The national Republican., 1861-03-20

pose has already gone forward.
n6r There were no nominations defnitively
acted on by the Senate yesterday.
MESsRS. FESSENDEN AND DOUGLAS.
The Globe of yesterday contains the official
report of the passage of Friday between Sena.
tors Fessenden and Douglas, but does not vary
in substance from the accounts heretofore gen.
orally given oft.
1t turned upon the question whether Mr..
Douglas had, or had not, referred to the Sena'
tor from Maine.
As understood by the reporter, Mr.. Douglas
said:
al take no exception to the petulant irrita-
BILE, irritating personal attacks the Senator from
Maine may make. | have been accustomed to
that for a long time
As Mr.. Douglas recollects his own language,
it was as follows:
al take no exception to these petulant and
irritating personal attacks, considering whence
they came"
The question was, in itself, Of no Importance,
as, if Mr.. Douglas did, in fact, use the words
as understood by the reporter, he did it by in.
advertence, and as Mr.. Fessenden, although
insisting that these words were actually used,
said that he presumed that they were unwit.
tingly used. 1t was, however, the occasion of
an outbreak of violence in language from Judge
Douglas, which he certainly regrets, if he pos
sesses anything like the good sense and good
temper which the public give him credit for.
So far as Mr.. Fessenden's reply was personal,
We do not care to reproduce it, believing that
newspapers can be better employed than to
fight over again, quarrels fairly fought out by
the parties concerned. But the concluding
portion of his reply touches points of so much
public interest, that we suhjoin it:
"BA sir, allow me to say one word in clio.
sing, and that is this when the Senator as
sumes, and takes it for granted, that we could
have passed any bills during the last session,
and talks about our power in this Senate up to
the time when the last Congress adjourned. |
will not say that he knew he was stating what
was not true but will say, that it he had given
himself moments time for reflection, he must
have been aware that everybody about him
knew perfectly well it was not so. There was
never day during that Congress, from the be-
ginning to the end that we had the power to
pass any bill against the will of the other side
of this House. There never was day when
we had majority in this Chamber. On some
questions, we had the aid of the Senator from
Illinois himself, and Of some other Senators :;
but we never had the power to pass any bill
that the majority chose that we should not pass,
in any case. l knew very well that we could
not pass the bill to give power to the President
to suspend these Southern ports as ports OF
aptry or opy o,har Tbara peyar was n tina
when we could do it. We had other important
measures to attend to. We knew that they
would be fought. / knew it, for | consulted
with gentlemen on the other side, and it was
stated to US as reason why they would be
fought, and why they would be contested here,
by certainly more than one Senator, that they
were considered, or that particular bill was con-
sidered, as dangerous, because it would excite
the Southern people, and therefore it was best
not to press it, but to leave it as it was. Sir,
we had other things to do. We had tariff
bill to pass. We could not have passed that
without the aid of those on the other side OF
the Chamber. We had also to pass the appro.
priation bills necessary for the support Of the
Government. They were almost all done within
the last days Of the session, or but very short
period before. We understood perfectly well
what we could do and what we could not do.
We are respectable enough on this side OF
the Chamber, in point of ability, to have some
idea of what We are about, and know something
of what we wish to accomplish, and how much
we can accomplish OF what we want to do, and
how much we cannot. If we had the power to
do those things, we might have done them,
possibly have done more.
81 regret sir, that that bill, with reference
to the collection of the revenue, was not pass
ed. do not admit all that Senator has stated
with regard to our position with regard to the
position OF the Administration, in reference to
collecting the revenue there and allow me to
say, further, that the Senator in his argument
and it has been a labored one-upon this
subject, has added nothing that can perceive
to the argument that was made early in the
session by the honorable Senator from Louis,
lana, Mr.. Benjamin, who went over the
whole ground upon the subject, and precisely
the same ground that the Senator from Iii
nois has occupied this morning. Part of il
was very correct, and part of it was not.
am not prepared, and have no desire, to go into
an examination of it. Let it be enough to say
with regard to those things, that the Presiden
has declared that he will not make war upol
anybody. The President has declared that
ishis intention to execute the laws OF the lan'
legally and conStitutonally; and when he ha
not the legal and constitutional power to exc
cute them, that he will not attempt to do it b,
illegal or unconstit utional measures. That i
not to be inferred and therefore it is not to b.
inferred that the President or his party meal