Newspaper Page Text
VOL. I.
NOTE TO MR. CHAPPELL.
MACON, Juke 20th, 1850.
llox. A. 11. Cu-vrrELL:
Sir —The undersigned friends of yours and lovers of the
I'nwn, having great confidence in your political opinions, de
sire from you au expression of sentiment for publication, in
reference to the great issues which arc now agitating the pub
lic mind, and more particularly as to the course of policy to
pursued in relation to the Compromise Bill recently introdu
ced into the Senate of the L'nited States by the Hon. Henry
C'lay.ss Chairman of the Committee of Thirteen.
Will you be kind enough to furnish us with an exposition
of your views at your earliest convenience, anfl,obligc
Years, respectfully,
ABNER P. POWERS,
WILLIAM K. Dr/.ftAFFENREID,
L. O. REYNOLDS,
ROBERT COLLINS,
ROBERT S. LANIER,
JAMES W. ARMSTRONG,
JOHN R. LAMAR.
MR. CHAPPELL’S REPLY:
Gentlemen :—I Ikivc given much reflection to the
note you addressed me on the 20th nil., desiring for j
publication an expression of my sentiments “in refer
ence to the great issues now agitating the public
mind, and more particularly as to the course of policy
to be pursued in relation to the Compromise Bill re
cently introduced into the Senate of the United 1
States, by Mr. Clay as Chairman of the Committee
of Thirteen.” .
I will riot disguise, gentlemen, that your request has
given me considerable embarrassment. I have been •
unable to repress the conviction that while a few par- ,
tial friends like yourselves may feel an interest in .
knowing my sentiments on the great political ques
tion of the day. yet that the mass ot the public
will be quite certain to regard then) with irtdifler- |
ence. For there are. I believe, but three classes J
of men. whom the people recognize as having the j
privilege ot’ making demands on their attention: j
those who are in actual public service ; those who
are candidates forelection to public trusts ; and those,
who, having served the country long, ably and ac
ceptably in high places, have become permanently
endeared to the popular heart, and continue to be re
garded as a species of cherished public property, j
even alter their retirement to the shades ot private ;
life. Whoever ventures before the public with his j
sentiments on great political subjects unsupported by j
cither ol these claims, is not ordinarily entitled to ex- j
pert much intention and will be more likely’ to en
counter the imputation of presumptuousness, than to
obtain a thoughtful attention to the views which he
may advance.
These considerations, gentlemen, had well nigh
determined me against complying with your deeply
appreciated request. But when I took another view—
when I looked at the matter on another side, and j
pondered on the momentous character ol the issues j
„n which you have asked an expression ot’ my’ sen- j
fiuiciits. and saw too, what no man can open his ;
eyes to things around him without seeing, that the ,
paramount, patriotic want of the times in reference j
to these issues, is a full, fearless and perfect freedom |
and unreserve of the Southern people in unbosom- j
ing themselves, and coming to a clear, frank, manly
understanding with one another, when 1 saw that
thiri was the distinctive, craving want of the times,
1 felt at once that your call upon me had crea
ted an occasion which did not leave me at liberty to
he restrained by’ any refinement of delicacy from
performing my part, however humble, towards meet
ing ;t want which I regarded as so great and imper
il tivc.
1 proceed, therefore, without longer hesitation to
the tusk of attempting to fulfil your request. And
in order to a just presentment of tny’ views in regard ;
to the existing crisis, it is necessary’ 1 should take a
gkuice at the events and influences out oi which it.
lias grown.
The annexation of Texas led to the Mexican j
war, the Mexican war resulted in the acquisition j
of New Mexico and California, and this acquisition ;
gave rise directly to the great territorial quarrel
which now agitates and threatens the Union. The
annexation of Texas, the war with Mexico, and the
acquisition of New Mexico and California were all
emphatically’ Democratic measures. They were,
moreover, peculiarly and eminently, measures ot the
Southern section of the Democratic party. It can,
never be forgotten how loth our Northern Demo
cratic brethern were to launch the country’ on the
stormy and uncertain ocean ot the first of that se- ;
ries ot’ measures; nor how stoutly the whole body ol
Northern YVliigs (ought against it from first to last.
The Northern Democracy, however, yielded to the ur
gency of their Southern political allies and conquer
ing their own strong reluctance, embarked fully’ with |
us in support of the great opening measure, the en
tering wedge of the scries, the annexat ion of I exas j
a measure which was. undoubtedly, the potent, pro
ductive cause, thq prolific parent of all that follow
ed. They stood by us throughout, and by their aid,
we triumphantly consummated the whole o! that
stupenduous series ol measures, constituting a mass
-ot achievements which raised the character of our
■country’ prodigiously', both at home and abroad, and
justly filled the Democratic party, and especially the
Southern portion of it with boundless pride and ex
ultation.
Being thus the originators and authors of these
•measures, a heavy moral and political responsibility
rests on the Democratic party, and especially on
‘Southern Democrats, in relation to their consequen
ces. It’ these measures, or their consequences shall
terminate in tlie dismemberment and overthrow ot
■our great Republican Confederacy, deep shame and
accountability for the result, must under any circum
stances lie at the door of the Democratic party. But
the case will be rendered still worse if that party,
and especially the Southern branch ot it. snail fail
to exert itself with the utmost sincerity and iutensc
ness of patriotism, to prevent these, their measure s
from winding up in the dire catastrophe of Disunion.
•Such guilty’ delinquency’ on our part, will tinge out
inevitable shame and accountability, in connexion
with the matter, with criminality of the darkest dye.
Eor what can be, more criminal, morally ami politi
cly. than to fail to use our utmost exertions to pre-
Vc, it disaster and rum from flowing from our own
measures.
These facts and views, gentlemen, do, in my’ opin
-1011 powerfully concur with the general obligations
1,1 Patriotism, in summoning Southern Democrats, in
a most stringent and special manner, to the rescue
ot Hieir country from the dangers of the present cri
*‘s\ his a crisis mainly of their own creation—oi
their own bringing about. It was the Southern Dem
orrau who forceiAhe annexation of Texas as a lead
mg party measure on the unwilling Democracy of
’he North. It was the Southern Democrats, like-
Wls c, who. for the sake of the annexation of Texas,
than for all other reasons put together, presen
r’ the ever-to-bc-honored James K. Polk to the
’filer reluctant acceptance of their Northern politi
'al brethren as a candidate for the Presidency. It
for the sake and under the influence ot the
’-hern Democracy that their Northern brethren
Porously accepted and triumphantly sustained
lt J 11 the measure and the man. And to crown all,
i w,ls a Southern Democratic Administration thus
, ‘"-tght i n t o power by the behest of the Southern
unocratic party', and zealously supported by that
ant | in - its P o,ic y an d measures —it was such
to winistration that introduced the country in
’ ie -’lexicon War, and to which all the glories
and responsibilities of that war, and of the ac
quirement ol New Mexico and California right
\ BiHy belong, and must forever cling. The Southern
i Democracy have not failed exultingly to claim and
j enjoy their lull share of these clustering glories.—
i They are far too magniminous and just to disavow
. or disregard the heavy attendant responsibilities.
Among these responsibilities it was clearly seen
and acknowledged beforehand, that the heaviest,
most difficult and fearful would be the settling of
the strong sectional conflict between the North and
South which it was well known would spring up out
of the question of allowing or disallowing slavery in
the territory that might be acquired from Mexico, by
means ol the war. With this conflict in full and
certain prospect before its eyes, and with all the
weighty responsibility of settling it in full view, the
Southern Democratic party persevered—properly
and patriotically persevered in advocating and sup
porting the war and war measures, and in insisting
on a large cession of territory’ from Mexico, as the
condition on which peace should be made. The result
was made to coincide with their desires. We be
came, by’ means of the treaty’ that closed the war.
masters of New Mexico and California.
And now in view of these facts, and this undenia
ble history ol the case, a solemn question seems to
me to address itself to every Southern Democrat. It
is this: Is it consistent with honor, with justice and
patriotism for Southern Democrats now to take an
extreme stand, and to say that this dangerous conflict !
which they have been thus largely instrumental in 1
: bringing about, shall never be settled except on terms ,
of their own dictation? Is it consistent with honor, j
! with justice, with patriotism for them to take a stand
j agairtstall compromising of this conflict—or for them ‘
| even to takeftheir stand doggedly’ on certain partiou- |
lar terms ol compromise, and proclaim that. l -t}iese !
at least ice will hare or, so far as in us lies , this glo- j
nous, peerless Lilian shall he blown to atoms.” Let i
every Democrat ponder on these questions, and an- ;
swer them to his own heart and conscience, and if j
the response shall not be in fullest unison with honor, j
with justice, with patriotism, I will confess myself i
painfully mistaken in the character and tone of the i
political party with which lam connected. For my- ,
sell I have no hesitation in declaring my profound 1
conviction, that the above noticed undeniable facts of
Southern Democratic agency and instrumentality', in
bringing about the events and state of things out of
which the present threatening sectional conflict has
sprung, lays a peculiar and extraordinary weight of
obligation on the Southern Democratic party, to do
its utmost to carry the country safely through the
j perils of that conflict. They are circumstances of
! the most cogent nature, superadded to our general
duty’ as patriots, biuding us by'redoubled ties to be ac
tuated by a conciliatory spirit in this matter. They
! are circumstances which not only place our duty as
patriots, but our point of honor as parties to a quar
rel. decidedly ou the side of conciliation and compro
mise. 1 feel deeply assured that if Southern Demo
crats will but apply’ their minds to the calm, dispns
: sionatc study’ and review of the whole case, —they
j must come to this conclusion —a conclusion which is
but an anticipation of the clear voice of history, and
the permanent judgment of mankind.
Turning now from the contemplation of the pecu
liar position of tfie Southern Democracy in reference
to this great territorial controversy', let us for a mo
ment advert to that of the national Democratic party
in relation to the same thing. It took the whole
Democratic party of the country —the Southern wing
of it leading—the Northern aiding and co-operating,
to elFectuate the vast measures which form the ante
cedents and sources of this controversy. The whole
Democratic parly’ is, therefore, under special obliga
tion, though some in a greater degree than others, to
see that the country sutlers no detriment from the
consequences ot’ what they’ have done. The Demo
cracy of the North and of the South, as they’ united
and acted together in achieving the great measures
of which New Mexico and California are the fruit —
are now infinitely more bound to unite and work to
gether to save the country lrom the disgrace and ruin
of being torn to pieces by intestine strife between the
North and South about the division of the conquered
territory. Yes! A deep, ineffable disgrace will it.
indeed, be, to have it written down and perpetuated j
iu history’ that the Democratic party, holding in its ,
hands the sway of national allars, did, by policy and
arms acquire immense territories lor tlie country, and
then meanly proved itself to be neither able nor will
ing to prevent that country from being dismembered
and destroyed by reason ol a quarrel growing out of
the acquisition!
Happily for itself and for the country, such a re
proach lias not fastened itself on the Democratic
party, and I confidently believe, never will. That
this portentous controversy has not ere now been sa
tisfactorily adjusted, has been owing lo no fault of
the Democrats as a party —to no want of wise, pa
triotic foresight, precaution and exertion oil the part of
tlie true Democrats of the Union, and their eminent
and trusted public men.
At an early moment after tiie treaty with Mexico,
Mr. Bulk, as President of the United States, threw
; the whole weight of’ his character and official posi
tion into the scale, in favor of an adjustment on the
principle of extending the line of tiie Missouri Com
promise to the Pacific ocean. This recommendation
was made in his message to Congress upon the return
of the Oregon bill with his signature. There was
every reason to hope that tins basis ol settlement
would lie accepted by tiie country, and particularly
by the South. For it had very recently received the
! seal of” renewed national favor and recognition, by
; being incorporated in the resolution by which Texas
was'annexed to the Union. Mr. Buchanan brought
his unsurpassed reputation and weight ol character
as a statesman, and as a great man, and a great
i minded catholic patriot, to bear upon public opinion
in concurrence with Mr. Polk’s views. And thou
sands upon thousands of the best Democratic minds
and hearts in the country, were in unison with theirs
j —and the great mass of the party would undoubtedly
have readily moved in tiie same direction. But there
were not a few, and among them men ol mark, both
in the North and South, who were restrained liom
concurring with their brethren, by strong, and appa
-1 rentiy insurmountable scruples. They regarded the
, Missqpri Compromise with stern disfavor, as being a
sort of bastard engraftinent on the constitution, rather
j than as its legitimate filiation and offspring, and they
; thought it high time to put it under the ban. The
great deceased Carolinian, John C. Calhoun, figured
I at the head of those in the South, who were distin
guished by this feeling, and who. aside from the con
; stitutional difficulty, were irreconcilably averse to
the principle of the virtual exclusion by act of Con
gress of the people of an entire section of the Union,
from a fair participation in every portion of the nation
; al domains.
To ohviatc these scruples and devise a platform
I on which all might confidently and conscientiously
stand,—-Gen. Cass determined to go back to the very
| fountains of the constitution. He did so, and in his
| celebrated Nicholson letter, laid down the broad
doctrine of total non-interference by Congress with
the subject of slavery in the Territories. Here we
behold what, it would seem, ought to have been a
basis of reconcilement solid and ample enough to
! satisfy all minds but those fixed immovably in favor
of a Congressional inhibition ol slavery. And it
did satisfy and unite an overwhelming proportion ot
the Democracy, both of the North and South. I hey
adopted it as their grand party platform, and rallied
upon it alike for carrying the Presidential election,
.•and for settling the Territorial Question. The
Democratic party understood well what it was doing
when it adopted this platform. It well understood
that, whilst it was thus doing justice and seeking to
give satisfaction to the South, it was sacrificing
itself at the North to the tune of thousands, and
tens of thousands of votes. And it looked, ami had
“Jnkpenknt in all tilings—Neutral in Nottjiug. 11
MACON, GEORGIA, FRIDAY MORNING, JULY", 12, 1850.
a right to look to the South for compensation, for
this heavy patriotic loss—a loss incurred for the sake
of the Sou tit. But it looked in vain. More than
half the Southern people, embracing the whole Whig
party, and enough Democrats to turn the scale in
three or four Southern Democratic States, (Georgia
being one of them) voted against Gen. Cass and ef
fected his defeat, and that of the national Democratic
party.
Thus was forever lost to the South, by her own
deliberate fault, a priceless, irrevocable opportunity
of securing a benign settlement of this matter
through the happy, constitutional medium of the Bal
lot Box. Thus did the people of the South by’ their
votes work the overthrow of the National Candi
date and party who were their friends on this subject
and who, had they been placed in power, would have
undoubtedly brought about a satisfactory adjustment
of it! And still more and worse did the Southern
people do. They not only rejected their friends,
but by their votes they put their known enemies in
power. They put the reins of government in the
hands of Zachary Taylor, and the Northern Whig
party who were, and arc, our enemies on this ques
tion. The arms of the South, on ihe great battle
field ol the last Presidential election, were beheld
strangely gleaming in ranks Hostile lo her cause, and i
powerfully helped to win a crushing Waterloo
Victory against herself. So gigantig and astound- ;
ing an instance of madness and folly, in the exercise
of the elective franchise, history has never before
had to record against any people !
It is in vain.-utterly in vain, for a people who haov \
been guilty of such misconduct towards themselves. !
to expect to escai>c all the penal consequences due j
to their criminal fatuity. Heaven would be neither
wise, just nor severe, nor wisdom belter than folly, i
nor right than wrong, if it were allowed t<. bo
But. when such a Heed has in fact been done by a |
people, when they have irrevocably committed such |
an act of madness and folly, how shall they repair it?
How shall they go about, making amends for it, or
arresting or mitigating the consequences of it?—
This is the great practical question which presses
painfully on us of the South now.
Undoubtedly, when a people have been guilty of
such an act of madness and folly, they are not at
liberty to undertake to repair it, or lo get away from
the consequences of it, by rushing to the commission
of another act of equal or greater madness or folly.
Undoubtedly, in the present case, the people of the
South arc not at liberty to attempt to repair their
own miserable misdoing and self sacrifice in regard
to the Territorial Question, by resorting to the per
petuation of a still greater misdeed, of which the ef
fect will be our exclusion from the Union, without t
any tendency whatever towards giving a remedy or j
redress for our exclusion from the Territories. —
Undoubtedly, after recklessly throwing away as we j
have done, the all-sufficient, orderly, legitimate !
remedy of the Ballot Box, we are not at liberty to \
undertake to compensate ourselves for the effects oj :
that unsurpassed'foily by adventuring upon a, course j
of stupendous folly and wickedness combined. And |
it would he a course of stupendous wickedness as j
well as folly for Southern men. having a full view of j
all the past and present circumstances of tlie case, i
deliberately to make the existing Territorial contro
versy the basis on which to plant the lever of nmchi- ,
nations, for the overthrow of the Union. If tin’s ■
glorious Union must indeed be broken up, and by
Southern action too. —let it be on some other ground, j
some other quarrel; not on that! Let it he on some
ground, some quarrel which we are not responsible j
tor, —not culpable for. If we must, indeed, tear
down the pillars of our noble Federal Temple, let
us at least go about the sad work with clean hands
and blameless minds. Let us be executioners of the j
deed, without being partakers of the crime ! Let not
the ruins of the subverted fabric of the Union over- j
whelm us with dishonor and remorse, as well as with .
calamity.
What part, then, ought we of the South now to !
act? The’ answer seems to me exceedingly plain. — j
We ought to acta part which will throw the weight ;
of the South with the greatest effect in favor of a
prompt and judicious settlement of this quarrel.—
And in ordef to act that part., we must_ co-operate
with the friends, not the enemies of conciliation and
settlement.
To the honor of the Southern Whigs, as a party
they arc found pursuing this course. They commit
ted a great and ever to be deplored error, in placing
Gen. Taylor and the Northern Whig party in power.
They are now striving to redeem that error, to con
fine within the narrowest possible limits tlie danger
and detriment to the South, and the Union which
that error has so powerfully operated to produce.—
They arc found generally renouncing President
Taylor’s policy so dear to Northern Whigs, Free
Soilers and Abolitionists, and rallying under the op
posing banner, and following the great souled
patriotic lead ol their illustrious old chief, Henry
Clay. And with them the notile Spartan band of
Northern Democrats who still cherish justice and
friendship towards the South, are evidently disposed
to co-operate, —and if they shall fail so to co-operate,
it will, in all probability, be more owing to alenia
lion and resentment, at the contrary course of South
ern Democrats, than to any other cause.
The question, then, comes back with increased
pungency: —What is the duty of Southern Demo
crats? What ought they lo do?
It is very plain what would have been their duty,
and what they would have dne, in case the Demo
cratic party had not lost the Presidential election, and
with it the power to carry out their well understood,
fully avowed policy on this subject. But for the oc
currence of this woful and unhinging mishap, the
duty of the Democratic party, Northern and South
ern, would have been to organise territorial govern
ments, on the non-intervention principle , lor till the
territories acquired from Mexico, California included.
From this duty there would have been no escape or
attempt at escape, and it would ere now have been
fully and faithfully performed. General Cass, as
President, would have recommended it to Congress —
and Ins Northern Democratic supporters in both
Houses would have slood shoulder to shoulder with
Southern Democrats in the performance of this duty.
Southern Whig members would not have been
disposed, nor would they have dared, to withhold
their co-opcration—and thus the prompt and easy
passage of the measure would have been secured be
yond all shadow of doubt.
But General Taylor was elected President, and the
act of the people in electing him. and the results of
his policy and management since his election, have
greatly changed the duty of the Democratic parly,
and of Southern Democrats also, by interposing it
manifest impossibility to carrying out the original
Democratic programme in relation to the territories.
Through his management and influence, and that of
his Cabinet, California has been led to organise a
State government; and backed by his recommenda
tion. she is now knocking at the door for admission
into the Union, with an interdict in her constitution
against all slavery within her limits. And it is con
ceded on all hands that it would be a hopeless and
impossible thing to attempt to refhse her entrance and
remand her back to a territorial condition. We are
compelled consequently to give up California as a
territory, She is lost, irretrievably, as a satellite to
our system, and can henceforward belong to it only as
a star in the grand constellation of States. Possibly
we may. by well-directed efforts and judicious, co
operation with the friends of measures of conciliation
and concord, succeed in procuring a salutary curtail
ment of her enormous boundaries. Even this however,
there is little chance for—more, it would be wild to
think of.
But although California is thus lost to us, and lost
bv no fault or misdoing of the Southern Democratic
Dartv vet there is nothing whatever in the fact or
circumstances of that logs which can operate to ex
onerate Southern Democrats from the full and faith
ful penormance of all that part of their original duty
in relr on to the territories that yet remains possible
to be performed. New Mexico still remains—the
newly proposed territory of Utah remains—both
claiming, and ready to receive at our hands, territo
rial governments upon our own cherished non-inter
| vention principle. Our duty in regard to these terri
j tories is certainly not at all done away or lessened
1 because Gen. Taylor has rendered it impossible for
I us to perform the like duty in regard to California. —
On the contrary, that duty is even heightened by the
I course which Gen. Taylor has pursued in relation
| to California, and the policy which he is now’ urging
1 in relerence to the other two territories —which policy
unblushingly proposes to withhold from them civil
j and political organizations, and to treat them as out
i casts from government, in order by such treatment to
I drive them to a speedy imitation of the example of
California, and to a like irregular and obnoxious claim
for admission into the Union.
The duty, then, of Southern Democrats in relation
to these territories remains entire. It is a duty to
organise territorial governments lor them on the basis
of Congressional non-interference with the subject of
Slavery within their limits ; it is a duty to save them
from suffering, for a long and indefinite period, the
wretched fate Which Geivl Taylor’s heartless and
unscrupulous policy of Governmental qon-action and
abandonment would inflict upon them ; it is a duly to
rescue them, moreover, from being made, what that
policy would undoubtedly make them, a long contin
uing, effective stalking-horse of anti-slavery agitation; !
and, above all, it is a duty summoning them to the
rescue of the South, and of the Union, from the tre
mendous disasters in store lor them both, from the
rapid spread of Abolitionism an.l bitter sectional
hatred wiwcquuii upon such agitation.
Such are the manifest and imperative duties of
Southern Democrats in the present critical and alarm
ing state of things—duties of which I am utterly un
able to see how they can effectually acquit them
selves otherwise than by earnestly co operating with j
those who show themselves deeply penetrated with a j
sense of the same duties : with such men as Clay, :
Webster, Dickinson, Atchison, Mangum, Cass and
Foote, all those Northern and Southern Democrats
and Southern Whigs, aye, and Northern Whigs, too
if any such there be, who are working hard for the
performance of all these duties —who are laboring to ;
compose the strifes of the country, to heal its fearful
wounds, and to restore it once more to a state at
which the patriot need neither blush nor tremble.
It is only by such a co-operation, I repeat, we can
at all acquit ourselves of these duties. Certainly
we cannot do it by siding, whether actively or pas
sively, with Gen. Taylor and his followers in this
matter, w r ho are seeking to carry’out a policy which
sets all these duties at naught. As little can we do
it by siding with those who, in their blind rage at
General Taylor’s too successful legerdemain in re
gard to California, are bent on pursuing a course
which, without the least prospect of defeating the full
realization of that part of his plan which relates to
Calilbrnia, vv 11 absolutely ensure the success of that j
other part which relates to New Mexico and Utah.
The bill reported by Mr. Clay, as Chairman of the Coin- 1
mittee of Thirteen in the Senate, is the great antagonistical
plan to that of the President and his cabinet, and to the
schemes and views of the Northern Whigs, Free-soilers and
Abolitionists. If it fails , they must neccsarily triumph.
If it succeeds, they are as necessarily defeated and aver - j
thrown. Such is the real uushunnable alternative which the 1
ease presents.
Let us then look dispassionately at that bill. The un
doubted excellence, the exalted patriotism of its objects, en- j
title itrat least to a fair and liberal examination before it- is con- j
detuned and rejected.
It is impossible, I apprehend, to deny that it is a bill which
contains mneh that is good—and good of the highest kind.
It is equally impossible to deny that it will prevent much that
is evil, and evil of the very worst kind.
In the first place, it is a marked ingredient of good in the
bill, that it makes provision for the organization and govern
ment of the Territories of New Mexico and Utah. The atro
cious contrasted wrong and evil which it will prevent, and
which so deeply stains the opposing cabinet plan, is the leav- ;
ing of the people of these Territories for an indefinite length
of years without the protection of government and laws, to be 1
a miserable prey to civil anarchy, military despotism and bar
barian outrage. Every day that this state of things is allowed
to last, is a continuation of the most crying, merciless, discred
itable injury ami injustice, on the part of our government, to
wards this portion of our fellow citizens. It constitutes a case
of the most remarkable governmental pravity and ‘abandon
ment of duty, thal was ever known. Tt involves a breach of
the faith of treaties, of the obligations of the Constitution, and
of the sanctity of oaths, all of which unite to demand in tliun
der-toncs of the President and Congress, to give to the peo
ple of New Mexico and Utah, the benefits and protection of
civil government and laws. Mr. Clay’s bill proposes to dis
charge this most solemn and imperative duty. The antago
nistic Presidential plan, proposes to set this duty at naught,
and to abandon these Territories for an indefinite length of
time, to all the miseries and wrongs of their present auarchi
’ cal and unprotected condition. M ill Southern Democrats—
, will Southern men of any party pursue a course which effec
tually helps and enables Gen. Taylor oud his cabinet, to carry
: out such an atrocious policy ? This is one of the questions
which they must answer by their course in this matter. For
to help to defeat Mr. Clay’s biff, is to help most efficiently to
carryout Gen. Taylor’s system of govevmental non-action and
abandonment of duty, in regard to the Territories. Tluitsys
; tern goes into effect if the bill is defeated-—it vanishes into
nothing if the bill is passed.
i Another prominent and undeniable merit which Mr. Clay’s j
bill possesses, is to be found in the rejection of the \\ ilmot
Proviso, and in the feature it contains of Congressional non
■ interference with the subject of slavery in the Territories.
! Those Southern men who refuse to recognize this as a great j
! and satisfactory merit in Mr. Clay's bill render very poorscr- j
vice to the Southern cause. They contribute to weaken and
! demoralise the South in her own eyes and in the eyes of the j
1 whole country, by stirring up dissatisfaction now against what !
i the Southern people clamored for, only two years ago. Let j
,us beware, now that the position wc contended for in 1818 —is -
sought to he conceded to us, how wc turn away grumbling
from the offer, and insist upon another position we then repu
diated. Haw downward is the tendency of such a course! I
And how certainly arc those who pursue it destined to sink
the character of patriots in that of faction ists !
The bill has a still further merit in connection with the mat
ter of slavery. It is not only marked throughout all its pro
| visions, by the entire abstinence of Congress to legislate iu re- j
lotion to slavery, but in order to make absolutely sure ot
Southern approval in this particular, it expressly denies to the
Territorial government the power to pass any law prohibiting
or establishing it; thus leaving the question of slavery in the
Territories in the hands of the judiciary where the celebrated
Clayton Compromise bill of IS4B —over the loss of which the
Southern people so poignantly grieved, sought to put it. Sure
ly, then, it cannot he that Southern men mid especially South
ern Democrats, will pronounce Mr. Clay's bill unsatisfactory
, on the subject of slavery in the Territories,
Again, the great and, so far as I am aware, the only point
of honor urged or made by the South in connection with this
controversy,has been that Congress should not make a discrimi
nation against the Southern people, by passing a law in re
straint of their right to emigrate with their peculiar property,
to territories acquired by the common blood and treasure ol
the whole country. Such a discrimination it was felt and in
sisted, would be hot less a wound upon Southern honor and
equality thau an infraction of Southern rights. Thi* point of
honor is saved *to us—saved complete and inviolate by Mr.
. Clay's bill.
, And yet further: —The passage of Mr. Ckn ’Jbffl, in con
junction with the opinion prevalent tlirougho .. . South,
: that, in the absence of all Congressional or Territorial legisla
tion to the contrary, the Southern people, would be entitled in
i point of law to carry their slaves into the Territories —the pas
sage, I say, of this bill in conjunction with this prevailing opin
ion, would make Southern, men feel see nr e in emigrating
i thither with their slaves. And if there be adequate induce
ments presented by the sofl, climate, and productions, mineral
I or agricultural, of thecountry, they will so emigrate to it,
1 and-plant Southern influence there, and in due time bring the
| States there to bo formed, into the Union as slave-holding
1 Stales.
In strongest contrast with all this, is the course which
i things must take if the bill is defeated and Gen. Taylor’s
; policy of non-action and abandonment of the Territories to
! an unorganized and lawless state, supervenes in its place.
; In that ease, the whole world knows that there will be no
; immigration of Southern slave owners with their property, j
i For men owning any kind of permanent or valuable property,
; especially slaves in the South, to the absolute security of ,
1 which they look for the inaiutainance of their families and a
i provision for their children, will not risk it in a land destitute
jof the protection of civil government and laws. In such a
land the needy, lawless, the outlawed and the desperately ad
venturous, will mainly congregate. Such will be the cfcarac-
I ter of the population, that under the system recommended by
Gen. Taylor, will at some distant day frame constitutions and
governments, and ask for admission into the l nion for New
Mexico and Utah. And such a population, owning no slaves
and looking merely to the appropriation of the country audits
government and honors to themselves and others of their own
sort —will be sure to shut out Southern slave-owners, by an
1 interdict in their State Constitution, as the Californians have
! done.
The Northern Y\ bigs. Free Suffers and Abolitionists, who
j are supporting Gen. Taylor’s non action policy, understand
well what will be its operation. They know that it will, in
the end, certainly throw New Mexico and Utah into their i
hands—as the President’s active policy lias already thrown
California into their hands—and so they be but sure of get
| ting the substantial tiling which they want, they are not j
over-nice or particular about the process by which it shall be
done.
Will Southern Democrats, will Southern men of any party,
pursue a course which amounts to giving them effectual and
| decisive aid for achieving smell an end by such means ? They
will IxTpursuing such a course if they co-operate with them
j in causing Mr. Clay's bill to be rejected.
It is another important merit of the bill, (or rather it is a
| necessity from which the bill could not escape,) tlmt it seeks
I to provide for the settlement of the disputed boundary between
. Now Mexico and Texas. This branch of the biff is insepara
bly incident to the great object of organizing a territorial go
vernment for New Mexico. For, in order to the organization j
; and working of a Territorial government, measures for set- ;
! tling this disputed boundary, are indispensable, unless wc i
; would have Congress to be guilty of the wickedness and in- j
: sanity of organising a territory for the purpose of making it a
; wide and revolting arena Os governmental collision and war- j
fare with a neighboring state.
It has already been ascertained by a decisive vote of the
| Senate, that it is wholly impossible to pass a biff recognizing [
: and confirming the vast length of Western boundary claimed
by Texas, stretching from the mouth to the source of the Rio
| Grande del Norte, and thence due North to the 42J parallel j
of latitude. Probably Texas herself, would regard as a most
! unhappy circumstance, the permanent engraftment on her po- ;
litieal body, of the immense, barren proboscis to which she ‘
now lays claim, projecting up so far to the North and partak
ing of her vitality to little other purpose than that of provok
ing upon her perpetual hostilities and incursions from numer
ous tribes of savages.
According to the imperfect attention I have given to the
subject, I am inclined to tliink the best boundary b ‘tween j
New Mexico and Texas, would be a lino quitting the del Norte
at a point some sixty miles above the town of El Tasso, and :
stretching from thence to Red River, along the Southern
margin of the Great Desert of the Journey of D alh, throw
ing that 1 )esert entirely into New Mexico. Such a line would
give Texas all the territory in that direction that can possibly ;
be desirable to her. For giving up her claim to the territory
North of that line, she ought to receive an ample equivalent,
and so the bill provides. This part of the bill ought also to
be wholly disentangled from the slavery controversy, by a pro
vision expressly recognising and perpetuating the Missouri
Compromise Line, as laid down and established in the Texas
Annexation Resolutions—which, I believe, has been done by
an amendment introduced for that special purpose.
After all, this whole branch of the biff amounts to nothing
more than making an overture to Texas for the settlement cf
the boundary. And in the perfect freedom which Texas will
possess of accepting, rejecting or modifying the terms offered
by the bill, we have ample security that nothing detrimental
to the great interests of the South, will be allowed to be con- J
summated.
Such arc the undoubtedly good provisions which the Ter
ritorial bill of the Committee of Thirteen, contains—.provi
sions which Congress is clearly bound to enact—the enact
ment of which is a fluty of the gravest kind—a duty which it is
no light thing for American Congressmen and especially
Southern members add Southern Democrats, to omit to per
form. Yea! more! It is a duty so grave ami imperative, so 1
i binding on their souls anl consciences, that they arc bound to i
use their utmost exertions, to exhaust all the constitutional
| means in their power, for its full and effectual performance.
, On this point it does not seem to me that there can be any 1
ground of doubt. And if the bill contained no other provi
-1 sions but these, it would have easily united the suffrages 1
alike of Whigs and Democrats of the South.
:
It was a deep and over-ruling sense of the solemn duty of
; carrying into effect the measures contemplated by these pro-
visions that actuated those Senators who co-operated to unite
them together in the same Bill with another measure.—that
: for the admission of California Into the Union as a State.—■
! The joining of them in the same Biff with that measure, was |
resorted to as a means of affecting their passage, and as the
, only means by which it was believed it could be effected—and •
; for no other reason.
The Senators, who thus cooperated and who were so pro- .
fouudly peentrated with a conviction of the overwhelming j
j character of the duty of enacting these provisions, on looking
around to ascertain what were the prospects for success, were
j struck with grief by the discovery that their utmost endeavors j
I were doomed to certain defeat, in case these provisions were ’
left to depend for tliyir passage on their own mere and unaided
I strength in Congress. This melancholy discovery made a
I deep impression on their minds, but was far from making *
j them feel that they could be justified in leaving these provis- 1
ions to the fate which was seen certainly to await them, as a
( separate and disconnected measure. On the contrary, they
, felt it to be their duty to east about for some warrantable le- :
( gislative expedient to strengthen them and give them abettor *
j chance of success.
After long debate and great deliberation, and strong oppo
sition, they adopted such an expedient. They beheld lying
beneath their hands, on the Senate table, a separate Bill for
. the Admission of California—a measure known to possess a
I very plethora of strength —troops of zealous friends—large
and determined majorities in both branches of Congress. i
They beheld In it a measure, which was conceded on all hands i
| to be absolutely certain to pass by a decided vote, and a mea- j
sure which they believed to be strong enough to carry along i
j with it on iu back those other weaker measures, which these
j Senators liad so much at heart—the Bill for tbe organization,
non-intervention principle, of the Territoriea of Now
Mexico and Utah, and that, also, for the settlement of {be
, Nfov xi ; Texas Boundary question.
I itits those cirru instances, what did they do?
they did what was no new or questionable thing in parliamcn
i tan-tactic* and practice. Senators who were the friends,
and Senators who were the enemies of the measure of the
admission of California, united to throw it into the same Bill
with those other measures, in order that its strength might be
, made to sid their weakness and carry them safely through
Congress. In oilier words, they laid hold, of the fleet and
strong-limbed California admission steed, that was deemed cer
tain to pass triumphantly through the Congressional lists, and
j determined to make him do some good service, if possible, to
the country, as he passed—determined to make him servo as
a pack-horse to carry through along with himself the whole
load of our favorite Southern measures connected with the
Territorial controversy.
Those measures are known be Ipo weak to carry them
j selves through by their own unassisted strength, and in fast
ening them to Cen. Taylor's California Admission measure.
Southern members of Congress are not, by any means, ma
king themselves chargeable with the blame and responsibility
of that measure, but are merely using it as an engine to drag
through their own better, though weaker measures.
‘•The very head and from of their offending,
Hath this extent, uo more.”
Admitting, what I do not see how any man can successful
ly deny, that it was foul play on the part of the Administra
j tion to foist upon the turf this powerful California Admission
I measure, choosing us of tbe South so adroitly out of our
i cherished non-intervention policy in reference to California—
admitting this, I say, to be so, there is certainly nothing ir such
a fact to entitle either the powerful steed or his patrons and
abettors.to any favor or exemption at our hands. Audit
j would be a very great favor to them—one highly promotivc of
their dearest schemes and wishes, for us to throw oft’ the
weighty Southern measures which have been fastened on the
; back of their steed, or for us to let him fail, for want of due
1 application of whip and spur, votes and voices on our part, to
carry that load of measures successfully through. Tor ihe
question is not whether he shall go through or not go through.
It is certain lie will go through, in spite of us; and the real
I and only practical question is, whether lie shall go through
j with our load of measures on his back, or without them, and to
j their utter and hopeless loss. For once let it be settled inf
any way that he shall not or cannot go through with them,
, and then, relieved of that load, lie will fly around the track
j on In*>ts of winged speed, bringing California into the Union
i as a separate measure with her enormous boundaries, her ir
; regularities of organization and her constitutional interdict of
! Slavery; and leaving New Mexico and Utah unorganized, the
t New Mexico and Texas Boundary question unsettled, leaving
the whole mighty mass of Congressional duties in relation to
these Territories unperformed, and without the chance or pros
pect of performance—leaving, for years to come, those territo
ries fruitful, in scarce any thing else, to be putrcseently fertile
! liot-beds of Govermental collisions, sectional animosities, An
: ti-Slavery agitation and Abolition propagandism—with the
certainty at last of coining into the Union like California, with
an Anti-Slavery Constitution; if, indeed, the l*iion shall not,
! ere then, perish on the rocks of the very controversy which
i these Territories will thus serve to exasperate and perpetu
ate, and from which there is not patriotism enough in the
North or the South, the East or the West, to extricate the
country.
All this wc are asked to hazard, all this we are asked to
lend ourselves to the probable bringing about, all this we aro
asked to render ourselves deeply, culpably responsible for, if it
should come about. And for what ? Not because by doing
thus, wc should have a prospect, on which a reasonable man
would incur a heavy hazard, of gaining what we want, in
whole or part. Not because we would thereby obtain a pros
pect of releasing ourselves from provoking and disastrous
consequences, wliieli are traceable to causes in which we have
largely participated, and for which we are largeldVesponsibla
as a people; but simply because we liave grave objections
which we will not surmount, to voting for a Bill containing a
provision for the admission of California, although all its oth
er provisions are precisely what wc approve and what tho
country wants, and although the Passage of the Bill is tho
only probable measure of peace, conciliation and adjustment
that we can hope to obtain for our distracted and endangered
country.
I am fully sensible of the force of the objections to the Ad
mission of California. They are objections founded on tho
enormity of her boundaries—her nnpreparedness ,to be a
State—the gross irregularities attending bar organization as a
State Government, and the unfair and inadmissible means
employed tocause her precipitately to form a State Govern*
ment and adopt an Anti-Slavery Constitution. Ido not men*
tion .as one of the objections, the inert fact that such is the
character of the Constitution she has ailopted. That would
be sanctioning the monstrous principle maintained by the
celebrated Missouri Restrictionists of 1819, ’2O, who contend
cd that when a State was applying for admission into the Un
ion, Congress had a right to scrutinize the character of the pro
visions or permissions of her constitution or. the subject of sla
very, and to make them the basis of her admission or rejec
tion. Such a principle, asserted by the North, shook the con
federacy to its foundations, thirty years ago. The bare re
miniscence of that era will be enough to keep forever fresh
the stigma tliat rests ou that most dangerous and abominaWo
doctrine.
In reference, however, to any and every objection tliat can
be urged against the admission of California, it is obvious that
California herself ought to be dealt with in the most tender
and liberal manner. She has been from the beginning to this
present hour, the party “more sinned against tlian sinning
We refused to give her wliat she most pressingly needed, most
earnestly desired—what we were bound by the most sacred
obligations to give her—a territorial Government. W e left
her to anarchy and outlawry, of which neither she nor wo
were able to see the termination, and at this moment sho
would have been in that state, as New Mexico actually is, if
she had not organized a Government of her own. Under
these circumstnnoes, it does not lie in the mouth of Congress,
the wrong-doer tliat drove California to the oour-se she has
taken, to indulge in much censure against her for what she
has done, or her unpreparedness for doing it, or the irregular
ity of her proceedings in doing it, or the inadmissible influen
ces which may have operated upon her in relation to. it Con
gress and the country seem fully sensible of this. The con
sequence is. that the controversy in regard to California, has
become very much narrowed, reduced down to a question as
to what boundaries shall be given her. Every body in the
South, I suppose, certainly all those who arc in favor of the
extension of the Missouri Compromise hue to the Pacific,
! would be willing to see California at once admitted into the
’ Union, on the single condition of her acceptance of the par
allel of 36.1. 30. as her Southern Boundary. I should bo
‘ greatly rejoiced if such a curtailment of hr* limits could be
1 introduced as an amendment in Mr. Clay's Bill. Such an
amendment, if made, would render another necessary, name
ly : an additional provision in the Bill, organizing a Territory
in South California, upon the same principles in reference to
i the Slavcrj- Question as those which the Bill establishes for
the organization of New Mexico and Utah. If these two
amendments could be introduced, Mr. Ciay s Bill, it
I seems to me, would he entirely unexceptionable to all South
! ern men—bating some inevitable difterenoejaf opinion as to
what would be the best line of boundary between New Mex
l icoand Texas. Certainly Mr. Clay's Bill, with these amend -
ments, would be better for the South than the extension of
the Missouri Compioinu-e line to the Pacific B w ould be at
NO. 16.
