legis
lature for the District, were perfected by tho
State of Maryland. Nor is this ail: by the
act of 1790 it was declared, as has been al
ready shown, that the laws of Maryland and
Virginia should be the laws of the District, not
only “ until the time fixed for the removal of
the Government thereto,” but also “ until Con
gress shall otherwise provide by law.” No
alteration, however, to any considerable extent,
has yet been made, and the laws of Virginia
and Maryland w hich were in force at the 'time
ol their respective cessions, and in force re
spectively in the portions of the District ceded
by each, still continue to be, in almost every
particular, the local laws of the District of Co
lumbia.
Such are tho relations nt present oxist
; big between tho 1> ederal Government and
the District, so far as local legislation is
concerned. The powers of Congress, as
tho local legislature of the District, were de
rived from the cessions by Virginia, and Mary
land,and the special grant of exclusive legislation
and not from the general powers conferred up
on it by tho constitution ; and these special and
*Laws District of Columbia, p. 50,
tLaws District of Columbia, p. 64,
jLaws United! States vol. ii, p. 112.
local powers which Congress has now possessed !
for nearly half a century, have been exercised j
only to the extent above described, and from !
the best information your committee have I
been able to obtain, to no other or greater ex- I
tent.
The right of Congress to accept the cession |
of this territory from the States of Virginia and
Maryland, is found in the eighth section of the
first article of the Constitution of the United
States, which gives it power “ to exercise ex
clusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over
such District, not exceeding ten miles square,
is declared in the language of the constitution
itself, “such District, not exceeding ten miles
square, as may by cession of particular States,
and the acceptance of Congress, become the
Seat of Government of the United States;”
and the purpose for which the cession was to
be made and received, is declared in the lan
guage of the constitution itself, “such district as
may become the Seat of Government of the U
nited States.” The cession, therefore, was to
be made for this purpose and for no other; and
as regards its use by the Federal Government,
the object of this provision evidently was sim
ply to authorize Congress to accept the grant,
and to exercise the powers of legislation therein
provided for.
It will be conceded to by the committee for
the purpose of this report, that the cession was
made in conformity with the power of Con
gress to receive, and that, therefore, by the ces
sion from Virginia and Maryland, Congress is
in possesion of the powers which the constitu
tion intended it should possess over the district
intended to be ceded.
This brings us to the inquiry, as to the
probable objects of the grant of “ exclusive le
gislation iu all cases whatsoever,” over the ter- :
ritory which was to constitute the seat of Gov- i
eminent of the United States. In consulting ,
the commentators upon the constitution, it will (
be found that the old Congress encountered
inconveniences, and even daggers from holding
their sessions where State Legislatures had ex- 1
clusivee local jurisdiction, aud where State au- '
thorilies alone were to be depended on in mat- i
tors of police and personal protection. In- <
deed, an adjournment us that Congress from I
the State ol Pennsylvania tc New Jersey, for i
a description which occurred at the close of the |
revolutionary war, no doubt contributed greatly (
to the introduction of this clause into the con
stitution of the Union. The proceedings of .
the old Congress show distinctly, that the ac
quirement ol a territory for the seat of the Fed- ’
eral Legislature, over which it should have ex- •
elusive or special jurisdiction, was a favorite •
idea with that body, as early as the year 1783, <
aud that it continued up to the time of the for- |
mation us the constitution. Upon tins point
your committee will only detain the House with ,
a lew of the resolutions adopted by the old j j
Congress that go to establish it. On the 7th of |.
October, 1783, a resolution was passed, that N
buildings for the use of Congress be erected on
or near the badks of the Delaware,* provided ;
a suitable district can be procured on or near ■
the banks of the said river for a federal town, |
and that the right of soil, and exclusive, or such i
other jurisdiction as Congress may direct, shall ,
be vested in the United States.” On the 21st ,
of the same month (October, 1783) another (
resolution was passed, preceded by a preamble
as follows : “ Whereas there is reason to ex- 1
pect that the providing buildings for the alter- 1
date residence of Congress in two places will 1
be productive of the most salutary effects, by I
securing the mutual confidence aud afiections I
of the States, Resolved-, That buildings be pro- s
ded for the use of Congress at or near the lower |
falls o-f the Potomac-,t or Georgetown, provi- |
ded a suitable district on the banks of the ri- (
ver can be procured for a federal town, and
the right of soil, and an exclusive jurisdiction, 1
or sucu other as Congress may direct, shall be
vested in the United States.” 1
On the 20th of December, 1784, the old Con- '
gross passed, among otiters, vhe following res
olutions : (
“ Resolved, That it -is expedient that Coir- 1
gross proceed to take measures for procuring <
suitable buildings to be erected for their acconr- 1
modation. (
“ Resolved, That it is expedient -for Con
gress at this time, to erect public build- ,
ings for their accommodation at more than one |
place.”
These resolutions by the continental Con- ,
gross, as to the expediency -and necessity for a
-for the seat of the Federal Govern
men*,, over which it should have peculiar if not 1
exclusive jurisdiction, are produced to show the 1
origin of the provision, in the constitution up- 1
on that subject, and the object for which the '
acquisition of such a territory was desired. That i
object, beyond all question, was to secure a j
seat for the Federal Government, where the ,
power of self-protection should be ample and
complete, and where it might be exercised with
out collision or conflict with the legislative pow- '
ers of any of the States, so far as its exercise
should be required for the great national pur- 1
poses for which the peculiar or exclusive juris- '
diction was sought to be obtained. The juris- i
diction was made exclusive, not as your com- i
mittee believe-, and as they think every consid- i
erate citizen will admit, to change the object of ,
the grant of the jurisdiction when it should be ,
made, but to secure that object more effectually
by making tire Federal Government independ
ent of State-interference, and of State protec
tion, within the district where it was to be loca- 1
ted, and where its deliberations should be held. 1
Had the legislative power of Congress over
this District not been made exclusive, one of the i
great and wise objects intended to be secured,
the prevention of conflict between Federal and
State legislation, would have been necessarily
defeated. Every statesman will admit the ex
treme inconvenience and danger of granting |
powers of legislation of the same character, and | 1
to be exercised within the same territory (pow- i
ers of local and municipal legislation,) to two i
distinct and independent legislative bodies; and
the extreme difficulty, of so defining tire por
tions of power to be exercised by each, as to !
prevent constant conflict and collision. This i
must have been the result, if any division of the |
powers of the local legislative, within the Dis- |
trict of Columbia, had been made between Con- -
gross and the States by which the territory was i
ceded to tho United States.—Congress requir
ed all that power which through all time, would
bo indispensably necessary for its own protec
tion, and also to render all the departments of
the Federal Government independent of State
authority, and entirely dependant on, and obedi- i
ent to, the Federal Legislature, and it alone, in
all matters of police or municipal legislation.
The adoption of the Federal Constitution by
the people of the several States with this pro
vision in it, shows that the attainment of these
objects was considered of paramount impor-
•Journals of the Old Congress, vol. iv, p. 288.
'Journals of the Old Congress, p. 299,
’ tance; and hence, in the judgement of your
I committee, the power in question was made ex
| elusive.
Assuming the correctness of these pre-
I mises, the next inquiry is, what expecta
| lions were the States by which the District
| was ceded, as well their sister Slates authori
zed to entertain as to the exericse by Con
gres of the Legislative powers derived from
these cessions I The cessions included not
only a portion of the territory of those
States, but also a portion of their citizens.
To secure the great national object intended
by the cession, the jurisdiction of the State
over those citizens, as well as over the ter
ritory, of the District, was transferred ip t!.e
Federai Legislature. This transfer* from
the necessity of the case, abridged the rights
of the citizens within the territory, who had
been formeily entitled to vote lor their Le
gislators' fliiti other rulers, by subjecting
them to a Government composed of persons
in whose election they were to have no
choice. Their governance, however, was
confident to those entrusted with the com
mon government of all the States; and
when we reflect upon the confidence repo
sed in Congress by the Slate that made the !
transfer, and by the citizens transferred, it
accounts at once for the readiness with
which the cession was effected. Still, the
question recurs, what expectation might rea
sonably by entertained by the State making
the cession, by the other States of the Con
federacy, so far as their interests were di
rectly or indirectly involved, and by the cit
zens thus placed under the peculiar care of
Congress, as to its exercises of the powers j
conferred upon it by this cession of lerrito- j
ries for a seat of the Federal Government? ■
Your committee have no hesitation to
gty, in answer to this eniqniry, that those
expectations, by all the parties interested,
not only might, but must have been, that
Congress would exercise the powers confer
red, so far as their exercise should be found
necessary for the great national objects of
the cession, with strict reference to the ac
complishment of those objects; and that all
other powers confeired by the cession would
be exercised with an equally strict reference
to the interest and welfare of the inhabitants
of the District—those citizens of two free
States uho had been made dependent on
Congress for their local Legislation, for the
protection of life, liberty, and property —
rights guaranteed by the Constitution to all
the citizens ol the Confederacy-—in order
that a seat for the Federal Government, sub
ject to the exclusive control of Congress, i
might be granted to it. If these positions i
are correct, it follows necessarily that the I
institutions, the customs, the rights, the
property, and every other incident pertain- -
ing to those citizens, and municipal in its
ciiaracter, which they enjoyed as citizens of
the State to which they belonged before
the cession of the District, and which did
not then, and have not yet, interfered with
the great national rights and privileges in
tended to be secured by the cession, should
have been hitherto and should be in all time
to come, guarded and preserved with the
same paternal care and kindness with which
the Legislatures of the-States to which they
belonged would have guarded and protec- j
led them if they had continued to be entrust
ed to their respective jurisdictions.
Your committee tely confidently-upon
this as the great rule ftrr the faithful action
of Congress in reference to this subject.
They feel assurd that no rational man will
differ with them. Two questions, then,
remain to be'eonsidcred, to determine u hetln
er Congress should, or should not attempt
to interfere with slavery in the District of
Columbia, viz-:
1. Do the great national object which
were intended to be secured to the Federal
Government by the cession of the territory
require such action on kite part of Con
gress ?
Yofir committee will make no argument
upon so plain a proposition. No individual
within their knowledge, not even the most
deluded fanatic, lias ever asked, or attempt
ed to justify, a measure of this description
upon such a pretext-. The seiurity and
independence of Co.igress, from th • mo
ment of its removal to this District to the
present hour, have been as perfect as the
constitution could have desired. No inti
mation has ever been heard that the exis
tence of slavery in the District of Columbia
has ever produced the slightest danger, or
inconvenience, either to the interests or to
the officers ol the federal Government with-,
in it. Surely, then, Congress cannot be
called upon to interfere with that institution
uithin the District, as one of its duties grow
ing out of the national objects connected
with the cession, and if such interference is
demanded from it, the demand must grow
out of its relations to the District as a local
Legislature. This brings the committee to
the remaining question.
2. Would the States of Maryland and |
Virginia, if the cession of this territory to ]
the Federal Government had not been I
made, from any thing which has been shown i
to Congress, be induced to interfere with, I
or abolish the institution of domestic slave- i
ry within it?
At the time of the cession from those j
States, slavery existed in every portion of
their territory, m the same degree, and '
subject to the same laws aud regulations by !
which it was authorized and regulated in I
the territory ceded to the Federal Govern-J
, ment. It still exists in those States with- i
out any variation or modification I
of their laws respecting it. As those States, I
then, have not abolished it within the ter- -
jitories remaining under their jurisdiction, i
is it reasonable to suppose that they would ’
have abolished it in the tertitory compri
sing this District, had they continued tore
tain their original jurisdiction over it? Can
any reason whatever be given for the abo
lition of slavery in this particular district,'
which does not apply with equal force to
every other slaveholding section of the
country? Can any cause be shown why
the States of Maryland and Virginia would (
PUBLIBEIKP Bl I>. £. KOUIASON.
W M OBaE re O. 125.
have abolished, or would now abolish, sla
very in ibis District, had it continued to
form a part of those States respectively,
which would not have warranted or pro
duced general abolition throughout those
States ? Most unquestionably not ! As
those Slates,then,have not abolish’d slavery
in the residue of their territory, it js evident
that they would not have abolished it in ’he
District ol Columbia, it’ it had continned
subject to their action. It follows conclu
sively, therefore, that Congress, as the lo
cal Legislature of the District, and acting
independently of the national consideration*
connected witw its powers over it, is bound,
for the preservation of the public faith, and
the rights of all the parlies ""interested, io
act upon the same reasons, and to exercise
i the same paternal regard, which would have
govenied tire Slate by which the District
was ceded to- the Federal Government;
And it is unnecessary to add, that Con
gress had acted wisely in treating the insti
tutions found in existence at the time of the
cession, as the institutions of the people of
the District, in continuing their laws and
customs as the laws and customs to which
; they had been used, and which should nev
er be altered, or interfered with, except
when the people themselves may be desire
ous of a t bange.
lour committee must go further, and ex
press their full conviction that any interfer
ence by Congress with the private interest
or rights of the citizens of this District with
out their consent, would be a breach of the
faith reposed in the Federal Government
by the States that made the cession, and as
violent and infraction of private rights as it
would have been if those States themselves
supposing their jurisdiction had remained
unimpaired over their territory, had abolish
ed slavery wliithin those portions of their
respective limits, and had continued its ex
istence, upon its present basis, in every
other portion of them. And surely there is
no citizen, in any quarter of the country,
who has the smallest regard for our laws
and institutions, State and national, or for
equal justice, and an equality of rights and
privileges among citizens entitled toit, who
would attempt tojustify such an outrage on
the part of those States. The question
then is: Are the tiiizens of the District
vlesierous of a change themselves? Has
any request or mavement been made by
them that would justify an interference w ith
their private rights on the part of Congress ?
! None, whatever ! The citizens of the Dis
i trict trot only have not solicited any action
| on the part ofCongress, but it is well known
that they earnestly deprecate such action
j and regard with abhorrence the efforts that
are made by others who have interest what-*
ever in the District to effect it. It is im
possible therefore, that any such interference
on the part us Congress could be justified
or even palliated, on the ground that it was
sought or desired by those who are alone
interested in the subject. If, therefore,
Congress were to interfere with this descrip
tion of property against the consent of the
people of the District, your committee feel
bound to say that it would be as gross a
breach ol public faith, and as outrageous
and tnfi act'ron of private rights, as it would
have been if such an interference had been
committed by the States of which the Dis
trict was formerly a part, supposing that it
never had been ceded to the United States.
Y our committee will here anticipate an
objection which may be urged against this,
reasoning and these conclusions. They
have shown that the powers ofCongress
over this District divided themselves into
two clases, national and local ; that in re
ference to the forme)', tiie action of Con
gress should be govt rued by the interest
of the whole country so far as they are con
nected w ith the branches of the Federal
Government located within the District ;
that in reference to the latter its powers are
and its action should be those of a local and
municipal lagislature extending its paternal
care and protection over the citizens de
pendent upon, a subjected to this branch of
its authority ; that in the exercise of its
powers the safest stand in reference to slave
ry is, what would the Slates to which the.
District originally belonged, and of which
its citizens were originally citizens, have
done in case their jurisdiction bad neves
been transferred to Congress and that tlmso
States would certainly trot have interjcrud
with the institution of slavery in the District
had the power to do so remained with lheir..
The objection anticipated is, that the States
in question have pursued an unwise policy
as to themselves, anti that their Laving;done
so should not have bound Congress* as the
local legislature of the District, to asuailair
policy in relation to its goverwueat. To
this, however, your committee consider it
perfectly ccnclusive to reply, that under
our institutions that people is the best gov
erned which is governed most in according
i with its own habits, interest and wishes- k
j that t'.te policy hitherto pursued by
; gross in reference to slavery w itjuiftiibe Dis
trict, your committee have every wason to.
believe, has been in perfect eoulbflipity with
j the wishes and interest of the citizens con--
i cerncd ; and that ilwill be time enough for
i Congress, acting as the loqal legislature of
the District, and tn regulators oi’its action
to move any matter renting fco their private
interests and lights*when (bey thtmsqlyesi.
I shall ask smht»oxei»eut.
There is another cousiderativm connected?
with this part wf the argument* which your
i committee think worthy
i this: tliat there is la,w in the District
I prohibiiHig the master from manumitting
his slaves, which he may do at his own dis-,
creliou, and without incurring; any rcspon-.
sibility whatever. Certain it is that no such
laws lias been passed by Congress, The
citizens of the District, therefore* have no,
necessity for the aid of Congress* :ffioulc(
they wish the abolition of slavery
them. They have only to exercise sit exis
ting right and (heir wish will be accomplish-:,
ed. Can there be more decisive-evident*
( then, that they do not w ish t.l(e gbo!ui°tAvA