Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1860-03-23
GREAT SPEECH.
HON. .. z. WADE.
Delivered an the Senate Of the United States, on
Wednesdag, March 7th, 1860.
OF OHIO.

Wednesday, March 7tt, 1860.
MIR. Browns Dem, Miss,) resolutions reIa
tive to the Territories, were taken up.
| Mr.. Wade thought these resolutions worth
Of notice, as they seemed to embody the view,
of the Democratic party, and they were entire
! ly opposite to the principles for which We
! should contend. The public mind is great,
agitated in the consideration of the principle
i contained u these resolutions and other similar
ones 1t / little remarkable that the loud
est complaSats coIEe from those who have had
/ the powerAnd administration of the Govern
ment for many years, and have nodded its poll
cy and betsa i'll possession of its vast revenues.
The partysto which l belong has been for many
years without any power to control in any
way the policy of the Government. 1t is a
singular fact that these who have the army,
the navy and the Treasury under their control
now stand complaining; and they come for
ward to thll US that mal-administration is such
or their principles such, that it will be bet
! ter to tear down the pillars of the Government
and invoke US all ia common ruin. The ques-
tion might well arise-How happens it that
you, whe have been in possession of the power
Of the Government for at least seven years,
should have so conducted it that you are now
apprehensive Of ruin | can deduce no other
conclusion than that those who have been in
possession of this power have shown themselves
incapable OF administering the Government on
such principles as it should be administered up
on / do not believe any Senator here from
the Southern States can look me in the face
and say that he has not, and his section has not
had their full share of political power from The
organization Of tie Government until how
No, sir. 1t is perfectly obvious that your pow
er lii this Government has been altogether in
disproportion to your numbers. / do not
blame anybody, because l know it is the nature
of US all to make use OF all the powers we have
to tie advantage OF our principles, our own
Interests, and our own views. Undouptedy sir,
L would do the same thing. And you, sir. COM
plain of the administration of this Government
and say that it is a total failure to such a de-
gree that you are meditating its utter aud en-
tire destruction. Who is to blame for all this
except those who had the power and have con-
troiled all the policies Of the Government to
suit themselves This is most manifest from
the confession Of those who complain. 1t is
but the shadow of the great principles which [
contend tor, thrown across the political horizon
tlat disturbs tie oqGaiinily of our Southern
brethren. The Senator from Georgia, MIR
Tooubs,) tod us that they were in the posses
sion, and he WAS proGd OF it-and well he might
be--0t S5G,OG0 square miles of the most beauti-
tll cotntry God ever bestowed on man; and he
informcI us, sir, that it was capable of sustain
'iDg.a population greater than that Of Europe
and isbeIieye lie spoke within bounds when he
said 50. He told us that there were but twelve
nI;ffFFii,l.s o; people i!l. biting that country
And We ali know that The s.avcholding States
in point Of area are one third greater than that
Of tie Free States, while they contain DOW
not mere that oue-haif the population. lie
showed their prosperity; and that, too, is So
Is not, then, anomalous, these winnings and
complaints about the aggression and oppression
of the North, WHO are entirely out of power,
and when we know that the property claimed
by these gentlemen was never so prosperous as
to-day! Slaves are higher than they have ever
been before, and their employment is more pro-
fIable to the owner than it has ever been. In
one moment it is the glory and boast Of South
err gentlemen, and, i'll the very next breath all
is ruin and dependency. How is it, sir? IF
the \ orth have conducted themselves so shame-
le8sIy toward Southern Institutions if their un-
dcrground rail- cads have so sapped the foun-
dations of your peculiar institution, how is it
that your property has risen in the market, and
now stands higher, by your own boasting and
showing, than at any former period These
things cannot be. One other thing | would
notice The Senator from Georgia (Mr
Toombs.) rose in his place, and with kind Of
despair ON his countenance, said that we on
this side Of the Chamber were the enemies of
the country. He felt them to be the enemies
of his country, and power would be unsafely
lodged in our hands. Why unsafe, sir, if we
have not endangered the Government so far?
He complained that we were fathless in the
execution of his fugitive bill, and yet he told
us that such was the loyalty Of the servants of
the people of Georgia that, since the days of
the Revolutionary War to the present day, not
one hundred, for any cause whatever had es-
capped. Sir, had not that Senator small reason
to complain of anybody? Scarcely negro a
year had escaped from the great State of Geor-
gia, yet she comes here and is ready in her rage
to make war on the Union, to tear its pillars
down, and involve us all in one common ruin
And why, sir? Because they have lost one
poor nigger year. He does not tell us wheth-
er they lost them by Abolitionists or not. But
when the gentleman comes here to maintain
that kind Of argument, it is perfectly evident
that there is something else than the conscious
ness of any real losses by the unlaithfulness of
those whom they abuse. Well, sir as the Sen
ator from Georgia seemed to be the Attorney
General to bring in bill of indictment against
this side of the Senate, propose, for brief
period, to review some of the arguments, some
of the declarations and some of the vitupera-
ton contained in that speech, for | acknow-
ledge him to be among the ablest and most ex-
perienced Senators Of this body, and if any
case could be made out against the North for
any violation of duty, be was able to make it
manifest. He had the ability and certainly he
did not lack the zeal, and if he failed, with
another noted character, he failed where Satan
could not stand. He set forth, sir, with the
charge of treason, Of perjury, nay, of cowardice,
which confess grated more harshly on my ear
than all the other accusations made use Of We |
were toldthat we with the untold millions we rep
resent, had so lost our sense of honor that we
could not resent an injury. Did he believe we
were arrant towards on this side? If he did, |
and | have no doubt he did-if he believes this |
side of the chamber are all non-combatants, |
will not believe he intended to earn a cheap
reputation for valor against those whom he sup
posed would never meet the challenge 1t is
known to everybody that the people of the Tree
State have utterly repudiated this old, and
they contend, barbafous mode of settling diff |
culties with duel. Every intelligent man
knows full well that the man who endorsed this
practice at the North has so fallen under the
ban, Of public opinion that he could afterward |
receive no office of trust or honor in any of