Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1839-05-16

10 be presented 10 he House Of Repre-
sentaiires of The United States al The
Third session cf the 25h Congress:
WAsnINGToN, April %, 1889.
! FELLOW. CITIZENS: In the National Intel
! ligenccr of 2lth December, 1888, lll and
23rd January, lith March, and of this day,
! lists are contained of all the petitions pre-
sontcd by me 10 the House OF Representa-
iveS of the United States, AZ the session OF
Congress recently concluded. The names,
male and female, of the first signer OF each
petition, the place and state whence they
came, the object prayed for, aud the number
of petitioners, arc all included in the lists
The number of petitions amounting to S25,
besides l6, received by me since the close OF
the session of Congress.
\ received with many Of the petitions let
ters from the persons by whom they were
! forwarded to me, expressing much anxiety 10
be informed whether they were duly received
by me; whether they had been presented To
the House, and what destiny attended them
there. The inpossIbility of answering all
or any considerable portion OF those letters
has been my principal motive tor making ont
those lists and causing them to be published.
With regard to the fate Of the petitions, |
deem it proper To say that they have received
very little attention from the House. By u
general resolution Of the 18th Of December,
all those relating in any manner to slavery
were laid on the table, without berg read,
printed OF referred. This resolution, adopted
at The last four successive sessions Of Con-
gress, has introduced an habltual disregard
or neglect of oil petitions, which has extcn-
dcd TO the resolutions of the state Lcglsla-
lures.
The right Of petition for any object not
( agreeable to The ruling majority Of the House
must be considered as suspended; and should
the resolutions TO lay on the table motions to
receive petitions. Ohe form of rejection
adopted by the Senate, or TO receive and lay
them on the table without reading or con.
sdering them be adopted as standing orders
of the two Houses, II is manifest that The
! right of petition itself will be more ellectnaI-
ly abridged than it possibly could be by any
! law of Congress and that the first article
( amendatory TO the constitution of the United
| States would be, 80 far as regards the right,
as completely nulliied as it could be 10y law,
were the power TO enact such law not ox'
/ presSly intcrdctcd to Congress.
4 The right of petition is one Of those grant
: ed by the laws of nature and of natures God
to man, and the exercise Of which has never
under the most dcsputic governments upon
earth, been formally forbidden. Or all free
government it has ever been considered ;
vital part and the last and heaviest charge
in the Declaration of Independence agolns
the King Of Great Britain was, that the re
peated petitions of the people of the colonies
for redress had been answered only BY re
peatcd injmias.
The resolutions 10 lay all ontl.slnvcry pc
titons OH the table, without reading. printing
or debating, have usually been concerted oui
of the House, introduced by suspension o
| the rules, preceded by a speech from the M
! troducer, closing with q motion for the pre-
vious question. which precludes not only all
| debate, but even all answer to the debate
! itself This mode of proceeding annlhlIntos,
TO the extent of lis operation, not only Inc
right of petition, but the freedom ot speech
in the House, andby direct consequence, the
freedom Of the press.
AT the recent session Of Congress, the re
: solution to suppress all consideration OF anti
slavery petitions was preceded by severa
others, containing II sort OF syllogism II
Baroco-beginning with major proposiiioI
which if seems To have been supposed tia
no one would dare deny" that this Govern
ment is a Cove rnmcnt of limited powers; AN
that, by the constitution of the United state:
, Congress has no jurisdiction whatever Owe
the institution of slavery in the several state
, of the confedcracy"-a compound proposltIo
the first part of which was trlIIsm, wIthou
bearing at all npon tho anti.sIavcry pctIiicns
! and the second a mere nuIllty, since II Is no
competent for the House Of Representatives
by any resolution, TO determine what IS, ol
is not, within The jurisdiction Of Congress -
A proposition, too perfectly nugaiory, mas
much as not one Of the an,l.slavcry petitions
had asked Congress TO exercise jurisdiction
over the Institution OF slavery IN any of The
states.
!, The second Of these propositions was
"That petitions for the abolition of slavery
in the District of Columbia and the Tern.
tories ot the United States, and against the
removal of slaves from one stale 10 another
arc part of plan of operations set on foot
TO affect the Institution OF slavery ~ tic
several states and thus indirectly TO destroy
that institution within their lImlrs.'
\ There is, in this proposition, remarkable
! slide from logic INTO rhctorc-wh1t the VIII
/. lers upon the bellies letters call cu hcmIsn
"a soft name for u harsh thing. II speaks
of petitions dgaina tie rtHIOrat Of SidreS
from one state 10 dnoiher' There never has
been such n petition presented to either house
OF Congress. The petitions arc against tin
SLAVE TRADE between the statcs. II Is no
the rem0rdi, but the tradc--the purchase ant
. sali OF the human chattcl-bctwecn th,
states, against which the petitions are pointed
And wherefore this glaring mlsrcprcsen,a,o
of the purport ol the pctltions? Why Is
that petitions against The SLAVE TRADE be
tween the states are dcnomnatcd petition
against The rmoraI cj siarcS from one state
another? Why thus slander upon the pctI
TONERS? Was II the burning blush of sham
which dared not to call the practice by u
true name or was II a magnanmous dovlc
To make the petitioners odous by represent
ing them ms pctiionlng against the rcmovH
of slaves from one state to another. when u
fact the petitions were against nothing bu
TIC SLAVE TRADE?
4 With regard To the nvcrment that ,hcs
Ietliions arc part Ot plan of operation
set on foot to affect, and thus indirectly !
dc, troy, the institution Of slavery, to test u
i validity, suppose that, Instead OF ah"lnlo
petitions, you say that the Declaration oi "
dependence, or The act of Congress maxim
the .bricon slave trade piracy is part ol
/, plan of opei atoms set on foot to affect tl
Institution ~ slavery ~ the several state
II H.. 4.