The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1850-06-19

y AL tho MI austifuS hoSs tWt bSiobtSepa
him. You have scarcely ever hal IA
Presideptswho would no, have mad a
good bargain ,ohaye exchanged AHhiss
property for the Presidency. sshcc
the days Of Jefferson, there has seen.
perhaps but one exception Gsfrals
Taylor's fortune is probably y'bsth.
more than tho Office he holds. Ahdsff
no wero forced 10 make present acri..
flee Of the one or the other, il might be
better 10 sacrifice tho office. But it
must be remembered that the qnesibns
that now ugitate the country do not
threaten the instant and entire destnc-
ton of Southern property, bat bnly
place it in jeopardy; and great al the
jeopardy is, all must admit iilE the,
emo!uments Of the Presidency hFe u
four fold compensation for lie rist1ran.5.
| say nothing Of the honor and$ &atinc-
ton conferred By ofice--ohieessha en-
gerly sought after by most tsllp, end
more SO by some men, than Stpperty
itself. t9
These observations are mstlano,with
view TO reflect on any Ptesident or
any set Of public men, buts:5Inply5 to
make you sensible Of the e.tsspie folly
of supposing that your rightsasd liber-
ties are safe in the hands of any setsof
office-holders or office seekers, depend !.
ent for The highest Offices uPeis q North
crn minority, who are hostile you,
and who believe il their iaia IS to de.
stroy you.
Exeeptlhe prop press aiaea
by you, / d5no. now how Il aYisll h pos
siblo for you "a be- IassgIliea
ofthe state of aHairs IL aebingi6n, 81,
as TO what it will be necessary for you
10 do in order to defend yourselves
against cncroachments by your enc
mics, or betrayal by those TO whom is
committed the defence Of your rights.
The debates in Congress csn be relied
on only 10 n limited extent They nre
restricted by rules Of propriciy to the
discussion Of questions before the body,
nnd arc also limited in duration by the
necessity Of coming 10 decision upon
numberlcss bills and resolutions in the
course of n single session. There is.
too, great variety Of matters to which
il would be indelicate for n member to
allude in debate, and which, yet, il is
all important should be known TO the
public.
So far as the House Of Representa-
tivcs is concerned. it is hardly correct
10 say that the privilege Of debate exists
at oil. The "prevous question" is cm.
p!oycd TO cut Off debate whenever i, suits
the majority 10 do SO, and the majority
never fails to do what il suits them 10 do.
| now venture TO predict tlat the friends
of the so.called Compromise Bill, "
fatal rs that is destined TO be 10 the
South, should it become q law, will at.
tempt 10 {" whip it through" the House
under the gag. Blu, where the pre-.
vious question" is not employed to sli.
ile debate, the rules Of the House limit
each member 10 single speech upon n
question, and limit each speech to q sin.
gle hour, and whether n member shall
be allowed the floor at all rests with the
presiding officer. The consequence is
that the most unwarrantablc assertion
and the grossest misrepresentation 60
uncontradicted for weeks or months. =
And when opportunity is afforded rs i,
frequently never is, member will find
that he has not time to discuss tho Qucs-
ton under debate in manner crcditublc
TO himself, or satisfactory 10 his conSli.
tuenis; much less 10 rcfute mass ot
misstalcments that hns been accumla.
ting for months. While, therefore, The
Senate can be but partially relied on fol
the prompt or full development Of af
fairs at Washington, the House of Re
presentativcs can scarcely be relied OF
at all. There is, however voice
which goes forth every morning or eve
ming, and which is daily heraldcd BY
the public post to every part of III,
country--nnd thai is the voice Of the
press, and newspaper correspondents
and when the ftanking privilege, by
which you receive free Of postage, com
munioalions from your Representative
shall be abolished, both you and YOU
Representatives will be left n, the mer
! cy Of these classes Of men.