The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-01-03
.Nlrhmonn Qispatrb.
THURSDAY MORNING. JAN. 1851
SPEECH OF u. S SENATOR BENJAMIN
ON THE CRfAIg


SPEECH OF y. =. SENATOR BENJAMIN
ON THE CRISIS. .
Mr.. BENJAMIN, tOpp.,) Of La, rose 10 address
the Senate. He said he had supposed that,
ere this he would have had official informa-
ton Of the position of affairs in South Caro-
lima, but in the absence Of 1t he should assume
that he had such Information. The South he
| said had repeatedly warned the North that
| they We're driving them 10 point that wouId
| result In a separation, ana for thts tLey nad
| only been snsered at and maligned lie tMr.
| par ismin) wished TO speak il Do spirit OF re-
| elimination, bu, to perform MS duty. lie
| yvouId call attention TO the speech he made
four yonrs ago, predicting this result Mr..
| Rsnismin here quoted from the speech he
| mads in 1856 and I'm which he said the time
| would come when the South would throw the
| sword into the scaie win an the rights OF the
| south because he did not believe there could
| he peacea BILE secession. He said that he words
| he had then uttered had proved to be true to-
| day. He would to God that the fears of civil
| war then expressed would prove only fears, but
| from what he ha heard, il almost seemed as
| II the other side of the chambe desired to
| bring about q civil war. South Carolina had
| declared herself separated from the Union,
while other States stand ready To support her,
| or else 10 put her down. That Is the real
| sue and there Is no nse To disg1iseit
| We are not permitted to ignore the fact that
| The determination to secede is not confined 10
| south Carolina alone, for next week Missis-
.ippi alabama, and Florida, will separate
| from the Union week after Georgia Will
| follow them a little latter Louisiana Will Sc
cede and soon after her Arkansas. Now, then,
shall we recognize South Carolina as a free
| and independent State, or shall We coerce by
| forcel He argued that the people of South
| Care lima had u right TO declare themselves
| free: IL was inherent, IEalienabie right
| Sou1h Carolina had by the voice of her peo.
l ple met in convention, in 1850, and repealed
the ordinance made by her people when they
| met in convention In 17SS. Blr. Berja here
| nuoted from a speech of Daniel Webs ter's, in
| the Rhode Island case, TO show that con-
| vention OF the people duly assembled ad
| proper authority. He (Ir. Webster) had
| said that a compact was not binding on
| one party unless the other parties to ii lived
| up TO it, and that compact broken by one
| could be broken by all Mr.. Benjamin
| position. He (Mr. Benjamis) said that no
| one could find any article in the Constitution
| requiring force TO be used to coerce State
| He referred TO the old Confederation, and SAID
| that uine States seeded from it for the
| press reason that the compact between them
| was not kept, and finally all the STATES seeded
| but Rhode Island and North Carolina, leav
| ing them as foreign States. He claimed this
| as precedent In the formation OF the present
| Cons titut ton to show the right of State to
| secede.
| broken If a compact was broken in pecu-
| mary matter, the Constitution provided way
| to settle the ma tier; but ii it was broken po-
| litically, the Constitution provided way
| He read from the debates of the Conyen tion
| which formed the Constitution to show that
the members of that Convention refused TO
| make the Senate the judge or, or give the Pres
| iuent the power to veto, the action OF State;
| tn 4 they refused to give Congress the power
| TO negative State legislation, and that they
| specially refused 10 give any power TO coerce
| States. Yet when the State conventions came
| to ratify the Constitution, complaints were
| n ade that the States were not sufficiently Sc
| cure 1t must be admitted that certain polit-
ical rights are guaranteed the States, but when
pf WI har is fha oYy,lI DIV
| Suppose that South Carolina should send TWO
Senators here, and the majority should refuse
| to receive but one, what power can compel
| that majority to repair the wrong Suppose
| that South Carolina should thea withdraw
| from the Union, who could say it was a viola
ton of the Constitution Suppose, again,
| that a wrong is perpetrated which does not
| appear quite clear 70 the North, but does ap-
| pear clear 10 South Carolina-suppose she is
| denied access to the ritories, is she with
l out any remedy under the Constitution II
| there is none, then she must be the judge OF
| the wrong and the mode of redress.
| He read extract from an address deliver
| ed by John Quincy Adams in New York, in
!, | lS3s in which he said nations themselves
| must be the sole judge whether compacts are
! broken and also saying "that when all frater-
, | nal feeling was gone between the ) ates, then
il was time to separate in peace and return to
their original state" He Mr.. Benjamn) said
| that a sectional President had been elected
Q who could with the aid of sectional Senate
grant all the benefits to and appoint from one
section all the officers in the gift of the govern.
!, | merit and thus ruin the South. Suppose tina
. | South Carolina is in error in believing thai
. | wrong has been done her, still that does moi
!. alter the issue whether we shall permit her to
withdraw or force her back. In reply TO the
Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Doolittle,) he
| (Mr Bepjamin) claimed that a citizen waa
bound to obey his State government The Re.
| publican Senators say that they Will not co.
cree State; but enforce the laws against In
. | dlviduals. But how can they punish an indi-
. | yidual in State for treason Where are
, they to find the judge and jury to do 81, when
all the citizens in the State think that he has
| done right2 He Mr. Bepjamin) said they
. could not blockade a port without declaring
J war; they could not EN- barge one port withoul
| closing the other.
He Claimed that neither Congress nor the
President had power to go into Stat with a
| military force without the intervention OF the
} civil power. Some civil process must precede
| the military force. He argued that they conid
not collect the revenue by force Such threats
| were only pretext to cover up the real ques-
ton, which was no other than this i: Shall we
acknowledge the Independence OF a seeding
State or reduce her to subjeetion by war p
| Mr.. Benjamin here read from ''Vattel" to
show that the hypocrjtical keeping of COM
| pacts were of no avail, and referred to the
| case of Rhadamiscus, who promised not to
use steel against captive, yet smothered him
And you, Senators of the Republican party
| you assert, and your people assert, that. under
a just and fair Interpretation OF the Federal
Constitution it is right to deny that our slaves,
| which, directly OF indirectly, Involve Nalue
of 81 900 00O 0CO, are property at ALL entitled 10
protection in the Territories under and by the
government.
| You assert that by fair Interpretation OF
/ uhat Instrument, il is to encourage by all pos
saSde means the robbery of this property, and
TO legislate so as to render its recovery as dan
| gerous and difficult as possible. You say that
1t is right and proper, under the Constitution,
| to prevent our mere transit across sister
| State TO embark with our property on law
| full voyage, without being openly despoiled OF
1t. You assert that it is right and proper TO
hold US up to the ban Of mankind, ia speeches
and writings, as thieves, robbers villains and
| criminals OF the blackest dye, because we con-
tinue to own property which We owned at the
time we all signed the compact. You say 1t is
right that eshould be disposed 10 spend our
| treasure in the purchase and our blood IN the
| cong nest OF a foreign territory, and yet nave
no right TO enter IL for settlement, without
| leaving behind our most valuable proper ~,
under penalty of its confiseation
| Your fathers Interpreted this Instrument to
| mean safety and peace TO all, aud you say 1t is
I emlnently in accordance with the surety that
our welfare and peace is to be preserved that
our sister States should combine to prevent
our growth and development, and surround
us with a Gordon of hostile comm unities, for
| the express ana avowed purpose of accum U a.
| latlng, In dense masses, and within ,stricted
| limits, population which YOU believe TO be
dangerous, ana thereby forcing US 70 sacrifice
| property nearly sufficient in value to pay the
| public debt Of every nation in Europe This
| construction OF the instrument which was to
| preserve our security and promote our well
fare, and which we only signed on your as
| surance that such was Its object, You tell us
now Is fair construction. You don't pro.
| pose 10 enter our States, You say, to kill and
| destroy our Institutions by force. Oh, no.
You initiate the faith OF Rhadamiscus, and
YOU propose simply 10 iDciose us in an EN-
brace that will suftocate us. You don't pro-
pose to fell the tree, you promised not to.
You merely propose to girdle II, and let it