Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-07-21

l
ond day of the session, and received the vote Of
every Southern Representative present. except emily
the members from South Carolina who declined to
vote In the Senate, the committee of thirteen was
moved for by Senator from Kentucky Mr. POWELL
and received the silent acquiescence of every South
ern Senator present The Crittenden propositions
too, were moved also by another Senator from KY,
| Mr.. Crlttendenl now member Of this House
man venerable for his years, loved fer his virtues,
distinguished for his services honored for his pa
triotism for four-and-forty years Senator or in
other public Officer devoted from the first hour of
his manhood to the Union of these States and who
though he himself proved his courage fifty years
ago upon the battlefield against the foreign enemies
Of his country, now, thank God, still for comprO-
| mise at home to day. Fortunate in long and well
spent lfeof public services and private worth he
is unfortunate only that he has survived Union
and, i fear, Constitution younger than himself.
The Border State propositions also were project
! ed by gentleman from Maryland not now men,
| Der Of this House, and presented by gentleman
! from Tennessee (Mr Etheridge, now the Clerk of
| this House And yet all these propositions coming
! thus from the South, were seyeraly and repeated
ly rejected By the almost united vote Of the Repub
lcan party in the Senate and the House. The Crit
tenden propositions, for which Mr. Davis, Pres
| ident of the Confederate States and Mr.. Toombs.
his Secretary of State, both declared in the Senate
| that they would be satisfied and for which every
Southern Senator and Representative voted, never,
on any one OCCASION received solitary vote from
the Republican party in either House.
The Adams or Corwin amendment, so-called, re-
ported from the Committee of thirty-three and the
only substantive amendment proposed from the Re-
publican side, was but bare promise that Congress
should never be authorized to do what no sane man
| ever believed Congress would undertake to do
| abolish slavery in the States where it exists, and
yet even this proposition, moderate as it was, and
| for which every Southern member present voted,
except one, was carried through this House by but
one majority after long and tedeeus delay and with
the utmost difficulty -sixty.f five Republican mem
1
from Pennsylvania (Mr Hickman) at their head,
having voted against it and fought against it to the
very last.
And not this only, but as part of the history of
the last session. let me remind you that bills were
introduced into this House proposing TO abolish and
close up certain Southern ports of entry to author
ize the President to blockade the Southern coast
and to call out the militia and accept the services of
volunteers, not for three months merely, but with
out any limit as to either numbers time for the
very purpose of enforcing the laws, collecting the
revenue, and protecting the public property and
were pressed vehemently and earnestly in this
House prior TO the dYriUa! Of the President in this city,
and were Them though seven States had seeded and
set up government of their voted down, post
pOned thrust aside or in some other way disposed
Of sometimes by large majorities in this House, till
at last Congress adjourned without any action at all
Peace then seemed to be the policy of all parties
Thus, sir, the stood at twelve o'clock on the
4th of March last, when, from the eastern portico
of this Capitol and in the presence of twenty thou
sand of his cOuntrymcn, but envelOped in a crowd
of sOdiery which no other American President ever
| saw, Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office to
support the Constitution and delivered his inaugu-
ral-a message, regret to say, not written in the
direct and straightforward language which becomes
an American President and an American statesman,
| and which expected from the plain, blunt, hon
| est of the Northwest, but with the forked
| tongue and crooked counsel of the New York poll
clan leaving thirty million people in doubt whether
| it meant peace or war. But whatever may have
been the secret purpose and meaning of the inau-
gUra practically for SIX weeks the policy of peace
! prevailed; and they were weeks of happiness to
the patriot, and prosperity to the country. Bust
ness revived; trade returned; commerce hOUrished.
Never was there fairer prospect before any peO.
pie. Secession in the past laHguished and
spritless and harmless; secession in the future
arrested and persisted. By overwhelming MAORI
ties Virginia. Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee
and Missouri all declared for the old Union. and
every heart beat high with hope that in due
of time, and through faith and patience and peace,
and by ultimate and adequate compromise, every
State would be restored TO it. 1t is true, indeed
sir, that the Republican party, with great unanim
ity and great earnestness and determination, had
resolved against all compromise and concilaton.-
But the other hand, the whole Democratic party,
and the whole Constitutional Union party, were
equally resolved that there should be no civil
upon any pretext, and both sides prepared for
appeal to that great and final arbiter Of all disputes
in a free countryside people
Sir, do not propose to inquire now whether the
President and his Cabinet were sincere and in
earnest and meant really to perseyere to the end
in the policy of peace or whether from the first
they meant civil and only waited to gain time till
they fairly seated in power, and had disposed,
too. of that prodigous horde of sposmen and office
seekers, which came down at first like avalanche
upon them? But l do know that the people believed
them sincere, and cordially ratified and approved
of ths policy of peace not they subsequently
responded to the policy of war, in whirlwnd of
passion and madness, but calmly and sobery, and
as the result OF their deliberate and most solemn
| Judgment; and believing that civil war was absO-
lutte and eternal dsUnOn, while secession was but
partial and temporary, they cordially Endorsed also
! the proposed execution of Sumter and the other
forts and public property within the seeded States
| Nor, sir, will stop now to explore the several
causes which either led to a change in the appa-
rent policy early development Of the original
an real purposes OF the administration. But there
are two which cannot pass by. And the first OF
these was party necessity, the csmOrs of pollt-
Clans and especially of certain wicked reckless and
unprincipled conductors of a partisan press. The
peace policy crushing out the Republican
party Under that policy sir, it was melting away
| like snow before the The general elections IN
Rhode Island and Connecticut, and municipal cleo
tons in New York and in the Western States, gave
| abundant evidence that the people were resolved
upon the most ample and satisfactory constitutional
guarantees to the South the price of restoration
of the Union. And then 1t was sir, that the long
| and agonizing howl of defeated and disappointed
politicians came up before the Administration. The
| newspaper press teemed with appeals and threats
! to the President. The mails grOaned under the
| weight of letters demanding change of policy;
while secret cOnClave of the Governors OF Massa-
chusetts New ork, Ohio, and other States, assem-
| bled here promised men and money to support the
| President in the irrepressibe conflict which they
now invoked. And thus it was, sir that the neces-
sites of party in the pangs of dissolution, in the
very hour and article of death, demanding vigorous
| measures which could result in nothing but civil
| war renewed secession, and absolute and eternal
! disuniOn were preferred and heGrkened to before
the peace aud harmony and prosperity of the whole
country.
But there was another and yet stronger impelling
cause without which this horrid calamity of civil
war might have been postponed, and, perhaps, fl
nally averted. One of the last and worst acts of
Congress, which, born in bitterness and nursed in
CONFUSION, literally did those things which ought
not to have DONE and left undOne those things which
it ought to have done, the passage of obscure
i'll considered, illdigested, and unstaesmanike high
protective tariff act, commonly known as 1.-The Nor
rill tariff" Just about the same time, too, the Con-
| federate Congress at Montgomery adopted our old
tariff of 1851 which had just rejected to make
way for the Morrill, act, fixing their rate of duties
at FIVE fifteen and twenty per cent lower than ours
The result as inevitable the laws OF trade
are memorable. Trade and commerce-apd especi-
ally the trade and commerce of the West-began to
look to the South Turned out of their natural
course years ago, by the canals and railroads OF
Pennsylvania and New York, and diverted eastward
at heavy loss to the West, they threatened now to
resume their ancient and accustomed channels
the water-courses- Ohio and the Mississippi