slation and
the Chief Magistracy, it would seem, if any question could be settled
clear of all doubt, it was the power of Congress to establish
Territorial Governments. Slavery was prohibited in the entire
Northwestern Territory, with the approbation of leading men, South and
North; but this prohibition was not retained when this ordinance was
adopted for the government of Southern Territories, where slavery
existed. In a late republication of a letter of Mr. Madison, dated
November 27, 1819, speaking of this power of Congress to prohibit
slavery in a Territory, he infers there is no such power, from the
fact that it has not been exercised. This is not a very satisfactory
argument against any power, as there are but few, if any, subjects on
which the constitutional powers of Congress are exhausted. It is true,
as Mr. Madison states, that Congress, in the act to establish a
Government in the Mississippi Territory, prohibited the importation of
slaves into it from foreign parts; but it is equally true, that in the
act erecting Louisiana into two Territories, Congress declared, "it
shall not be lawful for any person to bring into Orleans Territory,
from any port or place within the limits of the United States, any
slave which shall have been imported since 1798, or which may
hereafter be imported, except by a citizen of the United States who
settles in the Territory, under the penalty of the freedom of such
slave." The inference of Mr. Madison, therefore, against the power of
Congress, is of no force, as it was founded on a fact supposed, which
did not exist.

It is refreshing to turn to the early incidents of our history, and
learn wisdom from the acts of the great men who have gone to their
account. I refer to a report in the House of Representatives, by John
Randolph, of Roanoke, as chairman of a committee, in March,
1803--fifty-four years ago. From the Convention held at Vincennes, in
Indiana, by their President, and from the people of the Territory, a
petition was presented to Congress, praying the suspension of the
provision which prohibited slavery in that Territory. The report
stated "that the rapid population of the State of Ohio sufficiently
evinces, in the opinion of your committee, that the labor of slaves is
not necessary to promote the growth and settlement of colonies in that
region. That this labor, demonstrably the dearest of any, can only be
employed to advantage in the cultivation of products more valua