919.)
Mr. Downs, one of the Committee of Thirteen, and an advocate of the
measures, said:
"What I understand by non-intervention is, an interposition of Congress
prohibiting, or establishing, or interfering with slavery."--(_Appendix
to Congressional Globe_, Thirty-first Congress, first session, p. 99.)
By what species of legerdemain this doctrine of non-intervention has
come to extend to a paralysis of the Government on the whole subject, to
exclude the Congress from any kind of legislation whatever, I am at a
loss to conceive. Certain it is, it was not the theory of that period,
and it was not contended for in all the controversies we had then. I had
no faith in it then; I considered it an evasion; I held that the duty of
Congress ought to be performed; that the issue was before us, and ought
to be met, the sooner the better; that truth would prevail if presented
to the people; borne down to-day, it would rise up to-morrow; and I
stood then on the same general plea which I am making now. The Senator
from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] and myself differed at that time, as I
presume we do now. We differed radically then. He opposed every
proposition which I made, voting against propositions to give power to a
Territorial Legislature to protect slave-property which should be taken
there; to remove the obstructions of the Mexican laws; voting for a
proposition to exclude the conclusion that slavery might be taken there;
voting for the proposition expressly to prohibit its introduction;
voting for the proposition to keep in force the laws of Mexico which
prohibited it.
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