Congressman Lincoln proposes an amendment to a resolution regarding slavery within the District of Columbia. The bill, subject to voter approval, would effectively stop the growth of slavery within the District. If enacted, "all children born of slave mothers within...[the] District on, or after" January 1, 1850, "shall be free." The act would offer financial compensation to District slave owners in an effort to encourage them to free their slaves. Slave-owning congressmen doing government business in the District would no be required to free their slaves. Remarks and Resolution Introduced in United States House of Representatives Concerning Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia, 10 January 1849, CW, 2:20-22.