Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1849-07-25

hcen rejected al the prece'liu" scs-lon. the
s,aud | took and The resislamce made 10
the bill wu"d have hcen all in vain. II
would have passed, aud The country pre- =.
cipi,a,ed into war; hul is il was, time was
gained, which was all Important. The
agitation, however, was kept up about
Oregon, and similar bills were introduced
the lwo succeeding sessions. which failed
hy small majnrlics. In the meantime,
negotiation was commenced and the clam
10 the whole Of Oregon made. The cry
was call or nonc." and SO strong was The
current in its favor, that both parties yield
cd ,p il in the early parr Of The session.
had resigned my scat III the senate, hut
was rc-cIrcIed Il short time before the scs-
sion commenced, and took my scat sever
nj weeks afterwards. saw and lcll the
strength Of The current, but resolved to
breast il, aud save The peace Of The coun'
try if pussihlc. It WAS arrested and a
counter current crcalcd. Col. Benton him
self yielded 10 The counter current, aud dc'
livercd speech after the battle was won'
in which he bcIaborcd lhoso who stuck to
.alI or nonc'' after hc found that they were
in minority. 1t was this chain of causes,
of which the Ashburtnn treaty was the first
and indispensable slink which avcred war,
and by il saved the two countries from one
Of the greatest caanrics which could have
helalen them, and, might add, ,hc civil
lizcd world. | shall ever remember with
proud satisfaction, lha, took prominent
lead and highly responsible part on the
side of peace throughout the whole.
I also admit, ,ha, the treaty contained
no slipnla'ions in favor of the owners Of
tho vessels, nor any 10 proven, similar oul-
RACES in future. 1t was an objection. and
| admitted il to be so in my speech in IA
vor Of il not sufficient Que To induce its
rejection. But, although the treaty con-
.ained no stipulalions to guard against like
outrascs thereafter, much, nevertheless.
WAS done in The negotiation 10 prevent
them and 10 place the south OH much
more elevated ground in reference to The
subject. than whcro il Stood. when The nc
goIiati0n commenced. TO understand
how much was done towards this, a brief
statement Of facts connected with the case
of those reports, is necessary
They were all coasling vessels having
slaves on board, and were all either s,ran-
dcd in their voyage from the Atlantic ports
to those on the Gulf or The British posses
sions, Bermuda and The Bahama Islands,
or forced 10 put into their ports by stress
of weather TO save themselves from ship
wreck, or were carried in by The rising of
The slaves and taking the vessel into port.
were liberated, under circumstances of
more or less violence aud indignily, by
tho local authority. The outrage was Gu
ormous, and The insult 10 The American
flag great. The filst occurred as early as
the year 1880, and all under Tie admins
,raliou Of General jackson or MIR. Van
Buren,, except the Creole. Application
was made 10 the Executive by the owners
for redress. After feeble and tame me-
COLLATION. Of mnuy years, The Brllisil Guv-
crnmeIl agreed 10 compensate The own-
crs in The case Of the Comet and Encomi-
am, but refused to make any in That of tho
Enlcrprize, on tho ground, that the Two
first occurred bc(Urc her act of abolishin.
slavery had gone inIu operation, and the
other after il had. The Administration
(Alr. Vap Buren's) accepted The coupon
sation and acquiesed in the refusal, in The
case of the Enterprizc, without rcnlou-
slrance or protest, and thus waived our
right aud admitted the absurd aud danger.
Gus principle, On which the refusal was
placed.
What The Administration shamefully
omitted to do, resolved 10 lo through lhe
Senate, if possible, and with Ina, view,
aud IN order 10 pcrpcluatc our claim Of
right moved in Ihc Senate, in 1910. The
three following resolutions, an,l- succeeded
in passing them by a unanimous vote,
with some slight amendment, Col. Denton
voting for them, bu, moi standing by me,
as he says, for be ucvcr uttered a word in
their support:
Resolved, That ship or vessel on
tho nigh seas. in time Of peace, engaged
in a lawful voyage. is according to the
laws Of nations. under the exclusive iuris.
diclion of The Sla.c to which her llas be-
longs as much so as if constituting part
Of its own domain.
"RcsoIvct, That if such ship or vcs-
sci should he forced by stress Of weather,
or other unavoidable cause, into The port
of a friendly power, she would. under the
same laws, lose nono Of the rights appcr-
tanning to her Oh The high seas; bnr, on the
contrary, she and her cargo and persons
on board, wiril their properly, aud oil the
rights belonging To their personal relations,
as established by The laws of the Stale TO
which they belong, g,:would he placed under
the protection. which the laws Of nalions
extend to the unfortunate under such cir
cumstanccs.
"Iscsolvcd, Tha! tho Big Enterprise,
which was forced unavoidably by stress
of weather into Port Hamilton, Bermuda
lslaud. while on lawful voyage on the
high seas, from one par, of tic Union to
another, comes wilhia the principle en-
braced in the foregoing resolutions; and
that The seizure and detention of tho me-
Srocs on board by tho local authority IF
The Islands. was an act in violation of the
laws Of naIious, and highly unjust 10 our
own citizens 10 whom they belong"
Sach was the condition in which The
administration Of Mr.. Van Buren, left