He adverted to the
Western country, and the cession of Georgia, in which Congress have
certainly the power to regulate the subject of slavery, which shows
that gentlemen are mistaken in supposing that Congress cannot
constitutionally interfere in the business in any degree whatever.
He was in favor of committing the petitions, and justified the
measure by repeated precedents in the proceedings of the House."
I produce this speech, not for the purpose of adopting all its
views, for some of them I confess are new to me, and such as I have
not had time or means to investigate, but in order to show
conclusively what Mr. Madison deemed wise and proper to be done in a
contingency so precisely like the present. Accordingly, all the
petitions were committed to a select committee; that committee made
a report; the report was referred to a committee of the whole House,
and discussed on four successive days; it was then reported to the
House with amendments, and by the House ordered to be inscribed in
its journals, and then laid on the table.
That report, as amended in committee, is in the following words:
"The committee to whom were referred sundry memorials from the
people called Quakers; and also a memorial from the Pennsylvania
society for promoting the Abolition of slavery, submit the following
report, (as amended in committee of the whole.)
"First, That the migration or importation of such persons as any of
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, cannot be
prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808.
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