Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1812-02-17
SPEECH OF THE
HON. JOsLaH QULWCY,

q states, January 25th, 1871
81 Maritime Protection.
CONTINUED.
Hayin. concluded what intended 20
: ,,,gest. in relation to the nature OF tfe
Unrest e to be protected, | proceed TO con
siser the nature Of the protectaon' zchlcl''
it IS oar duty to e1tend.
And. here, Mr.. Speaker. am neees-
slated to make an observation, which IS
Sd simple and SO obvious, that, were 1t
nd for the arguments, urged against the
piinciple of maritime protection, should
hive deemed the mere mention OF IT, 10
rnuire an apology. The remark is this,
flat rights, in their nature lo.ai' can oaiy
b. maintained, where they exist, and not
vsere they do not exist. Hym had ileld
t,defend in Georgia. it would be very
strange to put up fence in Massaehu-
sats. And yet. how does this differ from
;,yad;ng Canada. for the purpose Of de-
hn,l;ng our maritime rights ? | beg MOTTO
10 understood, MIR. Speaker. Iy this re-
mark. as intending to chiN the arior for
Ale Canada expedition. It is very true,
.s.t 70 nossess ourselves of Me Canadas,
.nd Nova Scotia and their dependencies.
i would cost these. United States, at the
| least estimate. Fifty Millions Of Dollars J;
and that Great Britain national pride,
and her nledge pfpr'tection to the people
asthat ,dpdtr-, being put out of the CUES
% -, @"ol'i sell YOU the whole territory,
J & haff the money. make no objection.
however, on this account. On the con-
trary, Tor the purposes Of the present ar
gumsnf, may admit. that pecuniary cal
cniation ought TO be put cut Of the field,
when spirit is to be shewn. or honor vim
dicatea. only design to inquire how our
maritime rights are protected, by such
invasion. Suppose that, in every land pro
Ject. You are successful. Suppose both
the Cana'las, Quebec. Halifax. every thing
to the North Pole. yours, by fair conquest.
Are your rights. on the ocean, therefore,
secure Does your flag tlcat. afterwards,
IN hoaor? Are your seagnen safe from
.mpTessnent t! Is your course along TIE
highway ofnaiions unobstructed? No one
pretents ii. No one has, or can shew. By
any logical deduction, or any detail Of
faets' tliat the loss of those countries would
so compress Great Britain. as to induce
her 10 aoanh0n 1of UIv-szv,.p, any of her
maritime pretensions. What then results !?
Why, Sir, What is palpable. as the day,
that maritime rights are only to be main
tanned by maritime means. This species
Of protection must be given, Or all c!amor
about maritime rights will be understood,
by the people interested in them, to be
hollow, or false Or, what is worse, an in
tentlon to cooperate, with the enemies of
our commerce, in still farther embar
rassment Of it.
While l am on this point, cannot re-
tram from noticing strange solecism,
which seems to prevail, touching the term
FLAG. Ii is talked about, as though there
was something mystical in its very nature
as though rag, with certain stripes ard
stars upon il, tied to stick, and called a
flag, was wizards wand, and entaied
security en- every thing under it. or within
its sphere. There is nothing like all this,
IA the nature of the thing. A flag is the
evidence of power. A land flag is the evil
dence of land power. A maritime flag is
the evidence Of maritime power. You may
have piece of bunting upon staff. and
call it flag, but if you have no maritime
power to maintain it, you have name,
and no reality; you have the shadow, with
out the substance !; you have the sign Of
a flag, but in trutii-YoU HAVE NO FLAG.
In considering this subject Of maritime
shall recur Co the nature and
degree Of it, and to our capacity to ex-
tend it. And, here, we are always met,
at the very threshold with this objection
g A naval force requires much time to get
i into readiness, and the exigency will be
past, before the preparation can be com
,leated.' Thus want of foresight, In times