ent, according to this new doctrine of the Senator
from Illinois, it had been repealed three years!

Well, the Senator from Missouri said further, that if he thought it
possible to oppose this restriction successfully, he never would consent
to the organization of the territory until it was rescinded. But, said
he, "I acknowledge that I have no hope that the restriction will ever be
repealed." Then he made some complaint, as other Southern gentlemen have
frequently done, of the ordinance of 1787, and the Missouri prohibition;
but went on to say: "They are both irremediable; there is no remedy for
them; we must submit to them; I am prepared to do it; it is evident that
the Missouri compromise cannot be repealed."

Now, sir, when was this said? It was on the morning of the 4th of March,
just before the close of the last session, when that Nebraska bill,
reported by the Senator from Illinois, which proposed no repeal, and
suggested no supersedure, was under discussion. I think, sir, that all
this shows pretty clearly that up to the very close of the last session
of Congress nobody had ever thought of a repeal by supersedure. Then
what took place at the commencement of the present session? The Senator
from Iowa, early in December, introduced a bill for the organization
of the Territory of Nebraska. I believe it was the same bill which was
under discussion here at the last session, line for line, word for word.
If I am wrong, the Senator will correct me.

Did the Senator from Iowa, then, entertain the idea that the Missouri
prohibition had been superseded? No, sir, neither he nor any other man
here, so far as could be judged from any discussion, or statement, or
remark, had received this notion.

Well, on the 4th day of January, the Committee on Territories, through
their chairman, the Senator from Illinois, made a report on the
territorial organization of Nebraska; and that report was accompanied by
a bill. Now, sir, on that 4th day of January, just thirty days ago, did
the Committee on Territories entertain the opinion that the compromise
acts of 1850 superseded the Missouri prohibition? If they did, they were
very careful to keep it to themselves. We will judge the committee by
their own report. What do they say in that? In the first place they
describe the character of the controversy, in respect to the Territories
acquired from Mexico. They say that some believed that a Mexican law
prohibiting slavery was in force th