Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-02-20

| there Is no proposition, from any quarter
claiming or proposing the exercise OF such I
right. Still, gentlemen, if you have no sucf
purpose, would it harm you to place in the
Consultation an amendment. that would free
| our people from any such apprehensions? Ii
doing it. you would surrender no right. which
| you say, you intend or desire to exercise.
But, Mr.. Speaker. the most serious ground
| of difficulty, at least the one which seems tt
be the most difficult to adjust, is the subjec
of slavery in the Territories Not that it i.
the most important. No, sir. Practically, Sc
far as any territory we now possess is con
cerned, there is literally nothing ia Il. But, the
politicians OF both sections of the country
have so long and SO angrily quarreled over
1t, that the people have got it into their heads
that there is something vitality concerning
them in it. Hence, they are obdurately te
nacious of their respective views.
Gentlemen of the Republican party hayt
said to Us: would you have US surrender oul
principles? / reply, must we abandon ours
You say you are right; may you not be in
error? You say that we are wrong; may We
not be in the rigbt2 Suppose, then, that thi:
question es to the power and duty of Con-
gress in the Territories was an open one:
ask you, ought you not TO defer to some ex-
| tent to our epinions7 But we say it is not
an open question. We say that it has been
| adjudicated by a competent tribunal, deci-
ding that we are right and that you are in
error.
You say the opinion of tie court to which
l refer was mere obiter dictlna, and conse-
| qnently has none of the weight of the judg
ment OF court. For the sake of argument
let US grant it. Still You must confess that
seven out of nine of the judges of the Su-
preme Court have, in elaborate opinions, de.
eiared that we were right and that you were
wrong. This being the status of the legal ar
gument between US, submit to you, gentle
men, whether the proposition which we make
| to you is not fair one, that we compromise
] our difficulties by an amendment to the Con-
stitution providing-what? That in all the
| territory of the United States north of sc
deg. 30 min north latitude, your theory shall
be recognized, and be put into practical OPP
| Grafton, and that in all the territory south of
that line, our theory shall practically pre-
| vail.
Certain gentlemen of the Republican par
| ty have said, in answer to this view of the
| subject, and by way of apology for their OBJ
stinate refusal to counsel concession and
compromise, that they are but following in
| the footsteps of Washington and Jefferson
and other distinguished men of the South,
VINO, at an early day, expressed opinions un-
favorable to the extension of slavery. Mr..
Speaker. if this argument were not otherwise
unsO0nd, its fallacy would be made appar-
ent by the fact that might refer not only to
what distinguished meI of the North, at an
early day, said, but what they did, to prove
not only that African slavery was right, but
that the foreign slave trade was a traffic to
be fostered and protected Your ancestors
held slaves so long as they were profitable,
and insisted on the right of carrying on the
slave trade for twenty-one years after the
adoption of the Constitution. The most
rigorous fugitive slave law ever in existence
on the American continent, was enacted by
the ancestry of the gentlemen of New England,
by which fugitive slaves were captured and
returned to their masters at the public eX-
pense, and with as little reference TO the
tormalities of the laws as are observed, to-
day, in my State in the case of a horse post
ed as an estray.
Now, Mr.. Speaker, with all Difference and
kindness TO gentlemen, whether of the North
or Scuth-separating the arguments of gen.
tlemen from the gentlemen themselves
Will be excused for saying that all such rea-
sonIng, as to what is now expedient ard
proper to be done, predicated on any such
facts. is shallow and dangerous sophistrY
1t persisted IN by gentlemen, and made the
basis of their action, amidst the cOmplica-
lions that surrond us, all hope of restoring
harmony and good fellowship between the
sections, will prove illusory.
The brief hour allowed me will not permit
me TO dwell longer here / have merely
glanced at some Of the most prominent sour-
ces Of difference between the North and
South. There are other causes for disagree
ment; but they are such as 1 believe can be
easily adjusted Cannot these likewise be
arranged: Ii we are not recreant to the
holy trust imposed on Us by our fathers. they
can be, and 5CiH be, arranged, and that too.
without further delay.
Suppose, MT. Speaker, that you and are
travelling in opposite directions along a mar
row pathway crossing a fearful chasm. By
care and mutual assistance we NAV mass
each other Shall each insist that he is en-
titled to the whole space. and determine to
drive the other back2 And that if we can
not do this, we will engage in struggle that
will precipIiate us both into the depths be-
low? If We are irTeconcilable and deadly
enemies, we may. We will not. If we are
friends, sincerely anxious for each others
good.
Then, Mr.. Speaker, again ask gentlemen
or my right whether this exciting and dan
serOus. though empty quarrel about slavery
IN the Territories. shall not, in a spirit of
fairness and friendship, be set forever at
rest2
Among the youngest members of the
House, il would ill become me to make any
reflection on the manner in which gentlemen
upon this floor perform their duties to the
country l must be pardoned for saying.
however, that have been panied, from the
first day of the session till the present time,
at the seeming indifference of Representa-
iyes, from both North and South, in regard
to propositions which vitality concern the
yerS existence of the Government.
Gentlemen from the North say: .sWhat
have we done to bring about this angry and
dangerous excitement in the country, that
We should now be expected to come forward
with sacrifices to allay it?'' Gentlemen,
there are thOse-and I am among them-who
think you have largely contributed to create
it. There are those who charge that YOU are
responsible for it all. How this is, it is not es
sential to my argument to inquire.
Three of you reside beneath the same
roof. The building is on fire. Reposing in
it are your wives and children. 1t contains
valuable stores belonging to you. The
flames are rapidly spreading. If not speedi-
ly stayed, the whole will be burned to the
ground, your property destroyed, and the
lives of your families put in jeopardy. Which
one of you will quietly fold his arms and re-
fuse to make an effort to extingush the
flames, satisfying himself by declaring to the
others, that the fire did not originate in his
part of the House? You, Mr.. Speaker, and
l, your constituents and my constituents,
your family and my family. are the peaceful
jewellers in the fairest fabric of Government
that was ever devised by man. In it are de-
posted our ancestral glory, our peace and
security for the present, our most cherished
hopes of peace and of prosperity and of
honor in the future. 1t is on fire. Flames,
fierce as bell, are consuming it. Men of the
North, would you prevent its destruction?
You have it in your power. Without risk.
without sacrifice, without dishCnor, you can
do it. You have but to speak, and it is done.
In the name of those by whose blood it was
cemented in the name, not of Tennessee,
but of a common humanity in the name of
the people Of these States, whose servants Won