The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-04-17

out, nor now mucu may DC COfnpcleu 10 omit, or
to abridge the discussion of some of the topics
which belong to the OCCASION. For this reason !
desire TO set out with the declaration that shall
sustain the bill for the admission of California n
State, which il now before US, uncmbarrassed by,
and disconnected from, all other propositions. !
place this statement distinctly in the foreground,
in order that the House and the country may know
at the outset what my course is 10 be. This course
is recommended 10 us by the message of the Prcsi
dent now the table, and is, in my Judgment,
founded in wisdom and patriotisirs and demands
the appreciation Of the country shall, therefore,
give my vote for this bill whenever the time for
taking the question shall arrive
But, sir, when the time shall arrive for voting
upon that, or any of the necessary measures of le
gislation, cannot foresee For, what a spectacle
do we present!
We assembled here on the third of December last,
and we now in the last week of the fourth month
of the session. We struggled through six weeks
of dsorganizaton at the beginning, before could
elect the officers which necessary for the per-
formanoe of single act for which we were sent
here And now we have exhausted nearly four entire
months, and have done nearly nothing. II is true,
that we have passed one bill, which absolute neces
sity compelled US to do, to continuance of
the collection of the revenue and we did act Of
grace, by passing bill giving the franking privi
Iege to Mrs, Polk. Beyond that, think may say
we have done literally nothing. With an. over
whelming Democratic party majority in the Senate,
and with sufficient Democratic power in this House
to elect Speaker, and to secure every important
committee, the whole Legislative business Of Con-
gress is brought to stand still The President has,
in his annual message, urged the attention Of Con-
gress tomatters of the highest md most pressing
ment--the revenue; protection Of the labor of the
people; the interests of agriculture; the improve
ment OF our harbors and rivers; the reduction OF the
oppressive tax postage; the census for eighteen
hundred and fifty, and many others but all OF them
are forgotten. carefully neglected. And even
the message itself has been thrust aside, as If with
contempt, without pursuing the usual and respect
full course of referring the several subjects contained
in IL To the anDrDDrlate committees. and IL
slumbers upon our table.
Why is this so? What has smitten this Congress
with this sudden paralysis? f.e
4 The answer is obvious. We are absorbed by a
struggle, upon the result Of which depends whe
ther, not, human slavery shall be extended into
territory of the United States which is not now
darkcned by it! And what has precipitated us in
to the strife? The answer is a simple one and the
tale short. e-t ..3tt,
h We haze just emerged from war of conquest in
to which the country was suddenly plunged; be-
gun, IL is true, upon other, but idle and ground
less prctexts; but begun really ior the purpose of
conquest; purpose thinly yelled at first, but after
wards openly avowed, and finally the subject of
boast. We looked with longing eyes upon the pos
sessions Of neighbor A weak sister republic had
fair provinces upon our southern borders, which we
coveted. We sent our armies there, and they re
turned with those provinces as the spoils Of war.
Our brave soldiers made the world ring with
shouts Of triumph at victories Of unsurpassed
splendor, and laid at feet one third of the terri
tory Of Mexico. ), We expended one hundred mil
lions of dollars throwing in, by way of small
change, ten thousand Americfn hives. But the soil
that acquired not merely moistened by
American blood. 1t was Gown thick with quickly
springing dragons teeth. For, hardly have the
shouts ofvictory from Buena Vista and the palaces
of the Montezumas died away-and the bugle of
truce sounded the notes OF recall TO our squadrons;
hardly have eagles folded their returning
wings, when our says pierced by shreks, with
in our borders, of discord, dissension and dis
union, and threatened civil war, more disastrous
than has ever stained historic record; and we are
called to the daily contemplation OF n dsmcmber
ment of our own empire, more inglorious far than
that with which we have just smitten Mexico.
These are the first fruits Of our war; and to-day
we eat them.
Sir, the conquests of Mexico heretofore have never
proved a source OF permanent power or glory TO the
conqueror. History has achaptcr full of its teach
ings. Spain once cent her legions there; and they
returned home laden with "barbaric pearl and
gold" For time she Haunted her ILL gotten
wealth in the face of the world But dazzled and
bewildcrcd by her sudden riches, enervated by the
enjoyment ofits luxuries, and swollen by pampered
PRIDE she soon became the prey Of intestine bros,
aud sunk from her high estate. Hostile armies of
foreign foe in turn plundered her capital, and rod
out her nationality. The spoiler was despoiled;
and she became the scorn and contempt Of the
world. And when the day Of solemn retribution
did overtake that once proud monarchy, the spirit
Of the Montezumas, whose race she had extinguish
ed, is well imagined TO have exclaimed to her:
cart thou, too, fallen, Iberia3 Do We
The robber and the murderer weak WEI
Thou that hast wasted earth, and dared despise
Alike the wrath and mercy of the skies;
Thy pomp IL in the grave: thy glory laid
Low in the pit thine avarice has made"
Sir, may Heaven avert from us similar reality
But do no mans thoughts suggest parallel And
is there one within the sound Of my voice upon
whom the startling vision of the future docs not
rushY For even now, perhaps, the Mexican whom
we have just humbled, and made TO bite the dust
whose eyes are Just withdrawn from beholding the
last files Of our retiring, victorious legons, erecting
himself upon his dcsolated hearth stone, his face
glowing with the fire Of vengeful hope, as he sees
strife, begins TO feel that be may live to witness
the day when he can exultingy taunt us with the
exclamation, that though they could not Withstand
the prowess Of our arms, they have given us Mexi
can soil which shall prove our utter destruction
Yes, sir, this condition Of our public affairs is the
direct and almost inevitable result Of war OF con-
quest. But whatever may be the issue, have here,
to-day, the rejoicing consolation that neither nor
my people share any part Of the responsibility of IT,
Against the declaration OF the war in the outset,
against ts continuance and policy, uniformly pro-
tested and voted. And when The contamination
came, and we were called upon to vote an appro-
praton Of fifteen millions Of dollars 10 seal the bar
gain Of acquisition, then, under the lead Of the
distinguished gentleman from Georgia. (Mr. STE.
PHENs,) who planted himself upon high constitu-
tiona ground-and who, like the rest of us, foresaw
the evils TINT 10 follow voted against il.
saw, or thought I that the present unhappy
struggle was 10 come Of IL and that, if territory
was TO be acquired, slavery would demand an en-
trance there and that the free States
of this Union would never, never conscntto We
so declared-and we implorcd our friends Of the
South 10 save us from the struggle; and not We
alone, for well remember the warning voice OF the
gentleman from Tennessee, (Mr. GENrRy,) who,
coming ms he did from a slaye State in most en-
phsic terms cautioned his friends 70 believe, in
son, what the North then declared The clear tones
Of that warning still ring in my ears and though
at the moment il subjected him, as remember, to
much Democratic derision, we live 20 sec, at this
hour, his prophecy in the process OF fulhmcnt
Sir, a review Of the origin, progress, and results
Of the is fu Of instruction, and suggests reec
tions of the most solemn character, but cannot
tarry 10 dwell upon them.
have said that the war precptatcd US into this
strife; but he who wishes TO know its whole history
must go one step further back There Is spring
higher up the HILL which is the great fountain from
which these bitter waters flow. refer 70 the an
nexstion Of Texas. II was that stupendous scheme
for the extension Of slavery, conceived in niquiy
and brought forth in sin, which fully aroused the
sumbering anti-slavcry feeling Of the northern
people. Then gcrminated that resolve which IL
now ripcned and deeply rooted Before that, there
were indeed Abolition societies and Abolition
presses, but they had but little connexion with po