Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-03-07

not enough to entitie MN 'hs 1,"fF re- -. -.
.nIo h;,, = tb,, snn,ort now? Surely not. II that op-
nos;,,on i To satisfy us now, for a much stronger icd'
con sbould it have satisfied us then. lnen tue ! fes'u'
,;ol election was nearly" two years on; ana ms oPpos't'oh'
running through n longer time, wou'u . ' w" -
saasonable to the Wings than it could be now, when
thc election is near at hand. l may conclude, mere
fore. that as far as this motive for the support OF yhf
Rives by the Wing party is concerned, II IS Oh "s'
influence this winter than last.
II was. also, urged last winter, that we shou1u te,
o,ec, MIR. Rives with the view of ustainlng senatorial
;ndcnendeuce; that he was denounced and prosecuted
nv the party with which he had heretofore ac.ru' nv
,bot we therefore ought to sustain hun. FOR the Pu',
nose of my argument, it is not necessary that ! shoula
discuss this question at all. My object IS not 10 snow,
,h.t the reasons for the support Of Mr.. Rtves by Tue
Iyh;rs are unsatisfactory but that they are no more
conclusive this winter than last. And as no one "iii
insist that the election OF MT. hives now > nor ln
5onc. than il was last session, 1t would not seem 10 DC
necessary that ! should say any thing on TINS point Du'
no this idea disappearing Mr.. Rives with the we" 0 SUI
,,;nino Senatorial independence was purely an aitefr
he sneecbes made last winter, | will depart Tor a mo-
mont from the course of my argument 10 examine y.
In the first place, | should hardly th'hk tnat the "n'sS
would select that man to sustain Seha.oiiai nv. snu
ence. who. accorning to their own testimony hao ue-
ur,a.3 and bnmhled the Senate at the loot OF q tyraht.
ES -" ~, do ,bev mean bv Senatorial Independence
In tho connex;on in which they speak OF II, l am SIN
core when | say do not clearly comprehend what, Is
meant. independence OF whom: Oh nus n'a =
who have heretofore elected HIM: II ms oe ~ 10 -
meant. I declare that to my mind 1t has very muc" u
appearance of a doctrine which is no, Know nm ~ :.
lGqmp4Ru afSstl ihkha tH is meant, and | confess tina, this
can hardly be gentlemen's meaning, | ask what idea
is intended to be conveyed. Do gentlemen mean,
that we are to sustain Mr.. Rives in his %indcpend-
ence of the Federal Executive IL so, | ask, what
has the President to do with this matter The Lcgis-
lature Of Virginia is the tribunal to pass upon Mr..
RiyeS What has the President TO do wIrh us? Is
there any one here acting in obedience to his dictation:
If so, | demand that he be pointed out; and the mo-
ment you do il, in the estimation OF all Virginia, you
would fix upon him q brand rs indeliole as the mark OF
the Almighty on the forehead of Cam. Do gentle
men mean, that as Mr.. Rives has differed with this party
upon some very important questions, and IN conse-
auence of that difference, has rcnonnccd them, and as
they have consequently denounced HIM, that the Wings
therefore ought to take HIM mp: II this doctrine IS TO
prevail. all any Administration man has to do, IS 10
quarrel with his own party, and immediately thereafter
he is to be taken up by US. In other words, as soon rs
the Administration party discards one OF their fol.
lowers, as not trustworthy, we would be bound at once
20 make him q leader of our party: But, Sir, has the AG-
ministration party done any thing in relation to Mr.. X.
which any other party, but more particularly which the
Wing party would not have done, under similar cIrcum-
stances That the Wing party would have acted Us the
Administration party has acted, Is abundantiy shown by
their course towards me, humble rs am. Yes, Sir, in
nv case, and for much less e~xcusable reason, they prac-
Use precisely what they condemn in their opponents.
Mr.. William c. Rives refuses to support Mr.. Van
Buren,, whom he had aided in elevating to the Presl-
dency, with whom he had so long harmoniously acted,
and who was ii the head of the party to which he
belonged, upon the ground that he differed with him
about the Sub Treasury, which the Wings say is "a sub
ordinate question" For this rccnsancy, the party re.
nounce and denounce him. The Wings say, that this
remuneration and denunciationi is improper aid supplies
a sufficient inducemcnt to them to rally TO his support.
] refuse to do what: To supper! the prominent man OF
my party, whose partizan | had been, and because l dit-
fered with him on "a subordinate question: Nota all.
/ refuse to abandon the prominent men OF our party,
who had borne the heat and burden OF the day, to sus-
tain a man, who has just come out from among our op-
ponents, and with whom we agree in nothlng-and for
this | am denounced in the vilest terms OF reproach
which an imagination that has no capacity for any thing
hut vile and foul detraction can invent. Yes, Sir, the
Wings prsetised in a much less excusable instance, pre-
cisely what they condemn in their opponents. will
recur 10 this denuhc,ation OF me again, when | VIII
shew that have been denounced Tor nothing else than
my refusal to vote for Mr.. Rlpes.
leone back again 10 the regular contsc OF my argyll
ment. have stated that this idea of votin. For Mr..
Rlvcs with the view of sustaining Senatorial indepei:'
dence, was an after-thought. But admit it was other
wise. Yet | submit with confidence that 1t cannot have
more weight this winter than it had last, when It was
not considered satisfactory.
1t was said last winter, and is repeated now, that We
cannot elect a Wing proper and that therefore we
ought to elect MIR. Rivcs. II we can elect Mr.. Hives,
why cannot we elect any other opponent OF the Admit
nistration? We are told that the Sub. Ireasuryc or the
Presidency, one or both are the proper tests IN TINS
election. That Mr.. Rives is opposed TO both the SUB
Treasury and MIR. Van Buren,. If these be the tests,
the inference is irresistible, that all those who vote Tor
Mr.. Rives are opposed to the Sub-Ireasury and NIr.
Van Buren,. For, surely no one here is actuated solely
by personal friendships and attachments, or private
sriefs or dislikes. If then these things be the tests,
all of those gentlemen who receive them as such ought
to be willing to 90 for any other person OF suhlclcnt
character who comes up TO them. But if there are some
nf us. who do not acknowledge these tests and cannot
vote 70, Mr.. Rivcs for other reasons; and II others,
who, admitting the tests, insist that Mr.. R. does not SUIT
hciently come up TO them, will not vote tor Inn Tor mat
reason, why cannot those gentlemen support a cand!-
date who comes more fully up TO their own tests even
than Mr.. Rives, but who is not Objectionable to us
They may select any Wing they please, no matter now
ardent in his opposition to Dir. Van Burcn and the Sub
Treasury and the lmpracucables will vote ;or him
The Impracticables, did say: We are not lmpracti'
cablc-for we will 90 for any body Tor whom we can
vote withou; a sacrifice of principle. Why, then, is IL
that we can elect Mr.. Rives and no other opponent OF
the Administrations Last winter we were told that
though the Conservatives could with Propriety vote
for Mr.. Rivcs, yet that they could not vote tor any
other member of The Opposition. 1t was said, that
s,hev were elected as friends of the Administration,
and had no reason to suppose that their constituents
would approve the support OF 4 wing. NO neiP
could be expected from nor properly required OF them.
They could not vote for a Wing proper without betray-
ing their constituents. Who wanted i wing elected
by their baScResS?~-by a betrayal OF Representative
duty 10 CONSTITUENCIES To this he replied, that MIR.
Rives was either for or against the Administration. II
he was for it, the Wings could not vote for him with
out "a betrayal Of RcprcScntatirc dmty 10 constituents.
If he was opposed to II, and If the Conservatives repre-
sented, as was alleged, Administration constituents,
then they could not vote for hun without baseness, and
d BETRAYAL Of Representative duty 10 constituents
We insisted, that if it was true that Conservatives
could no, vote for a Wing proper, after the Wings
had made every effort to elect their candidate (for
whom they displayed a zeal which 10y dad not mani
fest for one of their own party) without Laseness, that
the converse of the proposition was equally true.-ln
either event, he coniendrd, that the election OF hr.
Rivcs by a combination Of Wings and Conservatives,
was improper. But whatever force this reason for the
support of Mr.. Rives here possessed last winter, 1t GER
tainly has none now. Last Spring it was known that
alr. Rlves was opposed TO the Administration. 1t was
also known, from the experience OF last winter, what
alternatives would be presented to the Conservatives.
They ought, therefore, to have come here prepared to
act on them. In the event Of the nomination OF a
Wing proper being insisted upon, as they knew would
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