The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-05-10

u 0IptAu4uOuS " tuotH 10 mhy proV0ut
there being used or perverted to such mis-
chiev0us purposes
& That the act Ut the 18Th Of Septem-
Der, 1850, commonly called the fugitive
slave law, onspt to be so amended as to
make the fee Of the commissioner, men
toned In the eighth section Of the act,
equal In amount in the cases decided by
him, whether bis decision be in favor Of
or against the claimaDt. And to avoid
misconstruction, the last clause Of the fifth
section Of said act, which authorizes the
person holding = warrant for the arrest or
detention Of q fugitive slave, to summon
to his aid the posse cORitGtuS, and which
declares it to be the duty Of all good Citi-
zens to assist him In its execution; ought
to be so amended as to expressly limit the
authority and duty to cases in which there
shall be resistance or danger OF resistance
or rescue.
4. That the laws for the suppression Of
the African slave trade, and especially
those prohibiting the iWPOrtatioR.Of slaves
in the United States, ought to be made
efectual, and ought TO be thoroughly ex-
and all further enactments neees-
Sary to these ends ought to be promptly
made.
Their History.
Upon the introduction OF these reSolu.
tons Mr.. Crittenden, the venerable Sena-
tor from Kentucky, who had assisted in
passing the compromise measures Of so,
made patriotic and prophetic speech, in
which, turning to the Republican side OF
the House, he said:
The great difficulty here, sir know
it; I recognize it as the difficult question,
particularly with the gentlemen from the
NOrth-is the admission of this line Of di.
vision for the territory, aud the recogni-
tion Of slavery on the one side, and the
prohibition Of it OH the other. The re-.
cognition Of slavery on the Southern side
of that line is the great difficulty, the great
question with them. Now, | beSeech
them to think, and you, Mr.. President,
and all, to think whether, for such com
parative trihe as that, the Union Of this
country is 10 be sacrificed. Have we re-
allied to ourselves the mOmentouS conSe-
gUx0ces .S'ch an eyeptg Whep has, ,he
wood seen such al event? This Is q
mighty empire. Its existence spreads its
influence throughout the civilized world.
Its overthrow will be the greatest shock
that civilization and free government have
received; more extensive in its consequent
ccs; more fatal to mankind and to the
great principles upon which the liberty of
mankind depends, than the French revo.
luton, with its oceans Of blood, aud with
all its war and violence! And all for
what?
Is it upon the general principle of hu-
manity, then, that you addressing Repub-
lican Senator's wish to put an end to slave
ry, or is it to be urged by you as mere
topic and point of party controversy to
sustain party power? Surely give you
credit for looking at it upon broader and
more generous principles.
Mr.. Crittenden gave the Republicans
credit for too much generosity and princi
pie. Their worthless platform, they said,
they preferred to Fifty Unions"!! Mr..
John z. Hale, after sneering at and ridi-
cuing the resolutions, in reply to queS-
ton from Mr.. Salisbury Of UsAware, as
to whether he (Hale) would urge North
ern people to adopt these resolutions, re-
piled:
Well, now, sir, the honorable Senator
from Delaware asks me question which
I will answer, though do not feel myself
bound to 10 SO. With my present con.
viction, | will not agree to these PROPOSE.
tons in all their extent. There are some
things there that would agree to; but to
the extent that these resolutions 60,
would not recommend my people to &C
ccde to them. If they ask my advice,
they can have it.
This debate was on a motion to print
the resolutions.
The resolutions came up at various
times and were debated until the I'd Of
March-two days preceding the Inaugural
ton of Mr.. Lincoln-when they were de.
featcd, EVERY REPUBLICAN in the Senate
voting against them. These are histori
cal facts.
This Crittenden Compromise was pcti
toned for by more citizens than any other
proposition ever before Congress. Mr.
Pugh, of Ohio, in the course of his re.
marks advocating it, said:
The Crittenden proposition has been
Endorsed by the almost unanimous vote o.
the Legislature Of Kentucky. Tthas been
Endorsed by the Legislature of the noble
old Commonwealth of Virginia. 1t has
been petitioned for by larger number OF
electors of the United States than any
other proposition that was ever beforc
Congress. believe in my heart, to-day
that it would carry an overwhelming ina,
jority of the people of my State; ay, sir
and of nearly every other State of the
Union. Before the Senators from the
State Of Mississippi left this Chamber,
heard one of them who now assumes, al
least, to be President of the Southern Con
federacy, propose to accept it and to main
tain the Union if that proposition could
receive the vote it ought to receive from
the other side of this Chamber There
fore, Of all your propositions, of all your
amendments, knowing as do, and know.
ing that the historian will write it down,
at any time before the LIST of January. a
tWO-thirdS vote for the Crittenden resOlu.
tons in this Chamber would have saved
every Stale in the Union, but South Caro-.
lima. Georgia would be here by her rep
resentativeS, and Louisiana also-those
two great States, which, at least, would
have broken the whole column of seceS.
sion. Globe, p. 1890.
And on the same day March 3D. Mr.
Douglas, not on the most friendly terms
with Davis and Toombs, bore testimony
to the same effect, as follows:
The Senator (Mr. Pugh) has said that il
the Crittenden proposition could have
been passed early in the session, it would
have saved all the States, except SOUTH
Carolina. firmly believe it would
While the Crittenden proposition was not
in accordance with thy cherished views, |