m in favor of leaving the people of
any territory which may be hereafter acquired the right to regulate
it themselves, under the general principles of the Constitution.
Because--'First. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of the
requisite power to Congress; and I am not disposed to extend a doubtful
precedent beyond its necessity,--the establishment of territorial
governments when needed,--leaving to the inhabitants all the right
compatible with the relations they bear to the confederation."

These extracts show that in 1846 General Cass was for the proviso at once;
that in March, 1847, he was still for it, but not just then; and that in
December, 1847, he was against it altogether. This is a true index to the
whole man. When the question was raised in 1846, he was in a blustering
hurry to take ground for it. He sought to be in advance, and to avoid
the uninteresting position of a mere follower; but soon he began to see
glimpses of the great Democratic ox-goad waving in his face, and to hear
indistinctly a voice saying, "Back! Back, sir! Back a little!" He shakes
his head, and bats his eyes, and blunders back to his position of March,
1847; but still the goad waves, and the voice grows more distinct and
sharper still, "Back, sir! Back, I say! Further back!"--and back he goes
to the position of December, 1847, at which the goad is still, and the
voice soothingly says, "So! Stand at that!"

Have no fears, gentlemen, of your candidate. He exactly suits you, and
we congratulate you upon it. However much you may be distressed about our
candidate, you have all cause to be contented and happy with your own. If
elected, he may not maintain all or even any of his positions previously
taken; but he will be sure to do whatever the party exigency for the time
being may require; and that is precisely what you want. He and Van Buren
are the same "manner of men"; and, like Van Buren, he will never desert
you till you first desert him.

Mr. Speaker, I adopt the suggestion of a friend, that General Cass is a
general of splendidly successful charges--charges, to be sure, not
upon the public enemy, but upon the public treasury. He was Governor of
Michigan territory, and ex-officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs,
from the 9th of October, 1813, till the 31st of July, 1831--a period of
seventeen years, nine months, and twenty-two days. During this period
he received from the United States treasury, for personal services and
person