Chapter XXIII: Section 8: "That the freedom of speech, or of the press, (1)

shall not be abridged; but that the people of any Territory
of the United States shall be left perfectly free to discuss
the subject of slavery."

Mr. BRONSON:--I move to lay that amendment on the table.

Mr. SOMES:--Is not that motion debatable?

The PRESIDENT:--It is not debatable.

The motion to lay the amendment offered by Mr. SOMES upon the table, prevailed by the following vote:

AYES.--Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New
Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Tennessee, Virginia, and Kansas--13.

NOES.--Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, and Vermont--5.

Thus the amendment was laid upon the table.

Mr. VANDEVER:--I move to amend the report by the addition of the following section:

"The navigation of the Mississippi River shall remain free
to the people of each and all the States; and Congress shall
provide by law for the protection of commerce on said river
against all interference, foreign or domestic."

The importance of this proposition can be seen at once. It is one in which the whole country is interested, especially that portion of it in which I reside, which is drained by the upper waters of the Mississippi and Missouri. On this subject we have our apprehensions, and they are better founded, too, than any which I have heard from the South. We believe that our right to the navigation of this great national highway is imperilled. I submit whether we are to be cavalierly treated in this matter, and whether a subject of so much importance is to be laid upon the table? We may at all events, with perfect propriety, go this far, and make it, under the Constitution, the duty of Congress to protect the free navigation of the Mississippi River by law. We want it understood that the navigation of that river should be free and unobstructed, and that the faith of the nation is pledged to enforce that right. HENRY CLAY once stated that nothing upon earth could induce him to agree to any thing that should impede the free navigation of that river. I assert and repeat his declaration. We of the Northwest ask that this right should be guaranteed to us.

Mr. CRISFIELD:--I am as anxious for the free navigation of the Mississippi River as the gentleman. I wish simply to say that it is made the duty of the people of Iowa, and of other States bounded by this river, to protect that right of navigation. But the amendment is not germane to the report of the committee. I move to lay it on the table.

The motion of Mr. CRISFIELD prevailed by the following vote:

AYES.--Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New
Jersey, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia--14.

NOES.--Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts,
and New York--6.

So the amendment was laid on the table.

Mr. BALDWIN:--I move that my substitute be taken up, and ask that it may be read.

It was read as follows:

_Whereas_ unhappy differences exist, which have alienated
from each other portions of the people of the United States,
to such an extent as seriously to disturb the peace of the
nation and impair the regular and efficient action of the
Government within the sphere of its constitutional powers
and duties;

_And whereas_, the Legislature of the State of Kentucky has
made application to Congress to call a Convention for
proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United
States;

_And whereas_, it is believed to be the opinion of the
people of other States that amendments to the Constitution
are, or may become, necessary to secure to the people of the
United States, of every section, the full and equal
enjoyment of their rights and liberties, so far as the same
may depend for their security and protection on the powers
granted to or withheld from the General Government in
pursuance of the national purposes for which it was ordained
and established:

This Convention does therefore recommend to the several
States to unite with Kentucky in her application to Congress
to call a Convention for proposing amendments to the
Constitution of the United States, to be submitted to the
Legislatures of the several States, or to Conventions
therein, for ratification, as the one or the other mode of
ratification may be proposed by Congress, in accordance with
the provision in the fifth article of the Constitution.

I propose to avail myself of the privilege of a short reply to the arguments against my proposition; and in order that I may occupy as little time as possible, I have reduced my reply to writing. At the risk of repeating some of the remarks I made at the opening of the discussion, I wish to recur to the facts on which my report is based.

The resolution which I have moved to substitute, recommends to the several States to unite with Kentucky in her application for the calling of a Convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution.

On the 28th day of January, seven days before the assembling of this Conference Convention, the Governor of Kentucky transmitted to the President of the United States the joint resolutions of the General Assembly of that Commonwealth, "recommending a call for a Convention of the United States," with a request that the President would lay the same before Congress; and on the 5th of February, the day after the assembling of this Convention, they were, by a special message of the President, communicated to Congress, with the expression of great satisfaction in the performance of that duty, and of confidence that Congress would bestow upon those resolutions the careful consideration due to the distinguished and patriotic source from which they proceeded, as well as to the great importance of the subject which they involve. The resolution requesting the call of a Convention I have already read to the Conference.

There are, sir, but two modes provided by the people of the United States for altering the fundamental law of their Government, both of which are specified in the fifth article of the Constitution:

1. Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses _shall deem
it necessary_, shall PROPOSE amendments to the Constitution;
or,

2. On the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of
the several States, shall _call a Convention_ for PROPOSING
_amendments_, which, in either case, shall be valid as part
of the Constitution, when _ratified_ by the Legislatures, or
by Conventions in _three-fourths_ of the States.

The first mode is recommended by the majority of the committee, in the expectation that Congress, by a two-thirds vote of both houses, will propose, on the request of this Convention, for ratification by the States, the several amendments they have reported.

The second mode is the one proposed by the Legislature of Kentucky, and which, in accordance therewith, I have moved to substitute for the recommendation of the committee.

There are now but few days remaining before the termination of the functions of the present Congress. If it were within the fair scope and interest of the constitutional provision that Congress should act, in the proposing of amendments, on the recommendation of this Conference Convention, no one, I think, can reasonably expect them to consider and deliberately act on such recommendation during the few remaining days of the present Congress. Other questions, of engrossing interest, now pending before them, and the acts of necessary legislation at the close of the session, will prevent it. It must, therefore, go over to the next Congress. Assuming that during the term of that Congress the amendments recommended by this Convention shall, by two-thirds of both houses, be _deemed necessary_, and be proposed to the States for ratification; there would probably be no earlier final action by the requisite number of States, than in the mode proposed by Kentucky, and recommended by the resolution which I have moved to substitute for the mode of amendment reported by the committee. But the great objection, in my mind, to the mode of amendment contemplated by the majority report, is that it is not in accordance with either the letter or the spirit of the Constitution. The people of the United States intended, when they adopted the Constitution under which we have for more than seventy years enjoyed a higher degree of prosperity than has fallen to the lot of any other people, that it should remain in full force and unchanged, except in one of the two modes prescribed in that sacred instrument for its own amendment.

It is a Constitution which binds the people of every State, as the supreme law of the land, until it can be changed by the action, in the first instance, of those who are _sworn_ to support it. No amendments can, consistently with the letter or the spirit of the Constitution, be _proposed_ by Congress, unless two-thirds of both houses, acting under the responsibility of their official oaths, shall "_deem_ them _necessary_." No interference or pressure by any extraneous body unknown to the Constitution, was contemplated, or can be allowed with safety to the people, to impair the exercise of this function under all the responsibilities and official sanctions that properly appertain to it. The judgment of two-thirds of both houses of Congress in regard to the _necessity_ of the amendments, must precede their proposal to the States for _ratification_.

The Government of the United States, in its sphere of duties, is supreme. The State Governments, when they consented to its formation by the people of the United States, surrendered so much of their separate sovereignties as was essential to its strength and efficiency. To that extent we became one people. This Government, for all _national_ purposes, took the place of the State Governments, as well in regard to the _paramount allegiance_ as to the duty of protection of the people of every State in the enjoyment of all their federal rights. Its powers can neither be enlarged nor diminished, except in the _constitutional_ mode, without violating the rights of the States as well as of the people.

Any attempt from without, by combinations and associations not responsible to the people, to _coerce_ or overawe Congress, or in any way to impair the free and _deliberate_ exercise of its judgment in _proposing_ amendments "as deemed _necessary_" by Congress, is a palpable violation of the privileges of the people. They elected the members of the House of Representatives with the intention that they should freely and deliberately, under their official oaths, propose amendments, or not, to the Constitution, as _they_ might _deem necessary_, and not at the dictation of _States even_, who cannot themselves propose amendments, but can only require of Congress to call a Convention of _all the States_ for that purpose. Much less can a convention of delegates from the Legislatures, or the Executive of a part only of the States--a body unknown to, and unauthorized by, the Constitution--assume to exercise, or dictate to Congress the exercise of this high prerogative.

WE do not represent the people of the United States. This Government, for every purpose for which it was established, is a separate, and in some sense a foreign government to the States. It operates directly on the people, and is itself their true protector in all their Federal rights.

Any number of States, less than two-thirds, have no more right to call into action the power of Congress either to call a Convention, or to propose amendments, than the individual members of their Legislatures in their private capacities; and Congress might as well, and probably would, treat our interference with their official duties as an _usurpation_; as much so as if we should seek to interfere with the appropriate duties of the Legislatures of Virginia or Massachusetts. And, sir, I cannot but regard it, so far as the _free_ action of Congress should be influenced by the recommendations of this body, as in the nature of a _revolutionary proceeding_ for which there is no sufficient cause or justification. Sir, all the States are not here represented. All have not even had an opportunity to be here. And yet we are endeavoring to influence the action of Congress in a manner which may deeply affect their interests. If, under any circumstances, a body so convened, would have a right to act upon Congress, by the expression of our opinions as a Convention of States, ought not all to have an opportunity to participate in our deliberations? Most certainly they ought.

But it is said some of the States are threatening to secede from the Union; others have seceded, and must be induced to come back, by the speedy action of Congress on the amendments recommended by the committee. Does the _Constitution_ authorize amendments under such circumstances, with _less care_ and deliberation than in time of peace and tranquillity?

This Government, sir, cannot recognize the fact that _States_ have seceded. It is not a Government over _States_, but over the _people_ of the United States, irrespective of the State in which they live. This Government, and not the States, protects them in their Federal rights, and requires allegiance and obedience from the people in every State, to the Constitution and laws of the United States as the supreme law of the land, any thing in the laws or ordinances of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. It is the _people_ and not the States that are governed by that law, within the sphere of its constitutional operation.

I have said that the course proposed by the majority of the committee is, in my judgment, not only against the letter, but the spirit of the Constitution. The State of Kentucky, ever patriotic and conservative, must have so regarded it, when, instead of asking Congress to propose the amendments they desired, they requested their sister States to unite with them in an application in the mode prescribed by the Constitution to Congress to call a Convention for that purpose.

Our fathers, who framed that Constitution, and the people of the United States, who ratified it, set it forth in the preamble as their first great purpose "to form a more perfect Union." They intended to establish thereby a Government of perpetual obligation and of self-sustaining vigor. They did not contemplate the necessity of amendments for any other causes than such as, after calm, deliberate, undisturbed consideration should be judged necessary. They did not intend that it should be exposed to the danger of hasty action under the influence of excited passions or timid and groundless apprehension. They would not trust the entire people even with the right of amendment, except in the mode prescribed, with all the delays incident to that mode; and then only by the action, in every stage of the proceeding, of persons bound by solemn oath to support it.

The Constitution, in prescribing the modes of proposing amendments, endeavored to provide against irregular combination of a part only of the States to effect them. Hence it prohibited all agreements or compacts between the States; and it made no provision for the recognition of any action by a convention, except when called on the recommendation of two-thirds of the States applying to Congress, by separate action of their Legislatures, for that purpose.

Any interference with the duty of Congress by such a body as we are, representing only a portion of the States in any form, and some of us only the executives of the States from which we come, would be as much at variance with the Constitution as with the counsel of that illustrious American--I will not say Virginian--for WASHINGTON belonged to his whole country--in the Farewell Address which he dedicated to the people of the United States on his retirement from the public service, and which ought to be cherished in the heart of every patriot. In addition to what I have already read from that address let me read this passage:

"All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all
_combinations_ and _associations_ under whatever plausible
character, with the _real design to direct, control,
counteract_, or _awe_ the regular deliberation and action of
the _constituted authorities_, are destructive to this
fundamental rule, and of fatal tendency."

Let me read it again. "All obstructions," &c. "All combinations," &c.

This address is replete with words of true wisdom. Let us heed them; for they are eminently adapted to the present occasion. There is no exigency which should be allowed to overawe Congress in the performance of its constitutional duties. No State intervention, no combination or association of representatives of States in a manner unknown to the Constitution, can be recognized as authoritative by those to whom, on their own responsibility, the people of the United States have conferred their national interests and the guardianship of their fundamental law. "We owe," in the language of the illustrious statesman of Kentucky, "_a paramount_ allegiance to the Government of the United States--a subordinate one to our State."

Sir, while I am willing to perform all my constitutional duties--all my fraternal duties toward the people of every section of our common country, I, for one, feel bound to abstain from any encroachment on the duties which the Constitution of my country has delegated to others to be performed, in the modes, and with the responsibilities, which the _people_ for their own security have deemed it proper to prescribe.

With these opinions, I should be unfaithful to my own convictions of duty, and recreant to the trust which has devolved on me as a citizen of the United States, and by inheritance from an ancestor who took a part in the deliberations of the Convention which framed our Constitution, and to whose public services, you, sir, so kindly alluded at the opening of the Conference, were I to unite with the majority of the committee in urging upon Congress the amendments they have proposed.

Entertaining as I do for the members of the committee who have concurred in that report a profound respect, it has been with a feeling of unaffected diffidence and self-distrust that I have ventured to express my sentiments on this occasion. But as I must act on my own convictions of duty, which are in harmony with those of my associates from Connecticut, so far as in the brief period which has elapsed since the report was submitted I have had opportunity to ascertain them, I felt bound to make known to the Convention the reasons which will govern my action.[7]

[Footnote 7: The closing remarks of Mr. BALDWIN were committed to writing. I am able through the kindness of a member of his family to avail myself of a copy.]

The vote was then taken by States on the substitute proposed by Mr. BALDWIN, and the substitute was rejected by the following vote:

AYES.--Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts,
New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont--8.

NOES.--Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New
Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Tennessee, Virginia, and Kansas--13.

So the amendment was not agreed to.

The following gentlemen disagreed to the vote of their respective States:

Mr. BRONSON, of New York; Mr. GRANGER, of New York; Mr. DODGE, of New York; Mr. CORNING, of New York; Mr. ORTH, of Indiana; Mr. HACKLEMAN, of Indiana.

Mr. SEDDON:--I suppose it is now in order for me to move my substitute for the report of the majority of the committee.

Mr. TUCK:--I also have a substitute to offer. I shall not discuss it.

Mr. SEDDON:--The substitute which I propose embodies the CRITTENDEN resolutions, with the modifications suggested by Virginia. These are principally confined to the first section, which is made to apply to our future as well as our present territory. I have modified the form of the substitute in several particulars, and now offer it without farther introduction. These are the amendments which I understand the delegation from Virginia is instructed to insist upon:

JOINT RESOLUTIONS

PROPOSING CERTAIN AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES.

WHEREAS, serious and alarming dissensions have arisen
between the Northern and Southern States, concerning the
rights and security of the rights of the slaveholding
States, and especially their rights in the common territory
of the United States; and whereas, it is eminently desirable
and proper that those dissensions, which now threaten the
very existence of this Union, should be permanently quieted
and settled by constitutional provisions, which shall do
equal justice to all sections, and thereby restore to the
people that peace and good will which ought to prevail
between all the citizens of the United States: therefore,

_Resolved_, by this Convention, that the following articles
are hereby approved and submitted to the Congress of the
United States, with the request that they may, by the
requisite constitutional majority of two-thirds, be
recommended to the respective States of the Union, to be,
when ratified by conventions of three-fourths of the States,
valid and operative as amendments of the Constitution of the
Union.

ARTICLE 1. In all the territory of the United States now
held or hereafter acquired, situate north of latitude 36°
30´, slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, is prohibited, while such territory
shall remain under territorial government. In all the
territory now or hereafter acquired south of said line of
latitude, slavery of the African race is hereby recognized
as existing, and shall not be interfered with by Congress;
but shall be protected as property by all the departments of
the territorial government during its continuance; and when
any territory, north or south of said line, within such
boundaries as Congress may prescribe, shall contain the
population requisite for a member of Congress, according to
the then federal ratio of representation of the people of
the United States, it shall, if its form of government be
republican, be admitted into the Union on an equal footing
with the original States, with or without slavery, as the
constitution of such new State may provide.

ARTICLE 2. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery
in places under its exclusive jurisdiction, and situate
within the limits of States that permit the holding of
slaves.

ARTICLE 3. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery
within the District of Columbia, so long as it exists in
the adjoining States of Virginia and Maryland, or either,
nor without the consent of the free white inhabitants, nor
without just compensation first made to such owners of
slaves as do not consent to such abolishment. Nor shall
Congress at any time prohibit officers of the Federal
Government or members of Congress, whose duties require them
to be in said District, from bringing with them their slaves
and holding them, as such, during the time their duties may
require them to remain there, and afterwards taking them
from the District.

ARTICLE 4. Congress shall have no power to prohibit or
hinder the transportation of slaves from one State to
another, or to a Territory in which slaves are by law
permitted to be held, whether that transportation be by
land, navigable rivers, or by the sea. And if such
transportation be by sea, the slaves shall be protected as
property by the Federal Government. And the right of transit
by the owners with their slaves in passing to or from one
slaveholding State or Territory to another, between and
through the non-slaveholding States and Territories, shall
be protected. And in imposing direct taxes pursuant to the
Constitution, Congress shall have no power to impose on
slaves a higher rate of tax than on land, according to their
just value.

ARTICLE 5. That in addition to the provisions of the third
paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the
Constitution of the United States, Congress shall provide by
law, that the United States shall pay to the owner who shall
apply for it, the full value of his fugitive slave, in all
cases, when the marshal, or other officer, whose duty it was
to arrest said fugitive, was prevented from so doing by
violence or intimidation, or when, after arrest, said
fugitive was rescued by force, and the owner thereby
prevented and obstructed in the pursuit of his remedy for
the recovery of his fugitive slave, under the said clause of
the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof. And
in all such cases, when the United States shall pay for such
fugitive, they shall reimburse themselves by imposing and
collecting a tax on the county or city in which said
violence, intimidation, or rescue was committed, equal in
amount to the sum paid by them, with the addition of
interest and the costs of collection; and the said county or
city, after it has paid said amount to the United States,
may, for its indemnity, sue and recover from the
wrong-doers, or rescuers, by whom the owner was prevented
from the recovery of his fugitive slave, in like manner as
the owner himself might have sued and recovered.

ARTICLE 6. No future amendment of the Constitution shall
affect the five preceding articles, nor the third paragraph
of the second section of the first article of the
Constitution, nor the third paragraph of the second section
of the fourth article of said Constitution, and no amendment
shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or
give to Congress any power to abolish or interfere with
slavery in any of the States by whose laws it is or may be
allowed or permitted.

ARTICLE 7. SEC. 1. The elective franchise and the right to
hold office, whether Federal, State, territorial, or
municipal, shall not be exercised by persons who are, in
whole or in part, of the African race.

And whereas, also, besides those causes of dissension
embraced in the foregoing amendments proposed to the
Constitution of the United States, there are others which
come within the jurisdiction of Congress, and may be
remedied by its legislative power: and whereas it is the
desire of this Convention, as far as its influence may
extend, to remove all just cause for the popular discontent
and agitation which now disturb the peace of the country,
and threaten the stability of its institutions: Therefore,

1. _Resolved_, That the laws now in force for the recovery
of fugitive slaves are in strict pursuance of the plain and
mandatory provisions of the Constitution, and have been
sanctioned as valid and constitutional by the judgment of
the Supreme Court of the United States; that the
slaveholding States are entitled to the faithful observance
and execution of those laws, and that they ought not to be
repealed or so modified or changed as to impair their
efficiency; and that laws ought to be made for the
punishment of those who attempt, by rescue of the slave or
other illegal means, to hinder or defeat the due execution
of said laws.

2. That all State laws which conflict with the fugitive
slave acts, or any other constitutional acts of Congress, or
which, in their operation, impede, hinder, or delay the free
course and due execution of any of said acts, are null and
void by the plain provisions of the Constitution of the
United States. Yet those State laws, void as they are, have
given color to practices, and led to consequences which have
obstructed the due administration and execution of acts of
Congress, and especially the acts for the delivery of
fugitive slaves, and have thereby contributed much to the
discord and commotion now prevailing. This Convention,
therefore, in the present perilous juncture, does not deem
it improper, respectfully and earnestly, to recommend the
repeal of those laws to the several States which have
enacted them, or such legislative corrections or
explanations of them as may prevent their being used or
perverted to such mischievous purposes.

3. That the act of the eighteenth of September, eighteen
hundred and fifty, commonly called the fugitive slave law,
ought to be so amended as to make the fee of the
commissioner, mentioned in the eighth section of the act,
equal in amount, in the cases decided by him, whether his
decision be in favor of or against the claimant. And to
avoid misconstruction, the last clause of the fifth section
of said act, which authorizes the person holding a warrant
for the arrest or detention of a fugitive slave to summon to
his aid the _posse comitatus_, and which declares it to be
the duty of all good citizens to assist him in its
execution, ought to be so amended as to expressly limit the
authority and duty to cases in which there shall be
resistance, or danger of resistance or rescue.

4. That the laws for the suppression of the African
slave-trade, and especially those prohibiting the
importation of slaves into the United States, ought to be
made effectual, and ought to be thoroughly executed, and all
further enactments necessary to those ends ought to be
promptly made.

The substitute offered by Mr. SEDDON was rejected by the following vote:

AYES.--Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia--4.

NOES.--Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine,
Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, New
Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee,
Vermont, and Kansas--16.

Mr. DENT dissented from the vote of Maryland.

Mr. HOUSTON:--I wish to explain the vote of Delaware. She has endorsed the CRITTENDEN resolutions. She would accept the mode of adjustment proposed by the gentleman from Virginia. She has adhered to her opinions as long as she thinks it fit or expedient to do so. Under these circumstances Delaware feels it her duty to vote for the report of the majority. As we desire to harmonize conflicting opinions, and to arrive at a fair settlement, we have voted against Mr. SEDDON'S amendment.

Mr. CRISFIELD:--Like Delaware, Maryland prefers the CRITTENDEN plan of adjustment. That we think is now impossible. But that plan does not differ very widely from the report of the majority. Certainly not enough to warrant us in risking the Union, when we can get the one and cannot have the other. For this reason Maryland votes "No" on Mr. SEDDON'S proposition.

Mr. CLAY:--I gave notice some days ago that I should offer as a substitute the CRITTENDEN resolutions--pure and undefiled--without the crossing of a "t" or the dotting of an "i." I now offer them as follows, and demand a vote by States:

WHEREAS, the Union is in danger; and owing to the unhappy
divisions existing in Congress, it would be difficult, if
not impossible, for that body to concur, in both its
branches, by the requisite majority, so as to enable it
either to adopt such measures of legislation, or to
recommend to the States such amendments to the Constitution
as are deemed necessary and proper to avert that danger; and
whereas, in so great an emergency, the opinion and judgment
of the people ought to be heard, and would be the best and
surest guide to their representatives: Therefore,

_Resolved_, That provision ought to be made by law, without
delay, for taking the sense of the people, and submitting to
their vote the following resolutions as the basis for the
final and permanent settlement of those disputes that now
disturb the peace of the country and threaten the existence
of the Union.

And that whereas serious and alarming dissensions have
arisen between the Northern and Southern States, concerning
the rights and security of the rights of the slaveholding
States, and especially their rights in the common territory
of the United States; and whereas, it is eminently desirable
and proper that those dissensions, which now threaten the
very existence of this Union, should be permanently quieted
and settled by constitutional provisions, which shall do
equal justice to all sections, and thereby restore to the
people that peace and good will which ought to prevail
between all the citizens of the United States: Therefore,

_Resolved_, That the following articles be, and hereby are,
proposed and submitted as amendments to the Constitution of
the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and
purposes as part of said Constitution, when ratified by
conventions of three-fourths of the several States:

ARTICLE 1. In all the territory of the United States now
held or hereafter acquired, situate north of latitude 36°
30´, slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, is prohibited, while such territory
shall remain under territorial government. In all the
territory south of said line of latitude, slavery of the
African race is hereby recognized as existing, and shall not
be interfered with by Congress; but shall be protected as
property by all the departments of the territorial
government during its continuance; and when any Territory,
north or south of said line, within such boundaries as
Congress may prescribe, shall contain the population
requisite for a member of Congress, according to the then
Federal ratio of representation of the people of the United
States, it shall, if its form of government be republican,
be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the
original States, with or without slavery, as the
constitution of such new States may provide.

ARTICLE 2. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery
in places under its exclusive jurisdiction, and situate
within the limits of States that permit the holding of
slaves.

ARTICLE 3. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery
within the District of Columbia, so long as it exists in the
adjoining States of Virginia and Maryland, or either, nor
without the consent of the inhabitants, nor without just
compensation first made to such owners of slaves as do not
consent to such abolishment. Nor shall Congress at any time
prohibit officers of the Federal Government or members of
Congress, whose duties require them to be in said District,
from bringing with them their slaves, and holding them, as
such, during the time their duties may require them to
remain there, and afterwards taking them from the District.

ARTICLE 4. Congress shall have no power to prohibit or
hinder the transportation of slaves from one State to
another, or to a Territory in which slaves are by law
permitted to be held, whether that transportation be by
land, navigable rivers, or by the sea; and the right of
transit by the owners with their slaves in passing to or
from one slaveholding State or Territory to another, between
and through the non-slaveholding States and Territories,
shall be protected.

ARTICLE 5. That, in addition to the provisions of the third
paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the
Constitution of the United States, Congress shall have power
to provide by law, and it shall be its duty so to provide,
that the United States shall pay to the owner who shall
apply for it, the full value of his fugitive slave in all
cases, when the marshal or other officer whose duty it was
to arrest said fugitive was prevented from so doing by
violence or intimidation, or when, after arrest, said
fugitive was rescued by force, and the owner thereby
prevented and obstructed in the pursuit of his remedy for
the recovery of his fugitive slave, under the said clause of
the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof. And
in all such cases, when the United States shall pay for such
fugitive, they shall have the power to reimburse themselves
by imposing and collecting a tax on the county or city in
which said violence, intimidation, or rescue was committed,
equal in amount to the sum paid by them, with the addition
of interest and the costs of collection; and the said county
or city, after it has paid said amount to the United States,
may, for its indemnity, sue and recover from the
wrong-doers, or rescuers, by whom the owner was prevented
from the recovery of his fugitive slave, in like manner as
the owner himself might have sued and recovered.

ARTICLE 6. No future amendment of the Constitution shall
affect the five preceding articles, nor the third paragraph
of the second section of the first article of the
Constitution, nor the third paragraph of the second section
of the fourth article of said Constitution; and no amendment
shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or
give to Congress any power to abolish or interfere with
slavery in any of the States by whose laws it is or may be
allowed or permitted.

ARTICLE 7. SEC. 1. The elective franchise, and the right to
hold office, whether federal, State, territorial, or
municipal, shall not be exercised by persons who are, in
whole or in part, of the African race.

SEC. 2. The United States shall have power to acquire, from
time to time, districts of country in Africa and South
America, for the colonization, at expense of the Federal
Treasury, of such free negroes and mulattoes as the several
States may wish to have removed from their limits and from
the District of Columbia, and such other places as may be
under the jurisdiction of Congress.

_And whereas_, also, besides those causes of dissension
embraced in the foregoing amendments proposed to the
Constitution of the United States, there are others which
come within the jurisdiction of Congress, and may be
remedied by its legitimate power; and whereas it is the
desire of this Convention, as far as its influence may
extend, to remove all just cause for the popular discontent
and agitation which now disturb the peace of the country,
and threaten the stability of its institutions: Therefore,

1. _Resolved_, That the laws now in force for the recovery
of fugitive slaves are in strict pursuance of the plain and
mandatory provisions of the Constitution, and have been
sanctioned as valid and constitutional by the judgment of
the Supreme Court of the United States; that the
slaveholding States are entitled to the faithful observance
and execution of those laws, and that they ought not to be
repealed or so modified or changed as to impair their
efficiency; and that laws ought to be made for the
punishment of those who attempt, by rescue of the slave or
other illegal means, to hinder of defeat the due execution
of said laws.

2. That all State laws which conflict with the fugitive
slave acts, or any other constitutional acts of Congress, or
which in their operation impede, hinder, or delay the free
course and due execution of any of said acts, are null and
void by the plain provisions of the Constitution of the
United States. Yet those State laws, void as they are, have
given color to practices, and led to consequences which have
obstructed the due administration and execution of acts of
Congress, and especially the acts for the delivery of
fugitive slaves, and have thereby contributed much to the
discord and commotion now prevailing. This Convention,
therefore, in the present perilous juncture, does not deem
it improper, respectfully and earnestly, to recommend the
repeal of those laws to the several States which have
enacted them, or such legislative corrections or
explanations of them, as may prevent their being used or
perverted to such mischievous purposes.

3. That the act of the eighteenth of September, eighteen
hundred and fifty, commonly called the fugitive slave law,
ought to be so amended as to make the fee of the
commissioner, mentioned in the eighth section of the act,
equal in amount, in the cases decided by him, whether his
decision be in favor of or against the claimant. And to
avoid misconstruction, the last clause of the fifth section
of said act, which authorizes the person holding a warrant
for the arrest or detention of a fugitive slave to summon to
his aid the _posse comitatus_, and which declares it to be
the duty of all good citizens to assist him in its
execution, ought to be so amended as to expressly limit the
authority and duty to cases in which there shall be
resistance, or danger of resistance or rescue.

4. That the laws for the suppression of the African
slave-trade, and especially those prohibiting the
importation of slaves into the United States, ought to be
made effectual, and ought to be thoroughly executed, and all
further enactments necessary to those ends ought to be
promptly made.

The question on agreeing to said amendment resulted in the following vote:

AYES.--Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and
Virginia--5.

NOES.--Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine,
Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, New
Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and
Vermont--14.

So the amendment was not agreed to.

Mr. DENT:--I desire to dissent from the vote of Maryland.

Mr. EWING:--I desire to record the vote of Kansas in the negative.

The PRESIDENT:--Leave will be given unless objection is made.

Mr. TUCK:--I hold in my hand a substitute which I propose to offer for the report of the committee. I know all the delegates have made up their minds how to vote, and what to vote for. Argument now will amount to but little. But I submit this as indicating to a certain extent the views of the minority here. I shall make no farther remarks, but shall pass it to the Secretary, and I hope the Conference will be patient for five minutes while it is read.

The proposition of Mr. TUCK was read as follows:

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

On the 4th day of February, 1861, in compliance with the
invitation of the State of Virginia, commissioners from
several other States met the commissioners of that State in
Conference Convention, in the City of Washington. From time
to time, commissioners from other States appeared, appointed
as were those who first appeared, some by the Legislatures,
and some by the Governors of their respective States, until,
on the 23d instant, twenty-one States were then represented.
The Convention thus constituted claims no authority under
the Constitution and laws; but deeply impressed with a sense
of existing dissensions and dangers, proceeded to a careful
consideration of them and their appropriate remedies, and
having brought their deliberations to a close, now submit
the result to the judgment of their fellow-citizens.

We recognize and deplore the divisions and distractions
which now afflict our country, interrupt its prosperity,
disturb its peace, and endanger the Union of the States; but
we repel the conclusion, that any alienations or dissensions
exist which are irreconcilable, which justify attempts at
revolution, or which the patriotism and fraternal sentiments
of the people, and the interests and honor of the whole
nation, will not overcome.

In a country embracing the central and most important
portion of a continent, among a people now numbering over
thirty millions, diversities of opinion inevitably exist;
and rivalries, intensified at times by local interests and
sectional attachments, must often occur; yet we do not doubt
that the theory of our Government is the best which is
possible for this nation, that the Union of the States is of
vital importance, and that the Constitution, which expresses
the combined wisdom of the illustrious founders of the
Government, is still the palladium of our liberties,
adequate to every emergency, and justly entitled to the
support of every good citizen.

It embraces in its provisions and spirit, all the defence
and protection which any section of the country can
rightfully demand or honorably concede.

Adopted with primary reference to the wants of five millions
of people, but with the wisest reference to future expansion
and development, it has carried us onward with a rapid
increase of numbers, an accumulation of wealth, and a degree
of happiness and general prosperity never attained by any
other nation.

Whatever branch of industry, or whatever staple production,
shall become, in the possible changes of the future, the
leading interests of the country, thereby creating
unforeseen complications or new conflicts of opinion and
interest, the Constitution of the United States, properly
understood and fairly enforced, is equal to every exigency,
a shield and defence to all, in every time of need. If,
however, by reason of a change in circumstances, or for any
cause, a portion of the people believe they ought to have
their rights more exactly defined or more fully explained in
the Constitution, it is their duty, in accordance with its
provisions, to seek a remedy by way of amendment to that
instrument; and it is the duty of all the States to concur
in such amendments as may be found necessary to insure equal
and exact justice to all.

In order, therefore, to announce to the country the
sentiments of this Convention, respecting not only the
remedy which should be sought for existing discontents, but
also to communicate to the public what we believe to be the
patriotic sentiment of the country, we adopt the following
resolutions:

1st. _Resolved_, That this Convention recognize the
well-understood proposition that the Constitution of the
United States gives no power to Congress, or any branch of
the Federal Government, to interfere in any manner with
slavery in any of the States; and we are assured by abundant
testimony, that neither of the great political organizations
existing in the country contemplates a violation of the
spirit of the Constitution in this regard, or the procuring
of any amendment thereof, by which Congress, or any
department of the General Government, shall ever have
jurisdiction over slavery in any of the States.

2d. _Resolved_, That the Constitution was ordained and
established, as set forth in the preamble, by the people of
the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for
the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure
the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity;
and when the people of any State are not in full enjoyment
of all the benefits intended to be secured to them by the
Constitution, or their rights under it are disregarded,
their tranquillity disturbed, their prosperity retarded, or
their liberty imperilled by the people of any other State,
full and adequate redress can and ought to be provided for
such grievances.

3d. _Resolved_, That the Constitution of the United States,
and the acts of Congress in pursuance thereof, are the
supreme law of the land, to which every citizen owes
faithful obedience; and it is therefore respectfully
recommended to the Legislatures of the several States to
consider impartially whatever complaints may be made of acts
as inconsistent therewith, by sister States or their
citizens, and carefully revise their statutes, in view of
such complaints, and to repeal whatever provisions may be
found to be in contravention of that supreme law.

4th. _Resolved_, That this Convention recommend to the
Legislatures of the several States of the Union to follow
the example of the Legislatures of the States of Kentucky
and of Illinois, in applying to Congress to call a
Convention for the proposing of amendments to the
Constitution of the United States, pursuant to the fifth
article thereof.

Mr. CHASE:--I have not thought it best to occupy much of the time of the Convention in discussing the propositions presented for its decision. I have indeed been impressed with an idea that a decision upon these propositions just now may be premature.

I have already stated to the Conference that the delegates from Ohio act under resolutions of the General Assembly of that State, one of which requires them to use their influence in procuring an adjournment of this body to the 4th of April next. It is the wish of that State that opportunity may be given for full consideration of any constitutional amendment that may be proposed here, and especially to avoid precipitate action under apprehensions of resistance to the inauguration of Mr. LINCOLN on the 4th of next month.

I have already submitted resolutions in accordance with the views of the Legislature, and intended, at the proper time, to ask a vote upon the proposed adjournment. On consultation with my colleagues, however, I find a majority of them averse to postponement; and, in view of the fact that the resolution of the Legislature is not imperative in its terms, and especially in consideration of the assurances constantly given here by delegates from slaveholding States that, whatever may be the result of our deliberations, no obstruction or hindrance will be opposed to the inauguration of Mr. LINCOLN, I have determined to forbear urging a vote.

Upon the respective merits of the propositions of the committee, and the proposed amendments, I have not much to say. But what I do say will be said in all seriousness.

I do not approve the confident pledges made here of favorable action by the people of either section, or of any State, upon whatever propositions may receive the sanction of this Conference. The people of the free States, so far as my observation goes, do not commit their right of judgment to anybody. They generally exercise it themselves, and be assured they will exercise it freely upon any proposition coming from this body. Whatever our actions may be here, every proposition to amend the Constitution must come before the people. They will discuss it, and must adopt it before it can become a part of the fundamental law. Dismiss, then, the idea that all that is necessary to secure amendments acceptable to a particular interest or section is to secure for them the sanction of a majority in this hall.

The result of the national canvass which recently terminated in the election of Mr. LINCOLN has been spoken of by some as the effect of a sudden impulse, or of some irregular excitement of the popular mind; and it has been somewhat confidently asserted that, upon reflection and consideration, the hastily-formed opinions which brought about that election will be changed. It has been said, also, that subordinate questions of local and temporary character have augmented the Republican vote, and secured a majority which could not have been obtained upon the national questions involved in the respective platforms of the parties which divide the country.

I cannot take this view of the result of the Presidential election. I believe, and the belief amounts to absolute conviction, that the election must be regarded as the triumph of principles cherished in the hearts of the people of the free States. These principles, it is true, were originally asserted by a small party only. But, after years of discussion, they have, by their own value, their own intrinsic soundness, obtained the deliberate and unalterable sanction of the people's judgment.

Chief among these principles is the restriction of slavery within State limits; _not_ war upon slavery within those limits, but fixed opposition to its extension beyond them. Mr. LINCOLN was the candidate of the people opposed to the extension of slavery. We have elected him. After many years of earnest advocacy and of severe trial, we have achieved the triumph of that principle. By a fair and unquestionable majority we have secured that triumph. Do you think we, who represent this majority, will throw it away? Do you think the people would sustain us if we undertook to throw it away? I must speak to you plainly, gentlemen of the South; it is not in my heart to deceive you. I therefore tell you explicitly that if we of the North and West would consent to throw away all that has been gained in the recent triumph of our principles, the people would not sustain us, and so the consent would avail you nothing. And I must tell you farther, that under no inducements whatever will we consent to surrender a principle which we believe to be so sound and so important as that of restricting slavery within State limits.

There are some things, however, which I think the people are willing to do. In all my relations with them, and these relations have been somewhat intimate, I have never discovered any desire or inclination on the part of any considerable number, to interfere with the institution of slavery within the States where it exists. I do not believe that any such desire anywhere prevails. All your rights have been respected and enforced by the people of the free States. More than this: even your claims have been enforced, under repulsive circumstances, and, in my judgment, beyond right and beyond constitutional obligation. When and where have the people of the free States, in their representatives, refused you any right? When and where have they refused to confer with you frankly and candidly when you imagined your rights to be in danger? They have been, and still are, patient and forbearing. They do not believe that you need any new constitutional guarantees. You have guarantees enough in their voluntary action. But, since you think differently, they send us hither to meet you, to confer with you, to consider the questions which threaten the Union, to discuss them freely and decide them fairly.