The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1856-08-22

1
in the presence of tl. House. You cannot,
however, 9" l,voud that hv n siurlc rule ::
it must he Ly law. II you desire to rive
!, I" yourselves Immunity, above all other
persons III the community, Tor Your often
81 aud oi'rr"bi"us language on this floor
against PERSONS and States, pass Your laws,
and let the people know that m,enbers OF
Congress arc to havs perfect immunity for
al saunders uttered and libclIs published.
! See how long such an act will remain OH
your statute book. For myself want no
such law. When this House aljourns
want no peculiar protection Tor what have
said on this floor. | feel that the law which
! protects my humblcst constituent is adequate
t" protect me. II am assaulted, the same
law that rc're>~cs tho wrong Of the hum
hlrst Irishman or German rctlrcss,.s nv
wrong. Arc we bcttcr than all other ,e0-
! pie, tia; we must have peculiar and extra
ordinary power?
! II i better that the law should DO passed
10y both Houses of Congress and approved
10y III" President, before il goes into opera
/ l"li, because there is too much of caprice,
too much of passion, too much Of prejudice,
too much Of partisan spirit and feeling,
entering into the bosons of tho mem
bcrs of this House, to enable them always
to Judge calmly, dispa>sionatrlv and fairly.
when an otfcns. is alleged t" have been
committed against them, Or against l,lr,,,-
her Of their party, either by Il member of
the House or 10y third person. Mr.. Speak
cr, there has not been II more remarkable
cl,an.e III tho opinion of dclberativc
body anywhere, think, than is to he found
i'll the history of the case of General Hous-
ton for committing IN assault upon Mr..
StnIhury, Of Ohio. That case is claimc,l
lis authority here. 1t is true, that the House
did then assume the authority to call iIous-
ton before them, and lave linn reprmanded.
think the lloucc exceeded its authority.
will make Il brief statement Of the case.
MIR. Stan>burv was assaulted late in the eve,
nlng. lie addressed Il letter the next nor
hing TO the Speaker informing him of th.
tact; ami the Speaker lail it before the
House. Mr.. Vance. Of Ohio, proposed Il
resolution directing that Houston should b.
taken into custody. 1t was debated for an
hour Or two before u demand WAS made for
Tie p'r.i"n> question. The question of
privilege. WAS raised then, and there VAS an
overwhelming maj jnriy in favor of the rcsn-
inii"n. They lid not sustain tie demand
i'r the prcvi'as question on that occasion,
'!i"d"h :; WIS .!rm,lcl, us the gentleman
from Obi" Mr.. CampbclI] did upon us the
other "ay, wi'rn this question va, Lr"ugh,
up. When the previous question failed.
,i.rn a member rose and sail, that de-.
maud for The previous question on an occa-
sion like that was little less than treason to
the Constitution itself.
Nell, sir, the debate was not IN elaborate
one. The House assumed that they had
jurisdiction by directing Houston To be Ia
ken into custody. lie was tried. The as
sault was proven 10 have occurred very
much in the way it WAS alleged to have been
i'll the letter. 1t led to long and IN able
constitutional debate and if the gentleman
from Ohio had refreshed his memory hv
reading that debate, he would I,av. seen
that many Of the brightest inteIlects of this
nation denied the power you desire to as
sumo. When the vote was taken on Vancc's
resolution, the House took jurisdiction of
the question by a vote Of ono hundred and
.fftyfre in the affirmative, to tucntv. fire
III The negative.
After the debate had been carried Oh for
month, and when speeches of signal abli-
~ had been made on both sides of the
question. and the resolution came up de-
rLring that Houston had been guilty Of a
! brc:1ch OF privilege, those one hundred and
forty five who had at first jumped at the
conclusion that uoustonis act was a breach
Of privilege, were reduced to one hundred
and six, and the minority, which started at
twenty-five, ran up to eighty-nine; thus
giving but seventeen majority and that, too,
in House which had decided, by one hun
dred aud twenty majority, only a month
before, that they bad the power in that iden-
tical case which YOU now claim. That, sir,
is pregnant fact, going TO show gentlemen
here the danger OF thus determining this
question upon passion or feeling, or with
reference to partisan views or partisan ends.
This is great constitutional principle, in
which you and and our constituents NAV
bc involved.
MIR. Polk, I presume, is ono whom the
gentleman from Ohio will consider mau
Of reputation, and his opinions of weight
and authority. Ho presided with dignity
and ability i'll the chair which you now oc.
cupy, and he WAS afterwards transferred to
the White House, as the Chief Executive
OF the Republic. In that debate, Mr.. Polk,
in the first instance, denied this power 10
Congress; and when lie came to discuss
the subject more elaborately in a second
speech, lie said this:
upon full examination of the question.
| am confirmed in the opinion that this