The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-06-26
DAHL Y.
WasI,inston, Wednesday, june 90, 1850.


pridef II is rather TO The more honorable emotions
OF that sentimenfl now appeal, confcssing that il
is with some modification that feel constrained
TO remind the force of numbers that It is high
pfelogatiye of theirs 10 be able, justice and mod
Grafton in yiewi to consult the terms of mnorties
And know OF no act by which this committee
could more uselully to the Union, not to say more
gracefully to themselves, attest that careful and
considerate respect for both the rights and apprc-
tensions Of the exposed Statcs--so BETTING the
tmes--than to promptly acccdc TO this hitherto
twice approved and now as ever moderate demand
in behalf the South. Wllwc not thus proceed to
execute our duty, SO long delayed, to our depend
ent provinces and merge lle disputes which are
being SO warmly, not to say harshly, waged over
all those measures which h$ye been hitherto sug-
gested for the same purpose? Especially, will
those TO whom it is seen II be so favorabic--to
whose acceptance it is tentercd--and on whose
will its fate depends--incur he responsibility Of
rejecting IT
| have not, Mr.. Chairman, overlooked the fact
that this mode of settlement leaves out of view
the pending contest touching the boundary line OF
the present State Of Texas and New Mexico.
propose, for several reasons, to enter now little
into that subject. Both the bill of the Senate
reported by its lately raised Committee of Thirteen
and that presented to this Eouse by the able and
public spirited chairman of the Committee on
Foreign Relations, Mr.. Mc(LERNAND,] provides
"A
Of not only her capital and naive settlements, but
embrace an additional cession If territory by Texas
TO this Government, in consideration of q certain
pecuniary equivalent to be pad in the extinguish-
ment of certain debts Of Texas. This proposed
cession of territory is measure which meets with
much opposition from the South. l am not in
sensible sir, of the delicacy o. our relations the
creditors of Texas, more ESPECIALLY to that class
of them who held pledges OF Texas, at the date
Of annexation, of the taxes deivablo from her
toms, which, by her incorporation into this Union,
were transferred TO US. And am free TO add that
shall cheerfulIy unite with oilers ofthe commit
tee in any proper effort that my be made to pro-
vide for that class Of claims. Nay, will GO
further, speaking for myself alone on this point,
and concurring with what WIS so properly said
by the honorable member from Tennessee, [Mr.
STANTON, in opposition to so extensive cession
by Texas of her territory add that if the general
character of any adjustment we may make shall be
of kind to mete out justice 10 the South, shall
feel something akin to surprise should she prove
untractabe in the matter of preserving to the ancient
and now dependent province of New Mexico her
capital and contiguous native Settlements. Indeed,
holding the consent of Texas in view always, and
with the connected object of disembarrassing the
honor and good faith of nation not only able to be
Just, outbound to sedulously guard its good name
am free to say that should the exactions or ntol-
| erance of the non-saveholding States coerce the
spect of the threatened deprivation Of New Mexico
| of her capital and contiguous settlements with a
view to what they may deem paramount consid-
erations of self-security, can but reason that a
heavier weight Of responsibility will rest upon
those who could have averted it. 1t would be
more acceptable, then, doubtless, to the South
generally that any payments we may feel called
on to make the creditors of Texas, in view of our
interposition between them and the resources 10
which they looked before annexation--now lost
| 10 them--rest on other grounds than the convey.
by her to us Of the large portion of her terri
tory proposed TO be made Sir, take pleasure in
announcing that | regard the simple matter Of Q
few millions of money, be they more or less, as
| little, compared with the great and absorbing is
| sues in hand-publc justice--justce to others
Justice to ourselvesand the final pacifcation, if il
| be practicable, Of all complaints. Fanatcism and
IFS guilt and folly expired, sir, and the once more
concentrated genius and energies of the American
4 people bent in united hopes on the elaboration OF
their stupendous resources, no mere pccuniary
| item in any JUS, settlement we may make can, by
the intensest degree of the nation sensibility te
| expense, be felt. We can, too, well trust the Sc.
curty lying in the valuable and increasing pro
ducts and to be felt in the beatngs of the warn
and American heart, of Texas, for repayment, ii
I the swelling ratio of an " hundred fold" for any
amount which circumstances may render 1t prope
] for us to expend in this connection-whIlc thu
! generous caution, not to say magnanimity of thu
nation, will have been handsomely illustrated by
a suitable general adjustment of all these kindred
topics in which the particular provisions touching
the claims of the creditors OF Texas and the pre-.
servation from final overthrow of an old and SUBJ
dued province which the fortunes of war have
| placed in our power, shall be embraced 1t will
be seen, however, that refer guardediy to these
delicate opics--sufiicienty disrusful of any sug
| gestons of mine respecting them-to the commit
tee. part from this feature in our public affairs
with the confident hope, however, that if we shall
| succeed in applying the terms of the Missouri
compromise line to the territories west Of the Rio
Grande and disposing of the general subjects OF
hand in other respects suitably, we shall find the
adjustment of the now threatening boundary
question on terms satisfactory to all and credita-
bic TO the nation itself--not impraclicabe.
II is useless, Mr.. Chairman, to repeat, that, in
the present posture of the public AFFAIRS the differ
ent sections must be prepared to make respective
sacrifices. The South, on the proposed basis, re-
peats the waiver of an opinion which, whether
well or ilLfounded, concerns substantial and
highly important claim. Would it not be remark
able that she were not sanguine of her rght-con-
sttuiiona and otherWise--to 60 with her accus
toned property into all parts Of the public domain
OF the Unionl She valves this right, on the basis
now proposed, let it be remembered, and at cost
to her--all things considered--yasty dspropor
tionae to any gain that to others by heI
loss oft II may be possibly inconvenient for
or, in certain sense repugnant TO, white labor Ia
minglc on the same theatre with slave labor---or
the other hand, the privilege of expansion is, in
its nature, vital perhaps to the existence, certainly
TO the prosperity and the security Of the South
Yet, sir, the opinion has been expressed within q
few days past, by we-informed members Of this
committee, that the Wilmot proviso or principle Of
the universal Introduction, by express mandate Of
this House, of slavery in all the territories or
hand, will be enacted the present session. The