Cheraw Gazette, 1836-05-31

~ 0 quiremcnt of a territory for the seat of the w Federal Legislature, over which it should ! te have exclusive or special jurisdiction, was j bj ; a favorite idea with that body, as early as . fa the year 1~83, and that it continued up to ; re ; the time of the formation of the constitution, i cc | Upon this point your committee will only i to detain the House with a few of the resolu- j it tions adopted by the old Congress that go to tli establish it. On the 7th of October, 1763, a resolution was passed, "that buildings for s? the use of Congress be erected on or near | p< the banks of the Delaware,f provided a suit- i oi ; able district can be procured on or near j gi | the banks of the said river for a federal town, J sc i and that the right of soil, and exclusive, or ) cc i such other jurisdiction as Congress may j cc i direct, shall be vested in the United States." j pi j On the 21st of the same month (October, p< I 1783) another resolution was passed, pre- e: J ceded by a preamble as follows: "Wlieroas th i there is reason to expect that the providing ol | buildings for the alternate residence of Con-; S [ gress in tuo places will be productive of the | C i most salutary effects, by securing the mu- pi j tual confidence and affections of the States, i ri I Resolved, That buildings be provided for j tli I the use of Congress at or near the lower falls 1 tli of the Potomac,^: or Georgetown, provided si I a suitable district on the banks of the river rr can be procured for a federal town, and the ai * Jiiws United States, vol. ii, p- 113. p, t Journals of the Oid Congress, vol. iv. p. 288. .r i t Journals of *hc OM Congress, p. 290.

UUIJ&II dltlVCljr HI into JL/lOUlVby uuva j% vv??niKxl to form a part of those States re^peevely, which would not have warrantee ?f roduced general abolition throughout those tates ? Most unquestionably not! As lose States then, have not abolished slavery i the residue of their territory, it is evident lat they would not have abolished it in tbe h'strict of Columbia, if it had continued ^ jbjeet to their action. It follows cooeluvely, therefore, that Congress, as the local ?islature of the District, and acting inde* endently of the national consideration? con- j ected with its powers over h, is bound for te preserv ation of the public faith, and the ghts of all the parties interested, to act upn the same reasons, and to exercise the irae paternal regard which would have go. srned tlie States by which the District was sded to the Federal Government. And it unnecessary*to add, that Congress has :ted wisely in treating the institutions found - i existence at the time of tho cession, as 'i le institutions ofthe people of the District; in jntinuing their laws and customs, as the ws and customs to which they bad been scd, and which should never be altered, or iterfered with, except where the people icmsclves may be desirous of a change. Your committee must go further, and, exress their full conviction, that any interferlce by Congress with the private interests r rights of the cittizens of this District, with-. lit their consent, would be a breech of the titli reposed in the Federal Government by ic States that made the cession, and as iolent an infraction of private rights as it ould have been if those States themselves.

nat expectations migni rcosouauiy uu cu- iu rtained by the States making the cession, u; j the other States of the Confederacy, so in r as their interests were directly or indi- tli otly involved, and by the citizens thus plant under the peculiar care of Congress, as pi its exercise of the powers conferred upon ei by this cession of territories for a seat of o e Federal Government? 01 Your committee have no hesitation to fa ty, in answer to this inquiry, that those ex- t\ ?ctalions, by all the parties interested, not vi ily might, but must have been, that Con- w rcss would exercise the powers conferred, si ) lar as their exercise should be found ne- ! ui issary for the great national objects of the j e< jssion, with strict reference to the accom- j S[ ishment of those objects; anil that all other tc iwers conferred by the cession would be j p< cercised with an equally strict reference to i ci te interests and welfare of the inhabitants j hi fthe District?those citizens of two free st tates who had been made dependent on i ji ongress for their local legislation, for the j e{ rotection oflile, liberty, and property?j at glits guarantied by the constitution to all | o ie citizens of the Confederacy?in order i ci tat a seat for the Federal Government,; tl lbject to the exclusive control ofCongress, j ir light be granted to it. If these positions | ai re correct, it follows necessarily that the I th istitutions, the customs, the rights, the pro- ci erty, and every other incident pertaining to ai lose citizens, end municipal in it3 cbnrac- k

cise the powers of legislation therein pro- p viewed for. tl I* will be conceded by the committee, for hi ! the purpose of this report, that the cession y ! \vas made in conformity with the power of ?r ! Congress to receive, and that, therefore, by j j the cession from Virginia and Maryland, j it | Congress is in possession of the powers j w j which the constitution intended it should c< possess over the district intended to be tc ! ceded. ol I This brings us to tiie inquiry, as to the ! ci ! probable objects of the grant of "exclusive ; a I legislation in all cases whatsoever," over ! al ! the territory which was to constitute the i tl: | seat of Government of the United States. c< I In consulting the commentators upon the th j constitution* it will be found that the old j te Congress encountered inconveniences, and 1 fr even dangers, from holding their sessions ! ri, ! where State legislatures had exclusive w local jurisdiction, and where Stnte au- th thoiities alone were to be depended on in in I matters of police and personal protection, sc ' Indeed, an adjournment of that Congress n< i from the State of Pennsylvania to New Jer-; w ; sev, for a cause of this description, which | v( | occurred at the close of the revolutionary j fl< war, no doubt contributed greatly to the in- gi | troduetion of this clause into the constitu- j at tion of the Union. The proceedings of the j at old Cnnorosss show distinctly, that the ac- . sii

H1VCI1IVUVC ^HHUl (V IUC IllLVlV-Ol^ VI IV iiiv -i ficcrs of the Federal Government within ifirely, then, Congress cannot be calledupi to interfere with that institution within the istrict as one of its duties growing out of e national objects connected with the cesDn; and if such interference is demanded Dm it, the demand must grow out of ita lations to the District as a locfil legislate. This brings the committee to the re- ; aiuing question. * : 2. Would the States of Maryland and' Vir- v 'j nia,ifthe cession of this territory to tho Fedal Government had not been made, from ly thing which has been shown to Con- ^ ress, be induced to interfere with, or aboU h*the institution of domestic slavery within ? ' - - v -' ' ;4>a At the time of the cession from those A fates, slavery* existed in every portion of V icir territory, in the same degree, and sub. ct to the same laws & regulations,by-which ? was authorized & regulated in the territoiy eded to the Federal Government. It- still xisls in those States, without any material ariation or modification of their laws resecting it. As those States then, have not bolishcd it within the territories remaining

and, also, the resolutions ottered nv an non-; i omble member from Maine, (Mr. Jarvis,) j ( with the amendment thereto proposed by an t honorable member from Virginia (Mr. 1 Wise;) together with every other paper or ; proposition tliat may be submitted in relation ! i to the subject, be referred to a Select Com-j 1 mittce, witli instructions to report: j < That Congress possesses no constitu-' < tional authority to interfere, in any way, with J < the institution of slavery in any oftiie States j of this Confederacy; and ! t That, in the opinion of this House, Con-1 < gross ought not to interfere, in any way,, i with slavery in the District of Columbia, be- < cause it would be a violation of the public i i laith, unwise, impolitic, and dangerous to j 1 the Union. Assigning such reasons for < these conclusions as, in the judgement of : i the committee, may be best calculated to en-j 1 lighteu the public mind, to allay excitement, 11 to repress agitation, to secure and maintain j t thejust rights of the slaveholding States, and ; i of the people ofthis District, and to restore ( harmony and tranquility among the various I -~-tt.no /xfl k?c T 'nlAll j }

Published every Tud&day. TEimS. If paid within tliree months, . . . 3. 00 Xt paid withinthree montlis after the cla?e ot the year, 3. 50 If not paid within that time, - - - - 1. 00 A company of six persons taking the paper at the seme Fust Office, shall be entitled to it at $15, paid iu advance, and a company of ten persons at $20; provided the narufes bo forwarded together, accompanied by the money. Xo paper to be discontinued but at the option of the Eiditor till arrearages are paid. Advertisements inserted for 75 cents per square i the lirst time, and 37$ for each subsequent inser- : tion. j ; Persons sending in advertisements are request-; ' ed to specify the number of times they are to be j ; inserted; otherwise they will bo continued till j orderol out, and charged accordingly. ! j CrTlie Postage must he paid on all commu-. nications sent by mail. ????? 1?R. PIXCKNEVS REPORT. 1 ? i! In the House or Representatives. , i February 8, 1835. Resolved, That all the memorials which ; ] have been offered, or may hereafter be pre-!? sented to this House, praying for the aboli- i tion of slavery, in the District of Colombia; ' <

ssembled on the 4th of March, 1789, and i he Government provided for by the contitution was organized on that day. The general powers conferred on the different ranches of the Federal Government were . xcrcised from that day forward; and the i in ion of the States, under constitutional j government, was then perfected and put in i racti?al operatibn. The cession from j Virginia, of that portion of the District of Joltftnbia that belonged to her, was not nadc until the 3d of December of that year' ?nine months after the Federal Governnent had been in operation ;* and the cesion by Maryland of that portion of the district that belonged to her,(and in which he Seat of Government is in fact located,) ras not made until the 19th day of De:ernber, 1791 f?more than two years and line months after the existence of the Gov- j rnment in its present constitutional form. I Congress did not, in fact, remove to the district thus ceded, nor did the district thus j eded become practically the seat of Gov-1 rnment until the year 1800; and the laws ; Iawc r>i-??rict of Columbia, p. 59. t l.v.vs District of Columbia, p. 61.