Demoine courier., 1856-01-17
oIititaI.
Giddings and Washburn on R~epublic-
aniSM. s.as

uau~sssoc "n" VocnouhA Vh aeOPAo1hc
aniSm. s..s
Extracts from the great debate Ia the
House Of Representatives on the Speak
ership and the Presidency. December
18Th. 1855. 1eu
Mr.. GIDD,yGs-My fellows embers:
| address Won thus because we have no
other authority or officer to whom | can
address myself. As ye. we are in an
u~norganized condition. We are with
ont rules. we are without officers. we
are wl,hou, authority in this Hall. The
people are looking with the mos, intense
interest for The organization of this body.
They are expecting Us 10 proceed 10 the
momentous business which, as their re,
?resenIives. we are bound TO ,ransact.-
Sir, ! am not, under the circumstance s,
disposed 10 find faul, with these explain
atoms 10 which we have li.,ened 10, some
Two Gays past. think il is righ, and
proper that gentlemen should pl.ce their
7iews before The country ,ha, ,aeir con-
s%,iiuen,s may know and appreciate them.
But there is n thing that | dislike
With all deIicacy | would suggest that,
instead Of using terms and phrases up
on which different individuals may place
different constructions. we should speak
Of principle. Instead Of using such
terms as Democrat and Wing, Know
Nothing and Free Soiler, we should use
language expressing the sentiments and
principles held by different men. If we
will rome 10 that, we shall find that we
are not half so various in our sentiments
as we are whsn we use phrases imply
ing anything or nothing, according to
the views of each individual who listens
10 our remarks. And there is another
point TO which | wish most respectfully
TO reply. Yesterday we listened to va.
rious remarks coming from diffcren,
parts Of the Hall, from gentlemen from
diferen, parts Of the Union, BIZ. all hav-
Ing distinctive reference to the North
and South. Sir, that is a distinction
which no man ever heard come from ans
lips. Ii is upon principle, enduring, g.
t%ernal, unyielding principle, tina. | place
ms whole. my entire moral, political.
and religious being. | have no regard
COR parties, nor for sections. for they
mi ,n nothing. L, struck me, when my
friends from Pennsylvania, upon my
RICH, (Nr. Jones) and he upon my left
(Mr. Allison) were speaking this morn
ing. the, il they had spoken Of princi
Pile instead of party they would have
found that there was very little differ.
ence between them; they would have
fonnd common ground upon which all
could stand together. And now | speak
Of this continual denurcia,ion of section.
al views, and sectional feelings, and Sec
.ional parties; they all come from 9 par
~ which has heen r~epudiaied by the
people Of the country. They come from
that minori,- Of seventy four ia this
House. And these are the gentlemen
who propose here TO The majority Of the
House tina, we shall resign and 90 home,
if they will. The proposition il unfair.
We are doing the work OF the country,
for which our constituents sent us here.
We are endeavoring 10 organize this
House; they are endeavoring to prevent
an organization. To illustrate my idea
| will remark ,ha,I am reminded of the
criminal standing upon the gallows. the
rope fastened TO the beam over his head
and around his neck, the drop on which
he stands sustained by a simple cord,
which the Sheriff stands ready with his
ha,che. 10 cut. '.Now," says The Grim
inal to the sheriff, .if you will resign |
will. and we viii 60 home together. ani
appeal to The people," (Greai laughter
Gentlemen let me tell you that THE Ne
braska question has been tried before the
American people. and Judgment has been
pronounced upon our conduct. And
now your i~nsenslbiliiy of your own con-
di,ion reminds me of a theological wri.
teri think il was Swedenborg-who
states that upon a certain time he was
en.ranced and carried 10 the other world,
where be met with a class Of fogies' spir-
is that had been in hat world twenty,
thirty, and even forty years, Oh, had no,
YET learned that they were DEAD. (Shou.s
Q! laugh,er.) ! mention this for your
instruction: | mention i, for your edit
cation-for Your good. l hope you will
mol, forge, il. for ! really think i, would
be more modest for you to reserve such
propositions while you are in so small a
minority. again come home to gen.
,lemen here who are the professed adj
vocates of an institution which, at the
commencement Of . government, was
regarded by the fathers of that day as
limited and sectional, and which is s,ill
more limited and more emphaiicallv Sec
.ional than il was ,nen. Thew had the
'toldness 10 avow their sentiments; and
on a former occaslon, when this House
was in great confusion, tossed about on
this slave question, like the wave OF the
mighty deep amid the storm that lashed
them into fury-when all the vitupera-
ton and Islander, and calumny, OF which
mortal lips were capable, were hurled al
the devoted head Of the Han. John @.
Adams-'the old man eloquent re-
collect well tha, he rose in his place, des.
pite slaveholding detraction and slave
holding denunciation, ank the eontemp.
of Northern dough faces, and called on