Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1845-02-20
Is TIL CON q Ie Il : : I.
SECOND SESSION.
IN SENATE.
WEDNESDAY, February s.
ANNEXATION OF TEXAS

slons benre The Senaie he asked that tie bill snomi
ted by hun shori time back be taken up fr the purpos,
otenablng him 10 withdraw II from the Senate aud Il
submit another in lis place
lh' bill was accordingly taken up. when Mr. b., on
leave. Withdrew II, aud submitted the following in lieu
thereof. viz.
BILL 10 provide for the annexation of Texas To the
United States.
BE IL ted SC. That State. To be formed ont OF
the present Republic Of Texas. with suitable extent and
boundaries. aud with Representatives in Congress
until the next apporonmeni ot representation shall be
admitted into the lnion by virtue of this act "a
quail footing with the existing States, the
terms and conditions OF such admission aud the
of The remaining Texan territory 10 the United States,
shall be agrecd upon by the Government Of Texas and
the United States.
See 9 ma be il further enacted. That the sum ol
hundr thousand dollars be and the same is hereby
appropriated, 10 deiy the expenses of missions aud ne>
EQUATIONS 10 agree upon the terms OF said admission and
cessn, either by treaty to he submitted 10 the Senae
by articles 10 be submitted To the Houses of on
gress, the President may direct
The bill having been read
Mr. Benton said he would avail himself Of the in
diligence OF the Senate 10 state the reasons which ndu
ced him 10 olrr it, It Vas copy, he said subslant
ally. OF the bill which he had previously offered with
the omission Of all the terms and conditions which that
bill contained He had been induced Unit all these
conditions because Of the difficulty Of agreeing upni
the subject Of Texas the execution Of II must devolvc
upon the President, who had been Just elected by
the people with view 10 this object He had conf.
dence in Mr. Polk and was willing to irus, The qnes
ton Of terms and conditions his unlrammelled dscre-
ton certain that he would do the best that he could fer
the snccess Of the object the harmony of the Union and
the peace and honor OF the country. He had therefore
withdrawn all the terms aud conditions hich his pre
vlons bill contained, and only retained its cardinal Tea
lures, namely the admission OF a Texan State by law
the cession 81 The remaining Texan territory to the Uni
led States, and the adjustment Of The terms and condi-
in al bio al, 1iuut,,, and, k.
mssioners, subject 10 the confirmation OF the two Gov
srnmenis This seemed 10 him 10 be the natural prac.
licabe way Of proceeding, and certainly the M ST re.
spe;''iu to Texas.
The join resolution sent up from the House Of Rep
resentatives nothing but proposal aud a proposal
cogged with condops. and limited as To lime Ifit
passed both Houses of our Congress- might be rejected
by exas; and Then the process of making propose Is
would have to commence again Legislative proposi
lions nerchaneed by two legislative bodies sitting in
tw"d erent countries, at the distance Of two thou
sand miles apart was slow way of coming 10 conclu
sons; and, unless some more practicable method was
dopted the annexation Of Texas might he looked upup
as event deferred for years. Commissioners or EN-
voys 10 proportions face to face with right 10 give as
well as to iake--Fith power Weld as well as to de
mandcan alone be competent To the successful ermina
ion Of such business. lie therefore adhered that
part Of his former bill which proposed to send Ministers
10 settle the terms uf annexation.
The occasion (said Mr.. b is eSiraordny one and
requires an extraordinary mission. j he voluntary
mon Of two independent nations occurrence and
is worthy To be attended by every circumstance which
ehds II dignity, promotes its snccess and makes it
isiacory. When England and Scotland were united
at the commencement Of The last century, less than
thirty commissioners employed 10 agree upon
the TERMS and the terms they agreed upon received the
sanction Of The Parlamenls Of the Two kingdoms, and
completed union which had been vain attempted for
one hundred years Extraordinary missions, nationally
constituted have several times bee resor'ed to in our
own country and always with public appreciation
whether successful or not The first MI Adams sent
Marshall Gerry, and Plekney tn the French Directory
IN 1893; Mt Jefferson sent Ellsworth, Davie, and Muir
ray To the ETeur'i Consular Government OF 1900. Mr.
Madison seh Adams i3ayard. Gallan, Clay, and Rus
sell to Ghen in 1874. Al these MISSIONS and others
which might be named. were nationally constituted
composed Of eminent citizens taken fro each poliliral
party, and from different sections Of the Union and Of
course all favorable 10 the object for which they were
employed. Ar occasion has occurred which, in my o.
pnlon. requires mission similarly constituencies nu.
as the missions TO Paris 10 Ghent--and com.
posed OF citizens from both political parties and from the
non slaveholdng well as the slaveholdng Slaes--
Such commission conld hardly fail 10 be successful not
merely III agreeing upon the terms Of the union, but
agreeing upon which would be satisfactory to the
people and the Governments of the two countries. nd
here, avoid misrepresentation and The appearance of
disrespect where the contrary is felt would say that
The gentleman in Texas the Charge of the nj
ted Sla,cs is. in my opinion, emlnenily fiji and proper
be of the ENJOYS Extraordinary and Minister pleni-
po,entiary which my bill conleinPlates.
The bill which now propose (sad Mr.. b. is br el
and plain, but comprehensive and ellecual. Il proposes
To admit one Texan State, to obtain cesson of the re-
naming Texan territory, and 10 settle the terms and
ditin1s Of the admission and cossion by the usual and
practicab,e rode of negotiation
The admission ni he State rather its right 10 nd
mission is to be com pe'e under the bill 1t 10 be ad
United hy virtue Of the aci that future legislation
will be necessary for that purpose ard the p1ssiby OF
Missouri controversy will be en- rely avoided. The
admitted State TO have all the rights OF The existing
States the moment Of her admission, only iheo
retlcally but practcaly for the bill fixes her represent
taion the federal Congress- and avoids all delay de-
bate upon that point 1t says nothing about Senators,
for there the Constitution alone is sufficient {: 1t
both gives the rieh to Senators, and fixes HE mum
ber To Representatives it gives the right, but
leaves il to Congress to fix the number. This bill
fixes IT, and gives To the first Texan State two mem
bers-a number which her present population will
title her, and which will be sensbly increased before the
process Of admission be plshed aud doubled
uebed before the new appOr0nDsn under the cen.
sus Of 1850 can be extended to her. "
State of proper size being formed the cnssion Of he
remaining Texan territory to the United Ssales becomes
indispensable and here the joint resolution from The
House of Representatives is essentially defective II
admits the whole republic of Texas State, and
provides Of reducing her limits without her
consent. In fact, when admitted as State, she
never can he reduced without her consent the Consti-
uun fine United States ,rbds il and the equilibrium
of our system will admit of such overpowering pre-
pondeence in any member Of the Union. This is a
point in our history; it has occurred before and
has been decded The early history Of con.ederacy
is full of instruction upon it, Many ofthe States at the
close of the Revolution, found be too large for