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


tried the experiment Of proclamation agains
this very people OF Boston, more than seventy
five years ago. 1t did not put down the people
but It led to revolution. President Fillmore,
proclamation will do neither; it will be merely
| Intellectual.
| Sir, the ordinary authorities are quite adequate
To any such case as this, and it is useless, anC
much worse than useless, in my Judgment tc
clotbe the President with the extraordinary
powers which seem to be suggested by the adj
vocates of this reference. / do not, however, al
all object to the reference. shall say nothing
against it. Let it GO To the committee, and lei
the committee act Ii senators see fit to waste
any more of the time of this session upon ques-
tons of this character, let them make a report
and let US have another debate, and let us see
how far it is proposed to go, not in the execu-
ton of law by its ordinary means and pro.
cesses, but in this strange attempt to suppress
discussion and prevent agitation--to give peace
tranquility, and harmony to the country by the
employment of military force
Mr.. DODGE, of Iowa MIR. President, l feel
that it is due TO myself as one Of those who sup
ported the compromise measures of the last SEES.
sion Of Congress, considering the bitter terms
in which those measures have been animadyerted
upon by the senators from Tennessee, Arkan-
sas, and Ohio, that should respond to some OF
the remarks which have been nude in this de-
bate.
Mr. BORLAND The senator mistakes me
very much if he supp0ses | animadyerted with
bitterness on those who voted for the compro.
mise stated that would have voted for the
Fugitive slave b II myselfif had been here, in
view of the promises which it held out, but
which, nevertheless, had very little hope of see
ing fulfilled. think did full justice by accord
ing entire honesty to the motives of every one.
] questioned neither the motives nor the actions
of any senator. / stated that, while did not
approve acquisced in the measures called CON-
PROMISE after they became laws, induIging the
hope that they might produce the good results
which were predicted by those who supported
them, tho Oh, repeat the hope was feeble
one. The senator greatly mistakes me, then,
when characterizing my remarks as bitter de-
nunciation
Mr.. DODGE, of Iowa. did not understand
the senator as censuring or impugning the mo-
tives Of any one, but as animadverting upon the
measures generally as unjust to his section of
the Union. On the other side they are attacked
no less vigorously by the senator from Ohio
Mr.. CHASE. He says he thinks they will fail,
and that they have sgnaly failed to produce the
result which was intended by those who voted
for them In that he perfectly comedies with
the senator from Arkansas Mr.. BoRLANDl and
the senator from Tennessee, Mr.. TURNEY.]
do not know that those measures are destined
to effect the good results which those who voted
for them intended; but think they have done
good, arc doing good, and should be regiousy
lived up to and carried out in good faith. be-
leve there is greatly improved state of feeling
in the country, and that the great body of the
people are for adhering to the compromises, both
of the Constitution and of the last session.
am one of those who believe that the President
of the United States, in his efforts to enforce the
law, has done and is now doing his duty to the
country.
believe that there is settled and deliberate
purpose on the part of a few to subvert and
render imperative this law, or any law for the
rendition of fugitives from service. / think
there is danger in permitting any law, and espe-
cially one which is but re-enactnent of the
Constitution itself, to be trampled under foot !;
and am therefore in favor of steps being taken
such as will at the threshold stop all resistance
to the law.
Look at the position of the President of the
United States, and you see that it is the same
as that OF the compromise measures. He is as
sailed Oh the one side by Southern men who
consider that he is an enemy to the rights of
their particular section of the country, and that
those rights have been totally disr garded, to-
tally overlooked, and upon the other side by
those in the free States who consider that he is
resorting to measures too decided and strong to
carry into effect laws too partial, too beneficial
to the South-which laws, whether right or
wrong, as the Executive of the nation, it is his
sworn duty to execute.
take this occasion to declare that, humble as
my support and influence are, and hostile though
am now, and ever expect to be, to the politi.
cal principles of which he is The representative,
he will have, in his efforts to enforce the law,
my vote and influence as long as ! have vote
and voice here, if he continue in the fearless
and patriotic course which he is pursuing
The senator from New Hampshire Mr. HALE
thinks this proclamation of the President an ex-
tremely ridiculous one The senator from Ohio
MIR. CHASE deeply regrets that this small at
falr in Boston should have been so greatly ma :
nfed Boston was the very point ut which, nf-
ter the first violation of the law there, wished
to see the strength of the law and the power Of
the government tested. believe it is the point
at which there is, perhaps, more treason and Sc
diion preached and published against the Con-
stitution and laws Of the land, than any other in
the United States 1t is the great abolition
headquarters-the theatre upon which agitators
whether natives or foreigners, carry on their OPP
eratons against the domestic peace and quiet of
the country. For these reasons, Boston is the
place, above all others, where ] want to see the
power OF the government tried. | rejoice that
the President has acted as he has to meet the
crisis.
We all know Mr.. President, that It was an
nounced that the FREQ. soilers had had meeting
at the commencement of this session of Con-
gress, and had resolved that it was not their
policy TO agitate in Con. ress for the present,
but among the people at home. NY own opin-
ion Is, that their efforts and those of their allies,
are now everywhere directed to one point--the
notification Of the law and the Constitution re-
specting fugltives from labor. If agitation Is to
be endIess---if clubs are TO be formed Ea. t,
North, South, and West, to uullfy the laws and
set at defiance the officers of the government
if these things are to be done, wish to hear
them discussed bore, every where, that tho issue
may be fairly made up, and the people Of the
United States look it, with all its direful consc-
quences boldly in the face.
trust, Mr.. President, that I have as much