Chapter XXVI: Section 1: In all the present territory of the United States

north of the parallel of 36° 30´ of north latitude,
involuntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, is
prohibited. In all the present territory south of that line,
the status of persons held to involuntary service or labor,
as it now exists, shall not be changed; nor shall any law be
passed by Congress or the Territorial Legislature to hinder
or prevent the taking of such persons from any of the States
of this Union to said territory, nor to impair the rights
arising from said relation; but the same shall be subject to
judicial cognizance in the Federal courts, according to the
course of the common law. When any Territory north or south
of said line, within such boundary as Congress may
prescribe, shall contain a population equal to that required
for a member of Congress, 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
involuntary servitude, as the Constitution of such State may
provide.

The vote upon said section resulted as follows:

AYES.--Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Tennessee--9.

NOES.--Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North
Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Virginia--8.

So the section was adopted.

The vote of New York being called, Mr. KING, temporary Chairman of the delegation, said:

The question arises concerning the vote of New York. Mr. FIELD, one of the delegates from this State, is necessarily absent from the Conference, having left to attend to the argument of a cause in the Supreme Court noted for argument this morning. It is his understanding, and with him that of a majority of the delegation, that the vote of New York is to be cast against this section, and the whole report. Under these circumstances I propose to give the vote of New York as it would be given if Mr. FIELD was present.

Mr. CORNING:--I object to this. The vote of that State should be given as the majority of the commissioners present decide. And I think this is a matter for the delegation, and that the Conference has nothing to do with it.

The PRESIDENT:--An absent member cannot participate in the control of a vote except by general leave of the Convention.

Mr. KING:--If Mr. FIELD is not to be taken into the account, the vote of New York upon this section is divided.[8]

[Footnote 8: I have not heretofore expressed my own opinions upon the action of the Conference or of delegations; but as much has been said about the vote given by New York, or rather the division of the delegation, under which no vote was given, it is due to the parties concerned that I should state my own understanding of the practice of the Conference in this respect. After the rejection of the motion of Mr. CHASE (found on page 209), and the adoption of the proposition of Mr. DENT, so far as my own knowledge goes it was never deemed necessary that the entire delegation from a State should be present in order to cast its vote. I was present all the time, and frequently cast the vote of my own State upon previous consultation with my colleagues, when a majority of the delegation was absent. This was frequently done, to my personal knowledge, by other States: by none more frequently than Virginia. During several of the sessions the President himself was absent, and the chair was filled for the greater part of the time by Mr. ALEXANDER, or Mr. MOREHEAD, of Kentucky. I can recall to mind several occasions when the vote of Virginia was cast by Mr. SEDDON alone, no other member of his delegation being present. When the question arose upon the vote of New York, I was surprised that this point was not insisted upon; but deeming it a matter exclusively for the delegation from that State to settle, I did not think the case one in which others should interfere. L.E.C.]

Mr. EWING:--The vote of Kansas is also divided.

Mr. HACKLEMAN:--The vote of Indiana is divided. The commissioners of Indiana were appointed by virtue of resolutions passed by the Legislature of that State, which require them to report to the Legislature any proposition before voting for it finally, so as to commit the State either for or against it. It is impossible, under the circumstances, to submit this proposition of amendment to the Legislature of Indiana for approval or rejection. Indiana, therefore, declines to vote.

Mr. SLAUGHTER:--As the delegation from Indiana declines to cast its vote, I desire to have my individual vote entered in the affirmative upon this section.

Mr. ELLIS:--For the same reason I desire to have my vote entered in the negative.

The following gentlemen dissented from the vote of their respective States: Mr. CLAY and Mr. MOREHEAD, of Kentucky; Mr. RUFFIN and Mr. MOREHEAD, of North Carolina; Mr. MEREDITH and Mr. WILMOT, of Pennsylvania; Mr. TOTTEN, of Tennessee; Mr. COOK, of Illinois; Mr. RIVES and Mr. SUMMERS, of Virginia; and Mr. CHASE and Mr. WOLCOTT, of Ohio.

Mr. GUTHRIE:--I move the adoption of the second section of the report as amended, and ask that it may be read.

The Secretary read it as follows: