Dutriet  of  Cohtrnbia — Penal  Code.
The  bill  to  authorize  the  adoption  of  the
penal  code  prepared  for  the  District  of  (jolnm-
oia  was  then  taken  up  as  in  Gommittee  of  the
Whole.
Mr.  Ttueb  stated  that,  two  years  ago,  the
code  to  which  this  bill  referred  had  been  sub-
mitted to  Congress.  It  was  almost  inconceiv-
able the  utter  confusion  of  the  laws  of  this
District.  The  cession  of  the  District  of  Golum-
hia  was  made  above  thirty  years  ago,  when  it
came  into  the  hands  of  tiie  Genend  Govern-
ment, with  the  laws  of  the  States  from  which
it  had  been  detached.  Whatever  had  been
the  subsequent  modifications  in  the  laws  of
these  States^  they  were  refused  to  the  people
of  this  District.  He  should  be  too  prolix  were
he  to  go  into  an  enumeration  of  all  these  laws.
Some  of  them  had  been  for  more  than  a  cen-
tury in  operation;  while  others,  which  had
reference  to  a  particular  class  of  the  com-
munity, and  which  would  make  a  Christian
man  blush,  had  been  suffered  to  sleep  from
motives  of  humanity.  These,  it  was  true,  were
dormant,  but  they  nfl|;ht  be  resorted  to.  These
Were  laws  in  reference  to  that  class  of  the
population  to  which  his  own  objections  were


as  strong  as  those  of  any  individual,  whether  a
resident  of  the  north  or  the  south  bank  of  the
Potomac  He  had  a  decided  objection  to  the
District  of  Columbia  being  made  a  slave  mart^
a  depot  for  the  slaves  brought  from  the  two
neighboring  States.  This  code  went  to  reform
that  part  of  the  system  of  lawtf  under  which
the  District  had  been  made  a  depot  for  these
slaves,  and  abolishes  this  practice.
