The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-05-10
second sessioa Of DE IAiFvy.5ixth Con-

second session Of he tAiFSg'sixth Con-
gress.
The Federal Constitution, article V, Sec
ton 4, says it requires toO-thircls Of both
Houses to propose amendments to that
instrument.
Now, passing BY the utter impossibility
Of getting the Crittenden compromise res
olutiOns through the bitter Republican
House Of Representatives, it required for
ty-fOur votes to pass Il through the Senate.
The Crittenden compromise. in full Sen
ate, had but thirty-seVen or thirty eight
votes at most Of these the 10 Southern
States had 80. There were or Demo-
Gratis from the North who could be calcu.
lated to 60 for it. These were Bigler, Of
Pa. Bright, Of Ind; Douglas, Of Ills. /;
Gwin and Latham, Of Cal; Pugh, Of Ohio;
Lane, Of Oregon, and Rice, of Minnesota.
BY any rule Of arithmetic it would be
impossible to stretch these thirty eight
votes to forty four Where were the other
six votes to come from to pass the Crit.
tenden resolutions even through the Sen
AteI
The Southern Senators k0sw it could
not be done, hence many of them left in
despair. -Mhatthey wanted and what the
cOuRtry wanted. was not the shadow Of a
compromise passing through Congress to
be defeated by the Republicans in their
State Legislatures; but an assurance that.
the slavery agitation should cease. THIS
they were assured could not be unless the
representatives of the Republican party in
Congress voted for the Crittcndencompro.
mise. IL Republicans refused to do so, OF
course they would go before the countryin
opposition to its adoption; and as it re-
CURED Mree:tourthS of the State LegiSla-
lures to ratify ADD make it part of the
Constitution, it would be defeated. With
Kansas in the Union, the number of
States would be ahirty-four, requiring
twenty-six States t0ralify. With Repub
licanisln on the increase in the North,
~v;btpe+f4Tk 3.'~.-'-,-.rt1' ,'2csF'1|15fft-s
ratification Of the Crttendcn compromise
by eleven free States of the NorthP
Did they find that assurance in the fact
that at the very next session of Congress
the places of three Democrats then in the
Senate would be filled by Republicans?
On the 4th Of March, 1861, the place Of
Bigler, of Pa, was to be filled by Edgar
Cowan; Of Fitch, of Indiana, by Henry
Lane; and of Pugh, of Ohio, BY Chase.
Besides Kansas was cer:ain to send two
Republicans. This would give sixty.eight
Senators, thirty -four Democrats and thir-
ty.four Republicans, thus tieing the Sen
ate and giving the casting vote to the
Vice President, Hamlin.
Was this q prospect that would assure
reasonable men that the CrittenJen Com.
promise could be carried through twenty.
six State Legislatures without a back
down on the part Of Repubicansy
The man who could see any such pros.
pect ahead must certainly have faith like
grain of mustard seed. 1t was this
stern determination on the part Of Re-
publicans to perSevere in the slavery ag-
tation, that disheartened the friends of
the Crittenden proposition and let it go
by default.
The following was the vote upon the
question of adopting the resolutions, ia
ken in the Senate, March Cd, 1861. 1t
will be noticed that not single Republi-
can voted for them:
Yeas-Messrs Bayard, Bigler, Bright,
Crittenden, Douglas, Gwin, Hunter,
johnson Of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane,
Latham, Mason. Nicholson, Polk, Pugh,
Rice, Sebastian. Thompson and WigfaIl-
49,
"Nays-MesSrs. Anthony, Bingham,
Chandler, Clark, Dixon, Doolitt!e, Durkee,
FesSenden, Foot, Foster. Grimes, Harlan,
King, Morrill,, Sumner. Ten Eyck, Trum-
bull. Wade, Wilkinson aud Wilson-2O."
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