Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/584

 "Provided, that an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted."

This proviso was carried in committee by a vote of 84 to 63. The bill was then reported to the house, and the previous question moved on its engrossment, which was carried, and the bill sent to the senate. Mr. Lewis, senator from Alabama, moved that the proviso be struck out, on which debate arose, and Mr. John Davis, of Mass., was speaking, when twelve o'clock, August 10th, arrived, the time fixed for adjournment, and both houses adjourned without day.

The 30th congress assembled Dec. 6, 1847. On the 28th February, Mr. Putnam, of New York, moved the following resolution:

", In the settlement of the difficulties pending between this country and Mexico, territory may be acquired in which slavery does not now exist:

"And whereas, Congress, in the organization of a territorial government, at an early period of our political history, established a principle worthy of imitation in all future time, forbidding the existence of slavery in free territory; therefore,

"Resolved, That in any territory that may be acquired from Mexico, over which shall be established territorial governments, slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be forever prohibited; and that in any act or resolution establishing such governments, a fundamental provision ought to be inserted to that effect."

The resolution was ordered to lie on the table by a vote of 105 to 93. This terminated all direct action on the Wilmot proviso for that session.

A bill for the establishment of a territorial government for Oregon was reported in the senate early in the session, and the question of slavery furnished matter for a protracted debate. The power of congress to legislate on the subject of slavery in the territories was discussed in the senate by Mr. Dix, of New York, who maintained the affirmative, and Mr. Calhoun the negative.

Mr. Dix stated certain positions which he thought constituted a proper basis for the settlement of the question; positions, the correctness of which a majority of the friends of free territory, it is believed, do not concede. They are these: 1. All external interference with slavery in the states is a violation of the compromises of the constitution, and dangerous to the harmony and perpetuity of the federal union. 2. Territory acquired by the United States should, in respect to slavery, be received as it is found. If slavery exists therein at the time of the acquisition, it should be left to remain undisturbed by congress. If it does not exist therein at the time of the acquisition, its introduction ought to be prohibited while the territory continues to be governed as such. 3. All legislation by congress in respect to slavery in the territory, ceases to be operative when the inhabitants are permitted to form a state government; and the admission of a state into the Union carries with it, by force of the sovereignty such admission confers, the right to dispose of the whole question of slavery at its discretion, without external interference.