The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-03-12

it, OF he mlsuuderstood it, 1t may be the latter
for a constitution of we'll Unbalanced powers regu
lated as ours is according to our view, might
perhaps b. found as unintelligible TO some gen
tlemen As the Greek Testament would be to I
savage. But. sir, notwithstanding this fact hai
been brought 70 the view OF the gentleman be
fore by me, he has undertaken again to asscver
rate that the people of South Carolina have nc
other liberty than what is conceded to them BY
implication by an organized oligarchy. Sir
there Is hardly people on earth who have til,
amplitude of suffrage that the people of Soutf
Carolina have The truth is, there is little ne
cessity for a property qualification in that State
for in the rural districts nearly every man owns
land, or some other property, and in the cities
simple residence will give the right to vote
How, then, can the gentleman say that there i.
restriction upon the power emanating from
the free will and sovereignty Of the people
Sixth months residence in the city previous te
an election, and two years in the State, vii
give every freeman who carries gun the rgh
to vote
Well, the senator says it was not in his pur
pose to inJure South Carolina in the estimation
of the other States. Sir, presume he would
not have it understood that his Testimony was
| do not say il is deliberate 1t may be mad
vertent on his part but this perseverance in an
assault upon South Carolina, where there is no
occasion for it, and where the statements made
are not founded upon facts, shows presump-
ton somewhat Notifying, vexatiolis, and annoy
ing to me; and it is astonishing that aspirants
should have to make capital out of such asper-
sion and misrepresentation in regard to the peo-
Pile of South Carolina. Has il come to this sir
that South Carolina is to receive lessons of In
structi0n, and that her institutions are to be dis
sected. condemned, and held up for scorn to the
other States Of the Union, because gentlemen
may find it convenient to avail themselves of a
popular prejudice against u State which, SOL
EMMY say, would go to the primitive simplicity
of this government, and adhere to the strict con-
struction of the Constitution, as soon as any one
in the confederacy? And my deliberate opinion
is, that if every State of the Union would adj
here as strictly to the Constitution as she will
this confederacy would last for many years.
Gentlemen may suppose it isvery easy to fall in
with the vulgar temptation of the times but they
will find that the Constitution will crumble be-
fore they are aware of it, and they will not be
the persons to save it.
But this is not exactly to the point. do say
that what my colleague has asserted with regard
to tho voting test is true. Now, do not pre-
tend to recap;tuate; but any man can be a
member Of the House of Representatives in
South Carolina by owning prina facie ten
slaves and certain quantity of land and sup.
pose no man ought to be a member of such a
body in any country who has not some such
qualification. And in regard to the executive OF
South Carolina, the truth is, believe, it has
less power than any other. 1t has not the veto
power, which most Others have. And what i'm
portance can be attached to whether he is elect
ed by the legislature or by the people! The
people have the power to change it as they
please. The complaint has been that there is
too great difficulty in altering the constitution
There has been but one convention for that
purpose, and but one alteration, and that was
this right of suilrageS
Now, was mortified Mt these repeated state
ments; and what have to say to these gentle
men who choose to have their personal contests
is this; they may contend as they please, but
they must not make their statements the vehicle
to carry assaults upon the State which | in part
represent.
Mr. HOUSTON. was very reluctant to en-
ter into this discussion, Mr.. President, because
it was very unexpected to me. / thought that
should have been on my wav home and if it
had not been for an accident, | should have
been on my way before this time came here
not expecting to be called on to make any re-
marks, and least of all expecting an assault
from any quarter
would be very sorry, Mr. President, to avail
myself of any popular prejudice that may exist
against South Carolina for any purpose what
ever. If any such prejudice does exist, deplore
it as sincerely as any man on earth can do.
am sure that the gentleman from South Caro-
lima himself cannot deplore it with feelings of
more regret than do The nsnuation, there
fore, though it was made Indirectly, that would
avail myself of any prejudice for the purpose of
attacking South Carolina, is as gratutous on
the part of the gentleman as it is undesirable TO
me. can assure him that, if it were possible,
| would be glad to see all objections to South
Carolina, and all complaints and prejudices which
he may suppose TO exist on the part of the other
States obvated never again to be revived
And if he thinks me capable of enlstng, under
any circumstances, or for any earthly consdera-
tons, prejudice for the purpose of arraying one
part of this Union against another, he does as
much injustice to me as he does to his own per
ceptions. And il is very strange that have be-
fore me section Of the constitution Of South
Carolina that seems to bear me out, according
to the reading which gave it and for the edi-
fication of the Senate, as wel-as for the ntor-
nation of the gentleman, will read it as it is
published in volume of the statutes of that
State. In the amendments ratified December
10, 1910, the fourth section Of the first article of
the constitution is amended as follows:
every free white man of the age of 81 years,
paupers and non commissioned officers and private
soldiers of the army the United States excepted
being Il citizen of this State, and having resided
therein two years previous to the day Of election,
and who hath freehold of fifty acres Of land, or
town lot of which he has been legally seised and
possessed at least six months before said election
or, not having such freehold or town lot, hath had
a residence in the election district in which he
offers to give his vote six months before said cleo
ton, shall have a right to vote for a member or
members to serve in either branch OF the legisla-
ture for the election district in which he holds
such property or is so resident"
The words " so resident" had escaped nv at.
tenton, and hence the error that arose. That
is the mighty thing that has produced all this
uproar in the Senate this morning. Laughter. |
But this is not the place where wish to dis
cuss these matters ! am very sorry that any
thing that | ever say or do outside of these