Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-07-19

bV the canals and railroads Of Pennsy lvanis
aud New York, and diverted eastward at
heavy loss to tie West, they threatened
now to resume their ancient and accustomed
ekannels-the water-couTses-tbe Ohio and
the Mississippi. And political association
and union, it was well known, must soon fol-
low the direction Of interest and trade. The
city Of New York, the great commercial EN-
pUrium OF the UniOn, and the Northwest, the
chief grainery of toe Union, began TO clamOr
now loudly for repeal Of the pernicious and
Tuinous tariff TbTeatene thus with the loss
Of both political power and wealth, OF th@ re-
peal Of the tariff, and at last of both, New
EngiaTd-and Pennsylvania, too, the land OF
Penn, Graded / pesce-demanding now CO.
sTcion and civil war, with all its horrors, as
the price Of preserving either from destruction
Az, sir, Pennsylvania, the great keystone Of
the arch Of the Union, was willing TO lay the
weight Of Der iron upon that sacred arch, and
crush it beReah tie lead. The subjugation
Of the South-ay, sir, the subjHgGti0B Of the
Southl I am not talking to children or fools;
for there is not man in this house fit to be a
representative here who does not know
that the South cannot be forced to yield
Obedience to your laws ard authority until
you have conquered and suhiugated her-the
subiugation Of the South, and the closing up Of
her ports, first BY force, in war, and afterward
solved upon by the East And, sir, when once
this policy was begun, the self-same motives
of waning commerce and threatened loss Of
trade impelled the great city of New York,
and her merchants and her politicians and ber
press, with here and there an honorable excep-
tion, % place herself in the very front rank
among the wors'ipe 6 Of Moloch. Much, in
deed, of that onlburst and uprising IN the
North. which followed the proclamation of the
- - 9 bo al
nation itself, was called forth, not so much by
the fall of Fort sumteT-an event long antici-
pated-as by the notion that the "insurTecticn''
might be crushed out in few weeks, if not by
thc display, certainly, at least by the presence
Of an Overwhelming force.
These, sir. were the chief causes which,
along with others, led to chsngS in the policy
Of the administration, and, instead OF peace,
forced US headlong into civil war, with all its
accumulated horrors.
But whatever may have been the causes or
the motives Of the act, It is certain that there
was q change in the policy which The admins
traUon meant to adopt, or which at least they
led the country to believe they intended to
pursue. | will net venture no to assert
what nav vet some day be made to appear,
that tAe subsequent acts Of the administration,
and ita enormous and persistent infractions Of
the constitution, It's gb-hsnded usur1ations
OF power, formed any part Of deliberate con-
spiracY to overthrow the present form Of the
federal republican government, and to estah-
lish a streng consolidated government in It's
stead, No, sir, whatever their purposes now,
] rather think that, in the beginning, they
rushed heedlesslY and headlong into the gulf,
believing that, as the seat OF war was then far
distant ard difficult of access, the display Of
yigor in reinforcing Forts Sumpter and Pick
ems, and in calling out seveGty-fiVe thousand
militia upon the firing Of the first gun, and
above ali, in that exceedingly happy and orig
inal conceit Of commanding the insurgent
States to "dsperse in twenty days" would
not on the one hand, precipitate a crisis,
/ while upon the other, it would satisfy its own
violent psr'isans. and thus revive and restore
the falling fortunes OF the Republican party.
can hardly conceive, sir, that the president
and his advisers could be guilty Of the exceed
| ing folly of expecting TO carry on general
civil waT by mere posse cOmitGtus Of three
months militia. II may be, indeed, that, with
wicked and most desperate cunning, the presi-
dent meant all this IS mere entering wedge
TO that which was TO rive the oak asunder, or
possibly as test, to learn the public senti-
ment Of the North and West Bu', however
that NAV be, the rapid secession and move
ment Of Virginia, NorIh Carolina, Arkansas
and Tennessee, taking with them, IS ; ave
said elsewhere, four millions and a half Of
/ people, immense wealth, ineXhaustible Tesour-
cas, five hundred Thousand fighting men, I'd
the graves Of Washington and Jackson, and
br Hsing up too, in one single dav, the
frontier from the GGlf to the Ohio and the
Potomac, together with the abandonment by
/ the one side, and the occupation by the other
OF Harper'i Ferry and Norfolk navy-ysrd, and
the sudden gust aud whirlEind Of passion in
/ the North, compelled either a sudden waking
uD oe the president and his advisers 90 the
frighiful significance Of the act which hey had
committed ia aesaiessiy Fe"kiaz the vase
which imprisoned the siumb5rng demon Of
/ civil wat, or else a premature but most pi5
/ dsve,oTmentof the daring plos to foster aud
I promote secession, and then to set up mex
and strong form Of government in the States
which might remain il the Union.
But whatever may bave been The purpose,
assert here to-day. as a representative, tba
every principal act Of the administration
. since, has been a glsring usurpation Of power
/ aud palDable and dangerous violation Of tha
very constitution which this civil war is pro
fesssdl7 wsged to support. Sir, pass by thl
/ proclamation Of the 18th Of April, ssmmonln,
The militia-not 10 defend this capital; here Il
not word about the capital in the pFoclama
ti0n, and there was then no possible danger Il
it from any quarter: but to Tetake and occupl
foris ard property thousand miles of-sum
( moning, I say, the militia to suppress the So
! called insurrection. | do not believe, indeed
10 man believed in February last, when Mr.
/ Stanton, Of Ohio. introduced bis bill to en-
large the sc Of 1895. that that act ever con
| templated the caVe of general revolution an,
Of resistance By an organized government
But no matter. The militia thus called out
/ with shadow, at least, of authority, and 20
/ a period extending one month after the Assem-
I blif of Congress, were amply sufficient t
protect the capital against any force which wa
then likely to be sent against it-snd the even
has proved it-and ample enough also to sup
| press the outbreak In Maryland Every otbe
: principal act of the administration might ver
( wen have been postponed, and ought to bavt
been postponed until the meeting Of congress
OF, { the eXigencies of the occasion demanse
1 it, congress- should forthwith have been Assem-
bled. What if two or three States should no
! have been represented, although even this nee
not have happeneueI; but better this, thou
sand times, than that the constitution shoul
be repeatedly and fsgrsntly violated, an
public liberty and private right trampled unda
foot As for HarFer's Ferry and the Norfoll
navy yard, they rather needed protectio
against the administration, by whose order
millions Of property were wantoniy destroyed
which was not IN tie slightest danger from an
quarter at the date OF the proclamation
Bot, sir, congress was not assembled a
=
great question OF civil war submitted to the
deliberations. The representatives of th
States and Of the people were not allowed th
slightest voice in this the most momentou
question ever presented to any government
The entire responsibility Of the whole wor
was boldly assumed by the executive, and a
the powers required for the purposes in han
were boldly usurped from either the States q
the people, or from the legislative department
I Mi Il h. 70 ha Ty,Ii hat loo
refuge and hope of liberty, was turned ava
from with contempt.
| Sir the right Of block 7de--snd I begin wit
it's a beliigerent right, incident to a state @
war, and it crHDOt be exercised until war ha
been declared or recognized; and congres
| alone can declare or recognize war. But con
gress has not declared or recognized war. o
the contrary. It had bat little while bef0T
expressly refused to declare it, or to arm th
president with the power to make II. An
thus The president, in declaring a blockade {
certain ports in the States of the South. an
in applying to it The rules governing blockade
as b tween independent powers, violated To
constitution
Bat if, on the other hand, he meant to des
wi b these States as still in the Union, an
subject to federal authority. then be usurped
power which belongs to congress alone--'b
power to abolish and close up ports Of entrF
power, too Wnlcu congress udd also feiuSe
q few weeks before to exercise. And yet, with
out the repeal or abolition Of ports Of entry
any attempt by either congress or the presider
to blockade tbese ports, is violation Of th
spirit, if not the letter, of that clause Of th
constitution which declares that "no prefer
ence shall be given by any regulation OF com
meTce or revenue 10 the ports Of one State owe
those OF another"
Sir upon this point I do not speak withou
the highes- authority. Ia the very midst O
the South Carolina notification controversy
it was suggested that in the recess of congress
and without law to govern bin, the Presi