Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1833-02-12
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Feb. 8
REPORT:

v,
REPORT:
The Committee OH the Judiciary, to whom was
referred the message of the President, with the
accompanying documents, relative to the con.
troversy between the Federal Government aud
the State Of South Carolina, have bestowed on
the subject that anxious consideration which its
Importance SO imperiously demands, and now re-
port bill, as the result Of their best reflections
In preparin. this bill, no provision has been
made for clothing the Executive with any power
in addition to that which It already has, for the
purpose Of executing the laws. In o" view which
the committee have been able to take OF the SUD-
iect, can they reconcile il to themselves to pro-
vide for the employment ct military force. Ihey
are aware that in suggesting the proprlety OF pro-
vidng these extraordinary means. the President
did not contemplate resort to them, only, when
the laws are - obstructeJ by unlawful combna-
tons, rendering the collection of the duties i'm.
Practicable" or when their execution is opposed
by the actual employment Of military force by
the authority ofa State. Yet 1t is respectfully con-
sidered, that the existence Of this combination.
and its unlawfuluesi. as we'll as the inadrquacy
of the meaEs provided by the existing laws to
overcome it, should be first asccrtained and es-
tablished by the action Of our courts.
As to the employment Of military force by
South Carolina, the most positive assurances are
siyen, that nothing ~ this kind is intended, IN
less in repelling an attack from the Federal Go.
yernment. BY delaying, then, any measures
which could indicate such an intention, we avoid
all provocation, and furnish no pretext TO South
Carolina TO prepare for such an exisency.
The Committee are fully sensible that the at
titude assumed by South Carolina may seriously
embarrass the operations OF this Government;
vet they maintain, that If, in controversy be-
tween the General Government and one Of the
States, resort to the military and naval power
of the Union can ever be justified, that resort
should only be made in the last extremity, and
after every other mode of adjustment has failed.
While we can never forget that the Constitution
was founded on the free and voluntary consent
of the people Of the several States, and that it
was the result Of compromise, We are equally
conscious that il can only be preserved BY spi-
rit of cor sliation and forbearance. What would be
the consequences Of employing force for the pur-
pose Of terminating the present unhappy contrO-
versy, it is impossible TO foresee. The interest
in the question from which il has originated, Is
not limited to single State, but extends to an
entire section Of the country. and among the un.
happy results of the application Of force, there is
reason to fear that, from controversy between
the General Government and single State, II
would extend to conflict between the two great
sections Of the country, and might terminate in
the destruction of the Union itself.
But. independent of the danger thus appre.
hended, and even admitting that the dreaded ca.
lamity referred to might not result from the en-
poyment of force as contemplated, still II would
produce throughput the southern c0un,r, state
Of feeling towards the Cove snment, and deep
and settled hostility against the other sections OF
the Union, which every patIot would deplofe,
and which every statesman should earnestly en-.
deavor to prevent Influenced BY these conside-
ra;ions. and anxious to avoid, il possible, even
the hazard of civil war or blOodshed. your com
mttee, in the bill which they herewith submit,
propose to enlarge the powers aud give addition.
al strength. to the process Of the United States
courts, in shope that the energies ut the Gov.
ernment, acting through its judicial tribunals.
may prove abundantly competent to the emer.
gency.
Ours is essentially government Of laws; and
their enforcement must mainly depend on en-
lightened public opinion. So long then as these
laws are mild and Just in their character. and
equal and impartial in their operation, We need
no other guarantee for their execution than the
virtue and intelligence Of the people. When,
therefore, a law Is made by the Government so
oppressive and destructive to the interests Of the
people Of one Of these States, as to determine
them to resist it, at erery hazard, it is evidence
of the justice Of their complaints, which should
not be disregartled; and il Is the bounden duty
Of the Legislature, instead Of devising rigorous
means to enforce it, to modify the obnoxious law.
Such is now the case with South Carolina; and
in addition TO the unanimous testimony of her
own people, and Of very large portion OF the
people Of the southern States, as to the injustice
and oppression Of the tariff laws, she is sustain.
ed by great number of our fellow citizens thro'
out the Uniun. The President, too, in his mes
sage, at the commencement of the present ses
sion, earnestly impressed on Congress the jus.
tice and Importance Of altering and modifying
the laws in question; and your committee have
no doubt that if the recommendations Of the
Chief Magistrate are carried out by the passage
Of the bill reported by the Committee Of Ways
and Means, it will tend more eifectually to allay
the excited feeling Of the south, to arrest the cr
sis with which ~e are threatened. and to restore
harmony to our once happy Union, than any pro.
visions which can be adopted for the removal Of
custom houses, clothing the courts with addition
Il N