ABSTRACT
By an Act of the recent Congress, California, with a Constitution forbidding Slavery, adopted in the exercise of its sovereignty as a State, has been admitted into the Union. The Slave trade has been abolished in the District of Columbia. This measure, though small in the sight of Justice, is most important. It banishes from the National Capital an odious traffic. Two broad territories, New Mexico and Utah, under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, have been organized without any prohibition of Slavery. In laying the foundation of their governments, destined hereafter to control the happiness of innumerable multitudes, Congress has omitted the Great Ordinance of Freedom, first suggested by Jefferson, and consecrated by the experience of the North-Western Territory. The policy of Slavery which has so long prevailed, must give place to the policy of Freedom.
