Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-05-14
MR.. BELLS DODGE.


that it would lead to a disruption Of the whg party
in Tennessee, and furnish plausible ground for inn
puatiOns upon my motives And those friendly warn
ings were given up to the time Of the final vote
in the Senate SAID to some Of those 0ho kindly m
terD0sed their counsel Frankly that y nag course Chdt-
eUer should BE- approved BE- the Whigs Of Ten
aeSsss ready 70 retire from the SeHGte-thdt
ggoul9 do Il eiesrfuLy.
declare here to-day, that If zay couHymen Of IeHnss-
see shall declare against mn tbs subject, and
that shall be ascsrt0lsa to reasonable certainty, rW
not be seen IN the Senate dan afterrards. Mr. Bells
speech March "A and IS, 1854
Very many Of Mr.. BELLS countrymen of Ten
nessee believe that the response made to his ap
peal for their judgment his course was sufficient
ly explicit and significant in the election Of August,
1855, and Nov. 1856, to have satisfied public man
reasonably impressed with the obligation of voun-
tary pledge But his mind is proverbially slow
in reaching conclusions on delicate questions of
policy, we presume that he requires third decision
to enable him to act advisedly Mr. BELL said three
years ago, that if his constituents should declare
against his course on the Kansas bill, he would re-
sign. His constituents have declared twice emphat-
caly against his course, but he is not yet satisfied
that they acted with due deberation and with full
knowledge Of his Soon after his course was
condemned by the result Of the election in August
1855, he declared in speech at Knoxville, that it
would be ''more agreeable to his private inclina-
tons, to seek the repose Of private life than to be-
come the champion Of the principles Of the
party lhe know nothngs) at whose bidding he was
then speaking But he said that the political condi-
ton Of the country-present and prospective was so
critical not to say alarming, that he reminded
of Admiral Nelson's stirring watchword- England
expects every to do his duty and hence he re-
garded the call Of his country that juncture as
imperative upon him to stand by her fortunes in
such crisis, by advocating know nothingism as the
only chance to save the Union and to remain in the
Senate. The crisis passed over and the danger was
averted, without any help from Mr. BELL, and in
spite Of know nothingsm. The defeat Of his candi-
didate for the Presidency, proved the Constitution
vindcatcd and the equality of the States establish
ed by the endorsement Of the great principle of the
Kansas bill, and by the condemnation of Mr. BELLS
course on that subject.
But Mr.. BELL did not yet follow the ''more agree
able" bent Of his private inclinatons" by retir-
ing from the Senate. He became deeply impressed
with the dangers Of a standing surplus of twenty
millions in the treasury surplus, by the way,
which Mr. RE kept standing all the time he
was in the treasury department-and concluded that
his continued services were needed in the Senate to
prevent the disasters threatened by this surplus
After much tribuation and agony eff mind he con-
cluded to remedy the evil by proposing to deplete
the treasury to the amount of the revenue derived
from the public lands and for that purpose just at the
close Of the ste session Of Congress- he gave notice
Of a distribution bill. 1t now becomes necessary
for Mr. BELL, to remain in the Senate, to meet the
new crisis which he anticipates and to aid in getting
through his great remedial measure Of landrevenue
distribution; and for fear that he may not succeed
in passing it through during the two next sessions,
he deems it essential to the public good that he
should sacrifice the sweets of friendship and that
his twelve years service in the Senate should be ex
tended to eighteen years.
If we did not know Mr.. Bells habtual hardness
in coming to conclusions, we should think it won
derfuF that he should occupy his seat during all Of
Mr.. Guthrie's term of four years; see him report
ing month after month, the enormous surplus of
twenty millions and yet that the danger of such
surplus excited no alarm until Mr. Guthrie was just
about to retire, and until after the people of Ten
nessee, by majority Of over seven thousand had
pronounced against Mr. Bells course on the Kansas
bill 1t looks still more wonderful that during those
four years, Mr.. Bell was voting regularly for bill
upon bill, giving away millions upon millions Of
acres Of the public land, and yet he now comes be-
fore his countrymen Of Tennessee, and urges them
to violate the Constitution by distributing the reve-
nue. derived from the public lands and condemns,
through the platform Of his party, in strong Ian
guage those very bills giving away and squander-
ing the public domain for which he himself had uni
formly voted We cannot think that Mr.. Bell would
have ventured on SO absurd policy if he had not
felt that it was necessary TO secure his continuance
in the Senate that the minds Of the people of Ten
nessee should be diverted from his course on the
Kansas bill. by raising some new issue. He dared
not meet the issue which he had himself invoked
His courage all oozed ont when he found his great
Know-nothing candidate for The Presidency rejected
by the people Of Tennessee. He knew that his own
course on the Kansas bill was distinctly condemned
when Mr. Buchanan received the vote Of Tennessee
He saw thousands Of those who had been formerly
Wings contributing to the condemnation which was
pronounced against his anti Kansas course He felt
that unless those Wings could be won back to his
standard, his career as a Senator must close 1t |
was in view Of these considerations that Mr. Bell |
conceived the idea Of TeYiving of the exploded
planks in the Wing platform, hoping not only to
raise an issue that would divert attention from his
Kalsas course, but one which would enable him once
more to rally to his support the Wings who had re-
fused to follow him into the support Of Knownoth-
ingism Mr.. Bell knows that distribution is wholly
impracticable-he ought to know that measure so |
palpably unconstitutional can never pass through !
Democratic Senate or House, or be approved by |
Democratic President He ought to know, more
over that the election Of Mr. Buchanan was the first
great step towards crushing out sectional fqnatcism
and that the blow struck only be made eHectual
by keeping steady eye on the great issue on which
the presidential election turned The countrymen |
Of Mr. Bell viii fail in their devotion to the Union
if they allow him to deceive them into the belief
that the Kansas issue has ceased to be the para
mount question Of the canvass. If the Administra-
ton is sustained, it must be done by who sup
ported the Kansas BILL not by those who labored to
defeat l.. Of Mr.. Bells course on that subject it is
next proper that we speak and We will do so in an
other number.
Ex-SENATon FooTE.-The late California papers |
contain a letter from this gentlemen, in which he