Page:Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia 1849.djvu/53

50 that the rights, privileges and immunities secured by the Constitution belong alike to the people of each State. 4. Resolved, That any and all territory acquired by the United States, whether by discovery, purchase or conquest, belongs in common to the people of each State, and thither the people of each and every State have a common right to migrate with any property they may possess, and that any restriction upon this right which will operate in favor of the people of one section to the exclusion of those of another, is unjust, oppressive, and unwarranted by the Constitution. 5. Resolved, That slaves are recognized by the Constitution as property, and that the Wilmot Proviso, whether applied to Oregon, California, New Mexico, or territory hereafter to be acquired is unconstitutional and should meet with the determined opposition of the Southern people, whose rights are thereby affected. 6. Resolved, That Congress has no power either directly or indirectly to interfere with the existence of slavery in the District of Columbia. 7. Resolved, That the refusal on the part of the non-slaveholding States to deliver up fugitive slaves who have escaped to said States, upon proper demand being made therefor, is a plain and palpable violation of the letter of the Constitution and an intolerable outrage upon Southern rights. 8. Resolved, That in the event of the passage of the Wilmot Proviso by Congress, the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, or the continued refusal of the non-slaveholding States to deliver up fugitive slaves as provided for by the Constitution, it will become the immediate and imperative duty of the people of this State to meet in Convention to take into consideration the mode and measure of redress. 9. Resolved, That the people of Georgia entertain an ardent feeling of devotion to the union of these States, and that nothing short of a persistance in the present system of encroachment upon our pights by the non-slaveholding States can induce us to contemplate the possibility of a dissolution. 10. Resolved, That his excellency the Governor be requested to forward copies of these resolutions to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, to the Legislatures of the several States, and to the President of the United States—which were read and made the special order of the day for Tuesday, the 20th instant. On motion of Mr. Lawton of Scriven, one thousand copies thereof, were ordered to be printed for the use of the House. Mr. Nisbet of Bibb, introduced a bill to be entitled an act to consolidate and amend ihe claim laws of this State, which was read the first time, and upon a subsequent motion of Mr. Jones of Paulding, the same was referred to the committee on the Judiciary. Mr. Nisbet introduced a bill to be entitled an act to