Newbern weekly progress., 1861-02-19
Spcech Of Hon. w. N. III. smith.

In the House of Representatives on Friday,
upon the report of the Committee of Thirty
Three
! Mr. Smith, of North Carolina, referred to tho
various of complaint urged by the South
| against the North Too many of these complaints
| were well founded, and not the least of the sut-
ferers from them was his own State OF North Caro-
| lima. But North Carolina would be true to the
| Constitution of the United States Though she
| had been wronged, yet she had borne her wrongs
| patiently, and even yet she was unwilling to be
a party to the destruction of this noble fabric of
| constitutional government W hch Washington and
| his great compatriots had bequeathed to them.
long as her dignity and honor was safe within tho
! Union. What her policy would be In this emcr'
| gency the country would soon learn as a conVen-
ton of her people was TO be shortly called and
through that convention her voice would be heard.
| and whatever her mandate may be, her loyal re-
presentativeS on that floor would cheeTfuly obey
! it. There yet remains interval for peace Of
fering, yet time for those who held the destlnles
| of this country and government IN their hands to
extend the olive branch of compromise and recon
| ciliation time enough yet to offer those guaran-
| tees which will enable her to remain in the con-
federacy. in the possession of those rights
| and privileges which she will always defend and
| maintain. No politician within her limits has ap
| pealed to the disloyal sentiments of her people.
And, standing as she does now by the very side
of the State which first moved on this great work
of revolution she has maintained her loyalty ; and
while maintaining her own rights. she will main
tain the Union if she find safety for her peo-
pie in it. But, while this is the great sentiment
of the State, large proportion of her people re-
gard it as most essential that she should have
some assurance against future wrong and aggres-
sions and the voice of her people has already
indicated the means whereby the sad extremity
of seeking safety out of the Union may be avoid
ed
Early in the present session one of the few
naming patriots of an age fast passing out of re-
membrance-a patriot yet lingering for little
while on the floor of the Senate-ofered, in d
spirit of Cancellation and compromise, plan of ad
justment for our natlona! dlhlcultles And later
STILL this venerable patriot asked that his propo-
sition might be submitted to the popular vOte in
order that there night be a response, not from
politicians, here elsewhere. but from that NIGH
ty power which must ultimately control and dis
pose of the great question. That proposition
comes from patriots heart; it comes from
public man-from whose days of political
! life are almost numbered, but who directs
all his remaining energies to restoring peace and
| harmony to his distracted country.
| Why is there any hesitancy in going with him
| to the common altar and pledging themselves
there to adopt these propositions, pledging them
selves also to maintain the equal rights and priv
! ieges of all sections of the country in common
| Union? Those who wilfully abjure this means
of reconciliation, who will not now join in an ef-
fort to remove the distractions, which rend the
| peace and harmony of the people. will have q
| fearful reckoning to make, not, only to pos
| terty but to their constituents, The Crittenden
proposition only offered a part of the public ter
| ritories-less than onethird of the whOle-on
| terms and conditions upon which they at
liberty already to go and occupy and enjoy every
| foot of that territory. The mandate of the Su-
| preme Court had already decided the question in
| favor of the South. The only benefit accruing
to the South from the Crittenden proposition
! that by this compromise the question will hereG1-
ter cease to be subject of political agitation and
excitement. This was all the South secured, and
! in securing this they must in return surrender
| to the North the free occupancy and control of
more than two-thrds of the public territory He
| had heard Republican leaders say that if they
could not adjust these difficulties, then they must
| fight He had heard 1t frequently announced
that the public property in possession of seeding
| States must be recovered, and that the army and
| navy of the United States shall be used for the
purpose of recovering that property. This, al
though couched in language most unexceptona-
BILE. cannot be understood to mean anything but
civil war 1t means :hat the people of this great
nation must stand hereafter face to face, not in
the halls of Congress- but with in their
hands to shed each others blood,
On this point he would gentlemen at
| tempting this extreme view in the deusive hope
of executing the law and maintaining the Union.
| He would warn them against pushing their poll
cy to this extremity while there were yet bravo
men in the North willing to stand by the consti-
tutiona rights of every portion of the Contedera-
cy. If they did, then would burst forth, with
fearful violence, the storm of excitement and
passion which had to a great extent been kindled
| by speeches this floor and the floor of the Sen
ate. Their first duty was to transmit to genera
tions that to come after them that noble Con-
| stitution which their fathers had bequeathed to
| them. Any who shall by word or deed con-
tribute to the restoration of those amiable feelings
which once knit the people together in one bond
OF brotherhood shall be hailed by the blessings of
! his coutrymen and of those who shall come after
| them.
| Snealxiu.. for the ROrder States