" Baldwin, his
New-England-born colleague, urged moderation by reciting the difficulty
with which the constitutional compromise was reached, and declaring,
"the moment we go to jostle on that ground, I fear we shall feel it
tremble under our feet." Lawrence of New York wanted to commit the
memorials, in order to see how far Congress might constitutionally
interfere. Smith of South Carolina, in a long speech, said that his
constituents entered the Union "from political, not from moral motives,"
and that "we look upon this measure as an attack upon the palladium of
the property of our country." Page of Virginia, although a slave owner,
urged commitment, and Madison again maintained the appropriateness of
the request, and suggested that "regulations might be made in relation
to the introduction of them [i.e., slaves] into the new States to be
formed out of the Western Territory." Even conservative Gerry of
Massachusetts declared, with regard to the whole trade, that the fact
that "we have a right to regulate this business, is as clear as that we
have any rights whatever."
Finally, by a vote of 43 to 11, the memorials were committed, the South
Carolina and Georgia delegations, Bland and Coles of Virginia, Stone of
Maryland, and Sylvester of New York voting in the negative.[26] A
committee, consisting of Foster of New Hampshire, Huntington of
Connecticut, Gerry of Massachusetts, Lawrence of New York, Sinnickson of
New Jersey, Hartley of Pennsylvania, and Parker of Virginia, was charged
with the matter, and reported Friday, March 5.
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