Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1825-02-04
u. S. CONGRESS.
Mr.. TAZEWEIL,s SPEECH.
In the Senate Of the United STATES, O
Friday, Januaru 2l, 1926.

e0"S, SNh""fy SiS ioSO.
The Senate again proceeded to the consider
alton of the bill ''for the Suppression of Piracy.n
Mr. TAzEwELL rose, and moved to strike
from the bill the third section thereof which is
as follows:
'Asd be 1t further enacted That if any of
the said pirates should escape from the fires h
pursuit If the commanding officers and crews of
any armed vessel of the United States, and find
refuge IN any of the cities or ports of the said
Island of Cuba, other Islands aforesaid, the
President of the United States, on being infor-,
med fthe FAC in manner atsfacto 10 him, of
Its authenticity, shall be, " he is hereby author
lied, his discretion tn declare the said port or
city to be in state of blockade, and shall cause
the same to be invested by the naval force of
the u. States, till the said pirates shall have
been secured and punished by the authorities of
the said island, until satisfaction shall other
wise have been made, whereupon he shall deem
Ii just and eXpedient to discontinue the said
blockade"
In support OF this motion Mr.. T JEWELL
said
Mr.. President: In proposing this mea-
sure, do not, by any means, wish to be
considered as being opposed to the
great object of the bill. SO far from
opposing it, there is no member of the
Senate, no member of the committee,
not even my honorable friend and col
league, to whom SO much is due for the
zeal and ability he has displayed on this
occasion, who is more favorable to the
application of every proher means of
obtaining the object than myself. Sir,
1t is precisely because do not consider
the means, proposed by the Sd sec ton
of the bill, to be either proper or sutfi-
cient to obtain the end the bill has in
view, that | have proposed to strike it
out. 1t Is unnecessary TO reclte again
the phrases OF this section. 1t is sufi-
eient 20 observe, that its object is to au-
thorize the President of the United
States, under certain circumstances, to
institute a blockade Of certain Spanish
ports.
tN1c -advocrtes Of this measure, at the
very moment they recommend its adop-
ton to the Senate, acknowledge it is a
war measure. They acknowledge, m ore
over, that the United States maintain,
at this moment, the most cordial rela-
tons OF amity not only with this power,
but with every nation on the globe, and
they declare that it is not their purp ose
to change, in any way, these relations of
peace and amity, whilst they practise this
friend and colleague urges on this sub
Ject, is this: ''We have Just cause for
war against Spain, and therefore, al
though at peace ourselves, we have right
to practise against her this war measure %
1t is not necessary, sir, for me, at this
time, or in this place, to inquire. whe-
ther the proposition, which asserts we
have Just ground Of war against Spain. is
correct or not; but think / am autfiori-
zed in saying, it the statement my friend
and colleague made yesterday is well
founded, that the eXis,ency Of piracy
within her dominions, is asCribable to
the zveaknesS and not to the will of Spain,
1t belongs not to a just or generous people
to declare this weakness a lust ground
for war. Pdrctre Subjects. et debeLkure
super6os, was the maxim the poet teaches
as that which was inculcated by the wis
dom OF the dead upon the magnanimous
enterprise of the living, in past times;
and trust me, sir. whenever we depart
from the course this advice rec ommends,
we shall loose much Of that moral force
which constitutes the great power of the
people OF the United States at this mo-
ment, while we shall not add sprig Of
laurel to the garland which now adorns
our brow. Suppose we allow there is
just cause of war with Spain; does it fol-
iow that any obligation is thereby inpos-
ed on us to exercise the right thus &C
CURED: Because a nation has a lust
cause OF war, is it to be argued, that she
must, OF necessity, engage in 1t? She
surely may waive the right of wagine
war, if she thinks proper so to do; and
when she valves this right, it must be
admitted its incidents and mere conse-
qucnceS follow the right SO waived, and
she can no longer claim the shadow, al
ter she has voluntarily waived and abau-
doned the substance which produced IT,
Ii this be so, it is not correct TO argue
that because we have just cause Of war
we may, In times of peace, adopt mea-
sure which belongs to war alone; and.
least OF all, does it result, that, while
you are maintaining these relations of
peace and amity with all nations. YOU are
at liberty to put in practice measures of
war, which will not fall en- the offending
party alone, but on the innocent and
metitorious only. Here, then, exists the
hrst and great difference between the ad.
Vocates ofthis measure and myself. They
say that the measure proposed is design
ed to act, and must act, ''upon the guilty
alone. In my view, it can only Affect
the innocent and meritorious; and. If this
position be establi shed to their satisfac
ton, venture to hope the advocates of
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