Year: 1861

which does not convene until December
none of them affecting at all our relations
either to the rest of the States or of our
own State, as people,--I cannot for the
life of me, see how the voice OF the peo-
Pile, which comes upsto us in tones not to
be misunderstood, DARE be disregarded by
the members Of this body; and why any
effort should be made to procrastinate and
delay action in the face of tie circum-
stances that surround us, where by possi-
bilitY ProcrdStiRatiOn may be death. No man
is authorized to say whit the Government
of the United States will do, or will not
do. We have nothing to do with any part
of that Government save the Legislative de-
partment of it, when to Congress, and to
Congress alone, is committed by the Con-
stitution the right to determine whether we
shall be admitted or not. l care not what
the other departments of the Government,
or what officials of the Government, may
think of this question.


But, then, we have been compelled to
ask that the forces of the Government be
sent on here to protect us, and they might
take them away2 Sir, how can they desert
us, how dare they desert US, when the in
slant they desert us they desert the Union?
Virginia is to be the battle field. This is
to be tue battle ground. Here is where
the question of the supremacy of the laws
is to be decided. Sweep out UuiOnism
from this portion of Virginia, and seces-
sion has nothing to do but to march from
the southwest corner of the State into
East Tennessee, inaugurate rebellion IN
Kentucky, and the Southern ConfederaCy
is fixed fact. Then the Administration
dare not desert US in this hour; and we
are powerless in our present condition to
aid the Administration. Where would we
have been had it not been for the United
States military force that was sent into
our midst2 So impressed was and the
rest of the members of the Central Com
mittee, that there must be no delay, and
the opinion that longer delay would find
US in the powerof tue secessionists, that
they started me on the 23d of May, to
urge these facts upon the attention of the
Administration. On the next day after l
arrived at Washington, the telegraph bore
the order to General Mcclellan to move.
They cannot desert us, whatever their
opinions may be. They cannot leave us at
this hour, as bondsmen of the field sold to
those who have engaged in this effort to
destroy our republican institutions. There
is no Just or well founded apprehension
of this that any member of this body can
reasonably entertain.


But there is another objection. 1t is
said that the Legislature at its late session
refused its assent to aseparatiOn. Accord
ing to the Constitution, sir, L think they
had no right, or ut least there was no ne
cessity for their giving their assent at this
time. The assent of Congress to the adj
mission of State into the Union is never
given until after the application has been
made. say never, ds general rule
When II Territory seeks admission into
st TTnta eaaL.z
after it has assembled its Convention,
framed Constitution and elected officers
under it, Then it presents its application,
accompanied by its Constitution to the Con-
gress of the United States, and then Con-
gress acts ON the application. No previous
assent is necessary. Call to mind the ac-
ton of the Senate of the United States up
on the proposition urged with so much abil-
ity and zeal by the late lamented Senator
from Illinois, (AIr. Douglas) in relation to
the Kansas question. He desired to intro
duce n rule that should operate on all fu-
ture Territories asking admission into the
Union, that that consentshould not be had
after the organization of the Territory into
IA State by the adoption of Constitution
and the election of officers, but that Con-
gress should, prior to any action taken by
their people, pass what he was pleased to



iect fell still-born from the author. 1t has
never been the practice of this government
before then or since, to act on the appli-
cation of State for admission, until the
people of the proposed new State acted
themselves, and transmitted to Congress
with their application their Constitution.
Why? Because one of the requirements
of the Constitution is that the State to be
admitted into the Union must have re-
publican form of government. And how
could Congress give its consent to the ad-
mission of State without having before
it the Constitution of the State to enable
the members to judge of the form of gov
ernment proposed for the new State-tO
see whether it is such Constitution and
form of government as the Constitution
requires and demands it to be2


Thus the consent of Congress must come
afterwards. There is, sir, the same pro-
priety that the assent of the Legislature
should come after the act of the people,
| The Legislature giving its assent to the or
ganization of government to be there
after formed The Legislature giving its
assent to the separation of n people, from
the State in which they have heretofore
lived, before an official sense of that peo-
pie has come up to them desiring sepaTa-
| iionl There was an obvious propriety, in
my humble opinion in the Legislature re-
fusing at its last session this assent
While l, if had been member OF the
body might have voted for it, for the pur-
pose of hurrying this thing on, and while
it might haze been repealed at its very
next session, after the vote of the people
had been taken upon the Constitution, and
might have been held for nnught, yet say,
entertaining the convictions that do that
three -fourths of tine people within this
boundary desires a new State. mighthave
been the foremost of those who desired the
Legislature to give its assent. But it
would not have been worth that IA snap of
the finger;) liable to be repealed, taken
back, at the very next meeting of the Leg
islature, aud probably upon the formation
of form of government and return of
the sense of the people circumstances
would have shown an obvious propriety in
Withholding the assent.