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in any opportunity of sacrificing my teat to my princi
ples, if they had instructed me in opposition to my con
struction of the constitution- Like many ot ermemers
from the non-slavebolding Slates, of whom I mention Shaw,
Holmes, Mason of Massachusetts, Lanman of Connecticut,
and Baldwin of Pennsylvania, 1 could see nothing in the
constriction which I had sworn to support to warrant
such an interference with the R.ghu o': the States, and
which had never before been attempted. And where u
the crime in one set of men not being able to interpret the
constitution as other men interpret it. As me had all
sworn to support it, the crime would have been m giving
it a construction which our consciencies would not sanc
tion. And let me ask for what good is this question again
brought up ? It has been settled as all our family differ
ences have been settled, on the firm basis of mutual com
promise. And patriotism as well as prudence devoted
the effects of that awful discussion to eternal oblivion.—
Is it not known thalfrem that cause the great fabric of our
Union was shaken to its foundation 1 Is it not known that
Missouri would not have submitted to the restriction, and
that the other slaveholding States had determined to sup
port her? But for this compromise, the probability is,
that at this moment we might look upon the opposite shore
of Ohio not for an affectionate sister State, but an armed
and implacable rival. What patriotic man would not join
the gallant Eaton in execrating the head and the hand
that could devise and execute a scheme productive of a ca
lamity so awful ?
“ Upon the whole, fellow-citizens, our path is a plain
one, - it is that marked out as well by humanity ns duty.—
We cannot emancipate the slaves of the other States with
out their consent, but by producing a convulsion which
would undo us all. For this much to-be-desired event, we
must wait the slow but certain progtess of those good
principles which are every where gaining ground, and which
assuredly will ultimately prevail.
“WILLLIAM HENRY HARRISON.”
“ Thus, fellow citizens, you will see that, either through
ignorance or by design, those who profess a wish to open
your eyes to the light, have concealed from you the truth;
and, although guilty of no positive assertion of falsehood,
have, either through ignorance or design, suppressed the
truth ; which last, from whatever cause, is equally fatal to
your right understanding of the questions you have to de
termine.
“ I have greatelymisunderstood the proud magnanimity
of Virginians, if this course, obviously calculated to de
ceive them, and misrepresent one of their own sons, does
not create in their hearts a swelling fountain of that very
sympathy which it was intended to destroy. 1 o show how
nobly General Harrison, in 1322, sacrificed his seat in Con
gress to his and your principles, I subjoin the following
statement from the National Intelligencer of October 20,
1822:
“ It is confirmed to us that Mr. Gazely is elected in op
position to General Harrison. A friend informs vs,
which, we are sorry to learn, that he was opposed par tic-
“ ularly on account of his adherence to that principle of
“ the Constitution which secures to the people of the
“ South their pre-existing rights.
“ I here dismiss the subject, satisfied that neither cal
umny nor ignorance, can misrepresent or be deceived
as to the opinions of General Harrison on this question.”
Mr. Garland has said enough, as he believes, and as we
believe, to satisfy the People of Virginia and of Georgia
that General Harrison never was an abolitionist. When
General Harrison was but eighteen years of age and as
late as 1322, the ferocious designs that characterize the
abolitionists of the present day were not thought of. An
abolition society in slaveholding Virginia composed of
slaveholders!! This, indeed, as those terms are now un
derstood, would be a most extraordinary spectacle. The
idea is toe preposterous to he entertained for a moment.—
A few words will explain the matter. The societies of
that day were for humane and benevolent purpos es—tosee
the laws for the government and protection of slaves and
free persons of color enforced. These were the objects of
the society to which General Harrison belonged, and of
many other societies of the same character existing at
that time in the slaveholding States. And yet such is
“ the blindness of stupidity or the madness of party,” that
men, occupying high places in the councils of the nation,
with the evidence of General Harrison’s repeated acts,
and reiterated opinions staring them in the face, will at
tempt to prove, for party purposes, that he is an aboli
tionist.
Wo will now insert as much of General Harrison’s
speech, delivered at Cheviot, Ohio, on the 4th of July
1833, as relates to the subject under consideration. He
said :
“ There is, however, a subject now beginning to agitate
them (the Southern States,) in relation to which if their
alarm has any foundation, the relative situation i i which
they may stand to some of the Stales, will be the very re
verse of what it now is. I allude to a supposed disposition
in some individuals in the non-slaveholding States to inter
fere with the slave population of the other States, for the
purpose of forcing their emancipation. Ido not call your
attention to this subject, feliow-citizcns, from the appre
hension that there is a man among you who will lend his
aid to a project so pregnant with mischief; and still less
that there is a state in the Union which could he brought
to give it countenance. But such are the feelings of our
Southern brethren upon this subject—such their views, and
their just views, of the evils which an interference of this
kind would bring upon them, that long before it would
jnach the point of receiving the sanction of the States, the
evil of the attempt would be consummated, as far as we
are concerned, by a dissolution of the Union. If there is
any principle of the Constitution of the United States
less disputable than another, it is, that the slave popula
tion is under the exclusive control of the Slates which
possess them. If there is any measure likely to rivet the
chains, and blast the prospects of the negroes for eman
cipation, it is the interference of unauthorized persons.—
Can any one, who is acquainted with the operations of the
human mind, doubt this 1 Wo have scenhow restive our
Southern brethren have been from a supposed violation of
their political rights . What must be the consequence of
au acknowledged violation of these rights, (for every man
of sense ir.U3t admit it to he so,) conjoined with au insult
ing interference with their domestic concerns ?
“ Shull 1 be accused of want of a feeling for the slave, by
these remarks ? A further examination will elucidate the
matter. I take it for granted that no one will say that
either the Government wf the United States or those of
the non-slaveholding States can interfere in any way with
the right of property in the slaves. Upon whom, then, am
the efforts of the misguided and pretended friends of the
Blaves to operate 7 It must be either on the Governments
of the Slaveholding States, the iudividuals who hold them,
or upon the slaves themselves. What arc to be the argu
ments, what the means by which they nrc to influence the
two first of these ? Is there a man vain enough to go to
the land of Madison, of Macon, and of Crawford, and tell
them that they either do not understand the principles of
the moral and political rights of man ; or that, understand
ing, they disregard them ? Can they address an argument
to the interest or fears of the enlightened population of the
slave States, that has not occurred to themselves aj thou
sand and a thousand times? To whom, then, are they to
address themselves but to the slaves ? And what can be
said to them, that will not lead so an indiscriminate
slaughter of every age and sex, and ultimately to their own
destruction f Should there be an incarnate devil who
has imagined with approbation, such a catastrophe to
his fellow citizens as I have described, let him look to
those for whose benefit he would produce it. Particular
sections of the country may be laid waste, all the crimes
that infuriated man under the influence of all the black
passions of his nature can commit, may be peipetrated for
a season ; the tides of the ocean, however, will no more
certainly change than that the flood of horrors will be ar
rested, and turned upon those who may get it in motion.
“1 will not stop to inquire into the motives of those who
are engaged in this fatal and unconstitutional project.
There may be some who have embarked in it without
properly considering its consequences, and who are actu
ated by benevolent and virtuous principles. But, if such
there are, J am very certain that should they continue
their present-course, their fellow-citizens will, cri long,
“ curse the virtues which have undone their country.”
‘‘Should I be asked is there no way by which the Gen
eral Government can aid the cause of emancipation, I an
swer that it has long been un olyect near my heart, to see
the whole of its surplus revenue appropriated to that ob
ject. With the sanction of the States holding the slaves,
there appears tome to be no constitutional objection to its
being thus applied ; embracing not only the colonizationof
those that may be otherwise freed, but the purchase of the
freedom of others. By a zealous prosecution of a plan
formed uponthat 'oasis, we might look forward to a day,
not very distant, when a North American sun would not
look down upon a slave. To those who have rejected the
plan of colonization, I would ask, if they have well weigh
ed the consequences of emancipation without it? How
!ong wouM the emancipated negroes remain satisfied with
that? Would any of the Southern Stales then (the negroes
armed and organized) be able to resist their claims to a
participation in all their political rights! Would it even
stop there ? Would they not claim admittance to all the
social rights and privileges of a community in which in
some instances, they would compose the majority 1 L et
those who take pleasure in the contemplation of such scenes
as must inevitably follow, finish out the picture.
“ If 1 am correct in the principles here advanced, 1
repeat my assertion, that the discussion of the subject of
emancipation in the non-slaveholding States is equally
injurious to the slaves and their masters, and that it has
no sanction in the principles of the Constitution. I must
not be understood to say, that there is any thing in that
instrument which prohibits such a discussion. I know
there is not. But the man who believes that the claims
which his fellow-citizens have upon him are satisfied by ad
hering to the letter of the political compact that connects
them, must have a very imperfect knowledge of the prin- _
ciples upon which our glorious Union was formed, and 4 bv
which alone it can be maintained. I mean those feeling's
of regard and affection which were manifested in the first
dawn of our Revolution, which induced every American
to think that an injury inflicted upon his fellow-citizens
however distant his locution, was an injury to himself;
which made us, in effect, one people, before we had any
paper contract: which induced the venerable Shelby,
in the second war for independence, to leave the comforts
which age required, to encounter the dangers and privaj
lions incident to a wilderness war; which drew from the
same quarter the innumerable battalions of volunteers
which preceded and followed him; and from the banks of the
distant Appomattox, that band of youthful heroes, which
has immortalized the appellation by which it was distin
guished. Those worthy sons of immortal sires did not
stop to inquire into the alleged injustice aud immorality
of the Indian war. It was sufficient forftbem to learn their
fellow-citizens were in danger, that the tomahawk and
scalping knife were suspended over the heads of the wo
men and children of Ohio, to induce them to abandon the
ease,and, in many instances, the luxury and splendor by
which from infancy they had been surrounded, to encounter
the fatigues and dangers of war, amidst the horrors of
a Canadian winter.”
In this speech you will observed what he said in regard
to the appropriation of the surplus revenue, which has been
so often garbled and quoted by the Administration papers,
and to which the author of the “ circular” has also refer
red, for the purpose of sustaining his argument against
General Harrison. We will now quote the opinions of
Jefferson and Madison on the same subject, by which you
will perceive that they agree precisely with General Har
rison’s.
In a letter to Jared Sparks, dated Monticello, February
4, 1824, Mr. Jefferson says:
“ And from what fund are these expenses to be furnished ?
Why not from the lands which have been ceded by the very
States now needing the relief; and ceeded on no consider
ation, for the most part, -but that of the general good of the
whole ? These cessions slready constitute one-fourth of
the States of the Union. It may be said that these lands
have been sold ; are now the property of the citizens com
posing those States; and the money long ago received and
expended. But an equivalent of lands in the Territories
since acquired, may be appropriated to that object; or so
much, at least, as may be sufficient; and the object, al
though more important to the slave States, is highly so to
the others also, if they were serious in their arguments on
the Missouri question.”
Mr. Madison, in his letter to the Rev. R. R. Gurley,
dated Montpelier, 29th December, 1831, savs:
1 In contemplating the pecuniary resources needed for
the removal of such a number to so great distance, my
thoughts and hopes have been long turned to the rich fund
presemed in Western lands of the nation, which will soon
entirely cease to be under a pledge fur another object.—
The great one in question is truly of a national character,
and itis known that distinguished patriots, not dwelling in
slaveholding States, have viewed the object in that light and
would be willing to let the nutional domain be a resource
in effecting it. Should it be remarked that the States,
though all may be interested in relieving our country from
the colored population, they are not equally so, it is but
fair to recollect, that those sections most to be benefited are
those whose cessions created the fund to be disposed of.”
We will now call your attention to Gen. Harrison’s
peech, delivered at Vincennes, Indiana, when he was be-
foie the people as a candidate for the presidency; and had
he been disposed, under any circumstances, to countenance
the schemes of the abolitionists, this was the time, of all oth
ers, most important for him to have done so.
I have now, fellow-citizens, a few .words more to say
on another subject, and which is, in mv.opinion, of more
importance than any other that is now jn the course of
discussion in any part of the Union. I allude to the soci
eties which have been formed, and the movements of cer
tain individuals, in some of the States, in relation to a
portion of the population in others. The conduct of these
persons is the more dangerous, beenuse theirobject is mas
ked under the garb of disinterestedness and benevolence,
and their course vindicated by arguments and propositions
which in the abstract no one can deny. But however fas
cinating may be the dress with which their schemes are
presented to their fellow-citizens, with whatever purity of
intention they may have been formed and sustained, they
will be found to carry in their train mischief to the whole
Union, and horrors to a large portion of it, which it is
probable some of the projectors, and many of their sup
porters have never thought of; the latter, the first in the
series of evils which are to spring from their source, are
such as you have read of to have been perpetrated on
the fair plains of Italy and Gaul, by the Scythian hordes of
Attila and Alaric; and such as most of you apprehended
upon that memorable night when the tomahawks and war-
clubs of the followers of Tecumseh were rattling in youi
suburbs. I regard not the disavowals of tiny such inten
tion, upon the part of the authors of these schemes, since
upon the examination of the publications which have be _
made, they willbe found to contain the very facts and very
arguments which would have been used if such had been
their object. I am certain that there is not in this assem
bly, one of thesedeluded men,and that there are few within
the bounds of the State. If there are any, I would ear
nestly entreat them to forbear, to pause in thoir career,
and deliberately consider the consequences of their con
duct to the whole Union, to the States more immedi
ately interested, and to those for whose benefit they
profess to act. That the latter will be the victims of
the weak, injudicious, presumptuous, and unconstitu
tional efforts to serve them, a thorough examination of
the subject must convince them. The struggle, (and strug
gle there must be) may commence with horrors such as I
have described, but it will end with more firmly riveting
the chains, or in the utter extirpation of those whose cause
they advocate.
“ Am 1 wrong, fellow-citizens, in applying the terms
weak, presumptuous and unconstitutional, to the measures
of the emancipators ? A slight examination will, I think
show that I am not. In a vindication of the objects of a
Convention which was lately held in one of the towns of
Ohio, which-I saw in a newspaper, it was said that no
thing more was intended than to produce a state of public
feeling which would lead to an amendment of the Consti
tution, authorizing the abolition of slavery in the United
States. Now, can an amendment of the Constitution be
effected without the consent of the Southern States? What,
then, is the proposition to be submitted to them ? It is
this: ‘ The present provisions of the Constitution secure
to you the right (a right which you held before it was
made, and which you have never given up) to manage your
own domestic concerns in your own way ; but as we are
convinced that you do not manage them properly, we want
you to put in the hands of the General Government, in
the councils of which we have the majority, the control
over these matters, the effect of which will be virtually to
transfer the power from yours into-our hands.’
“ Again-: in some of the States, and in sections of others,
the black population far exceeds that of the white. Some
of the emancipators propose an immediate abolition. What
is the proposition, then, as regards these Slates and parts of
States, but the alternatives of amalgamation with the
blacks, or an exchange of situations with them? Is there
any man of common sense who does not believe that the
emancipated blacks, being-a majority, will insist upon a
full participation of political rights with the whiles ; and
whet: possessed of these, they will not contend for a full
share of social rights also ? What but the extremily of
weakness and folly could induce any one to think that such
propositions as these could be listened to by a pcoplo so
intelligent as the ^Southern States? Further: the eman
cipators generally declare that it is their intention to effect
their object (although their acts contradict the assertion)
by no other means than by convincing the slave-holders
that the immediate emancipation of the slaves is called
for, both by moral obligation and sound policy. An un
fledged youth, at the moment of leaving (indeed, in many
instances, before he has left) his theological seminary, un
dertakes to give lectures upon morals, to the countrymen
of Wythe, Tucker, Pendleton and Lowndes; and lessons
of political wisdom to States, whose affairs have so recently
been directed by Jefferson and Madison, Macon and Craw
ford. Is it possible that instances of greater vanity and
presumption could be exhibited ? But the course pursued
by the emancipators it unconstitutional. I do not say
that there are any words in the Constitution which forbid
the discussions they are engaged in—I know that there
are not. And there is even an article which secures to the
citizens the right to express and publish their opinions.with
out restriction. But in the construction of the Constitu
tion it is always necessary to refer to the circumstances
under which it was framed, and to ascertain its meaning
by a comparison of its provisions with each other, and
with the previous situation of the several States who were
parties to it. In a portion of these, slavery was recognised,
and they took care to have the right secured to them, to
follow and reclaim such of them as were fugitives to other
Slates. The laws of Congress passed under this power,
have provided punishment to any who shall oppose or in
terrupt the exercise of this right. Now, can any one be
lieve that the instrument, which contains a provision of
this kind, which authorizes a master to pursue his slave
into another State, take him back, and provides a punish
ment for any citizen or citizens of that State who should
oppose him, should at the same time authorize the latter
to assemble together, to pass resolutions and adopt ad
dresses, not only to encourage the slaves to leave their
masters, but to cut their throats before they do so ?
I insist, that if the citizens of the non-slavcholding
States can avail themselves of the article of the Constitu
tion which prohibits the restriction of speech, or the press
to publish any thing injurious to the rights of the slave
holding Stales, that they can go to the extreme I have
mentioned, and effect any thing further which writing or
speaking could effect. But, fellow-citizens, these are not
the principles of the Constitution. Such a construction
would defeat one of the great objects of its formation,
which was that of securing the peace and harmony of the
States which were parties to it. The liberty of speech and
of the press was given as the most effectual means to pre
serve to each and every citizen their owm rights, and to
the States the rights which appertained to them at the time
of their adoption. It could never have been expected that
it would be used by the citizens of one portion of the States
for the purpose of depriving those of another portion, of
the rights which they had reserved at the adoption of the
Constitution, and in the exercise of which none but them
selves have any concern or interest. If slavery is an evil
the evil is with them. If there is guilt in it, the guilt is'
theirs, not ours, since neither the States where it does not
exist, nor the Government of the United States can with
out usurpation of power, and the violation of a solemn
compact, do any thing to remove it without the consent of
those who are immediately interested. But they will nei
ther ask for aid nor consent to be aided, whilst the illegal,
persecuting, and dangerous movements are in progress, of
which I complain; the interest of oil concerned requires
that these should be stopped immediately. This can only
be done by the foroe of public opinion, and that cannot too tioa to Southern rights, and of the opinions of the great
soon be brought into operation. Every movement which
is made by the abolitionists in the uno-slavehokiingStates,
is viewed by our Southern brethren as an attack upon
their rights, and which, if persisted in, must in the end
eradicate those feelings of attachment and affection, be
tween the citizens of all the States, which was procured
by a community of interest and dangers in the war of the
Revolution, which was the foundation of our happy Union,
and by a continuance of which it can alone, be preserved.
I entreat you, then, to frown upon the measures which are
to produce results so much to be deprecated. The opinions
which I have now given, I have omitted no opportunity for
the last two years, to lay before the people of my own
State. I have taken the liberty to express them here,
knowing that even if they should unfortunately not accord
w ith yours, they would be kindly received.”
the course Mr. King would unquestionably pursue in rela-
With this mass of testimony in favor of Gen. Harrison,
we confidently believe that you, fellow-citizens, will repel
this unjust and ungenerous charge of abolitionism which
has been brought against him. Those opposed to Gen.
Harrison attempt to show that he is in favor of a National
Bank, by asserting that bis supporters are in favor of such
an institution. On this question let General Harrison
speak for himself. In 1822, being a candidate for Con
gress, he published the following letter, giving his political
opinions:
Cincinnati, September 16, 1822.
“ To the Editor of the Inquisitor :
‘•Sir: In your last paper you recommend to the can
didates at the ensuing election, to publish their political
creeds, that the electors may have a fair opportunity of
chocsing those whose sentiments best aocord with their
own. I have ever believed that every elector has a right
to make this call upon those who offer their services to the
people, and that die candidates are bound to answer it. I
might, it is true, avail myself of the kind of exception
which you make in favor of those who liave had an oppor
tunity of showing their political opinions by their conduct.
Bnt I have no reason to dread the most minute investiga
tion of my opinions, and that my fellow-citizens may he
enabled to compare my actions with my professions, I offer
you the following outline of my political creed, which you
may publish if you think it worthy of a place in your paper.
The measure is more necessary at this time, as some of
my new friends have very kindly, in various handbills and
other anonymous publications, undertaken to make one
for me, which (if I have a correct knowledge of what I
myself believe) is not a very exact likeness of that which I
profess. I deem myself a republican of what is commonly
called (he old Jeffersonian school, and believe in the cor
rectness of that interpretation of the constitution, which
has been given by the writings of that enlightened states
man, who was nt the head of the party and others belong
ing to it, particularly the celebrated resolutions of the Vir
ginia Legislature, during the Presidency of Mr. Adams.
“ I deny, therefore, to tlie General Government the ex
ercise of any power but what is expressly given to it by the
constitution, or what is essentially necessary to carry the
powers expressly given into effect.
•* I believe that the charter given to the Bank of the
United States was unconstitutional; it being not one of
those measures necessary to carry any of the expressly
granted powers effect; and whilst my Votes in Con
gress will show that I will take any constitutional means
to revoke the charter, my vote in the State Legislature
will equally show that I am opposed to those which aro
unconstitutional or violent, and which will bring us in col
lision with the General Government.
“ I believe in the tendency of a large public debt to sap
the foundations of the constitution, by creating a moneyed
aristocracy, whose views and interests must bo in direct
hostility to those of the mass of the people.
“ I deem it the duty, therefore, of the representative of
the people to endeavor to extinguish it as soon as possible,
by making every retrenchment in the expenditures of the
Government thut a proper performance of the public busi
ness will allow.
“I believe in the right of the people to instruct their
representative -whec elected: and if he has sufficient evi
dence that the instructions which may be given him c ,jm ®
from a majority of his constituents, that he is bound to
obey them, unless he considers that by doing it he wo'-dd
violate the constitution, in which case I think it would be
his duty to resign and give them an opportunity of electing
another representative whose opinion would accord with
their own. * * “WM. H. HARRISON.”
In 1336, General Harrison was a candidate for the
Presidency of the United States. He wa3 asked, if elect
ed, whether he would sign a bill incorporating a bank ?
He made the following reply, in a letter to the honotable
Slierrod Williams:
“ I would if it were clearly ascertained that the public
interest in relation to the collection and disbursement of
the revenue would materially suffer without one, and there
were unequivocal manifestations of public opinion in its
favor.”
Hence it will be perceived that General Harrison’s
opinionsin regatd to the establishment of a national bank,
are similar to those entertained by Mr. Jefferson, and Mr.
Madison.
Genera] Harrison’s opinions in regard to the tariff and
internal improvements, are not less decided, as the follow
ing letter to a number of the citizens of Zanesville will
show:
■ Zanesville, November 2, 1836.
Gentlemen :—I had the honor, this moment, to receive
your communication of yesterday. I regret that my re
marks of yesterday were misunderstood, in relation to the
tariff system. What I meant to convey was, that I had
been a warm advocate for that system, upon its first adop
tion, that I still, believed in the benefits it had conferred
upon the country. But 1 certainly never had. nor ever
could have any idea of reviving it. What I said was,
that I would not agree to the repeal as it now stands. In
other words. 1 am for supporting the compromise act,
and never will agree to its being altered or repealed.
“ In relation to the internal improvement system, I refer
you, for my sentiments, t« my letter to the honorable
Sherrod Williams.
“ I am, in great haste, with great respect, your fellow-
citizen, WM. H. HARRISON.
“Messrs. Doster, Taylor, and others.”
In the letter to Mr. Williams, above referred to, dated
North Bend, May 1, 1836, on the subject of internal im
provements, General Harrison says:
“As I believe that no money should be taken from the
Treasury of the United States to be expended on internal
improvements but for those which are strictly national,
the answer to this question would be easy, but for the dif
ficulty of determining which of those that aro from time
to time proposed would be of this description. This cir
cumstance, the excitement which has already been pro
duced by improvements of this kind, and the jealousies-
which it will no doubt continue to produce if persisted in,
give additional claims to the^mode of appropriating all the
surplus revenue of the United States in the manner above
suggested—distributing it among the States. Each State
will then have the means of accomplishing its own schemes-
of internal improvement.”
Again, he says in the same letter:
“ 1 have before me a newspaper, in which I am desig
nated by its distinguished editor, “ the bank and federal
candidate." I think it would puzzle the writer to adduce
any act of my life which warrants him in identifying me
with the interests of the first, or the politics of the latter.” 1
We have thus placed before you General Harrison’s
opinions, as expressed by himself and confirmed by his
acts, as a citizen and a statesman, in relation to most off
the great questions which have agitated our country from
the foundation of the Federal Government to the present-
day. That they have been perverted and misrepresented
by his enemies, for.party purposes, need create no surprise
among intelligent persons who are aware of the debasing
influences of party drill, and the despicable moans ttv
which those who have abused the powers of Government-
will resort for the purpose of retaining-office.
We now beg leave to present to your consideration,
those reasons which not only induce us to decline to sup
port Mr. Van Buren, but make it an imperious duty to
prevent his re-election, by all honorable means.
Our objections to the administration are found in the
opinions avowed, and the measures proposed by the Pre
sident and the heads of Departments, in the action of the
party in Congress; and in the actual state of the country.
Mr. Van Buren was, in 1812, in favor of Mr. Clinton
against Mr. Madison for the Presidency. The former the
candidate of the federal, and the latter of the republican
party. Mr. Madison was violently opposed on account oF
the war which had been declared against Great Britain,
and Mr. Clinton was with equal zeal supported because of'
his known hostility to it. To his support Mr. Madisom
rallied the republican suffrages of-thc country; around Mr.-
Clinton gathered the entire federal party. The cause of'
Mr. Madison was that of the war, and, therefore, of the;
country.
By that measure he was to stand or fall. The contest,
resulted in the triumph of the republican party, and the-
discomfiture of Mr. Clinton, Mr. Van Buren, and their
federal allies. We infer from these facts that at that day
Mr. Van Buren entertained federal opinions—that lie acted,
with that party is unquestionably truo; and that he was
opposed to the war of 1312. A war which confirmed the
independence of the States, and commanded for us the
respect of the civilized world.
He also united with the federalists of New-Yorik, to
send Rufus King, a distinguished federal leader, to the
Senate of the United States. The benefits of this coalition
enured to both parties: to Mr. Van Buren and his friends
was yielded the domestic administration of New York;
to Mr. King and his allies, the representation of that great
State in the Senate. It was to effect this amalgamation
of parties that Mr. Van Buren wrote his well known “ con
siderations.” Mr. King’s politics, were, of course, familiar
to him, and particularly his opinions in relation to the
celebrated question at that day agitated, and which itaelf
convulsed the entire Union, to wit: whether the Territory
of Missouri should be admitted into the Union free of re
striction, as to the right of slave property.
In the session of the New York Legislature of 18’18—*19,
and before his appointment to the Senate of the United
States, Mr. King bad taken the lead against the admis
sion of Missouri without restriction. Of this fruit Mr.
Van Buren was well udbnnecL Yet with a know ledge of
federal parly of that day, he formed a union with that
party, by virtue of which Mr. King was sent to the Senate
of the United States.
In addition to all this, in the session of the Legislatuie
of New York of 1819, Mr. Van Buren, being at that time
a member and leader of that body, was instrumental in
getting up and did actually carry resolutions, instructing
Mr. King to vote for the Missouri restrictions.
In pursuance of these instructions, and in accordance
with his previous opinions, Mr. King did vote for the re
stricting measure. A measure which filled every Southern
bosom with alarm and apprehension; the news of which
Mr. Jefferson declared fell upon his ear like the cry of fire
at midnight. Now, it mav be asked, who, more than Mr.
Van Buren, is responsible for the Missouri restriction
movement? Who contributed more than he did, to this
.first alarming assault upon the domestic institutions of the
South ? No man living. And this passage in his history,
is of itself sufficient to constrain us to withhold from him
our confidence and our suffrage.
When the people of Florida, in 1822, applied for organi
zation, Mr. Van Buren, then a member of the Senate of
the United States, voted to restrict the introduction of
slaves into that Southern Territory. Not even in the ex
treme South was he willing to permit the unrestricted
right of the citizen to grow the great staples of that region
by slave labor—staples which no man better knew than
himself could not be profitably grown by white labor alone.
Allow us now to inquire briefly into the sufficiency of
Mr. Van Buren’s opinions in relation to the powers of the
Government over our domestic institutions, to command
Southern confidence; and whilst we do not charge him
with being an abolitionist, yet we hold that the South
should support no man for the first, and, of course, the
most influential, office known to our system, whose princi
ples do not fully guaranty their rights. This is an in
terest around which it may well be presumed we would
throw the most impregnable barriers. We should support
no man for the Presidency whose opinions in relation to
this subject fall short of our own; we should allow no
party, particularly no administration, to lake' any ground
for us below the highest; we hold that the only peaceable
protection of our domestic institutions is found in the con
stitution; we believe; that Congress has no power under
that instrument to abolish them, either in the States or the
District of Columbia. So far as we are informed, this is
a universal opinion, pervading all parties, from the Poto
mac to the Gulf. Upon this great preliminary conserva
tive point Mr. Van Baren is against us. His opinions,
as to the power of Congress over the slaves in the Dis
trict, are at variance with ours. They are antagonistical
to ours. With ours, as we have shown, Gen. Harrison’s
are identical. Is it, therefore, reasonable to expect that
we should take the weaker guarantee in Mr. Van Buren,
and discard the stronger in Gen. Harrison? This would
be to prefer exposure to safety—to choose injury rather
than protection; to provide the means, with the infatuation
of idiocy, for our own undoing. No sensible man, in rela
tion to any personal interest, would act so strangely un
wise. The truth is, fellow-citizens, looking abroad upon
the vast interests involved in this great question, we be
lieve that there is no adequate protection to slave rights,
out in a stern, uncompromising maintenance of the limi
tations of the constitution. We submit to you whether
we, by our votes, should sanction the prostration of them
The opinions of the Chief Magistrate of the Union settle
down upon all ranks of society, with almost resistless
effect, sustained as they are by the interests of party, the
patronage of office, and the imposing forms of magistracy
VVe cannot disguise from you the fact that, according to his
principles, Mr. Van Buren occupies the citadel of our
strength. If he is upon this subject restrained by no con
stitutional scruples, then is he to be controlled only by ex
pediency, and the expediency of the question may itself,
turn, be subject to the party influences of the day.
might, for example, become expedient to conciliate North
ern votes by conceding to the abolitionists the right of pe
tition. In his letter to Hon. Sherrod Williams, Mr. Var
Buren says: “With the lights now before me, I cannot
say that Congress has not the right to abolish slavery
the District of Columbia.” No new light, so far as the
world knows, has shone upon his path; we therefore assert
that such is still his opinion.
In lieu, however, of constitutional principle, we have
the President’s promise that he will veto a bill, should
■one during his administration be passed, abolishing slavery
The same promise has also been made by the opposition
candidate, in his declaration of opinion. He, accordin
to his opinions, would have no alternative but to veto such
a bill; whereas Mr. V. B’s promise to veto, is in the
teeth of his concession, that such on act would be consti
tutional. He must he a bold man, indeed, who would
veto an act of Congress in the face of popular sentiment
which he admits to be constitutional, upon the grounds o
expediency only. Whose promise is most to be relied
upon, General Harrison’s, in accordance with his princi
pies, or Mr. Van Buren’s, in opposition to bis principles
W’e cannot withhold our astonishment that so much reli
ance has been placed by the country in this promise. The
veto power can never be available for the protection of the
South. Her safety is found only in such restraining prin
ciples as lie in advance of the veto power. It will come
too late either for prevention or relief. The moment the
abolitionists acquire strength enough in Congress to pass
an act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, the
Union is dissolved ; and the passage of such an act would
be its funeral knell. Upon such a consummation, your
delegation, followed, as we believe, bv the whole Southern
representation, would depart from the Capitol to return
nomore. Revolution would be its immediate consequence
What would avail the veto power amidst the wild uproar
of the dissolving Union? Its voice would be hushed by
the stern spirit of anarchy. It is, therefore, idle to talk
about the President’s veto. There is but too much reason
to fear that this soothing song, chanted by a subtle siren
may, perhaps has, lulled the South into fatal repose.
The safety of Southern institutions depends upon guard-
l vigilantly the outposts. The approach which the abo
litionists have endeavored of late years to make, is through
the alleged right of discussion and petition. Insidiously
changing the issue, they have endeavored to identify their
cause with the sacred right of petition. It is upon this
ground that the war has been waged in Congress during
the present session. Denying that identity, we deem it
unnecessary to give to you reasons for the denial. Up
this right of discussion and petition, Mr. Van Buren, so
far as we are informed and believe, has given no opinion.
On the contrary, Gen. Harrison has fully met this issue
also, and in liis Cheviot speech says: “If I am correct in
the principles here advanced, I repeat my assertion that
the discussion on the subject of emancipation in the non
slaveholding States is equally injurious to the slaves and
their masters, and that it ha3 no sanction in the .pri'ticz-
ples of the constitution." Thus affording another maiked
contrast to his competitor.
Mr. Van Buren voted for the tariff of 1824. And for
the oppressive tariff act of 1828. For the tariff of 1828,
Gen. Harrison also voted. He cast his vote upon that oc
casion openly. He has -upon several occasions since
avowed himself in favor of the compromise act, being no
further in favor of discriminating duties than is provided
in the minimum rates finally to be settled by that bill. In
this compromise, of so vitally interesting a question to the
South, as is the tariff, the politicians of the South have ac
quiesced. Upon the expiration of that compromise we
shall be found resisting any readjustment of the tariff, as a
protective measure. So also will General Harrison.
In his letter to a distinguished citizen of our own State,
(Judge Berrien.) written in 1836, he avows himself in
favor of the compromise act, and opposed to any disturb
ing of its provisions. No such pledge has been given by
Mr. Van Buren; but, on the contrary, any expression of
opinion on this subject in his late message is carefully
avoided. The circumstances under which he voted for
the tariff act of 1828, being then a member of the Senate
of the United States, illustrate that want of elevation and
manliness of political character which unfortunately marks
the head of the Executive Government of the Union; as
also that absence of settled political principle which
characterizes his entire administration. He induced
Southern politicians at Washington to believe that he was
opposed to the measure, whilst he was understood at
Albany to be in favor of it. To maintain his position at both
places, and more particularly to retain that Southern favor
which he seems always to have cultivated with such eager
assiduity, Mr. Van Buren procured himself to be instructed
by his own Legislature to vote for the act, usually known
as the bill of ubominations. With these instructions in
his hand, and with declarations of regret for the necessity
which constrained him, he voted for the bill; whilst, at
the same time, he represented himself to his friends at
Albany as approving the instructions themselves. This
fact has frequently since that day been charged upon him
and never denied. Recently, in the Senate of the United
States, it has been repeated by the Senator from New
York, (Mr. Tallmadge,) with a pledge to adduce proofs
if denied, and no denial has been given. It was the coh-
duct of Mr. Vau Buren, upon the occasion referred to, that
extorted the withering rebuke from the Senator from Vir
ginia, (Mr. Tazewell.) “ You, sir, have deceived me once
—thut was your fault; if you deceive me again, the fault
will be mine.”
It can, of course, be no source of gratification thus to
exhibit to the world a transaction humilitating to an ele
vated niind; ond our justification is found in the fact,
that it illustrates a trait of character in a high functionary,
whose support is now earnestly being pressed upon the
people of our own State.
No rule of political morality can be more dangerous to a
republic than that avowed by a leader of the Van Buren
party, viz: thut to the victors belong the spoils. The
mere avowal of such a principle of conduct might ordina
rily be considered as the indiscreet and unauthoritative
declaration of a heated partisan, by which the responsible
heads of a party could not be fairly judged. It is, there
fore, not alone to the promulgation of the rule, but to the
practice uuder it, of the parly in power, to which we object.
No administration merits the confidence of the people,
which, repudiating all the lofty incentives of talents, pa
triotism, and virtue, addresses itself to the worst passions
of the worst men. Government is a trust, to be executed
for the good of the people; and not an instrument by
which office and support is afforded to the most unscrupu
lous partisans, to the exclusion of all other citizens. The
result of rewarding the victor with the spoils of conquest,
is to make office depend upon tbn zeal, and heat, and reck
lessness of the aspirant. Place becomes the reward of in
dustry and subserviency. Good men, and able man are,
excluded from competition with ignorance and venality:
and two results inevitably follow, vizi the offices of Gov
ernment are filled by incapable and perhaps unprincipled
men, and the Executive branch of the Government is
strengthened in their willing subserviency to the power
that creates and uncreates them at pleasure.
It is apparent to all, that Mr. Van Buren’s administra
tion, and that which preceded it, have been distinguished
by their fidelity to their faithful retainers, and thpir utter
repudiation of all who have had independence enough to
dissent, however slightly, from the course indicated by the
few, who sitting in high places, give sign and signal to the
many. They havo always sustained the successful, and
pensioned those who have been damaged in the war. A
forfeiture of popular confidence seems to be a passport to
Executive favor. We raise the complaint which Ci
cero made when Cataline corrupted the State, and announce
that “ all things are venal at Rome.”
Another of the peculiarities of both Mr. Van Buren and
his party, is a want of conformity of practice with profes
sions. It was true of the last, and is eminently true of the
present administration, that with pure principles on their
tongues, they committed more outrages upon constitution
al liberty than any that has preceded them. A bad law,
when peimanent and known, is more desirable than'whole-
some laws which are continually changing. So, incorrect
principles of administration, known and observed by their
fixedness and publicity, are preferable to that rule of ac
tion which avows every thing and practices any thing.—
We object to Mr. Van Buren because he is a man of ex
pedients ; to his administration, because it practices a sys
tem of crude experiments upon popular libeity, under a
system of government where the principles of its action
might be as permanent and as obvious as are the laws of
the solar system. It is impossible to repose confidence in
either men or Governments, when principles, which are
the elements of character and the rules of conduct, are ei
ther wanting, or existing, are not known. We hold it
perfectly fair to judge Mr. Van Buren in the light of his
own and his predecessor’s administration. Of Gen. Jack-
son s administration he was an influential member, and not
only advised its measures, but adopted its principles as the
rules of his own.
We shall now expose the non-conformity of his measures
with his professions, and shall, in so doing, show you that
his administration is anti-republican and dangerous, and
on that account he ought not to be re-elected. It w ill be
remembered that the present party came into power under
profuse promises of reform and retrenchment; reform of
those abuses which were introduced into the Government,
as was alleged, by Mr. J. Q. Adams; and retrenchment of
the enormous amount of twelve millions of dollars per an
num, to which he had raised the expenditures. With pio-
mises of great improvement in the conduct of affairs, like
these, did they induce the people to yield them their suf
frage ; not one of which promises has been fulfilled.—
On the contrary, those abuses, then thought to be so fla
grant, have become confirmed ; and those expenditures,
pronounced so intolerable, have been increased more than
threefold. The country was taught to believe that that
party would curtail the overshadowing power of the Exec
utive ; yet Mr. Van Buren now wields far more power
than that of Washington thrice told. A power which sub
dued the Senate to fame subserviency ; scattered at will
the ablest cabinet since Jefferson’s day ; seized upon and
controlled the public moneys ; expunged the public records
picketed the acts of Congress, and, reaching far forth in
to the domestic administration of the States, controlled
their policy also. So, likewise, the tenure of the Presiden
tial office was to be limited to one term ; vet Mr. V’an Bu
ren seeks it a second time. The appointment to office of
members of Congress, we were told, was an evil to be cor
rected ; legislative subserviency was thus to be avoided,
and the independence and virtue of Congress maintained.
Yet, has the list of Executive appointments from the two
Houses of Congress swelled enormously. Although Gen.
Jackson was not the first choice of the State Rights par
ty of Georgia, yet they were constrained to admit that his
early messages gave full assurance of a Republican Admin
istration. And, in the midst of their gratulations, and in
the face of all counter professions, to the astonishment of
the State, came the Proclamation and Force Bill—meas
ures of rank and reeking federalism, to the principles of
which, Mr. Van Buren stood pledged at his inauguration ;
and from not one of which has he been known to dissent.
Without lingering here, where, may we ask, is the fulfil
ment of promise? Verily it delayeth its coming. What
reform has Mr. Van Buren introduced, and what retrench
ment ? Let a corrupt Administration, an exhausted
Treasury, and an impoverished country give the response.
The Democratic party of which the President is the chief,
profess to be State Rights men ; and would fain be under-
the» creditors. The power to subject them to b a „i
cy, implies a power to dissolve them; a power r T**
trol over their effects; and a jurisdiction fj h f C, ‘""
bank, and their debtors, which exclades Sta l Ver 'U
tion. 16 jurisdic.
The State of Georgia has placed her funds hi
of a corporation, as her fiscal agent. To snbie^'.u *““4
tral Bank to federal bankrupt laws would be
the State also to a federal commission of I, J i
j: l r ii i i
^ uq
divest her of all control over her own agent”
her means, and place them under the iurisdir*-* a “ str5 ct
ted States officers. Not only so, but it would'ojf^ 11 ''
her citizens who are indebted to the Central
principals or endorsers, to suits at the will of a "k'
. 1 c wrnnia.[
!?.*!”! “ %™***F*?f. 'oreigne^'
would, in the strict discharge of their dutv grap^’. 10 ”
indulgence nor mercy. Would the people of r I i ell Wr
sent that not only the funds of the State, but the
to that fund also, should be plarcd »b-olutely T’ >tot «
r a h.™ _r -i .T* 'be
control of individuals acting under a law of it
States, and accountable, in some instances ;i| C .
eigners? If the banks. nay, the State itself’ ' to for -
able to federal legislation, r c , a . n ?ee
incorporated academies and colleges, her ni l j - ^ r
panics, her cities, ar d churches, and villao-ej t<lrri '
like manner amenable. This opinion of Mr.'yJ^ p 01
merges all State institutions in the paramount ° ” nren
Con gress, and clothes the Government with
at all times, of bowing the States to its will a row” 1 '' 11 ' 5 '
of all, anti-republican and dangerous to liberty T \ rn)ns t
and parcel of the great scheme now in progress 11 ' 1 P ar t
trnle the banks, and to make the States subservuM •^ r ° i '
withstanding Mr. Van Buren professes to be, and 1 ' j
gentlemen of our own party have recently discover Hi!" 5
to be, a most unexceptionable State rights noliti^
Northern man, forsooth, with Southern'principle- mr ‘~ n
The most stupendous engine, however, 0 f p*
power, and the most glaring infraction of the con!^!' 6
9 found i„
It is proposed to divide the United States
men in active service, and another of equal number
reserve. I his w ould give an armed militia force of tw
hundred thousand men, so drilled
, , , . - and stationed, as to h.
ready to take their place in the ranks in defence of
country, whenever called upon to oppose the enemy on.
pei ihe invader. The age of the recruit tube from20to37
the whole term of service to be eight years; four years in
the first class, and four in the reserve; one-fourth p w
(twenty-five thousand men) to leave the service every Lr
passing at the conclusion of the first term, into the reservp
and exempted from ordinary miiiiarv duty altogether a .
trie end of the second term. In this' manner twenty-fi,-.
thousand men will be discharged from militia duty every
year, and twenty-five thousand fresh recruits be received
into the service. It will be sufficient for all useful p Ur
poses, that the remainder of the miiiiia, under certain rev!
ulations provided for their government, he enrolled and
mustered at long and stated intervals ; for in due process
of time, nearly the whole mass of the militia will pass d. e
first and second classes, and be either members of the De
rive corf is or of the reserve, or counted among the exempt,
w ho will be liable to be called upon only in periods of in-
vasion or imminent peril. The manner of enrolment, the
number of days of service, and the rate of compensation
ought to be fixed by law ; but the details had better be
subject to regulation—a plan of which I am prepared to
submit to you.”
This is the skeleton of the scheme; the details of the
plan which the Secretary says “had better be subject to
regulation,” were also submitted to Congress at an early
day ; to some of them we will direct your attention. The
President, in his message to Congress, at the opening
of the present session, adopts, by approving, the pro
ject of the Secretary in the following words, to wit:
’’ The present condition of the defences of our princi-
pal seaports and navy yards, as represented by the accom-
panyii.g report of the Secretary of War, calls for the ear
ly and serious attention of Congress ; and 8S connectit;
itself intimately w ith this subject, I cannot recommend
too strongly to your consideration the plan submitted bv
that officer, for the organization of the militia of the United
States.”
stood to be the exclusive depository and guardian of State
sovereignty. Yet, in violation of the Constitution—in ab
rogation of the laws of New-Jersey—ar.d to the disfran
chisement of her people, that party refused to admit that
State to her equal representation on the floor of Congress.
Thus exhibiting the strange spectacle, of one State thrust
out of the Union, as to her voting power in the House of
Representatives, by a dominant majority of that body.—
We object to an administration, thus wanton in the exer
cise of power—thus recreant to all the articles of the
Jeffersonian creed, and faithless to its own avowals.—And
for what? To secure a doubtful ascendency in the House,
and thereby increase the chances of Mr. Van Buren’s elec
tion. .
The State of Georgia, like New-Jersey, electing her
Representatives by general ticket, may at the opening of
the next Congress, be, by the same majority, in like man
ner disfranchised Against the wrong thus done to her
sister State, the entire delegation from Georgia protested;
and should it ever happen that any portion ofiier represen
tation shall be thus excluded, she will, w ithout doubt, test
in some suitable form, the principles upon which she is ous
ted of her rights.
W hat may not a party do, which has already done
so much.;—and w here, unless there is a change of ru
lers, shall the career of mal-administration be arrested !
The removal of the deposiles ; the explosion of the spe
cial deposite system; and the miserable expedients of Mr.
\ an Buren since, have contributed largely to the present
disastrous state of the country. The ordinary walks of
business have been deserted ; commerce has retired from
our ports ; the domestic exchanges are so deranged as to
constitute an enormous tax upon, not the merchant, but
his customer; private capital is dormant, apprehensive of
all securities ; and a universal destruction of confidence
obtains. Property has fallen much below its average val
ue; our great staple is reduced to tlie very lowest rates,
and hundreds of our citizens reduced to bankruptcy.—Now
■ e are not so uncandid as to attribute this slate of things
holly to bad government, but we believe the errors of
Gen. Jackson and of his successor, have contributed more
than any .other causes to it. Had the Government come
to the rescue of the country, or even stood aloof from the
currency and exchanges, und permitted the laws of trade
to take their ordinary course, it would have resisted all
other causes of depression, and maintained at least a
healthful tone. But determined to take the responsibility
of managing every thing, our rulers have tinkered the cur
rency into a most deplorably ruinous state. In relation
to these things, we charge the head of the Administration
with a want of wisdom, firmness, and statesmanship,
which preclude confidence in his ability to govern this great
nation.
has
Connected with these things, we note the war which
s been and is now being w aged upon local banks. Con
fidence is of the vitality of a sound paper circulation ; yet
the organs of the Government, viz : the press at Washing
ton, the orators of the Administration in Congress and the
State Legislatures, and the official papers emanating from
the departments of the Government, have all united in a
systematic effort to shake the confidence of the people in
their currency, and thereby to prostrate all the local banks.
They have succeeded in creating universal distrust, in
arming popular feeling against popular interests, and in
organizing a class of the people, whose happiness they
have made them to believe will be promoted by the des
truction of paper money, credit and trade. The leaders
of the Administration in Congress, stop not at the reform
of the State banks ; but assuming gold and silver to be
the only currency, they have boldly declared that all banks
are frauds upon the People. Such is the ground taken by
Mr. Benton, and urged with unusual pertinacity and no
mean amount of ability. He aspires to succeed Mr. Van
Buren, and so far as the signs of the times indicate any
event so remote, they point to him as heir apparent to the
Democratic succession. Mr. Van Buren, if he does not
approve, yet connives at Mr. Benton's currency opinions,
and the whole party laud them with universal commenda
tion. 1 he reign ot Mr. Benton and the iron age, cannot
be prevented but by the defeat of Mr. Van Buren. An
other term of democratic domination, with the use of all
the appliancesof office, will, we fear, cast the great expun-
ger ahead of all competition. And then we shall witness
this vast country, as by a decree of destiny, at rest in the
torpor of constrained inactivity. That these things may be
is true. To prevent them, is the first obligation of good
citizenship.
One of the means recently devised to enhance the pow
ers of the Federal Government, and to wind up the State
banks, is to subject them to a system of national bankrupt
cy. That Congress has power to pass a bankrupt law,
which shall embrace State corporations, is an opinion pro
mulgated by Mr. Van Buren, in his message to Congress
in 1837, and openly declared by his most iufluential friends
in both Houses of the present Congress. In the message
of 1837, Mr. Van Buren says:
“ The Treasury Department has on several former oc
casion suggested the propriety and importance of a uniform
law concerning bankruptcies of corporations and other
bankers. Through the instrumentality of such a law, a
salutary check may doubtless be imposed on the issues of
paper money, and an effectual remedy given to the cit
izens in a way at once equal in all parts of the Union,
and fully authorised by the Constitution."
We are at a loss to know how the President can recon
cile such an opinion with those State-Rights principles,
which it suits his convenience sometimes to adopt. Nor
can we see how it is possible that State Rights men can
support a candidate holding such doctrines, consistently
with their own faith. We are of opinion that the power
to adopt a uniform system of bankrupt laws extends to
persons only, and does not embrace State corporations.—
To create them is an attribute of State Sovereignty, from
which the States did not part, and which they retain in
full exercise. To regulate and dissolve them, is exclusive
ly with the States; as also the providing such a system of
supervision as shall protect, equally, both the banks and
The details were transmitted to Congress from the De
partment of War. something ia the shape of a bill,already
draughted, and we invite your careful consideration of
the following statement of its provisions :
“ Sec. 1st, provides, that every able-bodied male citizen
over nineteen and under forty-five years of age, shall be en
rolled in the militia, and notified of his enrollment by the
proper officer; and ‘ that every citizeD, so enrolled and
notified, shall, within three months thereafter, providehim
self with a good musket, bore of capacity to receive a
lead ball of eighteen in the pound; a sufficient bayonet and
belt ; two spare flints ; a knapsack ; cartridge bex, to
contain at least twenty-four cartridges suited to the bore
of his musket, and each cartridge to contain a ball and
three buckshot, and a sufficient quantity of powder; er
with a good rifle, knapsack, shot pouch, and powder hois
or flask, with sufficient powder and ball for twenty-four
charges, and two spare flints, and that he shall appears
armed, accoutred, and provided when culled out for exer
cise or into service.”
“ The 2d section exempts certain privileged classes,
such as the Vice-President, members of Congress, Federal
Judges, &c., and such others as the State laws may ej-
empt.
“ The 3d arranges the mass of the militia into division;,
brigades, regiments, and companies.
“ The 4th provides for companies of riflemen, light in
fantry, calvary, artillery, and prescribes their armament
and equipment.
“ The 5th and 6th relate to unimportant details.
“The 7th, 8th, and 9th, provide for the appointmer.i
of adjutant generals, quartermaster generals, and brigade
inspectors, and prescribe their duties.
“ The 10th provides ‘ that, within months after
the adoption and establishment of this system, there shall
be taken from the mass of the militia in each State, Ter
ritory, and District of the United States, by draught or by
voluntary service, such numbers between the age of twen
ty-one and thirty seven years, so that the whole may not
exceed 100,000 men ; and in the following proportions for
each State, Territory, and District, respectively, to wit:
Maine 4,400 men, New-Hampshire 2,400, Vermont 2,400
Massachusetts 6,000, Connecticut 2,800, Rhode Island
800, New York 18,000, New Jersey 2,800, Pennsylvania
10,400, Delaware 800, Maryland 3,800, Virginia 6,000.
District of Columbia 400, North-Carolina 4,800, Soutt.
Carolina 2,400, Georgia 2,400, Florida 400, Alabama i
000, Mississippi 800, Louisiana 1,600, Tennessee 4,100,
Arkansas 400, Missouri 1,200, Iowa 400, Kentucky 4.400,
Illinois 1,200, Indiana 2,800, Ohio 8,000, Michigan 800,
and Wisconsin 400, men This force to constitute the
active class, and be denominated the active or moveable
force.’
“ The 11th section divides this active or moveable force
into companies and battalions only, and provides for call
ing out lieutenants, captains, and majors ; but, in all this
army of 100,000 men, there will be no militia officer above
the grade of major. When, therefore, it is assembled in
regiments, brigades, and divisions, it will be commanded
by colonels and generals of the regular army. It further
provides, that the'active or moveable force shall be held
to service as such, and be governed by such rules as mav
be prescribed, for the period of four years; one-fourtb >'f
the same in each State, Territory and District, going •
annualy—the order of succession to be determined iu the
first instance by lot.”
“ The 12th section declares that, ‘ there shall be a third
class,to be denominated the reserve,orsedentaryforefe,^which
shall be organized in the same manner as the active force,’
that is, they are to be divided into battalions and compa
nies, and have no officers above the rank of major. It i;
to be composed of those who have served four years in
the active corps, and they serve four years more in the
reserve, after which they will be ‘ subject to no further
military or militia duty, unless in cases of invasion or a
levy en masse; and such portions of the active force as
may go out of the same annually, shall forthwith be con
sidered as belonging to the reserved or sedentary force;
and after four years’service in the reserve, one-foui th of
that body shall go out of service annually, in the same man
ner as that prescribed for the second class.’
“ The 13th section provides, ‘ that the deficit occasioned
by the transfer annually of one-fourth of the active to the
reserved force, and by the discharge annually of one-fourth
of the reserve, be yearly supplied by draft or by volun
tary service from the mass.”
“ The 14th section divides tEe United States into ten
military districts, as follows: Maine, New Hampshire, and
Vermont, compose the first district, and furnish for the
active force 9,200 men; Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
and Connecticut, compose the second, and furnish 9,600 ,
New York the third, and furnishes 18,000; New Jersey
and Pennsylvania the fourth, and furnish 13,200; Dela
ware, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia, the
fifth, and furnish 10,400; North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia and Florida, the sixth, and furnish 10,000, Ala
bama, Mississippi, Lousisana and Tennessee, the »e'-
enth, and furnish 8,000; Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa,
the eighth, and furnish 2,000 ; Kentucky, Illinois and r.
diana, the ninth, and furnish 7,300 ; Ohio, Michigan an
Wisconsin, the tenth, and furnish 9,200 men ; making a
grand total of 97,800 rank and file.
“ The 15th section numbers and prescribes the order
precedence of the different description of troops, p vw s
precedence, first, to the troops of the United States; se
condly, to the active force ; thirdly, to the reserved.force,,
and, fourthly, to the mass.
“ The 16th section provides that the militia- officers oi
the several classes shall be appointed in the manner pre
scribed by the Legislatures of the several' States, that i>
to say, that the States are to appoint the majors, captain- 5 '
and lieutenants of the whol-% and’ the generals and co o-
nels of the mass ; which is pever to be called iotaser\ic-»
except iu cases of a levy en masse, or actual invasion.
“ The 17th section is of so much importance t a ‘
proper to insert it entire. If prpvides that the
of the United SiafceTbg authorized to c«B forth m«I assem
ble such numbers.of the active force oi t e mi » .
places witbw, their respective districts, an a »
not exceeding twice, nor ——' day* ul t ^ e saBW * ’
’? vrh,ch we have yet invited vour attention i s r„„„j
the project of the President and his Secretary nf tv "
for organizing- the militia Tti. ...l.. . "»r,
organizing the militia. This scheme was
Congress early in the present session, Ly Mr. I\„ n I lu
the following woids: nse ”, m
military districts, and to organize the militia ' im ° e '^' t
jfj 68ch fl
tnct, so as to have a body of twelve thousand five hundrel
I