M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1859-02-24
9oGttaI,
Eloquent and Patriotic Remarks
OF Mr.. stephens, Of GeOTgia. OH
the Oregon Bill.

OF Mr.. stephens, Of GeOrgia. on
the Oregon Bill.
The Washington Union Of Sunday,
in its notice Of the passage Of the Ore.
gon Bill, says:
The speech OF Mr.. Stephens, Of
Georgia, in concluding the debate on
this subject yesterday in the House,
was one of the most eloquent and eff.
fective ever delivered in Congress -
1t received the most rapturous and re.
peated applause both on the floor Of
the hall and from the galleries, and
such was the enthusiasm of the audi
ence that no efforts on the part Of the
officers of the House were able to check
it. 1t was a question of some doubt
whether the bill would pass before the
delivery of his speech: and it owes
the decided majority which it receiv-
ed to the patriotic and efe ctive plead.
ing Of this gifted champion.
The followingis the speech alluded
to:
Mr.. Stephens said he had then much
better have quoted the whole of it,
In concurring in it, he yielded the
whole question. lfa state had the
right TO confer upon the alien all the
rights of its own citizens, Of course
the right Of suffrage was includedl In
relation to the speech of Mr.. Calhoun
on the admission of Michigan, he
thought it was immaterial what he had
done in 1886, for in 1S4S he had re.
ported the Oregon Bill, and that bill
contained alien suffrage. He had also
voted for that bill, and he would put
his vote againet his speech.
There was an indisposition on thC
part ofhis Southern friends to multi
ply free States. In taking such po
sition they took the reverse OF the po
sition oftheir opponents on the othel
side. Let them do 'justice though
the heavens fall" The immense ter
ritories of the West had to be peopled
Nothing in nature was still; the earth
was never still; the great sun was eve,
moving. Since he had been here, il
the brief space of fifteen-this was th,
sixteenth sessiOn--they had added.si,
States to tho Union, lacking but one
of being more that one half ofthe orig
! inal thirteen: they had added one mil.
lion two hundred Thousand squar,
miles OF territory, largely more thar
the United States possessed at the
treaty of peace in 1913. Since tha
time they had added more than one
third oftbe entire area ofthe UniteC
States at the present time. At thil
time the United States was greater
than Russia, greater than the Roman
Empire in the brightest days Of hel
glory. 1t was more expansive' thar
the Empire of Alexander, when be
stood upon the Indusand wept that he
had no more worlds to conquer. But
they were not yet at the end oftheir &C.
QUESTION. That had been done within
the period of which he had been a
member of the House.
Internally til ey had not been less &C.
tive in progress. The shipping then
amounted 10 two millions; il was now
upward of five. Their foreign impolts
were but thirteen millions; now they
were upwards Of thirty. Their eX.
ports were under one hundred millions
they were now upwards of three hun
dred. The export of cotton alone, the
great staple of the South, was but iif-
ty-four millions; and this year it would
be upward of one hundred millions -
The amount Of gold in The United
States at that time was about one hun.
dred millions; bank circulation and
all and now it's was not short of three
hundred millions. lie mad not time
to go into a detail Of all the improve.
ments which had taken place, but in
railroads alone there were at that time
not exceeding five thousand miles; at
present not less than twenty-threC
thousand miles, almost enough to cir
Gle the globe. At that time there haC
been as uch,doubt about the success
of the electric telegraph as there now
was about the Atlantic cable, and
there was a complete network ofwirt
through this vast, enterprising and
growing Republic. This progress
could not be checked, and persons
now living would see over hundred
millions within our present bounda.
ries.
For himself he felt no danger from
the number of free states, none at all.
He professed nationality no further
than it was founded in true patriotism.
Principles were their protection, and
whenever an aggression should lie
made upon his rights, the constitution
al rights Of the South, the solemn
guarantees Of the constitution, his
position was resistance to the end,
whether it came from fbe Government
or from any other quartor. Our faith
ers and your fathers resisted aggres-
sion. II they could rise to right a
wrong against a father or mother,