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Show MR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH ON TilE OREGON BILL, DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, SATURDAY EVENING, AUG. 12, 1848. TilE question being on the motion Ly Mr. B ENT ON, that the Senate re ... cede from its amendments, to which the 1-lout~e had refused to agree : Mr. WEBSTER rose and said: I am very little incl_ined_ to P:rolong this debale and I hope I am utterly disinclined to brmg mto tl any new warmtl1 or exciteme~t. I wish to say a few words, however, first, upon the <tuestion ns it is presented_ ~o us, as_ a ?arliame1~tary <JUCS~ion; and secondly, upon the general polatJcal qucstJ?n mvol\·cd 10 the debate. As a question of parliamentary proceedtng, I . under~tand the _case to be t his : The House of R epresentatives sent us a bil_l for the estabhsiHn~ut of a T erritorial Government in Oregon; and no motH~n has bee1~ made m the Senate to strike out any part of that bill. The hill purporting .to r.espe~t Oregon, simply and alone, has not been the subject of any obJ.eclion m this Uranch of the legislature. The Senate has proposed no 1mportnnt amendment to this bill, affecting Oregon itself; and the honorable r~ember from Missouri (Mr. Benton) was right, precisely right, when he sa1d that the nmendment now under consideration had no relation to Ore.:.ron. That is perfectly true i. and therefore the amendment which the ~en ate ~as adopted and the House has disagreed to, has no connection wrth the ~m~ mediate subject before it, The trulh ~s, that it is an an~e ndmcnt by wh~ch the Senate wish to have now, a publ1c, legal cJeclaratron, uot respectmg Oregon, but respecting the newly acquired territories of Ca~ ifornia n~d New Mexico. It wishes now to make a line of Slavery, wh1ch shall anelude those new Territories. The amendment says that the line of the "Missouri compromise'' shall be the line to the Pacilic; and the!1 goes on to say, in the language of the bill as it now stands, that the Ord1nauce of '87 shall be applicable to Oregon; and therefore I say that the amendment proposed is foreign to the immediate object of the bdl. It d~es nothing to modify, restrain or affect, in any way, the government v..· luch we propose to establish over Oregon, or the condition or chara~te r of ~h~t government or of the people under it. In a parliamentary v1ew, th1s IS the state of the case. Now, Sir, this amendment has been attached to this bill by a strong ma~ jority of the Senate. That majority had the right, as it had the power, 19 to pass it. The House disagreed to that amendment. Well, if the maJOrity of the ~cnate, who att;~ched it to the bill, are of opinion that n con~e~enc~ .With the House w11/ len.d to sor_ne adjustment of the question, by wh1ch th.I!S .amendment, or someth1ng equ1vnleut to it, may be adopted by t~~ Ho~se, 1l 1~ very proper for the ~n to urge a conference. It is very fa1r, quite ~a.rlla~nentary , and there IS not a word to be Baid ngainst it. B~t n1y po:-H_llon IS that of one who voted against the amendment who tl11nl<s that. It ought ~ot to be attached to th1s bilJ, and therefore I 'uatu· rally vote for the rHot1on to get rid of it, that is, "to recede." ~~much fo.r the 1~a!l iamentary question. Now, there are two or three pollt1cal <tuest1ons ans111g in this case, which I wish to state dispassion~ utely : not to argue, but to sta te. The honorable m~mber fru1!1 ~eorgia, ~ .Mr. Berr ien) for whom I hal'e gr~at, respect, and \\'.lth whom Jt IS my delight to cultivate personal friend~ sh1p, l~ns ~tated , \~It~ great• propriety, the importance of this c1ue5tion. He has sa uJ, that 1~ IS a question interesting to the South ami to the ~orth , and one winch may very well, alt)o, attract the attcution of man .. krnd. Ile .h •~s not stat_ed all t!lis too strongly. It is such a question. \o\' ithout doubt, H_Js a qucst1on w_luch may well attract the attelllion of manl<ind. On the su i~Ject~ Involved 111 this debate, the whole worJU is not now ~sleep. .It IS wtde awake; and 1 agree with the honorable member, that, If what I!S now proposed to be done by us who resist this amendment is as ~e SUJ_Jpo::;es, u~1ju~t and .inj urious to any portion of this communit; 0 ; a~~~~1st Its conStitutional rrghts, that inJUStice should be presented to the CJVIilzed worl_d, aud we, who concur in the proceeding, ought to submit ourselves t~ Jts .rebuke .. I am glad that the honorable gentlem;m proposes to.refer th1s ques_twn to the great tri?unal of l\Ioderu Ci\·il iza tion, ~s well as the great ~nbu n al of the A111encnn People. lt is proper. Jt IS <~ quest.wn of magn1tuUe enough, of intPrest enough, to all the civilized nations ol the ean h, to call from those who support the one side or the other a statement of the grounds. upou which they act. Now, I prop~Jse to state, as. Lm_efiy as I can, the grounds upon which 1 proceed, 111stor_1cal and constitutional; nud will endeavor to use as few words ~s poss1 ~ie, so thnt I may reliere the Senate from J1earina me at the earliest possrl;/e moment. !:J In the_ first place, to view the matter historically: this Constitution founde~l 111 l ib7,_ and the Government under it, organized i11 1";8U <loe~ rec?gn~zc: the ex 1st~nce of SJa~ery in ce1tain States, then existiug iu the Unron , and a partrcular .descnp_t1on of Sla\'ery. I hope that what I am a~out to s:_lY may be rece1ved, Without any supposition that I i11tcnd the sll~htest d1srespect.. But this parti~ul a r dcscriptiou of Sim'ery does not, I b:ll~ve, now ex 1st 111. Europc1 nor. 111 any other civilized portions of the hab1tal~l e globe .. It 1s not a Pred1al Slavery. lt is not aualogous to the c~se of the Pr~dwl Slav~~~ or Sla~es glebt.e ad:;cn'pti of Russia, or Hung. Iry, or other S!ates. It 1s a peculiar system of personal Slavery, by which the penwn who 1.:::1 call~d a Slave is transferrable as a chattel, from hand to hand. [ speak of th1s as a fact. And that is the fact; and I will say farther, perhaps other gentlemen may remember the insta nces that altho~ lgh Slaver~, as a system of servitude :1ttached to the earth,' exists in vanons countnes of Eur?pe, I_ am not at the present moment aware of any place on the globe, 111 wh1ch this propeny of man in a human being ~s a ~l ave,. transf~rable.as a ~hat~el , ~x ist~ exc~pt in America. Now, that 1t e_x1sted 111. th~ lorr:n, 1.n wh1ch 1t sllll exJsts. lll certa in Slates, at the formatiOn of tlus Const1tutton, and the framers of that instrument, and those |