The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-03-21

Mr. oote' lWLi answer the question, and saw
debate.
Mr.. Hale. The question cannot be answere,
till IL Is al put when get through the CUES
ton, will give way. | was going to suggest tina
those leaders who had been consulted, had re
solved themselves into committee Of the whole
for, with the exception of the honorable Senato
from Mississippi, whom we have always looked {,
as leader, and whom the country has AWAY
looked to as leader, with this exception. almos
body here that would be called leadin,
Senator, leading Wing or leading Democrat
Mr.. Foote. My name is not there
Mr.. Hale. No; know it, say that, with III,
exception of the Senator from Mississippi. nearly
all the leading Senator's are on this committee
And now, sir, my question is, whether {" the lead.
ing Senator'S have resolved themselves into a
committee Of the whole2 Because, If they have
there is no necessity for the rest of us doing any,
thing. Let them sit
Mr.. Foote. Will the honorable Senator allow
me to say word, to save debate7
| Mr.. Hale. Yes, sir, certainly.
Mr.. Foote | stated to him distinctly that
theft had been no general consultation Of the
kind The names Of the gentlemen Just read
certainly have been suggested in various Quar-.
tiers. Mere has been no consultation there has
been no Aeneral agreement that these shall be the
names. these names have been suggested Ger.
tainly, andwould be acceptable to me but there
are other naees which may be suggested There
has been no Nch compact at all The honorable
gentleman knGs himself that there has been no
committee raisS they are to be voted upon yet
by ballot 4 askNim, then, if he deems it delckte,
liberal, and COURTEOUS, to introduce a narsyrspb
of this sort to eniarrass and harass his BROTHER
Senators with suggestions 80 unseemly7
Mr. Hale waspot aware that was hsraSs-
q
nances of all the leaSng gentlemen / suppose
they were gratihed, ratier than harassed. Ger.
family 1t was not my inention to harass them.
MT. Foote. IL somewhat harassed myself.
MT iae' mat muN have been because the
honorableSenator from Nssissippi was n OF anon
the leading thirteen.
Mr.. Foote, lin his ses4 | am weary Of this
nonsense.
Mr.. Hale. was going \ to saw that the hon.
orable Senator from MsssSpi tells me that, this
osmnli''ee mas not oeen reg4rly acted upon by
,he senate l know somethk else, too; know
how all the committees werXfxed mot IN this
Senate Chamber, in this roomAut in some of the
other rooms Of the Senate al thew were sim.
ply announced here, and brouA into this bodv
| suppose by some of the hdinq Senator's
There can be no doubt as to Is; and one of
these leading Senator's whose nae is in this list
of thirteen, stood up as drill seAsant and an
nounced to this body what the leArs had deter.
mined upon at their little INFORMAL Getting Sir
the honorable Senator from MissA;npi canno,
tell me that these little informal mn inqs do the
business Of the country, and that 4 only come
in here to put it in form, and place itS the Jour-
nal. Sir, am answered and, thin\the coun-
try is answered. The honorable SAtor saws
there has been no regular formal meetA
Mr.. Foote. There has been no form$neetine
| h Al Il
hothlng IKE an extended conference, soar as |
know. These names have been suggestdamope
others; but there is no agreement th these
should be the names.
| Mr.. Hale. That is the fault find with that
it has been limited to the leaders, and not Acnd.
ed enough.
| Mr.. Foote. The honorable Senator wil&ear
with me while state that there were no leArs
consulted about the names of the committee
certainly did consult with gentlemen of h
standing as to the propriety of proposing such
committee; but as to the names, the honora(
Senator must have surely seen that did not IN
innate that leading gentlemen have been CONSUL
ed at all. The honorable Senator is runnin]
away with an idea which Is totally unfounded
and is attempting to amuse himself, the Senate
and the country, in manner which is extreme
improbable to us ALL
Mr.. Hale. have got all the information
{" leaders, are.
The Vice President The question is on takin
up these resolutions.
Mr.. Hale and Mr.. Chase called for the yea
and nays, and they were ordered, and being taken
resulted as follows
YEAs-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Bell, Der
ren, Bradbury, Cass, Clay, Clemens Davis o
Mississippi, Dawson. Dickinson, Dodge of Iowa
Downs, Foote, Hunter, Jones, King, Mangum
Mason, Morton, Pratt, Rusk, Sebastian, and Stur
geon-24
NAys-Messrs Baldwin, Benton, Butler, Cal
houn, Chase, Clarke Corwin, Davis of Massachu
sets, Dayton, Dodge Of Wisconsin, Felch, Greene
Hale, Hamlin, Phelps Seward, Shields, Smith
Underwood, Upham, Walker and Yulee-22
Five Senators from the free States voted il
the Misunderstanding of Maine, Cass, Dick
inson, and Dodge and Jones of Iowa. Five from
slave States voted in the negative Benton, But
Ter, Calhoun, Underwood, and Yuee
The resolutions of MIR Bell were then taker
up, and MIR. Fooe moved to refer them to a Sc
lect Committee of thirteen to be chosen by ballot
Mr.. Clay assented to the motion, because he
WIS in favor Of trying every means of settling
the dangerous question, but he was not sanguint
as to the result. Mr. Butler of South Carolina
WAS opposed to the motion at this time He would
not say that finally he might not vote for it,
The subject was postponed, and the Senate ad-
journed
WEDNESDAY, March I3, 1850.
Mr.. Seward presented numerous petitions for
the prohibition of slavery in the Territories, for
the establishment of jury trial, for the abolition
Of slavery and the slave trade in the District of
Columbia. The question Of reception being
raised by Mr.. Yulee, Mr. Seward at the request
of the Vice President, presented the petitions
singly. He first presented the petition Of citizens
Of Madison county, New York, praying for the
protection of Freedom in the Territories, and
against the admission of more slave States 1t
was read-its reception objected to by Mr. Davis
OF Mississippi and on the motion to lay the ques-
tion of reception on the table, the vote stood
YEAS - Messrs. AtchisoD, Benton. Butler,
Clemens, Davis of Mississippi, Dawson, Dickin-
son, Foote, Hunter, King Mason, Pratt, Rusk,
Sturgeon, and Yulee-l5
NAYs-Messrs Badger, Baldwin, Chase Clay,
Corwin, Davis Of Massachusetts,, Dayton, Dodge
of Iowa, Dodge Of Wisconsin, Douglas, Fech,
Hale, Hamlin, Jones Miller, Phelps, Seward,
Smith, Underwood, Upham, Wales, and Web
ster-22
So the motion was not agreed to, and the petit.
ton was then received and referred to the Com
mitee on the Territories
People will be surprised to see Mr.. Benton
voting not to receive petition from American
citizens, praying certain course Of action on
questions then under consideration In the Senate
Dickinson and Sturgeon were the only Senator's
from free States voting 10 the affirmative.
Badger Clay, and Underwood, from slave States,
voted for the reception
b. Three other petitions Of similar kind were
then received by vote of Is to 10, and referred
Mr.. Seward next presented petition praying