Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1861-03-07
STATE OF THE UNION.
SPEECH OF HON. E. P. WALTO,

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,,
February is, 1861.
The House having under consideration the
report from the select committee OF thirty
three
Mr.. WALTON said:
MIR. Speaker: The events OF the last ninety
days show that the Federal Government Is
sill an experiment, and perhaps as doubtful
now as it was when Washington declared, IN
his first inaugural address, that g the preser-
vation of the sacred fire Of liberty, and the
destiny OF the republican model OF govern
ment are Justly considered as deeply, per-
haps as finally, staked on the experiment IN
trusted to the hands OF the American people.
1t has suc1 1essfuly resisted all assaults from
Without and stimulated within growth OF
civilization. material wealth, and moral power
unparalleled in any nation or age OF the world.
Il has multiplied the population OF the nation
by ten, and Its productive power by more than
ten times ten it has extended its domain
from ocean to ocean, and brought the scepter
Of commercial supremacy within Its grasp ;
and for the freedom of its people, the novelty
OF its political machinery, and the brllllancy
OF its results, it has commanded universal ad-
miration and respect. And now, while a
peace with all abroad, and but for the wretch
ed, and We may hope temporary, consequence
es OF maladministration OF the Government,
prosperous at home, We are threatened with
an instant and utter failure OF the expert
ment which Washington inaugurated, and
with the instant and utter wreck OF the en-
pre- which he founded 1t is national death ;
1t is death to our power, security and grand
eur it is death to our national name and
fame; and million deaths, it may be, through
anarchy ana civil war.
For more than a quarter of century,
South Carolina has deliberately and persist
entity aimed at the destruction of the Union
and this design was not more monstrous in
iuiquity than 1t has been mastery in execu
tIOn. The great statesman who first conceived
II saw the end from the beginning, shaped the
means to the end; and so sagaclouoly shaped
th0nI 'iie'' thO '~-3- '.i~fnns ot rho peo-
tnlc, aud that patriotism winch he ohc nded,
have been made instruments for his work
BY the assertion OF new and strange pro-
slavery principles, at first repulse. by every
DoIy. but ultimately carried out, IN large
degree, by the annexation of Texas, the Mex
lean war, the fugitive slave law OF $50, the
Kansas and Nebraska act of 1854, the repu-
diation OF the Missouri compromise, and the
raid upon Kansas; by pro-slavery agitation
and pro-savery acts--the South was seduCed
on the one nand, and the North repelled on
the other, until all the old national parties
were demolished, and the North and the
South politically divided by sectional line.
The Wing party in the South was blotted out
in 1892; the Democratic party OF the North
was divided, and the Whig party OF the North
blotted out in 1856; the Democratic party OF
the North was deliberately assasslnated by
its southern allies the spring Of 1860; and
thus was secured the fore-ordained triumph
of the Republican party in November last
Aye, toreordained, prayed for, labored for,
and reoiced at by the plotters of dlsunion,
and by none more heartily and sincerely
The election of Abraham Lincoln was not the
reason; but the occasion, for disunloni and
the occasion was instantly and impatiently
improved by ordinances Of secession.
The Government here had ample warnings
OF the designs OF the consplrators; and but for
the neglect of the Executive, the secessons OF
this day might have been as harmless as were
the notification of South Carolina in 1882,
and her secession in 1882. The President
was warned by avowais OF the secesSionists ;
and as eatly as October last he was specially
warned, by the highest officer of the Govern
ment in military rank and the peer OF the
highest in the world in military reputation,
ofthe dangers to which the country was ex-
posed, and of the remedy within his reach
Warnings were neglected, treason lurked In
the Cabinet, under the very eye OF tue FfeSl-
dent, and reveled through the Executive De-
partments. The Army was dispersed IN dis
tant Territories, and the Navy in distant seas;
the loyal North was diSarmed to arm the dis
loyal South; and the Treasury was depleted
to rob the Government itself of the means OF
defense. The preparations for secession, re-
bellIon, and treason, were effectively made
and nowhere more effectively than in the
Executive Departments at this capital. State
alter State has seeded oRr to;tS, arsenals,
magazines, hospitals, post offices, custom
houses mints, and money have been seized
the Constitution and laws Of the United States
have been violated; and the power OF the ma
Uion defed. The President has notified US oi
these events in message after message.
think Che tells us) all this is very wrong in
the southern people, and the northern people
are very much to be blamed tor it. regret
it; | cannot help it; | am impotent.
1.-The Greeks are strong and skifuI to their
strength
Fierce their skill. and their fertenes>
valiant;
But am weaker than woman's tear;
Tanner than sleep; fonder than ignorance
Less valiant than the virgin in the night
And sklileSs as unpraticd infancy"
The President has failed to use the meane
that were in his power to defend the Govern
| ment. Perhaps it ought to be said that he
has been deceived and paralyzed by the inf
| deity of his advisers; but, in any event, he
has cast himself upon Congress Hitherward
the eyes of thirty million people are turned
and here the hopes of all the loyal and the
patriotic are centered. True it is that here
until very recent date. they looked and
| hoped in vain. Congress was as powerles'
as the Executive, Here, too, was disloyalty
to the Federal Government here no men
and no set of men, able to control the acton
of the Senate and the House. All that /;
changed. In this House, at least, the Repre-
sentatives of the Republican party command
a majority in numbers; and they must anc
| will be held responsible for all that shall here
| be done, and all that shall be left undone.
What shall we do? What shall we refuse
to do ? The answer must depend upon the
necessities of the case, and the extent of oul
powers; we must do only what we have thu
| right to do, and what is expedient TO be done
| Six States have declared that they are nj
longer under the jurisdiction of this Govern