Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1860-01-20
NUMBER s.
JUDGE BATES.

@OOQ1 0A Il 8<1s
IL will be remembered that atlhc Whig
National Convention held in this city in
1856, Judge Bates, Of Missouri, presided
with great ability, and on the motion to
adjourn sine die ho rose and expressed his
sentiments briefly on the national topics
Of the day. We make somc extracts from
that speech which viii be rc read with in.
terest at this jrnctare. iAa
f y
know something about the history of
that Nebraska bill. | know by ordinary
and probable testimony, although may
not he able to prove itjudicialIy,. by whom,
and for what purpose, and when, that prop
osition vas concoctcd. We know that
Mr. Senator Douglas, of Illinois, was for
many years before that time chairman of
the Committee on Territories in the Uni.
ted States Senate. And all who have ta-
ken the trouble, as most OF our frontier
lawyers do, to read and scan closely the
phrnseology of the various acts OF Cons
gress establishing the terfitories--aIl such
men know that there was q change in that
phraseology after his coming s'iute the
charge of that committee. Now a difIcrs
ent form of language was used in lbe,es.
tablishment Of Territories, from what had
ever been used before; but that need not
be gone into at this time. Certain il is.
however, that down to tho introduction Of
the Nebraska bill, as il is called, nobody
in any part of tho United States, any
where, or in any public meeting, had ask
ed for change of the settled policv es-
tablishcd by both parties in 1859 That
being the case, what was done? "A bill
was reported IN the Senate, with nm eIabo.
rate report in cxplanation accompany
ing It. establishing the oneterriory Of Me-
braska. only one territory without sayingo
anything so-called Missouri Com
PROMISE Thatsbill was set down for de-
bate on certain particular day in tho
Senate, and one-half of the Senators ap.a
peared in their places, expecting Ia debate
that bill. But then the chairman of tho
on Territories introduced anoth.,
er bill with another report. providing for
the establishment of two Territories, aud,
assailingg the principles of the Missouri
Compromise. This was done 10 the aston
ishmcnt of everybody. .s
Now gentlemen. upon the face Of such
a proposition as that, every ingenious
man who has been in the habit OF looking
into circumstancial evidence--who can
look into the seeds Of time and see which
will grow and which will not--will see that
there was something hidden, and what was
hidden has leaked out Subsequent events
have shown that Mr. Douglas was not the
originator of that bill but tirat MIR, htciiis- itis
ison, Of Missouri, was its originator fts
was necessary, or something Of the kind
was necessary, for his re election. and he
made q speech on the western frontier Of
Missouri, which found Its way into the
newspapers, aud revealed the whole trans-s
action. He told Mr.. Douglas, ''You are r.
great man among us, and you can now, il,
you will, secure the next Presidential cleo
ton, for You are strong in the North; and
Just repeal this Compromise and purchase,
the whole Southern vote, and you can bo,
elected. This thing must be done, and IL
you do not feel willing 10 do il, will do It
myself You must resign your Office as
chairman Of the Committee or consent to
this proposition" Mr. Douglas asked
twenty four hours to deliberate upon IL,
at the end Of that time he consented To do
so, and introduced the bill in that form. .--ee
That is the history of the matter Ifwasa
done as an electioneering scheme for the
Presidency, and nothing else. Butitwass
found not to work we'll, and aroused per-
feet tornado ut the North, and stirred up
everybody. | am not for tho North or the
South ] utterly deny that geographical,
division which separates the country into
North and South, There is moi an acre
Of land in the whole Mississippi valley,
from Louisiana to Minnesota, that belongs