The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-03-13
Tho Kansas Debate In the senate-nd..,r,
Halo and Tocmbs

Ntssrs. llaic ana l"omss. II was gene
rally expected that Mr.. Hale would make
III effort to regain the ground lost bv him
III tho short personal rcucpuntcr which oc-
CURED few days since between him nad /,
Senator Jones, of Tennessee. Mr. usie |
concluded, however, that "discretiuh vas !
tho better part of valor" with stich an ay-
tagonist, anil thereby disappointed a la!..
audience. who anticipated another e&ll.i.
tion Of talents In the way Of spicy wit Il d
keen rcrartee, for which both Of these scua-
tors have wide reputatinn. Mr.. lie
preferred to take up i challenge ninte uy
the President, anl repeated hy Mr.. Toucev,
to the effect that the President had dis
charged Iii, whole ln;y in regard to tte tro,:-' )
tles in Kansas. H.. wen, over tie beaten :
track of Abolition, but failed to make the
slightest ltnI,co>un upon The mnprcyns,hle
positions advanced 10y the President IN
his message and proclamation, and SO ably
sustained by Messrs. Touccy and JONES'
1le WAS quite rs savage as Mr. Wilson on
the "hordcr ruflians.' AMI on the acts OF
their legislature. Much of his speech WAS
devoted to the genera, subject Of slavery,
and to reading extracts from newspapers
and resolutions to show that certain New
England politicians, who are NOW snrnl
Democrats, were tinctur"l with (reesni!isr,
some ten years ago. This portion Of his
speech was u mere rrhasl Of the l,abiual
sant of Abo!i,ionists, aud WIS evidently in
tended for Buncomhe. lie seemed TO lie
especially provoked at the charge that the
North had lrcn guilty Of aggression upon
;hc rights Of the South and il hold asser-
ion WAS argument, he rcpclicd the charge.
Ills argument in support Of the c"n>titu
:ional power Of Congress to prohibit slave
" in the Territories, showed clearly that
Mr. Hale mistakes his genius when he
.aunchcs upon constitutional discns-
sion.
lie made up. howevcr, in holiness of
assertion what hc lacked in strength of ar
gument. lie protrs.rd to i,e able tn put
his finger on the clause in the Constitution
which gives the power; and, t:illing int"
the error that Mr.. Seward was familiar with
tina: instrument. NJ. Hale handed that gcn-
tleman the Constitution To turn to ;hc
clause. Whether Mr.. Seward was ignp-
rsnt as tu the clause referred TO, or whether
his acquaintance with the Constitution WAS
rot sufficiently intimate, he was unatle to
find it before Mr.. Hale nccte,l II in the
progress uf his remarks, aud therefore Ee
proceeded to quote it. from memory. 1t
:"rmel out IL he the clause winch Ci ives
Congress power to make all nec'ltul rules
and regulation, in respect TO the tcrrit,ry
AMI other property Of the United Slates.-
lie seemed to think there WAS much niean
ing in the world all, and laid much stress
on it. Like every other one who has ever
sought the power III this clause, he made
and utter failure. lie denounced, with
great bitterness, The Northern "d"ughE,ces,"
whom he ,ha:,c,! wit, having been bought
up by the South.
Mr.. Toomls followed in the discussion !;
and, although he occupied less than half
tho time of Mr.. II lie, his reply to every
material position was full and conclusive. -.
lie sustained the course Of the President
in mn arg,r,,rn, which, for clcarness. force.
concIusiveness, anI elounencc, has been SCI
dom eaualIe,l in the Senate. lie relied
for his facts upon the official dorum..nt~.
and by them lie showed that the President
had followed the law nf the land, in his
policy with scrnpulous tilclity, and that he
had interposel his executive authority ut
the right time and in the right manner
neither too soon nor too late, Tut at the
very time when the facts called for an.l
justified his intcrpositio'
fence Of the character Of Mr. Atclison. hut
Mr.. Hale disclaime'l any intention in his
remarks to assail Mr.. Atchisnn. Mr..
Toornbs then turned upon him with II look
and manner that indicated the deepest
scorn, snd denounced that species of assault
which gives circulation 10 anonymous ca
lumnics and vet skuks from responsibility
by disclaiming any intention to endorse
them.
MI. Tooml's appealed to thcleg;>a'ivc his
tory Of the Government from 1880 to 1920.
and detiei any man To point t" III act of
Congress during that period which rerog
nizcs in Congress the power to prohibit
slavery in the Territories. He pointed to
the fact that in that time eight territorial
laws had l'cen passed, and i'll no one OF
these was this power assumed or rec"gnizc'l.
lle accepted the proposition OF Mr.. Hale
to appeal to the fathers Of til" Constitution
on this point. and he then turned t" the
opinions Of Mr.. Jefferson and Mr. Madison,
showing that when the question arose for
the first time in 1910. when Missouri sought
admission into the Union, these fathers Of
the republic denied the power Of Congress
to prohibit slavery in the Territories.
The answer of Mr.. Tuoml,s to the charge
Of Mr.. Hale, that for fifty years the South
had controlled the Government hy the aid
Of Northern "doughfaccs," who had been
bought up. was the most crushing and
overwhelming reply that we ever heard
made to M antagonist. Mr.. Toomt's
scorned the ilnputa,ion that the South
would stoop to maintain its influence by a
resort to bribery. willis, he vin.lic.tel with
unsurpassed power AMI eloqnrnce the re-
putations o: the national men Of the North
who have stood in the breach, and cooper
ated with the national men Of the South in
resisting the aggressions Of fara,icism upon
the constitutional rights Of the Southern
people. Ii Mr.. Hale is not utterly inscrsi
ble to shame, he must have felt deeply and
keenly the force Of the rebukc SO eIoqnent!y
ada,,i,,;.tnrn.l L. Mr r.,n,nh. ,nh G., mimi