The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-08-24
once, on CoIOma street.
SPEECH OF HON. 8. A. DOUGLAS,
On THE POWER or ruE GOVERNMENT TO COLLECT
REVENUE IN rnE sEcEDING STATES.
r,crcl in the senate Of the United States. March 49, 1891
FORTS IN TIE sEcEDING STATES.


REVENUE IN rnE sEcEDIxG STATES.
Delivered in the Senate Of the United States, March 49, 1891
FORTS IN TIE sECEDING STATES.
The Vice Presidential there he no
further resolutions the next business in or.
der Is the resolutions on the table which
have heretofore been submitted.
Mr.. DnuglaS--Lct the first one he read
The Vice President The following res.
olution is in order, which will be read by
the Secretary.
The Secretary read it. as follows:
Htmlrti, Tint the Secretary Of War be re-.
GncSicd To irfnrm the Senate what forts .arsen.
nls. navv.yards. and othe public works. within
the lnuts If the States of South Carolina, Gcur.
gil, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
aud Texas are now within the actual possession
aud occupation of the United States, nnd BY
what number Of men each is garrisoncd and
held and whether rrintorcementS are necessary
Ia retain the same and IL 81, whether the Gov.
eminent huS the power and means. under exist.
ing laws, 10 supply such reiLtorccments within
such time aS the cNgenCieS and necessities Of
the case NAV demand and whether the defense
nnd protection of the United States and their
interests make il necessary and wise to retain
military possession Of such forts. places. and
other property. except mt Key West aud Tortu.
gas. aud to rccnpturc and rcoccupy such others
IA the United States have been deprived Of bv
seizure or surrender for any other purpose, End
with vice to any other end than the subiuga.
ton and occupation Ot those States which have
assumed the hight 10 Secede from the Union,
and within whuse limits such forts aud other
public property are situated aud II such be
the motives for recnptnring and holding the
forts and other public property, what military
force" Including regulars aud volunteers, would
he necessary 10 enable the United States to re.
ducr the States aforesaid, and such others NJ are
SUPPOSED 10 SvmpathIze with them. tO SIbjec.
ii"n and obedience To the laws Of the Cniun,
aud 10 protect the Federal capitol.
Mr.. poughS-Mr. President
Mr.. Clark VIII the Senator from Iii
noiS allow ne t. move an amendment.
do not wish to take the floor from him,
but simply IL show what shall propose
Mr.. Duug'as Yes, sir; will allow the
SciIator to move il now.
Mr.. Clalk-I move to strike out all Of
the resolution after the words "rctain the
>amc," six Or eight lines from the begin.
uiug.
Mr.. Douslas-Lct so much Of the rcso.
luton as it is proposed to strike out, be
read.
The Secretary read it.
Mr. Clark will modify my amend.
mrnt, by moving to strike out all after the
words Unitel States" There may be a
reason why we should not tell how many
men garrison the foItS.
Mr.. DouglaS-let the Secretary read so
much as that will leave in the resolution.
The Secretary read as follows:
R,wirti, That the Secretary of War be re.
Iur>,rd tn inform the Senate what forts, ARISEN
nl>, navy yards, and other public works. within
the limits nf the States ot South Carolina, Ge0r.
gia. finridI, Alabama. Mississippi. Louisiana,
and TEXAS, are now within the actual possess.
ion and occupation Of the Cnitcd States.
Mr. Douglas i cannot acccdr, of course
to the amendment proposed by the Scna-
tor from New hampshire; for it's adoption
would defeat the entire object of the rcSo
luton. 1t was not my purpose, when
Offered the resolution. to say anything up
on il until we should have received them
formation sought To he obtained by the
inquiry. think the information which
it is proposed TO elicit is very important to
the quiet aud peace of this country. The
public MIND now is greatly disturbed by
approximations Of civil wal. The inaugu.
raj address Of the President is understood
bv many in both sections of the Union as
indicating n war policy. If we allow
these apprchensionS to iipen into a con.
viction that the Administration does med.
itate u war policy to reduce to subsection
the seeded States by military force, | ap-
prehend that we shall find terrific issue
prcciptatcd upon US in shorter time than
any of us imagine. do not believe such
to be the policy Of the President lido not
so understand his inaugural. have al
ready stated to the Senate the construc-
ton that have placed upon it. The cor
rectncsS of that construction is disputed
on this side of the House. The Republi-
can side Of the Chamber remains mute
and silent, neither asserting nor dissent
ing.
In this state Of the case, for the purpose
Of quieting the npprchensions Of the coun.
try, and demonstrating, first, that the
President does not mediate war; and, sc.
condly, that he has no means Of proSecu-
ting a warfare upon the seeding States,
even il he desired, bring in this resou.
ton. Attempts are made to prevent its
consideration. 1t is suggested that the
discussion of it at this time would be, il
not improper, at least injurious What
bad effects can result from answering the
inquiries contained in the resolution! II
the policy Of the Administration be peace,
and if the answer be such as anticipate
it will be, it will quiet the country it will
relieve these apprehensions IL will restore
confidence; it will cause rejoicing through
out the length and breadth of the land
If, on the contrary, the policy be war, it is
due to the people of the United States
that the fact should be known, and that
we be informed whittier we are driiting,in
order that we may see whether We arc
willing TO be drawn into war irregularly,
without the sanction of Congress or the
consent of the country.
] believe that tho answer to this resolu.
ton will quiet the country, and restore
good will and good feeling among the pco-
pie Of the different sections. repeat the
conviction that Mr.. Lincoln does not med
itatc war. Certain I am that, under tho
L0Cs az they RoW erist, he cannot, consist
entity with his oath, do any act that 'oilI
produce collision 6etsoeen the seeded State
and the Federal Government In the first
place, he has no power, under the existing
laws to collect tile revenues on shipboard,
as is suggested by the partisan press. By
the laws q the land, che revenue must be
collected at the ports Of entry, and In the
custom houses designated by tho law, and