The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-08-07
Who is Responsible?

The Southern (Ga.) Banner contains a letter
from Mr.. Speaker Cobb to W. H. Hull, Esq, OF
Athens, in which he ayows his preference fol
the Compromise bill over any other proposed
plan of adjustment 1t is very able exposi-
ton. Among other things, he says:
81 have thus far discussed this bill without re-
ference to any amen 'ments that might be made to
IT, avowlng my willingness to support it as it now
stands. entertain no doubt that the bill could
and would be amended in one important provision,
if the support of the entire South could thereby
be obtained in its favor. allude to the southern
boundary of California. The southern boundary
could be restricted to the latitude Of IS deg. 80
NINA natural boundary-by the cooperation of
the present friends ofthe measure and the Southern
members. Such change would probably lose
the bill portion of its Northern support but the
united vote of the South would more than COM
pensate for such loss, and would, in my opinion,
secure its success in this amended form. But
regret to say that such proposed amendment fails
to concate the Southern opposition to the BILL
1t seems from the facts exhibited before the
Senate yesterday, and the declarations that we
heard from the lips of Northern Democrats, that
a sufficient number of them would have voted
for the compromise line of 35 deg 80 min (act-
ing with the Southern members) if they could
have counted upon it as part of general sys-
tenn of compromise; that they would have risked
themselves by voting for that amendment, in
order to carry the bill and give peace to their
country; but since they have seen the Compro-
mise bill broken up by some Of the Southern
votes, they felt themselves no longer under such
obligation or inducement. - National Intelli-
gencer aa,E3a fa
Mr.. Speaker COBB, like the editor of the Ma
tional L,ateltgencer, took his seat in the Omni-
bus rather late, and rather unluckily. 1t was
when they were at length sure the bill would
pass, and behold it didn't. .s a
We did not desire to engage in controversy
with Southern men after the defeat of the bill,
because we thought we might all unite on sew
eral of the questions to be settled. And if the
Southern supporters of the Omnibus had con-
tented themselves with defending or excusing
their course on that measure, we should in that
respect have been for non-interventlon
But when Senator FooTE, the editor of the
Union, and Mr.. Speaker CoBB, after supporting
the Omnibus on its own merits-after saving it
was all the South could get, after contending
that the South must take what she could get,
now turn round and coolly tell us that the South
could have gotten more, and that those alone, who
commended steadfastly for more, are the cause of
her falling to get 1.-THE manGure is rather too
transparent. Suppose the Southern Ultras had
joined 'Messrs. FooTE, CoBB, and the editor of
the Union, in going for the Omnibus which
surrendered all California to the North, is there
any man SO stupid as to believe that the North
would have come forward and offered more
than was demanded--offered the South the right
of going into Lower California And yet the
attempt is now actually made to establish the
absurdity that the men who contended for $3.50
are responsible for the loss of $3.50, and that
the men who avowed themselves day and night,
ready to give that up by going for the Omnibus
as it was, are the patriots who would have Sc
cured $3.50 if the Southern Ultras would have
let them
Senator FooTE may speak from now till next
year, the Union may scribblc as long, and Mr..
Speaker CoBB may write letters all over crea-
ton, and they cannot make any man of common
sense believe one word oft
We should hardly have thought it worth
while to notice such an extraordinary experiment
on public intelligence, but party organs and pol
iticians have acquired, or fancy they have ac-
quired, such a control over opinion, that we
thought it important to present this as an evil
dence what they will attempt-if not of what
they accomplish.