Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1828-01-31


ders from the Secretary of War, relative TO the
length OF time which the Tennessee militia should
be required to serve, and copies of correspondence
between the Executive of the United States and
the Chief Magistrate of Tennessee upon the same
subject. And it is insisted that these can have no
bearing upon the present subject. Do they not
appear, on the face of the proposition, 70 have a
palpable and an intimate connexion with il! And
can we say, before hand that they can have no
relation TO 1t whatever? When seeking light, shall
we voluntarily close the avenues through which it
IS expected to be received?
The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Wick
lfe) urged, objection TO that part of the re-
solution which calls for correspo ndence, that, if
complied with, and copies sent here, it will tend
to obscure the subject But the gentleman then
proceeded himselfto relate TO us, from memory,
the contents of that correspondence. Could he i'm
tend to obiuscate Ito adopt unusual but
prcssivc wort) the understanding of the House? He
certainly could have had no apprehension Of such
an effect. And il we may with safety turn
attention to the contents of that correspondence,
when stated verbally, and from memory merely
there cannot be danger in receiving official CO.
pies oil II, from the documents in the Departments.
The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Polk has
advocated his amendment with much vehemcncc,
! because he would not have any arguments o.
! p'nioaS from the Secretary of War. The time
was, believe, when that gentleman entertained
different views of the proper scope OF calls Of this
Kind. a certain resolution, of some notoriety,
proposed TO call upon the Head of q Department
not only for facts, but for also; and to that
resolution, 1t was understood, the gentleman from
tennessee had no aversion. But the trnth is,
that this resolution calls for no opinion and no ar
gument whatever. The gentleman must have
labored under great misrepresentation. 1t re-
cures copies and copies only, of oBiciGl orders
and OFFICIAL letters; and il none are found in the
Department, that the Secretary shall merely state
that fact. The gentleman wants no statement
from the Secretary of War! Sir, every call for
copies from Department, necessarily requires
such statement, in the contingency ofthe records
not being found. Such is the invarible practice.
II you demand OF AIN officer documents which
not in his possession, ne must return TO you res
pecttul answer, stating that fact.
The gentleman from Tennessee declares that he
Is anxious to obtain all the documents and all the
facts The resolution, as it stands, proposes to
produce TO him the very objects of his wishes, Of
fetal copies Of official documents; and certainly if
he reconsiders the subject, he will not insist on
rejecting them.
Mr.. 5. concluded by saying, that he felt very
little interest in the original resolution, but, if il
were TO pass, he hoped it would retain its perscnt
form, and not be curtailed by the proposed a.
mendment. If the House did call for information
upon this subject, he hoped they would require
the whole.
Mr.. Bell now said, that, in the remarks ne had
before offered, he had no intention of expressing
any wish of striking out the last clause Of the
solution, as modified. He should prefer to include
every thing which could be called 4 statement of
facts, and he hoped the gentleman from Kentucky
(hr WIckiiHe) would consent TO modify his a
mendment so as to retain the following words:
" And also, 10 furnish copies of any correspon-
dence in the War Department. between the Pre-
sident or Secretary OF War, and the Governor of
tennessee, during the late war, on the subject of
the time which the drafted Militia of said State
should be required to serve in the armies of the
United States''
Mr.. Randolph said, that no possible modification
could IN anywise, affect the course he had chalk
ed out TO himself, and for reasons which he would
now briefly state. l will promise, said Mr. r. if
throw no light upon the subject, that at least, l
WIZ not Ito borrow word used by the gentleman
from Maine) " olftsc1te' it.
/ concur most heartily with the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr Culpeper) in his view of
THIS matter. Before he made his motion, had
expressed similar opinion to the gentleman from
Louisiana, (Mr. Liviugston.) | am sorry he
withdrew It. think the House ought not to act
IN this manner at all. And why. Because sir
disguise it as much we villas much as we
can't is 4 matter, (as said in another body
ON very different occasion) as notorious as the
sun at monday, that the state of public feeling
throughout this country, (and what are we but the
pulse, the artery, which sicws the action, the
sanity, or the unsoundnesS of the hearty is such
mat, If this '.ame is once commenced, there will
be no end to 1t. Sir, l have nothing 70 do with
gentlemen MS motives L am bound, not only by
the Rules and Orders Of this House, and by .
sense OF decorum, which ought to be still stronger
restraint on every gentleman, but | am bound by
evidence before my sense5-to believe, that the
motives OF the gentleman from Ohio cannot be
such as have been imputed to him. And why? Ii
IS notorious, that you affect balance, as much by
taking out OF one scale, by putting in The other;
and, after what have seen in the public prints
under his name, he can never surely mean, by
taking out OF the scale A, to give preponderance
to the scale IL. wonder, sir that il did not an
pear to The very acute and very astue perception
OF the gentleman from Maine (AIr Sprague) that
mere was another occasion for this information,
than besides the bill from the Senate on the sub
Ject OF the militia laws This House. in the last
resort may, by the constitution, be called upon 10
decide that question on which the public mind is
IN state OF so great and so UNSUITABLE inlamma-
tIoh. nov as we may be called upon next ses-
sion, to decide that question, and good managers
all people OF forecast like to be before hand with
their business, il is doubt highly proper that we
should proceed now to get all the information we
may need in the performance of that duty But
sir, IT Is time TO dismiss this style of treating the
suDect-it demands graveT tone. A bill from
the senate, affecting the militia laws of the Unit
ed StateS-wcll, sr-a bill shall call il, or an a.
nathema got up by some of those, under whose
order certain mlamen were shot az Norfolk il
UTOWn IN contcmpOTJnCOusly-no with the bill
from the Senate-nO sir-that is a different affair
put win this motion; a. anathema, sir, has been
issued from the laboratory Of the modern Vatican,
ana comes tO-u5 via RichmOnl-yce sir vim Rirh-
mond-aud nuncio has been despatclied-H he
iieve must drop the metaphor or il will drop mel
Wen, sir, an agent, then, has been DISPATCHED
ana mas touched at this port, on lA way 10 Rich
hiohu' lot insrucionS-yes, sir, in mercantile
phrase, cleared out for Cowcs and fnarket-to
CoWes and wait for instructions from London
Sir, the gentleman from South Carolina deserves
our thanks for having torn the mask Of the thing
Yesterday. 10 Is the curse of this agc-the oppro1
priuln Of this country, in IFS legislation, that in
grave concerns requiring the dclibcraon ofstates-