Mr. GROESBECK:--I move to amend the substitute offered by Mr. FRANKLIN, by inserting after the words "nor shall any law be passed," the words "by Congress or the Territorial Legislature." I think this is necessary to make our intention plain. Otherwise it might be said that the prohibition did not apply to Congress. Mr. FRANKLIN:--I think the suggestion a very proper one. I will accept the amendment. Mr. WILMOT:--I only wish to understand where we are. Have we disposed of the word "facilitate"? The PRESIDENT:--That amendment was not adopted. Mr. WILMOT:--Then I move to insert before the word "_status_," the word "legal." Mr. RUFFIN:--That raises again every question we have been discussing. The word, as used in the substitute, only refers to the status _in fact_. Mr. GUTHRIE:--This brings up all our old troubles. Let us reject it. Mr. RANDOLPH:--I wish to understand this subject, and what will be the effect of adopting this amendment. I understand that the slave has what we call a _status_. The substitute of Mr. FRANKLIN is intended specifically to recognize and protect that _status_ in the Territories as fully as it is protected and recognized in the States. I think it has that effect. Adopt the amendment, and the effect is precisely the opposite. The amendment rescinds the _status_. Mr. PALMER:--I wish to make an inquiry of the mover. Does the amendment, after all, make any difference? Must not any _status_, not against law, be, of necessity, a _legal_ status? Mr. WILMOT:--No. I think there is a wide difference, and the South thinks so. One is a status in fact, the other, one in law. Mr. LOGAN:--I hope we shall not adopt the amendment. We all want these questions settled. The amendment opens them all wider than before. If we intend to give the South the right she asks for, and, as I think, rightfully asks for, let us give it to her in plain and unequivocal language. Let us not give her a legacy of litigation, by using words which mean one thing or the opposite, according to the construction you place upon them. I wish to settle all these questions fairly. The amendment leaves the question as to what constitutes a _legal status_, to be decided by the Court. The North would claim that there cannot be such a thing as a legal status, a legal condition of slavery. The South would claim the opposite. Mr. WILMOT:--If the amendment of the gentleman from North Carolina had been adopted, I would not have moved this. The section then would have been unambiguous and clear. Now it is all open to construction. Mr. CHASE:--In my judgment it is unimportant whether the amendment is adopted or not. The condition of the slave in the Southern States is one arising out of law, established by legislative provisions. _Status in fact_ must mean _status in law_ as well as _status in fact_.