LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iiJiii 011895 8214 penmalrffe* .5 U68 SPEECH •hey CopV . 1 ov HON. MORTON S. WILKINSON, OF MINNESOTA. THE CONSTITUTION A8 IT IS: DELIVKUED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, MARCH 2, 1861 WASHINGTON: 1861. .5" • V/6 9 NO SURRENDER OF PRINCIPLES. The Skcretarv read ihi; following nmcndninnt asasubsiiiiittjforfloase joint resolution No. 80, to strike out all after the enacting clause, and insert: That Ihf followinR articles be, mid are lioreby, [in(|)Ofi>il luid HUbinitttuI a:* niiioiidiniMits to the Constitution ol" the United States, which shall he valid to all intents and pur- poses as part ol'said (.'onstitution, whi'u ratilii'd liy conven- tions of three fourths of the several Stales : Articlk I. In all the territory of the Hnlted States now held orhere- al'ler acijuired, situate north of latitude STi' DO', slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punislnrii-iit for crime. Is prohihited, while such territory shall remain under territo- rial government. In all the territory now held or hereafter acquired, south of .«ald line of latitude, slavery of the Afri- can race is hereby recognized as existinjr, and shall not he j intcrlered witli by Congress ; but .-hall be protected as prop- erty by all the departments of the territorial government ! during Its continuance ; and when any 'I'erritory, north or j south of said line, within such boundaries as Congress may I prescribe, shall contain the population requisite for a mem- ber of Consiressjaccordini; to the then Federal ratio of rep- [ resentation of the people of the United Stales, It shall, if its form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union on an equal footina with the original States, with or without slavery, as the constitution of sucli new State may provide. .\KriiLK II. Congress ^llall have no power to abolish slavery in places ; under its exclusive jurisdiction and situate within the limits ' of Sutcs that |iermit the holding of slaves. '■ Articlk HI. i Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery within the District of Columbi.i so long as it evists iu the adjoin- ; ing States of Virijinia and Maryland, or either, nor with- I out the consent of the inhabitants, nor without just coin- ; pensation tirst made to such owners of slaves as do not consent to such abolisliment. N'or shall Congress at any ! time prohibit olhcers of the Federal (Jovcrnment. or mem- \ bcrs of Congress, whosi; duties recjuire ihcm to be in said District, from bringing with them their slaves, and holding them a-s such, during the lime their dniies may require iJiem to remain there, and afterwards taking them from the District. .Vrtici.k IV. Congress shall have no power to prohibit, or liiiider the mnisportation of slaves from one State to another, or to a Territory in which slaves arc by law permitted to be held, ; whether that transportation be by land, navigable rivers, or by lUe sea. Hut the African slavi' trade shall be forever snppresscd, and it in any of tlie Stales by whose laws it is or may be allowed or permitted. .Articlk V'II. Skc. 1. Tlie elective franchise anil the right to liold office, whether Federal, State, territoriiil, or municipal, shall not be exercised by persons uiio are, in whole or in part, of the African race. Mr. WILKINSON. I understand the question to be upon tlie adoption of the amendment just read, which is the proposition of the Senator from Kentucky, as a substitute for the House resolu- tion .' The PRESIDING OFFICER. (Mr. Foot, in the chair.) That is the question now before the Senate. Mr. WILKINSON. Mr. President, unlike the Senator from Oregon, I shall neither vote- for the substitute, nor for the original proposition. The course which events have taken since the late presidential election is so new and strange to the people of the United States, so startling to the public mind, that the friends of the Constitution and the laws are fast arraying themselves to- gether to uphold the institutions of our country, while its enemies are fast becoming consolidated for the purposes of its destruction. With the Federal Goveriunent in their hands, with the Army and the Navy under their control, with the Presi- dent subject entirely to their will, with all- the Federal patronage in their hands, with the Su- preme Court ever ready to decide all questions of constitutional law in accordance with their views, with the Senate under their control, with a ma- jority iii the other end of this Capitol — thus in power and authority, in every branch and depart- ment of the Federal Government, its enemies, at the commencement of this session, deliberately proposed the overthrow and ruin of this Govern- ment, simply because the people of the United States, in strict conformity with the Constitution and the laws, elected Abraham Lincoln Presi- dent; for it is beyond all question, if Mr. Breck- inridge had been elected, there would have been no threats of dissolution, of disunion, of seces- sion , such as now fill the air. With no complaints against the Federal Government for grievances which cannot be redressed under the Constitution as it is, suffering no wrongs for which that in- strument does not provide the most ample remedy, these men, the enemies of this Union, the ene- mies of our Constitution, jiropose its overthrow I and its ruin, because the Treasury of the Govern- , ment is about to pass out of the hands of those I who have despoiled it, and into the possession of 1 those whom the people have selected to guard and protect it. i I will not allude to the subterfuges behind which . j the enemies of our Government seek to shield themselves, nor shall I refer to tiic miserable excuses which they offer for the monstrous crime of the destruction of this Government. Stripped I of all disguises and unworthy evasions, let it be known, now and forever, in this Senate Chamber and throughout the civilized world, that the sole and only reason for which it is proposed to de- stroy this Government is, that a false, faithless, and corrupt Adnainislration has been driven from power by the authority and majesty of the sov- ereign people, whose right it is to rule this nation. Sir, what is the record which that party has left for the study of the people of this country .' Com- ing into power with an overflowing Treasury, in four short years it brings bankruptcy upon this nation. Its chief financial agent, after having brought disgrace and ruin upon the land, after having brought bankruptcy upon this nation, seeks to shield himself from the indignation of an outraged people by taking refuge beneath the black ban ner of treason . The Secretary of War, charged by his oath of office with the management of the military affairs of the proudest nation on earth, instead of conducting those affairs for the protec- tion of the people of this great nation, employs the power thus confided for the purpose of enrich- ing himself and corrupt party favorites, turns the military power of this country into the hands of its enemies, despoils, by illegal, corrupt, and fraudulent acts of his, the people's Treasury, and refuses protection, in the hour of peril, to the country's truest and most noble defender. He, too, after having blackened his own charac_ter; after having blackened the reputation of his own country, and after having defamed, in the name of his own State, the home of Washington, he, too, to shield himself from the indignation of an outraged people, takes refuge beneath the same black banner of treason. The Secretary of the Interior, charged by his oath of office with the management of the internal affairs of this great nation, sworn to support the Constitution and the laws, while thus acting un- der that oath, goes forth upon a mission to devise ways and means to provide for the dissolution of that very Union which he was sworn to support; and while thus acting in violation of his oath, his« own Department is being robbed of a marvelous amount by an especial and confidential agent and friend, himself a secessionist, who thought it was necessary ^to protect himself with his southern friends by publicly declaring in a city paper that he would not hold office under a black Republi- can President. Why, sir, this action of the Sec- retary of the Interior is so strangely inconsistent, so violative of his oath of office, so criminally violative of every principle of right, so much in utter disregard of his own oath, that his own friends are shocked and di.sgusted at his transac- tions. It was against this Administration, with which these men were connected, that the people last fall rendered their verdict; and now we are asked to apologize for that decision; we are asked to apologize for hurling such men from power; we are asked to apologize for turning out the vam- pires who have preyed upon tiie Treasury of this country. Was ever crime mop' bold, audacity piore defiant, or treason more daring than tliis? Mr. President, when I came to the capital at the commencement of this session, it was my hope that, through calm and* conciliatory action, the clouds that seemed to " lower upon our house" might break away, and leave the clear, bright sun of peace to shine upon us once more. It was my hope that in the action of the people which had just taken place, in the decision at the polls in last November, the defeated would have acquiesced, as it has been our part to have yielded in the past. But, sir, in this my hopes have been mistaken. The course which the debate look in the early part of this session had a tendency to lead to any- thing but good or profitable results. On this side of the Chamber we were immediately met by vio- lent and inflammatory harangue.-^, by bitter invec- tives and personal abuse thrown to us from the other side of the Chamber, until it became »]1- parent to every man of common observation that nothing like conciliatory action could be had here. For neither individuals nor communities are likely to be driven from the support of their principles and their convictions through the agency of threats and denunciations. Why, sir, we were told by gentlemen from that side, who had upheld this Administration, all reeking with fraud and villainy as it was, that we were chargeable with the destruction of this Gov- ernment. We were told, in the early part of this session, that we must surrender our principles; we must lay down our convictions; we must cease to talk about the question of personal liberty or of personal right; or else, they told us, this Union would be broken up forever. Well, sir, in making these unreasonable demands, in giving utterance to these violent and abusive threats, the people of the South have acted under a fatal mistake. . know that heretofore the people of the South have looked upon the northern people as craven. I know they have considered them cowardly. I am well aware they have regarded them as being powerless beneath the crushing weight of the moneyed influence of the country; and in this our neighbors have had too great reason for so believ- ing. I know that heretofore, whenever threats like these have been uttered by the South, her people have regarded the trading interests of the East, and the commercial men of our northern cities, as their natural allies, ever ready to bow down at the bidding of the South, and to surren- der to any demand which might be made of them. I know well that heretofore this trading, moneyed influence of the North has exerted a mighty power in controlling even the political action of the country; but here the South has made one great mistake. Since the compromise of ten years ago, the last of the compromises, a great West has sprung up, full grown and powerful, which sends my friend from Michigan [Mr. Chandler] and others here, who have a little more backbone and a little more nerve, I apprehend, than some of our eastern Republicans; and here is where our southern friends made a little mistake. But, sir, what was their demand? What was their claim .' The Senator from Georgia [Mr. IvERSoy] said: " You must give up to us the Ter- ritories of this whole country; we will carry our slaves into all the Territories of this nation, or we will destroy this Union; we will have that right in the Union, if we can get it; out of the Union, if we cannot." Now, sir, we had just decided that question. This extraordinary demand came to us within four weeks from the lime that the people of this great country had, by their solemn and overwhelming verdict, declared that they would not do any such thing. If I understand the position which those gentlemen took, it was this: " Surrender your convictions, you people of the North; you craven Black Republicans, lay down your political convictions; give them all up^; give us all the Territories of this country, and let this nation be a pro-slavery nation, and we will condescend to remain in this Un'ion." I will let some of my friends from the East and from the commercial seaports answer for themselves; but, Mr. President, the people of the Northwest plant themselves upon the verdict of the 6th of Novem- ber last; and I, for one, declare here that I shall vote for no proposition whatever which recedes 6 ,,.e inch from that verdict. I have no right, as a representative ofthe people, to barter offor to traffic away that decision, and I say plainly I never will do it. But we are told that we must make concessions to the South, or they will go out. Now, sir, let us look at this question for a moment . What have we to concede?. What have we got, jjoor Black Republicans, as they call us, to concede ? What have we ever had in this country ? When did we ever have the power ? When did we ever make a law in the United States r When have we ever taken a single tithe or a jot or a tittle from your rio-hts ? When did we ever take one tittle from your constitutional liberty or your constitutional rights.' Never! never! for we never had the | power to do it. [ Let us look at the history of this question for 1 one moment. I intend to be brief. In 1850, you ] said that the country was in danger; the Consti- tution was in danger; the Union was in danger. And why ? Because the people of the North claimed that the Wilmot proviso should be ap- plied to all the Territories which had been acquired from Mexico. There was a good deal of strife about it; and Mr. Clay— a very great man, whose memory I adore to-day — came forward to settle this question. How did he propose to .settle it.' In the first part of the session of Congress of that year, he olTered a series of resolutions, and after- wards proposed a series of bills which carried out the theory of the resolutions he had introduced. Here are two of those resolutions : '^Resolved, That California, witli suitable boundaries, ought, upon her application, to ba admitted as one of the States of the Union, witliout the imposition by Congress of any restriction in respect f^ the exclusion or introduction of slavery witiiin those boundaries. ^^ 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 Mexico, it is inexpedient for Congress to provide by law 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 of the said territory not assigned as the boundaries of the proposed I^tate of California, without the adoption of any restrictiou or con- dition on the subject of slavery." That was the principle introduced here by the great Henry Clay. What was that pi-inciple? My friend from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] says that was tlie great doctrine of non-intervention; and so it was. I know they were a series of proposi- tions which the North did not like very well, be- cause there were some propositions among them, to which I shall not allude, which shocked the sense of the northern people, and which they turned from with di.sgust and contempt. ButMr. Fillmore cameinasPresidentof theUnited States, and threw the whole force of his administration in favor ofthe compromises of Henry Clay; and the people ofthe North surrendered their private convictions and their private feelings, and sus- tained that compromise. What followed.' In a very short time, some two or three years, my friend from Illinois started up here and proposed to tear down the compromise of 1820, because it was in violation of the principles ofthe compro- mise of 1850, introduced here by Henry Clay. The Senator from Tennessee [Mr. Nicholson] stated in his speech, some time since, that the first fatal stab which was made at this Union, and to the peace of the country, was when the Repub- lican party met in Philadelphia, m 1856; and the Senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] says that the whole source of all this difficulty is the agita- tion on the part of the anti-slavery men of the North. Now, Mr. President, I think these gen- tlemen must go a little further back in the history of events, if they will find the true cause of all this difficulty and of all this estrangement of feel- in''-. When the gentlemen from the South, fol- lowing the lead ofthe Senator from Illinois, pro- posed to tear down the time-honored compromise of 1820, that barrier against the aggressions of slavery on this continent, in a time of profound and undisturbed peace, they threw open the flood- gates which let in this angry tide of sectional strifeandof fiery controversy which now threatens to destroy this Union. Now, sir, after having torn down one compro- mise, because it was inconsistent with the com- promise of 1850, the Senator from Kentucky and others come to us and ask us now to tear down this other compromise, in order that they may es- tablish slavery byirrepealable constitutional law, in all that Territory. If I were asked merely to restore the original Missouri compromise, as it stood without any amendment, without any addi- tions or qualifications, I do not know but I would be willing to do it; but when I am asked by the Senator from Kentucky, or any other man, to do what Henry Clay declared there was no earthly power could compel him to do, when lam asked to tear down another compromise for the purpose of establishing — by irrepealable law — slavery upon a vast Territory, I say plainly, here in the Senate Chamber, and to the country, I will never do it; never! never! never! Let me read what Henry i Clay said then on that subject; for it is better than anything I can say: " I owe it to myself, [ owe it to truth, I owe It to ilie fubjeot, to state, that no earthly power could Indiioe me to vole for a specific measure for the introduction of shivery where it had not before existed, either -south or nortli of that line." Now, sir, how do tliey propose to get around this? They say it exists there, in this very Ter- ritory, concerning which Mr. Clay was tln-n speaking. How does it exist llicre ? By the very compromise wiiich was introduced in 1850, whicii leaves the people there free to pass a law, or to repeal a law," and now that they have passed a law, we are asked here to come forward, and by con.siitutional enactment, declare that that law shall never be repealed. And what is it.' Why, sir, the most barbarous enactment that ever was passed upon the face of the earth; a law which outrages all our ideas of humanity; a law which eiKibles a sherilV to catch up a negro anywhere, put him in jail, and sell him into perjietual slavery if nobody claims him; a law which I say out- rages the moral sense of humanity all over the world, and we are asked to fix this,ve Northwest will never consent to the idea of a southern con- federacy to take possession of the mouih of the i Mississippi river. Already the madmen of the j State bearing the name of that noble river have i planted their batteries upon its banks, to exercise ! a control over the navigation of that great medi- j terranean highway. This act of itself will lead to i war. Itiswar. The bold, hardy, and determined [ millions of the mighty West, stand ready to-day I to maintain the free navigation of that river, if to ' secure it they will be obliged to desolate its banks I from the mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf of Mex- : ico. Much has been said in this Chamber, and ' out of it, against coercion and civil war. I am ' well aware that there are at the South a nibble ; army of true and faithful friends of the Constitu- [ tion, who are (jutting forth all their eflorts to save 1 the Union from destruction, and to avert the hor- rors of civil war. I ain prepared to join hands 1 with the friends of our common country to avert i so fearful a calamity. To accomplish this high I end, I will yield much that under other circum- ] stances I would not surrender. I sincerely hope : and pray that we may recover from this revolu- I tion, without bringing war, with all its attendant j horrors, upon us. But if war must come, I have 1 an abiding faith that the flag of the Union — the oid flag — will in the future, as it did in the past, wave ! in glory and in triumph over the vanguard of .i ; victorious American Army. ,1 '. .•. .