Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-02-28

these blank threats. that by dissolution 0
the Union we will destroy them and ourselves
ut the same time. | see no salvation in the
resolutions Of Southern conference. Wher,
then must We look for the remedy: | have
sought, sir, the counsel Of the Fathers OF the
Constitution. have enquircd ut the Ancient
OraclcS. | look for relief where those who or
san'Zed our complex system Of Government
hid Inc to look. The wonderful system o
Government under which We live organizes
Its powers in two different classes of Govern
ments. So beautiful is the harmony of the syS.
TEN, that in almost every conceivable contin,
gency where one organization fails, the other
supplies the defect. When the Federal Govern
mcnt is inadequate TO an emergency, the State
Governments are ready 10 supply the dclrc!.-
Until both have been fully tested, and both fa
TO provide the just protection, the system has
not failed and ought not 10 be abandoned
Failing as we have to find our admitted wrong
relieved BY the power Of the federal government
next look to the State govcrnmcnts-to Tho
exercise Of the powers reserved to the State
legislatures. For the mode OF this relief I look
to The exposition Of the men who framed the
federal Constitution. will trouble this House
with short extract from the Federalist:"
T. 1t may safely be received as an axiom in
our political system, that the State govern.
mcnts will, in all possible contingencies, afford
complete security against invasions OF tEe pub
lie liberty by the national authority. Projects
or usurpatiOn cannot DC masked under pre-.
tences so likely to escape the hctralion Of Sc.
lect bodies Of men as the people at large The
legislatures will have better means Of inforrna-
ton; lney can discover the danger at dis.
,ancc and possessing all the organs Of civil
power and the confidence Of the people, they
can at once adopt 4 regular plan Of opposition
in which they can combine all the resources OF
the community. They can readily communi-
cate with each other in the different States, and
unite their common forces for the protection OF
their common liberty"
Actions by the State Legislatllrcs-direct
communication between the State Legislatures
for positive practical cnactments- there is my
programme. The time has come for us 10 make
the Northern people feel their dependence on
our good will make them know that their
first interest is to maintain the most perfect
comfy in their relations with us-to make thcil
understand that their prosperity is materially
controlled by the character OF their conduct IT,
wards US. will not attempt this by bald
threats OF dSsolying the tE0n because wc hold
4 much more potent instrument if sc have
the nerve to Use it. The Northern people are
using certain Of their powers to njurc our So.
cial and industrial interests. They have i'm
paired the value of our labor They have
aroused US to rctaliation-and we will now Use
our power to asSail their industrial interests
to impair tic value Of their labor. We will
i a., -.
der cover Of night, but We will so use our own
market for the products Of their labor US to
cxpc it from their midst, or reduce it TO star.
vation. We will compel their laborers 10 elni,
CRATE, or We vii! drive them into paupcrism.
The peoplc'who control the market for the pro.
duets of the labor Of another people, as com
pletcly as the South controls the market for
the North, can command the destiny o! the
aborcrs whose productes it consumes. This
power over the market gives dominion which
is almost absolute. 1t is power which no
wise ruler of mankind will neglect to exercise.
In his great struggle with the power Of thr
British Empire, Napoleon Bonapartc fully APP
preciated this influence. lie labured tU cur
tail the market for British fabrics. He labored
as scdulo,sly to impair the prosperity of the
British manufacturing interests, as he did to
destroy the efficiency Of their military and
naval establishment. have been aStonished
TO hear the efficacy of these non.intcr.
conrse measures deprecated. Gentlemen
refer to the failure of these measures to
prevent the revolutionary war and the war
of 1912. say, Mr. Speaker. That if the
commercial and manufacturing interests had
controlled the British Government as complete
ly as they may control some Of the Northern
State Governments. the revolutionary struggle
would certainly have been postponed We
know the power Of this interest in the North.
We know if We bring this interest wholly and
actively to our support that VIC shall be freed
from further aggression. Let rs lonk into tie
history Of the past and sec what effect non-in.
tcrcnlrSc has produced upon the trailing and
classes. Edmund Burke has
given lis one Of the most graphic descriptions
Of the effect Of the American non-iRtcrconrsr
agreements Of l7G5 upon the trading class Of
England that have ever read. They made that
class eager petitioners for the rcpeal Of the
Stamp act and it was repealed. Burke says
that the interval between the commencement
Of the American opposition to the Stamp act
and its repeal vas IAN interval during which
the trading interest of England lay under tho
mast dreadful anxiety which it ever felt" The
Of all America in l765, was not
double that of Virginia to-day, and its demaEl
for manufactured fabrics was, perhaps, less
than that OF Virginia at this time. Yet the
power of that market Was so scnsibly felt that
the stoppagc Of the American trade put the
trading interest CT England under "thc most
{reGdfn2 aaricty uhich it erer -Jrh." But,
here, sir, is another passage from Burke which
still more lorcibly depicts the alarm and excite
Inent produced in this class by the interruption
Of their trade with America.
Referring to the motion Of General Conway
to repeal the stamp act (upon the repeal Of
which the rest pration Of the American trade
4cpcndc},J Burke says: II remember, sir, with
!. melancholy pleasure, the situation of the
honorable gentleman General Conway who
made the motion for the repeal. In that crisis.
when the whole trading interest Of this Elm
ore crammcd into your lobbcs, with trem.
bling and anxious expectation waited almost
% winters return OF light, their fate
rom your resolutions When at length
rou had determined in their favor, and
your doors thrown open showed them the
figure Of their dtlirerer, in the well-earncd
riumph Of his important victory, from the
whole Of that grave multitude. there arose an
Involuntary burst Of gratitude and transport.
They jumped upon him like children upon 4
ong absent futhcr. They chung about him as
,aptives about their redccmcr." Can words
lepict more intense sensation than we are
hlls told was experienced by the trading inte-
est CT England at the prospect Of losing the
american markets? Mr.. Speaker, we can re.
produce that scene We can put the trading
interest of New England under the most
lrca,!fn anxiety which it ever felt We can
,ut them in condition where their own sal
'ation will compel them 10 cram the lobbes Of
heir own Legislatures and beg for enactments
rcndly to the just rights of the Shareholder.
We can make them learn their fate from the
ction OF their own representatives in favor OF
ur rights, and cause them to hail as deli
crer the statesman who will procure from
lon.slaveholding Legislatures laws just to us
'ut sir, the annals of English history afford
is another equally striking evidence Of the i'm
nense power which nation ofconsumers may
exercise over nation Of producers Of fabrics.