[31ST CONG. day, Howard, Hubbard, Joseph W. Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Robert W. Johnson, Jones, Preston King, Leffler, Littlefield, Mason, McClernand, McDonald, McDowell, Miller, Millson, Olds, Peaslee, Peck, Phelps, Potter, Powell, Richardson, Ross, Savage, Sawtelle, Alexander H. Stephens, Stetson, Sweetser, Thomas, Jacob Thompson, J. B. Thomp member will be kind enough to withdraw his application. If not regularly, the state of his health may at least allow him to meet occasionally with the committee, who, I doubt not, will make their sessions convenient for him. He will, therefore, be conferring a favor on the Senate by withdrawing his application. Mr. PHELPS. A word more. I cannot, inson, William Thompson, Toombs, Wallace, Watkins, Willborn, Wildrick, and Wood-70. justice to myself, withdraw this application. The subject is with the Senate, and if they do not see fit to gratify me in this particular, why, of course, I must make the best of my posi tion. Mr. MANGUM. I hope for the present the Senate will not accord the request. If my friend is put to any inconvenience, on the score of health, in this matter in the future, I will yield to any request for his personal convenience and comfort. The question was then taken, and the Senate refused to excuse the Senator from Vermont from serving on the Select Committee. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THURSDAY, April 25. The Franklin Expedition. Mr. STANTON, of Tennessee, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, reported a joint resolution to authorize the President of the United States to accept and attach to the navy the two vessels offered by Mr. Henry Grinnell, of New York, to be sent to the Arctic seas in search of Sir John Franklin and his companions. The joint resolution was read a first time by its title. Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas, rose and objected. Mr. BAYLY. I move that the resolution be referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. | NAYS.-Messrs. Allen, Alston, Baker, Bennett, Bocock, Booth, Bowden, Briggs, Brooks, Buel, Burrows, Chester Butler, T. B. Butler, J. P. Caldwell, Calvin, Campbell, Casey, Chandler, Clarke, Cleveland, Clingman, Conger, Conrad, Corwin, Crowell, Deberry, Dickey, Dimmick, Dixon, Doty, Duer, Duncan, Durkee, Fitch, Fowler, Freedly, Giddings, Goodenow, Gould, Halloway, Harlan, Haymond, Hebard, Henry, Hoagland, Howe, Inge, Julian, Kerr, Daniel P. King, George G. King, John A. King, La Sère, Job Mann, Matteson, McGaughey, McKissock, McLanahan, Robert M. McLane, McQueen, McWillie, Moore, Morehead, Morse, Morton, Nelson, Orr, Otis, Outlaw, Pitman, Putnam, Reed, Risley, Robbins, Rockwell, Root, Rumsey, Sackett, Schermerhorn, Shepperd, Sylvester, Spaulding, Sprague, Stanly, Frederick P. Stanton, Richard H. Stanton, Strong, Taylor, Thurman, Tuck, Underhill, Van Dyke, Vinton, Walden, White, Williams, Wilson, and Winthrop-99. So the House decided that the resolution should not be laid upon the table. Mr. BROOKS then obtained the floor. He said he desired to say a very few words in explanation of these resolutions, and he would be very brief. The object of this expedition was not to obtain money from the Government, as had been insinuated— Several MEMBERS. Not now! not now! Mr. BROOKS. No, not now, nor hereafter. The projector of the expedition, (Mr. Henry Grinnell,) impelled by the highest impulses that could move a man, proposed to fit out two vessels, costing, as he understood, some $30,000 and over, and to fit them out at his own expense, asking of the Government nothing, save The SPEAKER. The resolution has not yet been read a second time. The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. STANTON) proposes that this joint resolution be now put upon its engross-that it extend over them the protection of its ment. The resolution will therefore be read through. And the joint resolution having been readMr. STANTON said he desired to say one word in relation to it. It was this: If these vessels were to be placed under the control of the rules and regulations of the naval service of the United States, (which was the principal object of the resolution,) it was important that the resolution should be passed immediately, because the vessels were to put to sea in a few days. The question, "Shall this resolution be upon the table? was then taken, and decided in the negative, as follows: flag, and give them the discipline of its navy. No money was asked for now, and Mr. Grinnell was not the man who, while contributing thus liberally for a philanthropic and national object, would ask any thing of Congress hereafter. What was wanted of Congress now, with the protection and sanction of its flag, was the discipline of its navy. It was felt and known, that a private vessel, with sailors enlisted only under our mercantile laws, as for the mercantile marine, could not have that discipline on board laid--that salutary and efficient government, which might be necessary in high northern latitudes, under the most trying circumstances in which human beings might be placed. To prevent mutiny-to enforce law-to compel, if neces‐ sary, self-sacrifice-the discipline and government of the navy were wanted; and it was unwise, if not unsafe, to send two vessels to the Arctic seas for the purposes contemplated, with only the discipline of the mercantile marine to YEAS.-Messrs. Albertson, Ashe, Averett, Bây, Bayly, Bingham, Bissell, Bowlin, Boyd, Breck, Albert G. Brown, William J. Brown, Joseph Cable, W. R. W. Cobb, Colcock, Disney, Dunham, Ewing, Featherston, Fuller, Gerry, Gorman, Hall, Hamilton, Hammond, Haralson, Isham G. Harris, Sampson W. Harris, Thomas L. Harris, Hibbard, Holli 1ST SESS.] Compromise Report from the Committee of Thirteen. [MAY, 1850. costs you nothing, save the honor of your flag, and the aid of the discipline of your navy. I should blush, if I did not see by the vote just given, that your aid would not be refused. IN SENATE. WEDNESDAY, May 1. govern them. The distinguished merchant, the | of all other nations, and an expedition that starter of this expedition, who so generously -nay, so gloriously-opened his own pursestrings, and who was doing for his country what his country ought to do for itself, had no dishonorable nor selfish purposes to gratify, "now nor hereafter." He comes to you, and offers to share with you all the glory and honor of this expedition; and all he asks in return, is the discipline, the aid of your navy. The princely merchants of New York, whose hearts are as liberal as his, and whose conceptions of national duty are as exalted as his, stand ready, I doubt not, to contribute more money, more means, if desired; but there is asked of you only what no money can give-no liberality, ever so princely, can contribute-and that is, the protection of your flag-the discipline of your navy. While other nations are sending out their expeditions to this continent, to rescue a gallant British sailor and his crew from the horrors of Arctic starvation, their feelings are warmed up, their ideas of American honor are aroused, and they stand ready, I doubt not, to open their purses as freely as water runs, if necessary; but they can do nothing well-they can do nothing satisfactorily and surely-without your co-operation; and for that co-operation, Mr. Grinnell offers to share with you all the honor and glory. Will you refuse it? Can you look other nations in the face if you do, and let them have all the honor of exploring even your own North American continent? Credentials of Hon. Jefferson Davis. Mr. FOOTE, in consequence of an error being discovered in the credentials of the Hon. JEFFERSON DAVIS, of Mississippi, elected a Senator six years, from the 4th of March, 1851, which from that State for the constitutional term of were presented yesterday, asked leave to withdraw them from the files of the Senate, and that the Journal be so amended as not to state the fact that they had been presented. The error consisted in the use of a wrong figure, 1852 instead of 1851, as the period when the honorable Senator's next term will commence, the correction of which renders it necessary to return the credentials to Mississippi. motion was agreed to. Compromise WEDNESDAY, May 8. The Report from the Committee of Thirteen. Mr. CLAY. Mr. President, I have risen to present to the Senate a report from the Com|mittee of Thirteen, which was appointed some weeks ago. The report is of some length, sir, and there have been some erasures and alterations in it; and therefore, if the Senate will allow me, there may be some expediency in reading it myself. If there is no objection, I will do so. "The Senate's Committee of Thirteen, to whom were referred various resolutions relating to California, to other portions of the territory recently acquired by the United States from the Republic of Mexico, and to other subjects connected with the institution of slavery, have, according to order, had these resolutions and subjects under consideration, and beg leave to submit the following report: But, says the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. BAYLY,) "it's all, or only, a wild-goose chase!" Well, it may be. It may be, and perhaps is; but I do not know by what wonderful foreknowledge, by what amazing second sight, or by what astonishing power of divination, the gentleman from Virginia has come to this sudden conclusion. To ascertain and settle whether there is, or is not, a south-west passage, has been a problem all mankind has been trying to solve for a century; but if the gentleman from Virginia is all right, and it is "a wild-goose chase," why, the problem is solved, and there is no use to talk and write any more about it, unless it is worth the while, for the sake of humanity, to rescue Sir John Franklin and his sailors from starvation. I am afraid, however, "The committee entered on the discharge of that all mankind, and especially that portion their duties with a deep sense of their great imwhom I represent, will not acquiesce in the judg-portance, and with earnest and anxious solicitude ment of the gentleman from Virginia, and will be as earnest as ever to solve the problem, and to rescue the officers and sailors in the Arctic Sea. But if this is "a wild-goose chase," what was the Dead Sea expedition?-which was far from our own continent; and which had no useful, no humane, no charitable purpose; but which, nevertheless, gratified and satisfied every reader of the Bible, every student of Christian topography, and which highly honored the country; or what was the exploring expedition? But this is an expedition which humanity invokes, which science calls for, which continental pride demands from you, and you alone to arrive at such conclusions as might be satisfactory to the Senate and to the country. Most of the matters referred have been not only subjected to extensive and serious public discussion throughout the country, but to a debate in the Senate itself, singular for its elaborateness and its duration; so that a full exposition of all those motives and the committee, have determined the conclusions at views which, on the several subjects confided to which they have arrived, seems quite unnecessary. They will, therefore, restrict themselves to a few general observations, and to some reflections which grow out of those subjects. "Out of our recent territorial acquisitions, and in connection with the institution of slavery, ques MAY, 1850.] Compromise Report from the Committee of Thirteen. [31ST CONG. tions most grave have sprung, which, greatly divid- | of Minnesota, Oregon, or other new States formed ing and agitating the people of the United States, have threatened to disturb the harmony, if not to endanger the safety, of the Union. The committee believe it to be highly desirable and necessary speedily to adjust all those questions, in a spirit of concord, and in a manner to produce, if practicable, general satisfaction. They think it would be unwise to leave any of them open and unsettled to fester in the public mind, and to prolong, if not aggravate, the existing agitation. It has been their object, therefore, in this report, to make such proposals and recommendations as would accomplish a general adjustment of all those questions. Among the subjects referred to the committee which command their first attention, are the resolutions offered to the Senate by the Senator from Tennessee, Mr. BELL. By a provision in the resolution of Congress annexing Texas to the United States, it is declared that new States of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution; and such States as may be formed out of that portion of said territory lying south of 36° 30′ north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri compromise line, shall be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the people of each State asking admission may desire.' out of the ancient province of Louisiana, upon the ground of an alleged original defect of constitutional power? In grave national transactions, while yet in their earlier or incipient stages, differences may well exist; but when once they have been decided by a constitutional majority, and are consummated, or are in a process of consummation, there can be no other safe and prudent alternative than to respect the decision already rendered, and to acquiesce in it. Entertaining these views, a majority of the committee do not think it necessary or proper to recommend at this time, or prospectively, any new State or States to be formed out of the territory of Texas. Should any such State be hereafter formed, and present itself for admission into the Union, whether with or without the establishment of slavery, it cannot be doubted that Congress will, under a full sense of honor, of good faith, and of all the high obligations arising out of the compact with Texas, decide, just as it will decide under the influence of similar considerations in regard to new States formed of or out of New Mexico and Utah, with or without the institution of slavery, according to the constitutions and judg ment of the people who compose them, as to what may be best to promote their happiness. "In considering the question of the admission of California as a State into the Union, a majority of the committee conceive that any irregularity by which that State was organized without the previous authority of an act of Congress ought to be overlooked, in consideration of the omission by Congress to establish any territorial government for the people of California, and the consequent necessity which they were under to create a government for themselves best adapted to their own wants. There are various instances, prior to the case of California, of the admission of new States into the Union without any previous authorization by Congress. The sole condition required by the Constitution of the United States in respect to the admission of a new State is, that its constitution shall be republican in form. California presents such a constitution; and there is no doubt of her having a greater population than that which, according to the practice of the Government, has been heretofore deemed sufficient to receive a new State into the Union. "The committee are unanimously of opinion, that whenever one or more States, formed out of the territory of Texas, not exceeding four, having sufficient population, with the consent of Texas, may apply to be admitted into the Union, they are entitled to such admission beyond all doubt, upon the clear, unambiguous and absolute terms of the solemn compact contained in the resolution of annexation adopted by Congress, and assented to by Texas. But whilst the committee conceive that the right of admission into the Union of any new States carved out of the territory of Texas, not exceeding the number specified, and under the conditions stated, cannot be justly controverted, the committee do not think that the formation of any such new States should now originate with Congress. The initiative, in conformity with the usage which has heretofore prevailed, should be "In regard to the proposed boundaries of Calitaken by a portion of the people of Texas them-fornia, the committee would have been glad if selves, desirous of constituting a new State with there existed more full and accurate geographical the consent of Texas. And in the formation of knowledge of the territory which those boundasuch new State, it will be for the people composing ries include. There is reason to believe that, it to decide for themselves, whether they will large as they are, they embrace no very disproporadmit or will exclude slavery. And however they tionate quantity of land adapted to cultivation. may decide that purely municipal question, Con- And. it is known that they contain extensive ranges gress is bound to acquiesce, and to fulfil in good of mountains, deserts of sand, and much unprofaith the stipulations of the compact with Tex-ductive soil. It might have been, perhaps, better The committee are aware that it has been to have assigned to California a more limited front contended that the resolution of Congress annex- on the Pacific; but even if there had been reserved ing Texas was unconstitutional. At a former epoch of our country's history, there were those (and Mr. Jefferson, under whose auspices the treaty of Louisiana was concluded, was among them) who believed that the States formed out of Louisiana could not be received into the Union without an amendment of the constitution. But the States of Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa have been all, nevertheless, admitted. And who would now think of opposing the admission as. on the shore of that ocean a portion of the boundary which it presents for any other State or States, it is not very certain that an accessible interior of sufficient extent could have been given to them to render an approach to the ocean through their own limits of any very great importance. A majority of the committee think that there are many and urgent concurring considerations in favor of admitting California with the proposed boundaries, and of securing to her at this time the 1ST SESS.] Compromise Report from the Committee of Thirteen. benefits of a State government. If, hereafter, upon an increase of her population, a more thorough exploration of her territory, and an ascertainment of the relations which may arise between the people occupying its various parts, it should be found conducive to their convenience and happiness to form a new State out of California, we have every reason to believe, from past experience, that the question of its admission will be fairly considered and justly decided. [MAY, 1850. tect and govern both. Common in their origin, common in their alienation from one foreign Gov. ernment to another, common in their wants of good government, and conterminous in some of their boundaries, and alike in many particulars of physical condition, they have nearly every thing in common in the relations in which they stand to the rest of this Union. There is, then, a general fitness and propriety in extending the parental care of Government to both in common. If Cali "A majority of the committee, therefore, rec-fornia, by a sudden and extraordinary augmentaommend to the Senate the passage of the bill reported by the Committee on Territories for the admission of California as a State into the Union. To prevent misconception, the committee also recommend that the amendment reported by the same committee to the bill be adopted, so as to leave incontestable the right of the United States to the public domain and other public property in California. "Whilst a majority of the committee believe it to be necessary and proper, under actual circumstances, to admit California, they think it quite as necessary and proper to establish governments for the residue of the territory derived from Mexico, and to bring it within the pale of the Federal authority. The remoteness of that territory from the seat of the General Government; the dispersed state of its population, the variety of races-pure and mixed -of which it consists; the ignorance of some of the races of our laws, language, and habits; their exposure to inroads and wars of savage tribes; and the solemn stipulations of the treaty by which we acquired dominion over them-imposes upon the United States the imperative obligation of extending to them protection, and of providing for them government and laws suited to their condition. Congress will fail in the performance of a high duty if it does not give, or attempt to give, to them the benefit of such protection, government, and laws. They are not now, and for a long time to come may not be, prepared for State governThe territorial form, for the present, is best suited for their condition. A bill has been reported by the Committee on Territories dividing all the territory acquired from Mexico, not comprehended within the limits of California, into two Territories, under the names of New Mexico and Utah, and proposing for each a territorial gov ment. ernment. "The committee recommend to the Senate the establishment of those territorial governments; and, in order more certainly to secure that desirable object, they also recommend that the bill for their establishment be incorporated in the bill for the admission of California, and that, united together, they both be passed. "The combination of the two measures in the same bill is objected to on various grounds. It is said that they are incongruous, and have no necessary connection with each other. A majority of the committee think otherwise. The object of both measures is the establishment of government suited to the conditions, respectively, of the proposed new State and of the new territories. Prior to their transfer to the United States, they both formed a part of Mexico, where they stood in equal relations to the Government of that Republic. They were both ceded to the United States by the same treaty. And in the same article of that treaty the United States solemnly engaged to pro tion of population, has advanced so rapidly as to matuse her for State government, that furnishes no reason why the less fortunate Territories of New Mexico and Utah should be abandoned and left ungoverned by the United States, or should be disconnected with California, which, although she has organized for herself a State government, must be legally and constitutionally regarded as a territory until she is actually admitted as a State in the Union. "It is further objected, that, by combining the two measures in the same bill, members who may be willing to vote for one and unwilling to vote for the other, would be placed in an embarrassing condition. They would be constrained, it is urged, to take or to reject both. On the other hand, there are other members who would be willing to vote for both united, but would feel themselves constrained to vote against the California bill if it stood alone. Each party finds in the bill which it favors something which commends it to acceptance, and in the other something which it disapproves. The true ground, therefore, of the objection to the union of the measures, is not any want of affinity between them, but because of the favor or disfavor with which they are respectively regarded. In this conflict of opinion, it seems to a majority of the committee that a spirit of mutual concession enjoins that the two measures should be connected together; the effect of which will be, that neither opinion will exclusively triumph, and that both may find in such an amicable arrangement enough of good to reconcile them to the acceptance of the combined measure. And such a course of legislation is not at all unusual. Few laws have ever passed in which there were no parts to which exception was taken. It is inexpedient, if not impracticable, to separate these parts, and embody them in distinct bills, so as to accommodate the diversity of opinion which may exist. The Constitution of the United States contained in it a great variety of provisions, to some of which serious objection was made in the Convention which formed it by different members of that body; and when it was submitted to the ratification of the States, some of them objected to some parts, and others to other parts of the same instrument. Had these various parts and provisions been separately acted on in the Convention, or separately submitted to the people of the United States, it is by no means certain that the constitution itself would ever have been adopted or ratified. Those who did not like particular provisions found compensation in other parts of it. And in all cases of constitutions and laws, when either is presented as a whole, the question to be decided is, whether the good it contains is not of greater amount, and does not neutralize any thing exceptionable in it. And, as nothing human is perfect, for the sake of that harmony so desirable in such a Confederacy as this, we must be reconciled MAY, 1850.] Compromise Report from the Committee of Thirteen. to secure as much as we can of what we wish, and be consoled by the reflection that what we do not exactly like is a friendly concession, and agreeable to those who, being united with us in a common destiny, it is desirable should always live with us in peace and concord. [31ST CONG. opinion has prevailed. According to one view of it, the western limit of Texas was the Nueces; according to another, it extended to the Rio Grande, and stretched from its mouth to its source. A majority of the committee, having come to the conclusion of recommending an amicable adjustment of the boundary with Texas, abstain from expressing any opinion as to the true and legitimate western and northern boundary of that State. The terms proposed for such an adjustment are contained in the bill herewith reported, and they are, with inconsiderable variation, the same as that reported by the Committee on Territories. 66 According to these terms, it is proposed to Texas that her boundary be recognized to the Rio Grande, and up that river to the point commonly called El Paso, and running thence up that river twenty miles, measured thereon by a straight line, and thence eastwardly to a point where the hundredth degree of west longitude crosses Red River; being the south-west angle in the line designated between the United States and Mexico, and the same angle in the line of the territory set apart for the Indians by the United States. "A majority of the committee have, therefore, been led to the recommendation to the Senate that the two measures be united. The bill for establishing the two territories, it will be observed, omits the Wilmot proviso, on the one hand, and on the other, makes no provision for the introduction of slavery into any part of the new territories. That proviso has been the fruitful source of distraction and agitation. If it were adopted and applied to any territory, it would cease to have any obligatory force as soon as such territory were admitted as a State into the Union. There was never any occasion for it, to accomplish the professed object with which it was originally offered. This has been clearly demonstrated by the current of events. California, of all the recent territorial acquisitions from Mexico, was that in which, if anywhere within them, the introduction of slavery was most likely to take place; and the constitution "If this boundary be assented to by Texas, she of California, by the unanimous vote of her con- will be quieted to that extent in her title. And vention, has expressly interdicted it. There is the some may suppose that, in consideration of this highest degree of probability that Utah and New concession by the United States, she might, withMexico will, when they come to be admitted as out any other equivalent, relinquish any claim she States, follow the example. The proviso is, as to has beyond the proposed boundary: that is, any all these regions in common, a mere abstraction. claim to any part of New Mexico. But, under the Why should it be any longer insisted on? Totally influence of a sentiment of justice and great liberdestitute, as it is, of any practical import, it has, ality, the bill proposes to Texas, for her relinquishnevertheless, had the pernicious effect to excitement of any such claim, a large pecuniary equivaserious, if not alarming consequences. It is high lent. As a consideration for it, and considering time that the wounds which it has inflicted should that a portion of the debt of Texas was created on be healed up, and closed; and that, to avoid, in a pledge to her creditors of the duties on foreign all future time, the agitations which must be pro- imports, transferred by the resolution of annexaduced by the conflict of opinion on the slavery tion to the United States, and now received and question-existing, as this institution does, in some receivable in their treasury, a majority of the comof the States, and prohibited, as it is, in others-mittee recommend the payment of the sum of the true principle which ought to regulate the ac- millions of dollars to Texas, to be applied in the tion of Congress, in forming territorial govern- first instance to the extinction of that portion of ments for each newly-acquired domain, is to refrain her debt for the reimbursement of which the duties from all legislation on the subject in the territory on foreign imports were pledged as aforesaid; and acquired, so long as it retains the territorial form the residue in such manner as she may direct. The of government-leaving it to the people of such said sum is to be paid by the United States in a territory, when they have attained to a condition stock, to be created, bearing five per cent. interest which entitles them to admission as a State, to de-annually, payable half-yearly at the Treasury of the cide for themselves the question of the allowance or prohibition of domestic slavery. The committee believe that they express the anxious desire of an immense majority of the people of the United States, when they declare that it is high time that good feelings, harmony, and fraternal sentiments should be again revived; and that the Government should be able once more to proceed in its great operations to promote the happiness and prosperity of the country, undisturbed by this distracting cause. "As for California-far from feeling her sensibility affected by her being associated with other kindred measures-she ought to rejoice and be highly gratified that, in entering into the Union, she may have contributed to the tranquillity and happiness of the great family of States, of which, it is to be hoped, she may one day be a distinguished member. United States, and the principal reimbursable at the end of fourteen years. According to an estimate which has been made, there are included in the territory to which it is proposed that Texas shall relinquish her claim, embracing that part of New Mexico lying east of the Rio Grande, a little less than 124,933 square miles, and about 79,957,120 acres of land. From the proceeds of the sale of this land, the United States may ultimately be reimbursed a portion, if not the whole of the amount of what is thus proposed to be advanced to Texas. "It cannot be anticipated that Texas will decline to accede to these liberal propositions; but if she should, it is to be distinctly understood that the title of the United States to any territory acquired from Mexico east of the Rio Grande, will remain unimpaired and in the same condition as if the proposals of adjustment now offered had never been made. "The committee beg leave next to report on the subject of the northern and western boundary "A majority of the committee recommend to the of Texas. On that question a great diversity of | Senate that the section containing these proposals |