The Press., 1888-08-30
sENRTOR' PLATT ON THE HARTFORD
 CONVENTEOYe

VWWW UN ANVfe
 In the debate upon the fisheries recent ly, Senators Morgan and George took oc- casion to allude to the Hartford conven- in justification of the convention which took states from the union. Senator Platt took the floor and said a
 MT. President, think have heard to- day for the fourth time since this debate commenced allusions made to the Hartford convention Precisely what the Hartford convention has to do with this debate, or precisely why senators upon the other side should think that they can gain some ad- vantage in the discussion by referring to the Hartford convention, am somewhat at a loss to know. Once when it was re- ferred to it was in connection with state ment that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones and it occurred to me that if there Ewas parallel there was at least contrast between the Hart ford convention and some other conven- ions which have been held in the United States, a contrast which it is worth mo- nenPs time to portray. The Hartford convention is now ss .55.e E 4 MATTER OF ANCIENT HISTORY.
 Few men live in this country, who have any recollection of the times or the cir .cumstanCes under which it was held. It is seventy years since the Hartford con- vention convened. It is but a few years comparatively, and fresh in the minds of a great many of us, since other states held conventions which eventuated in an entire ly different manner from the Hartford convention. The Hartford convention was called not to take any state out of the union, not with any such purpose, but for the purpose of determining how states which felt that they had grievances might best secure their rights under the consti- tuition. The resolutions which came from the state of Massachusetts to the state of Connecticut suggesting the Hartford con- vention, called upon the states of Connec- ticut and Rhode Island to join with Massa-' chusetts- ,.
 To devise, if practicable, means of se- curity and defense which may be consist ent with the preservation of their resources from total ruin, and adapted to their local situation, mutual relations and habits, and not repugnant to their obligations as mem- bers of the union. %S
 The call which was issued for the Hart ford convention to be held on the 18th day of December, 1914, was-.
 To confer with delegates from Massa- chusetts and such other New England states as shall join in the enterprise
 Was, to use the words of the commit tee :
 For the purpose of devising and recom- mending such measures for the safety and welfare of those states as may be consist ent with our obligations as members of the National Union.
 IT IS NOT FOR ME TO DEFEND -.. that convention. It sat with closed doors. Tko kol oR five resolutions, one of which suggested amendments to the constitution of the Emitted States, and in no one of which was there an intimation that any of the states represented in that convention would un- der any circumstances secede from the union, in no one of which was the right of secession even hinted at. How was it with certain other conventions in recent times, within the memory of senators who sit here, within the memory of young men who but for a few years have cast their ballots as citizens of the United States, called for the avowed purpose of destroy ing the nnion, called for the avowed pur- pose of seeding from the union, and re- sulting in carrying ont the purposes for which they were called sO far as it was possible for those states to carry them out :? think senators may well say that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones., But, MT. President, if sen- ators see in the facts which have detailed even 8 dim and remote parallel between the Hartford convention and it's action and the conventions of the seeding states and their action, there is
 A CONTRAST WHICH IS APPARENT.
 So jealous were the people of Connecti- cut, of Massachusetts, of Rhode Island, of the union, of the obligation of all citizens to the union, so impressed were they with the idea that the union was indissoluble, that the men who sat in the Hartford con- vention and partook in its deliberations were forever banished, as it were, fom the councils of this nation. Those men never took up arms against the government i; those men never levied war against the United States those men were never guilty of the crime of treason those men never by resolution or act indicated that they ever intended to sever their relations and the relations of their states to this thereafter permitted
 TO TAKE PART IN THE COUNCILS
 of this nation, or to become an officer of any of the departments of this nation.
 l want to read what Connecticut his torian says on that subject: .'
 The grave has closed over them all. In their lifetime they were kept from the coun- cils of the nation because they had been un- fortunate enough, to be designated by the general assembly for the place that they filled with such ability and integrity. Like