The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-09-10
J.F. MCCLELLAN, Printer.

, fear Of having even this bill defeated, which
it certainly would have been if this were in
serted-so determined were the members Of
MIR. Folks own party that the Two Millions
appropriation should not pass without Mr.
Wllmots amendment.
But the Union charges ga Wing Senator"
with the defeat of the bill Let us see. I
no'0 assert that If Mr. Davis had not Oper!ed
his lips at all tie bill aUouid haze been defeated,
and that too, by the friends Of the Admins
tration.
The bill was taken up in the Senate at half
past / o'clock on Monday-half an hour be-
fore the time for adjourning, the Senate clock
/ being seven or eight minutes slower than the
House clock Itleft only twenty two or TWEEN
ty-trec minutes till the House adjourned
Knowing this, Mr.. Lewis made the motion to
strike out Mr.. Wimot's amendment. He and
everybody else knew that the Yeas and Nays
would, as a matter Of course, be taken. This
would occupy the Senate about ten minutes.
1t would therefore have gone to the House
when there was not time to call the Yeas and
Nays. That operation occupies twenty MIR
utes IN the House, and most probably the Yeas
and Nays would have been called several
times before ii got through the House, as one
fifth OF the members present can order the
Yeas and Nays. | am now reasoning for the
sake of argument, on the possibility of the
House agreeing to the Senate's amendment
striking out Mr.. Wilmot's proposition. But
this could not have passed the House. The
only effect Of Mr.. Lewis's motion, even if the
Senate had agreed to it, and if there had been
time, would have been to return it again to-
the Senate with the disagreement Of the
House, when they would have been just as
they started, and the hour Of adjournment
past And we have seen that the Speaker
considered it his bounden duty to adjourn the
House precisely at II by its own clock.
But the great charge made against Mr. Da4
Wis is, that he did not yield the floor to Mr.,
Lewis to make motion to prolong the Ses-
sion. The Congressional Globe, which is now
before me, gives Mr.. Lewiss remarks, in
II axe the motion to lengthen the Session, that
there were but twenty minutes remaining, or
in other words, about twelve minutes by the
House clock. Suppose there had been no OBJ
lection, and Mr.. Davis had yielded the floor,
the constant interruption occasioned by the
reception Of Messages from the President,
would not have left sufficient time to get the
Yeas and Nays called in the Senate, much
less in the House, before the hour for the lat
ter to adjourn. And even if the question had
been taken to prolong the Session, / doubt
whether it would have passed either House,
and then, Of course, not only the bill but Mr..
Davis's speech would have been lost
But Mr.. Davis's was not the only speech
We should have had, had there been time, and
that the Polk party knew very well.
No! No Messrs Loco Focos, yOu had de-
termincd to kill the bill yourselves as it came
from the hands of your own party in the
House, amended by Mr.. Wilmot, of whom the
Union boasts that Mr. Walker and he made
the same locality illustriouS by their common
nativity! 1t could pass alone in the form in
which it came from the House. But even in
the House the Presidents own friends voted
against it, In the negative ! notice the names
Dromeoole, |. Z. Holiness Hopkins, Hunter,
Mcdowell, Martin, (Polks own Representa-
tivc0 Payne, Rhett, Tibbatts, ct ID genus
omne-what chance had it then of getting the
Loco Foco party in the Senate
The truth is that Mr.. Davis supported the
bill. lie was in favor of passing it the only
way it could pass. Mr.. Lewis killed the bill
His conduct could do nothing else. The bill
was to pass, as every one saw, knew and felt,
Just as it came from the House or not at all.
The Senate could have passed it and the
President signed it after the House had adj
journed, and Mr.. Davis had concluded his
speech; but the Senate proceeded to other
business, on the motion of Loco Foco Sem
ator, after the House had actually adjourn
ed.
The Wings, then, were in favor of the bill,
the Loco Focos against it. Unreasonable
as it was for Mr. Polk to ask for two millions
to purchase peace from a nation with which
we were at war, for the sake of making her
pay old debts, yet the Wings were the only
ones that here supported the Administration.
That this fact was acknowledged, even by
the Loco Focos themselves, the following oc-
cuuence in the House, on Saturday evening,
will show.
Mr.. Buchanan was in the House when the
Two Millions bill was under discussion, lobby
ing for its success, and evidently frightened
at the course things We're taking.
The revolt Of the clans was too apparent.
Grover and Rathbun of New y ork, Edsall of
New Jersey, Hamlin Of Maine, Brinkerhof'
by nearly the entire delegations from the free
states, had untured the banner OF rebellion.
54-l0 was surrendered The River and Har-
Dor bill and the French Spoliaton bill were
vetoed to enable the Polk party to carry OH
their schemes Of bloody acquisition in the
South. And the donkey Of Loco Focoism,
driven almost to death, over a rough road,
1" wouldn't GO step farther
They had met and taken counsel, and the
amendment OF Mr.. Nimot, instead of being
the result Of hurry, was the result of careful
counsel and deIiheraton. Those engaged i'll
the revolt knew that if they refused to vote
the Two Millions, the old cry of embarrassing
the Administration would re raised, Thev
agreed, therefore, to say, I" Take the money,
but we veto any farther extension Of the area