The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-03-30

United States Government, and the protection
| due her as a member of the Confederacy; and
now she had taken il upon herself TO with
| draw from the Union. lie asked IL Virginia
woaid sanction this act of rebellion on the
| part of Texas
| Mr.. Rives continued speaking until o clock,
| at which time the Committee took a recess
| unit O'Clock =. NJ.
| Evening Session.
| Tho Committee was called TO order by Mr..
| SorrHALi at o'clock +. NJ and Mr. RIygs
| resumed his remarks.
| lie said ii was his object to close his speech
| this evening, because he did not want it to be
| said that he consumed any more time than
| was necessary for an exposition of his views.
| lie then proceeded TO examine the existing
| causes OF complaint against the North With
tesaiu 10 the institution OF African slavery,
| ne SAID 1t was very easy for those who did not
| ike IT 10 get rid of their slaves while those
! who did like 1t, sometimes found it very diff
| cult to get them. He liked IT. socially NOR
| ally and politically, and he wished he could
| get heap more of them The election of
| Abraham Lincoln had been alluded to as "a
| just cause OF the dissolution of the Union. He
| aVeITed that not one of those who supper ted
| Bell and Everett ever claimed that Lincoln's
| election would jus tify such a proceeding. He
! went further and said that OF all the Bfeck-
| inrIdge speakers whom he heard in the Presi-
| uent canvass, none occupied that position,
| ana MT Hunter, in a speech in the city of
petersburg, said, in answer to question, that
| he did not think the election of Lincoln would
| JuStltS dlsSolutiOl, ana II any state went out,
| he wouid be among the first to enGeavor to
| bring her back again. The withdrawal of
| southern Senators and Representatives from
congress was strongly condemned by Mr..
RlFeS, AS giving up power which the Sou tn
| possessed tor preventing any Objectionable ap-
poin tments, and restraining any act of Ad-
mlnistration hostile to her interests.
| lie was for relying upon the law which had
| confined all preceding Presidents to the sphere
| of their duty; but If it was not strong enough,
make 1t stronger The violations of the fugi
tive slave law, by Personal Liberty bills he
| unequiyocally condemned; but he wanted no
| better security for the enforcement of the
| fugitive slave law than was found in the Con-
| stltuuon. The President, with the army and
| navy at his back, had fun power TO execut te it,
| as PRESIDENT Fillmore did in the case of Burns
| at boston. If it was contended that negroes
| We're not caught at the North it was eq qually
| true that they We're not caught in the South,
| for the newspapers were constantly adyertis-
| Ing runaway negroes. He thought a good many
| masters were to blame for dressing their slaves
| up in fine clothes, and letting them drive
| ABOUT the country, instead of keeping them
down III the cornfleld. where they belonged -
| 1t looked too much like equality, and inves ted
| the mind of the negro with ideas that did not
| belong there.
| The Territorial quest ton next occupied his
| discourse. he took the ground that did
! not want to take our slaves to the Territories
| During the Kansas excitement there was Il
| great furore III Petersburg, and bonus of $50
| was offered to all who would emigrate, and
500 to every one who carried slave. 1t was
| only required that they should stay until at
| ter the October elec tion when, if they thought
proper, they could come back. Only twenty
| live enlisted, and OF these not one was slave
| owner A better Illustration than this he
| said, could be found in South Carolina Not
a single STAKEHOLDER will be fool enough to re-
move from his plantation there, to the finest
nelds that bloom in the great plains and val
| leys Of the West.
| After some further consideration of this
| point, he proceeded to urge upon the Com
IN f1fE Had al
relations, which he thought ought TO satisfy
every one before his constituents he took
| the ground that Virginia should SET forth a
| catalogue of her wrongs, and the mode and
| measure of redress, and then say TO the
| North, "You know you have been guilty of
| these things, aud we ask you for this re-.
| dress ~ if they refused then say 10 them,
| Let us part in peaee-5-yoa take the publicy
| property in the North and we take the pup
| lie property i'll the South if we get more than
| you, we will pay you the difference, and if you
| get the most, pay us the difference" If they
| refused TO accede to these terms, say to them,
| 'Come on we are ready for you - He would
not wander through a labyrinth of abstrac-
| tions to get at the right of secession. but
| raise the flag OF revolution and fight for
what could not be btained in peace -
| If, however, the first mode proved effectual,
| we could say to the seeded States, we have
| got all we want, the North has agreed to put
| these things in the Cons titut ton, and now we
ask you to come back. lie believed it was
| wrong to endeavor TO create the impression
majority report, as he understood it, covered
| all the ground of which the South complain
| ed. 1t demanded everything that could be
demanded, and yet gentlemen wanted some
| thing else. 1t reminded him of Il cross and
| ill-natured child, dissatisfied with everything
and crying for something els; ; and when the
nurse took it to the looking glass to exhibit to
the child its own uglinesS, it capped the eli
max by smashing the glass.
Mr.. RiyEs discussed the several sections of
| the report expressing his concurrence there
| In. With regard to the objection against that
| portion providing for the remuneration of mas
tiers for slaves moi recovered by the United
States authorities, he made an arithmetical
calculation, taking the number of slayehold-
ers at 250,000 and the average value of the
runaway slaves at 81 900 and the General
Government having paid this to the master,
even should the tax fall upon Shareholders
alone, it would come to only about three mills
to each man. But falling upon - 900 900 of
people, what a subject for calculation would
each ones portion be- Arguing at some length
upon the question of reconstruction, he eX-
pressed his belief that the Sou thern States
would come back. He produced statistics to
show that Virginia had not slaves enough,
and urged Il change in the agricultural sys-
TEN in order to retain them in Virginia.
Towards the close of his remarks, in order
to disabuse the minds of those who thought
his ell nthusiasm for the Union accounted
for by the fact that he was Il United States
officer, he said he had made calculation of
the emoluments of his office, and found that
since the 3lst of December last he had re-
ceived, as Collee tor of the Port of Petersburg,
the enormous sum of twenty five dollars anu
twenty. eight cents He threw his keys upon
the table before him, and said when any one
wanted the KEYS of his office, there they were
He had no favors to ask.
He alluded to the pes thence that once ragged
in Portsmouth and Norfolk and to the pecu-
mary assistance then rendered by the North
ern States to their suffering brethren of Vir-
ginia-sending collectively over Sl24, ,O0o-
Upon this manifestation OF sympathy he
dwslt with much earnes tness, and with these
considerations he closed his remarks, having
spoken about seven hours:
Mr.. FLoURNOY, of Halifax, took the floor
but gave way for a motion that the Commit
tee rise.
The Committee then rose ard reported pro-
gress.
IN CONVENTION
The PRECEDENT having resumed the Chair,
the Convention proceeded to consider the re-
solution offered by Mr.. CONRAD this morn.
ing, TO terminate debate in Committee of the
Whole, on Tuesday next.
MIR. PRICE, OF Greenbrier, said the gentle
man who offered the resolu tion-,yas net pres
ent, but II was necessary that it should be
changed in some respects. He was desirous of
making some arrangement that would satisfy
all. and II the gentlemen on the other side
were willing I" ONE to reasonable compro-
mise OF the matter, he would make to them
this overture; II Motif there was any unde-
veloped motive for protracting the session, he
must give them notice now that it must be
brought to "A close at as early a day as possi-
BILE. He would therefore request the gen tie
man from Middlesex, (Mr. Montague) to con-
suit with his friends and bring in such a
proposition as would be acceptable to them
Mr. PRICE then moved that the Conven tion
adjourn.
Mr.. MONTAGUE requested him to withdraw
the ton for moment, and he did so. Mr..
MONTAGUE said his duties in the Senate would
prevent his giving the matter due attention,
and he hoped some other would be named.
MIR. PRICE then selected Mr. NEBLErT, of
ntav fBttrp y, ftns he.
ferred that some more experienced member
Should undertake. the duty. aud ME-. III HARYIE