Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-01-17

The following extract from a recent speech OF
Mr.. BkryaMIs in the Senate Of the United states.
dearly shows the absurdity Of the position, that
the Government vii not coeree seSeding STATE
bus VIA collect The customs il her poris' sho nsid
nosse,siou Of her forts The pseeh IS said TO have
produced a profound sensation in the Senate
sir ~ there was sytbing in this idea in theory
vou might reduce it TO practice; out what can be
more absurd more vague mere IAhcHu than the |
s,ooae,ions mt cut by gentle men here! You are |
80 nc- Observe TO declare no war and to CO.
sres M sste: you are simply going to execute the
lie Of che United States against individuals in
.hs state Of Soutk Carolina. That ia your propo-
si,ion Is il serious? 0ae gsntlemao tays he will
hang fer treason, An, where Is tse marshal TO
aeize. and where is the court TO try, where is the
District attorney Is prosecute and where Is the jury
to convict! Are you going to establish eli these by
arms2 Perhaps you iell me yen will remove him
elsewhere for trial. Rot so; our fathers have not
left our liberties so unguarded and 50 unprotected
as tkal. The Constitution originally provided that
no man could be brought to trial for an oeuse out
Of tAs State where he committed it. The fathers
not satisfied with il, ana they added an amend
ment thst be should not be brought TO trial out Of
the district in which he had committed il. You
cannot take him out OF the district. You have got
judge, marshal, noatterney, no jurors, there;
AID suppose you had: who is TO adjudge who is to
With him, determined that he hss done his duty,
a7d has committed no guilt That is the way
you are going to execute the laws against trea-
son
What NEXT Oh 40, says the Senator from Ohio,
Mr.. Wade, that is what we win do; we will exc
cute the laws to collect revenue By bloeksding your
ports and stopping them up AT first blush this
seems q very amusing mode CT collecting revenue IN
South Carolina, by allowing vessels to come 10
on which revenue be collected Il is the strang-
est of all possible fancies that that is the way OF
collecting revenue there, of enforcing the Laws IN
the State against individuals. But first you are TO
have no war. And what is blockade? Does any
men suppose that blockade exist by q nation at
peace with another; that is peace power; that 1t
can DO exercised any other ground than that ysu
at with the party whose ports you blockade,
and that you make proclaim aticn to all the Govern
mens Of the earth that their vessels shall not be
authorized to enter into these ports, because you
are reducing your enemy by the use Of regular con-
stituted recognized, Warlike means! GA, but per-
haps il is net blockade that you will have; you
viii have an embargo, that is what you mea1. We
| are guarded here agaiB. The Constitution neads
you Of at every step in this Qui1otic attempt TO 60
into State to exercise your laws against her whole
citizens without declaring or coercing the State
You cannot embargo the ports of one State without
embracing ell your ports; you cannot smut up Que
| without shutting up all; The CONSTITUTION OF the
United States expressly fsrbids it. If your block
ure you are prohibited by the very words Of the
Consultation itself from forcing vessel bound TO or
from one State to enter clear or pay duties IN
another, or from making any regulations Of eom-
msrce whatever giving any preference to the ports
! of one State over the ports of another; and you
have no right to blockade or close the ports Of
South Carolina by embargo, even by act OF Congress,
| than yeu have 10 declare that q sovereign State
shall have no right to have more than one Senator
on this floor. Yoar blockade is impractinable, IN
constitutional out OF the power Of the President.
| What is the idea Of executing the laws by armed
| force against individuals? Gentlemen seem te cup,
pose-snd they argue upon the supposition-thss 1t
| is possible under the Constitutisn OF the United
States fer the President to determine whea laws
sre obeyed and to force obedisnce BY the sword
without the irterpostion of courts Of justice Does
| any man have such an idle conceit as that? Does
he suppose that BY any possible construction, the
po6er Of the Federal Congress TO call out the mihtis,
and 10 use the army and navy to suppress nsurrec-
ton ard to execute thu laws means that the Presl-
dent is do it Of his own vOhtion AID without the
| Intervention of tie civil power? The honorable
Senator from Tennessee lJohnscn, the other day
called upon us To lsok at the example Of Washing
| ton who put down rebellion in Pennsylvania. he
said well that he was no lawyer, VIII be cited that
General Washington called forth the miitiA eff Penn
syvanis and of ether States TO cid in executing the
laws upon a requisiiion by judge Of the Supreme
Court Of the United States certifying to him that the
l
| the court.
johnson. CT Tennessee. l Understood that very
well.
Benjamin. Then what on esrth do you mean by
saying that yeu will 60 into State and execute The
la5s of the United States against Individuals with
out judge or jury there, without marshal or at
torney With nobody to declare the violation Of the
law or TO order its execution before you at emPt TO
enfofc e it? The Senator may rot have intended TO
assume such position. He has been unfortunate
in the impression that he has produced upon the
country.
But, sir other means are suggested. We cannot
20 to war; we are nst goirg 10 war; We are not
going TO ccerce a State ~ by" says the Senator
from Illinois, ''Who talks of coercinf State; you
are attempting to breed confusion in the pubic
mind; you are at emptng 10 impose upon the peo-
pie by pervertiog the question; We ly mean TO
execute the laws against Individual" Again, /
saw where will be the civil process watch must pre-
cede the action of the military forces Surely sure
ly il Is not at this day that we are argue that
neither the President, nor The President and Cen
press combined, are armed with the powers Of mil
itary despot TO carry out the laws, without the IT,
tervention Of The courts, accold ding TO their
price ard their own discretion, to judge when lave
are violated TO convict for the violation, to pro-
nouuce sentence and execute It. You eau do Meth
ing of the kiud with your military force
But it is suggested thst the President is weak
enough ts Weld 10 the cuggsstion that ysu will co..!
| power of the Federal GsveEEmeut on individuals.
Has anybody fellswed this out practically? Is pos
| sible? remember that Mr. Webster epce, as a
mere figure of rhetoric in his debate Oh the Foote
resolutions used some such threat against this same
State of South Carolina; but it vas looked upon as
mere beautiful fgurs of speech Ne man ever paid
any attention to it as really threat Of the use Of
| constitutional power You will put your collector
| en- board CT a vessel in the barber 1t shall be o
mau-of-war; it is in the port; and there ysu will
| make everybody pay duties before the goods are
landed That is the next proposition, thst melody
sees any practical difficulty about. But, sir 1t is
| fatally Internationally impossible Take a
case citizen of New York owns vessel which
leads with q cargo of ass rted merchsndize,
part free part owing duty snd coneigrs 1t to
| Charleston. He enters the barber Under the law
he is obliged maks entry of his vessel, TO produce
his manifest, TO 20 through certain ether farmsli
ties. Hs goes on board ycnr ship-of-wsr, sees the
collector, and complies With the orders. what
| next? There are no duties paid yet, aAd the
man who has a right to the free goods has no du-
| ties 10 pay You cannot prevent him from going
to the wharf and dischsrging them. There is no
| law there 10 be executed against al individual
But will take it for granted that the Whole csrgo
IS duty-paying cargo, snd all belongs to one man,
| who does not mean to pay your duties You are no
better of. The man declines to enter his cargo.
| What is the Law? The master Of the vessel wants
TO 90 away lie is entitled by law to report to the
|
nobody is there to enter it, and that be demands
that his cargo be discharged, and put in pub
lie s'ore /; and under that be may 60 upon his
| new voyage, and you cannot change that, unless
You change the law for all the ports in the United
States Or he may go further the importer may
| 70 to the collector and say, II want 10 eater my
| cargo in warehouse; )" and he gives bsnd signed
by himself and solvent fellow-citizen, that they
! will pay the duty when he takes the goods out of
| the warehouse. Then you must let him put those
| goods into The cus!om-kouse warehouse; aud you
cannot change that law either, without changing it
| for the whele United States; because you cannot,
under the Constitution, by any regulation Of Gem
MERGE give any preference 10 the ports Of one State
over those Of another.
Mind you, ysu are at peace; you are not coereing
n State you are merely executing the lsWs against
individuals You cannot do it without breaking up
YOUR whole warehouse system; you cannot do it,
without breaking up your whole commercial system
in syery pert of TIE Confederacy. Your goods are
ashore; they are in Government warehouses; but
YOU have not got the duties rush upon the ware
4 y