Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1823-03-20
BRIEF 5XETC 1 OF THE SPEECH
DELIVERED BIZ
HENRY ST. GEORGE TUCKER.
In the Senate cfYirginia. on the R'mucky Con-
rention Bill.
THE KENTUCKY BILL.


| THE KENTUCKY BILL.
! Being on its third reading Mr.. TUcKER
Rose, be said to offer his objections to the
bill in its present shape. He was OPP
posed 10 the guarantee, but his reasons
would be best understood by entering up
. on the subject al large. lie had little hope
of success, so powerfully was the bill sup
ported in its progress by the weight Of o.
pinion oftbe commissioner OF Virginia,
aud other distinguished men. The unpop.
nlarity of this course would moi deter him.
He had been in this legislature al adyo.
cate, fifteen years ago, for permanent,
independent, judiciary He brought into
this discussion some of the feelings and o.
plnions he bad then. II was now made
question whe Their we should leave the i'm
portant matters iu dispute between the
, two states to the courts OF justice--to
permanent, constitutional and impartial
| tribunal, or an epheiueral, Unconstitutional,
| perhaps prejudlced cOurt;-'he creaiurf OF
an hour. created tor the trial OF single
cause. selected from motives as various as
the passions of the hum n heart-to try no
| one can tell precisely rhdt, and 10 enforce
! their decision, GOd knows how. What
! has tempted u alter 80 years tame acqui-
escence in the wrongs of Kentucky, 10 quit
our vantage ground for the dangers OF an
underlined con est before a court of COM
missioners 10 qui. tn beaten track OF
| judicial decision, at the very moment
when 1t has Indicated a Reproduction OF the
| Kentucky laws, IN a suit prosecuted by ~
| dividual enterprise almost 10 A successful
conclusion. and hunt after justice in the
UNEMPLOYED and painless inlricacies OF this
arbi "a ion? Is il he complaint OF Ken
lucky? Is il that she now asks us to kiss
| the rod which has stricken us;-to approve
her laws-or leave their validity to this
novel tribunal and save them from the re-
probation OF the courts 9-or is it The man
| Der IN winch his extraordinary tr|a
nal is likely to be constituted ? However
honest the persons, selected by K, they
have probably formed their 4pinous on
the matter in controversy One OF them
has been chosen from Ohio, where the X.
system is said to prevail not. he p:esum-
ed, with view 10 his known opinions !;
| bm US it will be the same thing, il be
hes already made up bis mind on the Ken
lucky laws. We were toldias, winter hy
he K. commissioners that the situation OF
! the Western country made such laws ne
cessary They are equally popular prob
ably i'm Ohio as in K. and are interviewer
with all the opinions of The people. Shall
We submit this dispute 10 men. whose o.
pinions are probably precoDceived, in pre-
| terence to the courts OF Justice, who bave
made up no opinion, Of shall We endeavor
| TO balance the sesupposed prejudices on one
side, by selectingpfejudiced men on thr
other? God forbid We are all agreed,
he W as sure, IN this. No one in this legIs-
la:ure, he ielt satisfied, had ever contem-
plated such thing. No il we 60 into
this business, Ie, US 20 into it win clea
hands and spotless hearts. Choose men
[ above al exception. Lose every thing
else if necessary TO save the honor of the
state. IL is the best inheritance of any na :
ton. 1t Is almost all that is LETT 10 Us, of
all our possessions.
Let US not assume this guarantee from
too much confidence IN our cause aud our
counsel We are naturally sanguine, and
always hope for the best results. Yet we
| are often mistaken--We were saDgu,ne
about Cohen's case for II was good
cause and W. had able counsel but ne lost
IL. We were sanguine about Mr.. Legh's
success-but he could only get such re-
fere CO as some now think 1t unsafe to a.
bidc by. He did, however, all that man
could-coud success have been tanned,
he would have attained lt.-tte was tight
too to enter in these arrangements, saving
TO the General Assembly the power OF re-
iec,ion--for it was not for him TO say
whether we might no, choo' TO accept
them rather than have no reference at all.
He has done bis duty lei US do ours.
Do we feel tempted 10 enter into this
business by our former successes at nego-
,iatins? Call to mind the cession of the
IN W. territory, by which from carelessly
leaving out Jew words, We lost The right
OF providiag for our soldiers on state es
tablishnen,. Look at the settlement Of
the Pennsyvaria boundary, by which We
lost the country round Pittsburgh. Look
at he Nsrth Carolina boundary, where we
have also greatly lost. Look at this very
compact with Kentucky-so loosely word
e,1, from false confidence in the good
faith of each other, that it is now dispute
what it means. The true way TO svon'
losses, is to see our ray clearly-io know
what we are about. g. not 10 bind ourselves,
unless we are certain that we are not mis-
taken in the grounds we stand on Let US
take lesson from the past, an after hav-
inc wasted all the land OF Virginia by bad
and impro1ident councils, let US not render
our constituents liable to guarantee
which may take away their money from
them also We are told, that the holders
OF the warrants cannot recover from Ken
lucky, aud that if they cannot, the guar
antee is nothing. But suppose we are
mislaken-tben we will be responsible for
100 600 acres of land, worth about $50,