Mr. Macon said he would treat these people as he would the people of every other Territory. They were a part of the nation, and so ought to be considered. There ought to be no question as to what stock they sprung from; the true question was, ought they to be a State? The true policy, Mr. M. thought, was, as they were to become a part of the United States, to make them one and indivisible as soon as possible. They had already served a sufficient apprenticeship to the United States, but not under a free Government, for the Territorial governments were not free. The advantage of exacting of them the condition of using the same language, was a great one. How could they be made one with the United States unless by the use of the same language? Mr. M. wished to treat this Territory as well as the others, and no better; he would not treat one as a daughter and the other as a step-daughter. He was as willing now to make Orleans a State as he had been to make Ohio a State. The great object is to make us one people; to make this nation one. As to the Mississippi Territory, it had not served a much longer apprenticeship than Orleans, having only been acquired by the treaty with Spain in 1795. The people of Orleans possessed certainly as strong an attachment to the nation as could be expected from the time they had belonged to it. When the Spaniards invaded the Territory, they stepped forward promptly to repel them; and when some citizens of the old States forgot the love every honest heart owes to his country, they showed their attachment to the Union by the readiness with which they lent their aid to repel them. To make them a State would make that attachment still greater, and it was therefore advisable to act on the subject.
The committee now rose, reported progress, and asked leave to sit again; but before leave was granted, the House adjourned.
Friday, January 4.
Territory of Orleans.
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for admitting the Territory of Orleans into the Union as an independent State, &c.
Mr. Wheaton.—Whenever a bill is offered for our sanction, in order that it may become a law, it is proper, before we give it such sanction, that we should inquire whether the subject of it is such as we have constitutional authority to legislate upon; and if so, whether, from a consideration of time and circumstances, it be expedient so to do.
It appears to me that the bill now before us is objectionable on both these grounds, and, if so, there is a double reason why it should not pass. A few moments will be sufficient for the remarks I have to make upon either; and, if they shall be deemed of no consequence, there will be this consolation, that they will have occupied but very little time.
The subject of this bill is the Orleans Territory, and the object of it, to form that Territory into a State, the people of which are to be subject to the same duties, and entitled to the same privileges, as the people of the United States in their federative capacity. It will be observed that our constitution, by its enacting clause, was ordained and established for the then United States of America. The United States being thus included, implies an exclusion of all others. It may, therefore, be fairly concluded that those that framed this constitution, and those that adopted it, never intended that its immediate operation should extend to any people that did not then, or that should not thereafter be included within the limits of the United States; that they did not intend to enter into a partnership of this sort without some knowledge of those that should compose it, lest the improper conduct of some might end in the ruin of all. The Territory of Orleans certainly was not within the limits of the United States when the constitution was established. It was known to be otherwise. The people there were foreigners to us, and subjects of another Government. That it could not have been intended that the constitution should embrace these people and this Territory, may be argued from the extreme danger of carrying the principle into operation. If we may extend our limits at all, without the consent of the people, further than what is expressed in the constitution, who can tell where will be our ultimate bounds, or what number of States we may have in the Union? Purchase and conquest are objects of ambition. The great Napoleon may have more land to sell, and Spain now possess what she cannot retain. May we not, in time, have the whole of South America, some of the West India islands, and, possibly, Great Britain? And if so, upon the same principle that we form the Territory of Orleans into a State, we may form these Territories into as many separate States as we please, and admit them into the Union with all the powers and privileges that any of our States now possess and enjoy. Then what will become of the Old United States, who first entered into the compact contained in the constitution, and for whose benefit alone that instrument was made and executed. Instead of these new States being annexed to us, we shall be annexed to them, lose our independence, and become altogether subject to their control. Besides, it may be recollected, that, when our independence and national existence was acknowledged by the other nations of the world, the Territory now proposed to be received into the Union made no part of the United States so acknowledged; if, therefore, this be done, a jealousy may be created in those other nations, and, possibly, they may have some reason to complain that, in addition to the immense increase of population within our ancient limits, we should extend our boundaries so far as to include other countries. This, however, by those who justify the Governments of other nations in the pursuit of their projects for universal domination, will be thought deserving of very little consideration. But, it may be well questioned how far the taking of positions that may lead to war comports with that pacific disposition which the people of the United States have been so anxious to maintain; and, whether the obligation they have placed themselves under, by adopting the constitution, to guaranty to every State in the Union a republican form of government, and to protect each of them against invasion, can be made to extend to the Orleans Territory; or, whether the President can have any authority to send our militia there to repel any invasion or suppress any insurrection that may happen there, are inquiries worth some attention before we pass this act. And there will be found another difficulty in the way of carrying the object of it into full effect. If the people of that Territory are admitted into the Union as a State, on an equal footing with any of the now United States, they will have a right to send to our Legislature not only Representatives in proportion to their numbers, but, also, two Senators, and the constitution makes it a necessary qualification for a Senator that he should have been a citizen of the United States at least nine years, a period further back than it can be pretended that any of the people of that Territory ever belonged to the United States, unless they be emigrants, and have not, thereby, lost their citizenship. And a President of the United States they never can have from among their own people, unless he be yet to be born, for no person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of the constitution, can be eligible to the office of President. But, it has been said that Congress have already passed a law, wherein they have stipulated with those people, that they shall be formed into a State when they shall have gained a certain number of inhabitants. In answer to this, it is sufficient to say that, if it be incorrect to promise to do a wrong thing, it is more incorrect still to do it. If this bill be unconstitutional, so was that law.
But, in opposition to all this, it will, undoubtedly, be said that several new States have been formed by Congress since the adoption of the constitution, and that they are well authorized by that instrument. This is admitted. "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union." But, if we look into the article where this authority is to be found, we shall find it applicable to the territories then included within the limits of the United States, or to a division of some of the States then already formed; beyond which, it is believed, this authority has never been exercised. The Old Confederation did expressly authorize the admission of Canada into the Union, but the present constitution does not. If such an authority had been proposed to have been given to Congress by it, perhaps it had never been adopted.
If, however, it should be believed that this bill might pass into a law, in strict conformity with the spirit and letter of the constitution, it is apprehended that the measure would be extremely impolitic and inexpedient at the present moment. We have not even the possession of a part of the country proposed to be embraced by this bill, and both title and possession have been disputed. It is true we have bought the whole country, and dearly paid for it, but still, if we have not a just title, we ought not to expect to hold it; and it is now admitted to be a subject of negotiation; and, even if our titles shall be found to be good, and we gain a peaceable possession, still, if we have a right to buy a thing, I know not why we may not sell it. But, as the expediency of this measure has been considered by other gentlemen, I forbear to add to the remarks I have already made.