Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/598

 but, in the mean time, and until congress shall give such consent, provision he made for the government of the inhabitants of said territory suitable to their condition, but without any restriction as to slavery.

"5. Resolved, That all the territory ceded to the United States, by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, lying west of said territory of New Mexico, and east of the contemplated new state of California, for the present, constitute one territory, and for which some form of government suitable to the condition of the inhabitants be provided, without any restriction as to slavery.

"6. Resolved, That the constitution recently formed by the people of the western portion of California, and presented to congress by the president on the 13th of February, 1850, be accepted, and that they be admitted into the Union as a state, upon an equal footing in all respects with the original states.

"7. Resolved, That, in future, the formation of state constitutions, by the inhabitants of the territories of the United States, be regulated by law; and that no such constitution be hereafter formed or adopted by the inhabitants of any territory belonging to the United States, without the consent and authority of congress.

"8. Resolved, That the inhabitants of any territory of the United States, when they shall be authorized by congress to form a state constitution, shall have the sole and exclusive power to regulate and adjust all questions of internal state policy, of whatever nature they may be, controlled only by the restrictions expressly imposed by the constitution of the United States.

"9. Resolved, That the committee on territories be instructed to report a bill in conformity with the spirit and principles of the foregoing resolutions."

A debate of unusual duration, earnestness, and ability ensued, mainly on Mr. Clay's resolutions. Mr. Clay having read and briefly commented on his propositions, seriatim, he desired that they should be held over without debate, to give time for consideration, and made a special order for Monday or Tuesday following. Mr. Rusk rose at once to protest against that portion of them which called in question the right of Texas to so much of New Mexico as lies east of the Rio del Norte. Mr. Foote, of Miss., spoke against them generally, saying:

"If I understand the resolutions properly, they are objectionable, as it seems to me,

"1. Because they only assert that it is not expedient that congress should abolish slavery in the District of Columbia; thus allowing the implication to arise that congress has power to legislate on the subject of slavery in the district, which may hereafter be exercised, if it should become expedient to do so; whereas, I hold that congress has, under the constitution, no such power at all, and that any attempt thus to legislate would be a gross fraud upon all the states of the Union.

"2. The resolutions of the honorable senator assert that slavery does not now exist by law in the territories recently acquired from Mexico; whereas, I am of opinion that the treaty with the Mexican republic carried the constitution, with all its guaranties, to all the territory obtained by treaty, and secured the privilege to every southern slaveholder to enter any part of it, attended by his slave property, and to enjoy the same therein, free from all molestation or hindrance whatsoever.

"3. Whether slavery is or is not likely to be introduced into these