The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-01-17
SPEECH OF SENATOR HALE.

oeLleVe ulaI the country thinks II oi no very
great consequence what the opinion Of any IN
diyidual Senator may be; but. sir. | have not
a word to say against the propriety Of those
gentlemen from Northern States who voted for
the Kansas n ebraska bill, and are still mem
bers of the Senate, making exp nations; for
there is not one of them that has ever had his
election submitted to the people of free State,
who has had a chance to make an explanation
on this iioor, or will be likely TO get it very
soon. Hence, have not word to say about
that
have but single word TO say in relation to
what has fallen from the honorable Senator
from Michigan, Mr. Cass. Nobody entertaina
a higher respect for that honorable Senator
than do. There is no State in the Union that
cherishes his name with more just pride than
the State which | have the honor in part to rep
resent; and there is nobody that will defend
his fame, when uniustly assailed, with more
zeal or with more generosity than the citizens
of that State. His fair fame they consider q
part of their inheritance. But permit me TO
tell him, with as much kindness as | entertain
towards him-and Ger tainly no man feels more
that there have been more tears she'd than con
gratulations expressed, at the course he felt 1t
his duty to take upon that bill.
rise now, sir, to make motion, which the
Chair notified me was in order short time
since.
The President. When the Chair indicated
to the honorable Senator that the motion was
IN order, he was not aware that the order of the
Senate had been partly eXecu,ed-;hat the copy
had passed from the hands of the Secretary TO
the hands OF the printer.
Mr.. hale. Whatever has been done by the
officers Of the Senate cannot diyest a Senator
here OF ms constitutional right to make a mo-
ton to reconsider
The President. 1t is clearly within the pow
er OF the Senator to make the motion, two legis-
latlve days not having interviewed since the re-
port was agreed to.
Mr.. Hale. Ii the matter has rot into such a
state that the order which we inay make can
not be carried out, it is not my fault My mo.
ton Is to reconsider the vote adopting the res
olution ordering extra copies of the Presidents
message aud accompanying documents to be
printed, and L will now state the reasons which
lmpel me to make this motion. | had begun
to state the reasons for my proposition, when
1t was suggested to me by the Chair that | was
not in order at that stage of the matter. The
hrSt reason was, that the message as / indica-
ted, was irregularly sent to the Senate, and sent
to the Senate In violation of an understanding
which the President understood by the resolu-
uon We had sent to him. and by the course he
had taken for four weeks. He knew, from our
messages touching our legislative capacity;
aud, therefore, l think that the message was
lrreguarly sent; and if | had been in nv seat,
L should have voted not To receive it, for thai
reason. But 1t has been received aud motion
has been made to print it. That motion has
been agreed 10, and | now move to reconsider
that vote, because | believe that document
should not receive that compliment at tho
hands of the Senate; it is not entitled 20 it,
and L will state some OF my reasons for this
opinion.
l have no right to assign any motive 10 the
President Tor sending the message here under
the circumstances under which he transmitted
1t. L shall not do so; but sir, there is a priv
llege which appertains to the Yankee nation
universally, and that is guessing. That we
have the right to resort to, and can only guess
what the object was. | am not going to under
take to say that the sending OF the message at
the time when 1t was sent, with the extraordina-
ry doctrines which 1t contains. had any possible
relation to the fact that several Southern Dem.
ocratlc State Conventions were to sit about the
Sth OF January, and that it became important
to let 1t be known what were the views enter
tanned by the President on certain points, be-
fore those Conventions sat. II he had any such
view as that, | wish to say to the President,
here from my place, that he spoke too late alto
gether. lie rs like desperate politician, or Il
Spectator of desperate fortunes, coming in lust
as the auction has closed, who makes a ire
mendous high bid, but the article has been
struck off to another man before he got in.
He is just as efectually "out of the ring AS
IT he had held his tongue. 1t is unkind of those
gentlemen who are the peculiar friends Of tho
PeSident, to let him labor under such delusion
any longer. There is no more chance of his
being renominated, than there is one of our
pages receiving thai honor He may be told
so, and he may be fiattered into believing it,
until about the time when the National Con-
yentlon sits. But ] wish to suggest to his par
ticuiar friends, whethe- it is not unkind, seeing
that the President c..n make nothing by it, To-
let HIM get down on his knees and humble him
SELF and insult his native State, by the insinua-
tions with which his message IS filed. when il
can do no possible good 20 anybody on earth.
The thing is done; the matter is settled. He
has been used just as much as you want 10 use
him, and he will be thrown aside. In fact, he
is thrown aside already, though he does not
know it.
Now, SIR, | wish to say few words in regard
to the doctrines of the message, Ia The 6rst
place, the President has a great deal 10 say
about Central America, rs IL that were tho
engrossing subject with tho people at this lime.
tell the President that there is "a central place
IN the United Statss-not Central America
Central United States-cailed Kansas, about
which the people of this country are thinking
vastly more at this time than they are about
Central America, down in the land of filibusters;
and it seems to me that the President of the
United States would have discharged Just IA
appropriately his proper constitutional functions.
If he had favored little with that, instead
OF consuming so much space upon Central
America, outside of the United States | do
not wish to enter the list with the distinguished
Senators who have spoken On this MESSAGE
the Senator from Delaware, Mr.. CLAYTON the
Senator from Michigan, Mr.. Cass, and nv
friend from New York, Mr. Seward I because.
If | were to do so, though there would be a..
foundation for sueh charge in fact pnbGc
rumor would at once say that was ambitions
to put myself forward as the lieutenant Of a COW
pany OF gentlemen who occupy DISTINGUISHED
positions before the country. IL is for ri.
reason that l touch on Central America with
great caution and great diffidence Central
America, SIR is an agitating subject lust ar this
time, and 1t IS seized upoa by those agitstors
VINO do not think it prudent to take hold of a
SUBJECT which Will really agitate the people.
Ihey case nothing about Central America-noa
a straw; the whole thing is humbug, explo.
ded long ago.
= wish, however, to state, for the benefit of the
SENATE and the country, for moment, what the
whole of this great Monroe doctrine really il
Does the country know that it is entirely OF
British origin2 This doctrine, which the Dem
ocratic party Of the present day, so called. are
gong to elevate and put prominently before tn.
country as great question, was a posit;op
taken by Mr.. Monroe at the suggestion of the
british Cabinet; and he did not take II nnt;l tb,
British Cabinet told him tbev would 81 -.