Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1850-11-07

odium due to a meas approved by him. Tue!
have sought to give threading to the constitution;
to deprive the President some ofhs powers ~, anu
TO take from him somf his Responsibilities ne
president has no right divest himself OF constIu-
tlonal powers, any mothan he has right 10 'ake
from either branch ofngress its just powers 1t
Is MS duty tospreserve eonstitutlon IN all lis Vso!
and | ask you whetheMr. Fillmore dld rlgh' IN
signing this bill because was passed by Congress
Our opponents someles tauntlngly assert, thal
we are governed by aigher law, than the Con |
stItuton, and we are 4, sometimes, that there Is
no higher law. But it sns that the wings found
higher law than the Ctitution, and they find II IN
the creed ofthe wing ply. [Cheers.l For, against
the PLAIN direction Of tlconstitutiOn, which every
man IN this house cahnderstand, they attempt
TO shield the Presidency wrongful Interpretation
of that document by srpolating into the instru-
ment, the creed of thehig party.
Having fixed the responsibility where the cons;l-
tuition fixes It, making The duty ofthe President,
to reject all laws AN hportant character, which
ne dlsapproves-all tbare unju-t and oppressive
IN their character, | you whether the wing
party, so long they stain Willard Fillmore, are
not responsible for that y. Yes yes ]
will not stop here, my attempt to show the
responsibility of the wifi party for the fugitive slave
law. by what means Fas the bill passed? The
administration did mucf 1t came with its power
and patronage, its favorand its rewards, and it
bent men to its will. lit was one cause of the
passage of the bill. Bubeyond that, were there
not others, lying still deer How happens it that
congress, elected as anajority was elected, upon
the most sacred pedgesf adherence to the cause
of Freedom, should disrdrd all those pledges, and
abandon those principlestO the profession of which
so many were indebted the seats they occupied.
My friends, the processwas gradual. When we
met, and for some time aerwards, the friends of free
dom were strong TheJfelt that majority of rep
resentatives had been ected, who would see that
no law was enacted, Ach would inhict greater
hardships upon the victl of oppression How was
that state of things chaged' BY influences from
abroad And, now, Undertake to fix upon the
wings, responsibility lot only for what that party
has done in the enactmdt and justification of that
law, but will show, bat the wings of Massachu-
sets were accessory befe the fact to the commits
sion oftnis enormous Grim. Loud paudits. Caught
IN the very act, as many,f them were-accessOries
after the fact, as the part has been-to the leading
wings of Massachusetts also belongs the dishonor
OF having been accessory before the Gct-of having
counselled and procured t.
Did not Daniel Websterpn the It'll Of March last in
a speech whichwas publAed and read by all the peo-
pie, declare his purpose vote for the law, which,
with some amendments, has been enacted And,
was not that speech haiIe with satisfaction and de-
light, by hundreds and Thousands of the Wings OF
Massachusetts. In Boston, the seat of their strength
and power, an address toMr Webster was prepar d
and signed by many hundeds of the wings, in which
he Is thanked for that speech, 50 for having convinced
the understanding and touhed the conscience of the
nation" And who were the signers of that address,
They were the men who had the right if any had
such right, to speak for the Wing party of Massa-
chusettS and that address wont into otl,o.
of the Union, as the voice of the Wings of Massa.
chusetts. Among the names affixed to it, are those
OF many who had been distinguished by tn,
highest honors of the party. There were legislator
VINO had served in both houses Of Congress- and mel
known IN every honorable department in life. Ye
such men, with c;,;1eeg.o Of spirit not olte
they had been acting IN gdordAce oil their constitu
tonal duties, and thanked Mr. Webster for recallin
them to sense of their duties. In the language {
some of the Wing papers, each of the signers of tn;
address was a representative mar" Indicating an
expressing the sentiments of ''class'' Near III
head of that list Of names, is the name of the preser
candidate for Congress from the Wing strong holc
the designated successor Of him of unenyiable FAM
Samuel A. Eliot. I1ear hear j And he havir
declared his concurrence with Mr. Webster. in II
passage of fugitive slave bil,wbich did not provide
and did not contemplate at that time trial bv iur
Is to be sent to Washington, doubtless, to see TIL
the law IS sustained in Congress- And the me
whom the Wings of Suffolk designate to represe
them in the Legislature, who are they? Numbe
OF them are sgners of that address. OF such, To-
are they who are selected to be the active and eff
Gent managers of their State Conventions.
BY such proceedings, and by similar measures, set
foot by leading wings in New York and PhiIadelpbi;
the impression created and diffused through Il
country, that the whig party in the Northern State
would to great extent sustain Mr.. Webster and IL
measures he advocated. Especially was it sought to ne
suade members of Congress from the Free States that
sentiment was springing up,which would uphold them
the abandonment of their principles, and in Welding
the unreasonable demands Of the save-holdng portion
the country.
/ By such means, many were induced to believe that
was safe to pass measures which are deservedy obno
lous to feemen; many were induced to leave the
post, through fear of Fictitious public sentiment
through fear of the leaders of the people. MANY wi
were afraid tog give the assent of their Names were
duced to leave their seats and allow others TO mass
fugitive slave bill. [s'SIame Shame pr
Wei my friends, was thewhig party responsible f
tins act ask yyu whether the proposition is n
maintained fully, fully, that that party of freedom,
1t calls itself, was treacherous to freedom-turned
back npon freedom-left the field Of conhict-and :
lowed the enemy to carrythe day. [''Hear Hear !!
My friends, to this hour, when has the whg party
Massachusetts repudiated any ofthese measure VIII
has 1t declared its repugnance to the sentiments pu
ished as the voice of the leaders of that party, in
letters addressed to Mr. Webster At any convocati
of the wings of Boston, has the vote Of Mr. Eliot be
condemned, has he received the slightest censu
from his party? At any public meeting Of wings in Ma
sachusets, has the conduct of Webster in turning
back upon freedom been condemned 2 No where, h
the thing been done. Quite the reverse of this, h
been the action of the wing party in this State. !
their late Convention in this Hall, by the unanimo
concurrence OF all the members Of that Convention, tn
renewed the expression of confidence and trust in
President and his distinguished Cabinet at the head
which stands Daniel Webster.
But, my friends, hold that the responsibility viii
is attached to the President, cannot be shaken off
The wing party, and that every act of party chara
ter IN relation to this subject, shows that the party
either forth bill, or certainly not actively opposed to
And, il seems to me, and ask if it is not your opnic
that, II the President had no power to veto a bill