The twenty-first section itself must be abandoned, and the
repeal of the Missouri prohibition placed in a shape which would not
deny the slave-holding claim.
The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Dixon), on the 16th of January, submitted
an amendment which came square up to repeal, and to the claim. That
amendment, probably, produced some fluttering and some consultation. It
met the views of Southern Senators, and probably determined the shape
which the bill has finally assumed. Of the various mutations which it
has undergone, I can hardly be mistaken in attributing the last to the
amendment of the Senator from Kentucky. That there is no effect without
a cause, is among our earliest lessons in physical philosophy, and I
know of no causes which will account for the remarkable changes which
the bill underwent after the 16th of January, other than that amendment,
and the determination of Southern Senators to support it, and to
vote against any provision recognizing the right of any Territorial
Legislature to prohibit the introduction of slavery.
It was just seven days, Mr. President, after the Senator from Kentucky
had offered his amendment, that a fresh amendment was reported from the
Committee on Territories, in the shape of a new bill, enlarged to forty
sections.
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