The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-04-16

WV uiohuci WHICH cAVfNsc INC dcahJ'
making power and as su;h ought to have been
approved by vote of two-thirds Of the SEN
ate IN executive session, then acting IN their
lTeaiy-making character IT, Il is addressed TO
Great Britain, 1t is humiliation. IL is an attempt
70 hold intercourse with foreign government, not
through the eonsutltonally appointed organ, the
Executive, but by legislative proceeding IL is an
attempt 10 speak To Great Britain behind the Presi.
dent, round the President without any attention to
the constitutional organ appointed to speak TO her
on behalf of this nation Now sir what is the
preamble, unless It is for one of these two objects
On It's face 1t Purpors 10 speak 10 the President and
TO Great Britain, and 70 that extent il is 4 violation
Of the rights and due OF government in one of
| Its departments In regard 10 the other He asks
you 70 pass laws, and you answer by telling him
| that negotiation is desirable. Well before this
thing has any effect IN binding the President il
should go TO him by vote OF two-thrds Of the
Senate, IN Its treaty-makng character, and acting
consuluuonally, Now, SIR, We have heard in the
| course Of this discussion many remarks made about
the interference of the people with the treat making
power. II Is said Congress ought not 10 interfere
with the treaty making power that 1t is power
| reserved to the Senate and the President, by the
constitution and far elevated above the mass Of the
people, and therefore, which was not within
the competency Of Congress to NEEDLE with. do
not dispute 1t. Bot | call the Senate, when
II InIerteres, TO advise to the manner Of using
| the ueaty-msklng power, 10 do in its treaty
making character, by vote Of two-thIrds of its
| body, not by legislative acts. This preamble is at
terly inconsistent with the body OF the resolution
itself, while the body Of the resolution is adopted:
as TO the discretion Of the President the preamble
tells him to go on, and speaks OF the reasons on
which the resolution 10 prrdlcated and yet the Teso-
| huon leaves the whole matter. Il was said else
where, OF discretionary power, that leaving such
To the President vas little less than entrustng him
with war-making power. What spectacle does
this present. We take the liberty, in the preamble,
Of pointing out To the President what he should do,
and then dIsclslm the possibility Of doing il our
selves. We see and run away from this danger,
and say TO the President, We leave it all to you
| The President has left It all to US. The President
IN his message, has left it all u.s. and we pass this
resolution and refuse TO have anything 10 do with it,
| We say, we do not choose TO share the RESPONSE
| Ollity; we may have war, II is a tcklish question
] before the people; and, Mr. President, we intend to
place you In such situation as 10 leave all 10 YOU
We wIlI remain where we are, so that denunciaton
"lll fall on you. Sir, | @iIl not 90 now into the
general subject Of this discussion; but | will say
that, after 50 tremendous a vote Of the other
House, after unlnimImlty unparalleled on any
| question before moved in that bOdy-compre-
hendIng a majority Of the two political parties
Of this cOuntry-amost the whole Of one and
nearly oRehalf OF the other, after such resolution
had passed, 1t TO me that a considera.
llon was duo To that great organ OF the popu.
lar will, which ought to have decided us to adopt
this resolution aud put an end to the question.
| What do we do now We send all back again 10
the House with half dozen new principle, fasten-
ed TO ia resolution containing propositions not
proposed by the House What will be the conse-
quence? You will open up the discussion again ar.
| ray one house against the other, and present the
mortItylng spectacle not Of divided Senate but oil
the two branches Of the legislature divided against
each other. The House has done an act and the
Senate refuses TO approve 1t, and yet We are told
hat senators desire unanlmity. 1t cannot be denied
that the Senate has declined the respons blity Of ma.
king this thing possible. Sir, the Senate has done
It by the votes Of some distinguished senator's here
who blame the President for sending this question
here at all al tue opening of Congress. Yes il has
been said he has done an act making him response.
Die for the confused state Of this question which
now exists; and instead of acting with single ey,
to the public good, they throw the whole subiec
back to the President, leaving to his discretion
future, after having condemned him for the cours,
he had taken in its Management in the past. The
President will go behind no bush to hide have nc
doubt the President will take the responsibility
| sought to be imposed on him, and act like
a man. But that is no excuse for us in g
great question which we are told involves the
peace Of the country We should not decline re-
sponslbIlIty, nor refuse TO take a proportion OIL
it on our shoulders in this great contest agains
Great Britain. And with a hope that this matter
may be put in better shape, with hope to be able
/ W nhS w eho icSoluliOh ny lne SOmEnt
tee on Foreign Relations, or in the hope that tn,
House OF Representatives will afford US the eppor.
tunlty hereafter TO recede from this ground vii
take the responsibility of voting against the passage
Of this resolution, even if stand alone in it, re
member | once stood alone on q question hert
against majority Of the Senate some FIVE year.
ago. And | will stand alone this question; anC
| would rather die on 1t alone than vote for prop
| osltlon that seems to me TO humiate the country
and show want of character on the part of the
Senate and disposition to shrink from the respon
| sibiiity OF acting on the subject. Here you pro-
duce contest between the two houses thing VIZ
have all along desired to avoid because from the
beginning to the end, every one has conceded the
moral power of our position consisted of union ir
our counsels-ln our standing shoulder TO shoulder
And yet, sir, vote of three-fourths Of the House
of Representatives. body directly emanating from
the people -
Mr.. JOHNSON. That is out of order You
are not to refer to the votes of the other House
here.
[Several voices, "Out of order."l
| Mr.. ALLEN. Out of order to aude to a vote Of
| the House! say after such vote unanimous 10
an astonishing extent-after that VOTE do think the
Senate ought TO TO the moral influence it must
have. That is what say. We ought not to have
presented the spectacle do to the world of giving
a moral force to the counsels of Great Britain But
as it is what manner of dispatches will go TO Eng.
land after this What will be the opening sentence
of the despatch which will be forwarded by the
British minister by the very first steamer that sails
for England; 1t vii! be, Hold on; hold on. Let
her Majesty's government be that if they hold
possession, point their guns, and announce their
readiness for war, the war feeling in America will
continue to decrease; the aversion Of war will be
multiplied by time, till her Majesty's government
will get the line Of the Columbia perhaps the whole
fOregon, for the asking This is destructive of al
hopes of negotiation. The British government, vii
protract them till after you adjourn. Yes; they
will catch you on this hitch; they have done be-
fore with us. They see large portion Of the inhab
itants of the East clamoring against war. Was
there anything in the amendment proposed to the
: House resolution, in the preamble containing
proposition TO instruct the President to open negot
atoms, which proposed to share the responsibility
The Senate do not say they that to be ended
No, sir; there is nothing here that says 30. They
want a course Of bargaining, of traficking between
the two governments; but part of the resolution
says they want negotiation TO end. The Presiden
may or may not do something to put an end to thu
convention, but the Senate has nowhere on the face
Of this resolution said they want to end this conven
tion. 1t will be as firmly on your statute book as il