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no injustice in it. As to the power of Congress, I have nothing to add to what I said the other day. Congress has full power over the subject. It may establish any such government, and any such laws, in the territories, as in its discretion it may see fit. It is subject, of course, to the rules of justice and propriety; but it is under no constitutional restraints.

I have said that I shall consent to no extension of the area of slavery upon this continent, nor to any increase of slave representation in the other house of Congress. I have now stated my reasons for my conduct and my vote. We of the North have already gone, in this respect, far beyond all that any Southern man could have expected, or did expect, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. I repeat the statement of the fact of the creation of five new slave-holding States out of newly acquired territory. We have done that which, if those who framed the Constitution had foreseen, they never would have agreed to slave representation. We have yielded thus far; and we have now in the House of Representatives twenty persons voting upon this very question, and upon all other questions, who are there only in virtue of the representation of slaves.

Let me conclude, therefore, by remarking, that, while I am willing to present this as showing my own judgment and position, in regard to this case, and I beg it to be understood that I am speaking for no other than myself, and while I am willing to offer it to the whole world as my own justification, I rest on these propositions: First, That when this Constitution was adopted, nobody looked for any new acquisition of territory to be formed into slave-holding States. Secondly, That the principles of the Constitution prohibited, and were intended to prohibit, and should be construed to prohibit, all interference of the general government with slavery as it existed and as it still exists in the States. And then, looking to the operation of these new acquisitions, which have in this great degree had the effect of strengthening that interest in the South by the addition of these five States, I feel that there is nothing unjust, nothing of which any honest man can complain, if he is intelligent, and I feel that there is nothing with which the civilized world, if they take notice of so humble a person as myself, will reproach me,

when I say, as I said the other day, that I have made up my mind, for one, that under no circumstances will I consent to the further extension of the area of slavery in the United States, or to the further increase of slave representation in the House of Representatives.

THE PANAMA RAILROAD.*

I SHOULD regret, Sir, that a measure which I regard as exceedingly important should be disposed of by indefinite postponement. I had hoped that the measure might be allowed to proceed until its details were arranged so that they might be satisfactory to the Senate, and I rise merely to express my opinion in favor of the measure, generally, concurring in it especially for the reasons assigned by the honorable Senator from Missouri. I think the circumstances of the country call for the adoption of this particular measure. I do not mean to say, Sir, that there may not be several modes of establishing a communication with the Pacific coast that are equally desirable. I am willing to say, on the other hand, that I have regarded the subject of a communication from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by way of Tehuantepec, as preferable, on account of its being nearer to our ports on the Gulf; and I will add, that, if the proposition for a railroad were now before us, connecting the two oceans by that route, and the project had advanced so far that we could pronounce it to be practicable, I should give it my most hearty support. I do not think the view which has been adopted by the Senator from Connecticut is entirely correct, that the present exigency for a channel of communication will be a very short one. I do not apprehend that there will cease to be an occasion for a great deal of intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific, and between our own territories on

Remarks in the Senate, on the 31st of January, 1849, on the Motion submitted by Mr. Allen, of Ohio, to postpone indefinitely the Bill making an appropriation for the transportation of the United States Mails by Railroad across the Isthmus of Panama.

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either side of the continent. I think the progress of things is onward; and, let the speculations and operations in the gold mines go forward more or less rapidly, I think an intercourse is now to be opened for general purposes of trade and commerce between the Atlantic and Pacific.

I have not devoted my attention to the particular provisions or details of this measure. I am not in possession of such esti mates as enable me to say whether the limitations so called in the bill now on your table, or the limitation which will be in the same bill if the motion of the Senator from Connecticut prevail, is the best. The bill proposes to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to contract for the transportation of goods and merchandise, munitions of war, and troops, across the isthmus, and to pay for this transportation an annual sum. The bill limits that sum at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The Senator from Connecticut moves to substitute one hundred and fifty thousand. Without more information than I have upon this point, I cannot say which would be the proper sum. I understand that the parties who have undertaken the construction of the road estimate its cost at four or five millions of dollars; and they have founded their opinion upon the cost commonly attending the construction of roads in the United States, economically conducted, making, of course, proper allowance for the necessarily augmented expense of a work to be done so far from the resources which are to supply the means. It is known, too, Sir, that a very great reduction for wear and tear is made from the receipts of all railroads, so that the general estimates of income, by reference to any ordinary rule of computation, not allowing for the wear of the road, would be very inadequate to represent the actual state of things that will arise when this road has been completed.

Now, it is evident, Sir, that this proposed road will shorten the distance between the ports of the United States on the Atlantic and the ports of the United States on the Pacific. It is a nearer route probably by not less than ten thousand miles, certainly not less than nine thousand. It will shorten the communication in point of time more than one half, and whatever shortens the time diminishes the cost. If troops are to be conveyed, they are under pay while at sea; if munitions of war or merchandise are to be transported, they ought to reach their

destination within as short a time as possible; and in every point of view in which we can make an estimate of this matter, we must all, I think, see that a great, a very great, I am not prepared to say how great a saving, will inure to the United States by adopting the shorter route.

I will state, Sir, that, with respect to other modes of conveyance, I have no doubt that we shall ere long have them across the continent from our own frontier territory on one side to that on the other. I entertain as little doubt that there will be a communication established over the other route through Tehuantepec. I entertain no doubt at all about this; but I do think that there is an exigency, a present want of conveyance, and that this is the readiest, and the only ready, mode of obtaining it. I think there is a prospect, if this project be favored by the government of the United States, from the known enterprise of the respectable gentlemen who have undertaken it, that it will be as sure to be accomplished as any work can possibly be. My honorable friend from Ohio says that it will be time enough to make this contract when the work is done. In ordinary cases this would be very true; but it must be remembered that this is a very great work, requiring an expenditure of four or five millions of dollars, and it is but reasonable that those who embark their fortunes in it should have some assurance that they will receive the patronage of the government.

Now, in respect to the amount of money to be paid, no man knows less what would be the proper sum to be paid than I do. If it be the pleasure of the Senate and the other branch of Congress, that matter may be left more in the discretion and within the control of Congress hereafter. I do not look upon this as a matter by which a speculation is to be made, on the part of the contractors, out of the treasury of the United States.

Upon the whole, I think the work ought to be commenced as early as practicable, and that it ought to be speedily completed, for the reasons stated by the Senator from Missouri. This plan appears practicable; I think the object is attainable, and I think it is attainable at a reasonable expense, and therefore I am decidedly in favor of the amendment. At the same time, I shall concur in any amendment or alteration, either with the view of re

* Mr. Allen.

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