"It being desirable for the peace, concord, and harmony of the Union of these states to settle and adjust amicably all existing questions of controversy between them arising out of the institution of slavery upon a fair, equitable, and just basis .... "We are told now ... that the Union is threatened with subversion and destruction ... If the Union is to be dissolved for any existing causes, it will be dissolved because slavery is interdicted or not allowed to be introduced into the ceded territories, because slavery is threatened to be abolished in the District of Columbia, and because fugitive slaves are not returned ... to their masters ...."I am for staying within the Union and fighting for my rights."
-Henry Clay, Resolution on the Compromise of 1850, 1850.
To which politicians is Clay directing the last line of the excerpt?