Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-04-20

pIish nothing il our remedies do not work {
! neral reformation in The North whereby, pub
| lie opinion will be brought to own that ans
interlneddlirg with cur system Of labor is Ar
nf.ncc ard All injury.
Sir. il wcre reduced to the necessity Of
standing still, or Of waiting On the border
States, Of losing their co operation in the one
case. and of %1inin5 it in the other, confess
should he picked and embarrassed. But
! that is not o;!5' condition. There is nothing
,lnkind or ds: spec,ful to those States in de-
Gliding in advance Of this action upon the guar.
antics which nould alone content and Satisfy
Us.
Here the ha,umer fell.
Mr.. IIoLcoNrE Il concur entirely in the po-
si,ions Of the gentleman from Richmond and |
only object TO the amendmcn, 10 enable him to
continue his remarks.
Mr.. MacrARLASD-l am greatly indebted to
my friend for the privilege of continuing my
remarks, and an especially gratitied with his
concurrence in tho views have had the honor
! 10 submit.
! Mr.. CHAR it is time that speculation
T,s '.t''1 end respecting ihc determination oil
the Convention. There can BE- no repose or
sense Of security until Virginia declares her
determination. II is looked for with solicitude
by the entire country, and by the people OF
the border States, as anxionsly as any other.
There is no danger Of aliennting them by
prompt and decisive action. The magnitude
of her interest in the pending issues and the
desire, which she has justly evinced to
preserve the Union, if i, can be rec5nciled
with Southern security, entile our State 10
speak with plainncss an,l decision 1t IS due
| TO her position that she should announce her
terms 10 the North, and ask of her sisters rf
the border to concur in them. None need ap
prcb.ni ,iat in so acting she will be consider
ed ns forward, preSumptious, or eXactlng. II
is the course. of all others, calculated u i'm
press th4 Federal Executive with the necessity
Of dealing peacefully with the Confederation
of the South It's, perhaps. the only course
for avoiding civil war. ANY delay in reaching
our conclusions, and in announcing our ulti.
mate purpose. serves only TO disseminate &c.
ln<ion al the North, in respect to our deterni
| nation To insist on our demands. After all, the
question is, are We in earnest! Do we really
| believe that guarantees are demanded. II We
would maintain Southern rights and honor =
II so, why hesitate 10 assume the responsible.
sy demanded by our convictions.
Mr. MAcrAKLAND-I move to amend the
amendment by striking out the word 'and'
between the words missouri and Arkansas :"
and add after the word ARKANSAS" the words
'and Virginia"
The CnArsYAS-The question will tirst
he taken on striking our the word "and.'
The amendment TO the amendment vas not
agreed 10.
Mr.. MAcFKLASD-T The Chair took the qucS.
ton while VAS preparing TO say something in
its support
NJ. SLArGnrYR--I desire to amend the
amenimrn', By striking ont all after the WORD
and in the frs, line and inserting a5 follows:
Also To- cause Conventions similar to this
10 be hc!;i in each Of said States to meet on the
day which may be fixed for the rc.assembline
Of this Convention.
| will delain the Committee but few mo.
mtnfs in explanation Of the amendment which
have offered. The original proposition pro
poses that there shall be Conference Of Com
mi:sioners to disappointed by the border slave.
holding States, 10 be held at Frankfort on the
!.st Monday in May next The amendment Of
the gentleman, from Fauquier, proposes Con
ycntions to hc held in the different border
States ard indicates the policy to he pursued
therein The objection which have 70 that
proposition is that think it premature for US
IL Indicate nn% what our policy will he ut that
tiuIc-and toT VARIOUS rraS0rs The most irn
pnrlant IS thai We do not know under what
peculiar circumstances we mag be then placed,
what situation we may be in, whether It will
M. be necessary ljr us, before thtn TO pass an
Ordinance Of Secession.
think it premature for us, in times Of rev
10 ;pfIi Iiy
months IN advance, v hat policy We will pursue
at that ;mc. J ask those gentlemen who are
SO exceedingly anxious to confer with the Dor.
der slave States, whether it would be treating
them with proper respect for Virginia to indi.
cafe EcT, how that Congress is TO be consti
tu!ed, who shall compose It, and what ques-
!ions viii have to be decided in il, without say
in. word to the border States in respect to
those matters? Would it not be much better
to ak thcu to assemble in Convention at the
same time as ourselves so that We may act in
conjunction. and make arrangements that we
shall all, i it becomes necessary, scccde to-
gether, set up new government, 60 to the
Southern Confederacy, or reconstruct the old
CouEede-acy? Il seems TO me that that would
be much better than to Indicate now what is
to be done OF that time. The proposed con-
ference in May next would have no authority
it would be simply an advisory body.
Ny proposition goes further. It asks
the border slave States 10 call Convcn
TORS constituted Ike ours, and TO be
ready to act when we re assemble
We can then determine what line Of policy we
should pursue, and if there shall appear to be q
necessity for border State Congress to form o
| f,nt- bln n
States can appoint delegates. and We may act
in concert. Noting Tan be accomplished By
indicating nur policy at this particular junct,lrc
because We have to meet here again before We
appoint delegates 20 the border slave State
! Congress There is another reason which
onyht to operate strongly on the majority, and
| AN 60 operating with them, and desire that
the report shall be made as acceptable as it can
bc made want 10 be able to advocate 1t be-
fore my people and to tell them that this is the
srouad on which they ought to stand. There
are several sets of opinions held here, as to our
course il driven TO secessiOn-one indicated by
the gentleman from Halifax; one BY the gentle
man from Princess Anne, and one by the gen.
tleman from Fauqricr. IF We do not insist on
Indicating row the line Of policy to be pursued
in snch an event, we can call on all parties tC
unite upon report which will be acceptable
not only 70 the Convention, but probably to O
large portion Of the people. If We say We arc
going Immediately to join the Southern Con
,ederacy there will be great many parties
against US.
ii &c SAY that we are going to have Border
Confederacr ;here will be other parties against
US "Sulicient unto the day is the evil there
nf' EyenIs are lhronging upon US 40 fast tina
six months hence we know not where we ma
be found. Gentlemen say that We ought no
to seccde sithout North Carolina, Tennessee
MARYLAND, Delaware, Missouri and Kentucky
Ii that be So let US ask those States, as 10,
amendment proposes, to meet in Convention
the same day that We re.assemble, and then ~e
NAV adopt such line Of policy as may b.
thought best.
Mr.. SraNggs-Some Of the objections assign
ed by the gentleman from Campbell, (Mr
SLAreurEn) to the proposition Of the gentle
man from Fauquier operate on my mind in IL