Year: 1861

WILMOT was sworn in and took his seat.--Tl
VICE PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a lett
from the Governor of Indiana, enclosing the j0il


resolution of the General Assembly of that Stat
; requesting Congress to call convention for Il
I amendment of the Constitution. 1t was laid on II
table, and ordered to be printed.--Mr. Dough-
: resolutions were taken up.-Mr. BRECKlNRlbG
said this body should not adjourn without e!
? pressing some opinion upon the condition
: the country and giving advice to ii
President. Since Congress had met, I'll
Union had been dismembered. At an earl
period of the late session a strong effort mad
, to re.establiSh tranquility upon 4 secure basis


but this had failed, Congress having unhappil
omitted to present any plan of adjustment Th


body should not therefore adjourn without doin


something to meet the immediate question nov


presented of peace or war. Everything depende


upon the policy Of the Administration. The inau


gural had been variOusy interpreted, and it wa


necessary that they should have something NOR


than mere general declarations of peaceful intent


He had not been able to take the same view of tn


message the Senators from Illinois and Maine a


to its peaceful intent. He read Mr.. LincOns Ian


guage in regard to the Union being unbroken, tn
| necessity of the execution of the laws, and th


expression of his determination to occupy ant
possess the public places belonging to the Unitet
| States. The leading idea put forth evidently wa:


that the President did not recognize the existence


the Southern COniederacy, and that it was li!


purpose, as far as he had power, to execute the laws


in all the States, including the seeded States. The


inference irresistible that he regards it hi!
| imperative duty to collect the revenue and holG
| the forts everywhere, though accompanied with q
| qualification that he would be guided BIZ his abi
| ty so to do. The evacuation of Fort Sumter was
| proposed, not upon the ground OF concil-
iating the public mind, bus because the


Government did not possess the military


evacuation were therefore military and not poiti.
cal, and the inference was, that the President


would continue to hold the other forts in the sece-
ded States. Events transpiring satisfied him that
fNA Fl,,,f-z -z,-E-. Il. a


policy would avoid bloodshed. The tone of


the press of the dominant party gave them no


ground OF hope, and the complexion of the Cabinet


did not favor the idea that force would be used


The Secretary of State, though breathing words


OF peace, did not hesitate to say that in a GER


tain contingency he was in favor of coercion. The


majority of the Cabinet were understood


to entertain the views. The heads of the Sen


ate committees were also known to favor policy


OF force. There was now every danger of collision,


and the peace of the country the mere sport OF


accdence and chance The question was, should


force of arms be used against the Southern Con-


federacy? it were determined to use force, let


them prepare for war and organize their scattered


military torces. If peace is determined upon, let


them withdraw the troops, whose presence did


no good, but might do incalculable harm


They could not disguise from themselves


that besides the seeded States eiUht other


States gloomy and disconteated, and if


coercion were resolved upon, they would be driven


of, and the last hope of reconstructng the Union


would be gone. He thought the Senate should ad


wise the President to withdraw the troops and trust


to negotiations to heal all difficulties. Virginia


Kentucky, Tennessee, and even Mary yland-voiceIess
Maryland-would make common cause with the
South If coercion were attempted. If the President
would withdraw his scattered and impOtent forces


from the Confederate States, he would give the
assurance ofpeace and promote the reconstruction
of the Union. He would vote for the resolution
of the Senator from Illinois, but he would like
more positive measure adopted, advising the Pres


il ant IN IUit n fha A,to Al
Of the revenue in Southern ports, there were no
officers of the United States to collect it, and the
President had no power to blockade the ports or to
seize vessels going into them on the charge Of
smuggling. He could not see the propriety
of going to to maintain a few use
less soldiers in their present position
Breckenridge next considered what was ne
cessary to be done to save the government. He
believed this government to be the best on earth if
administered according the CONSTITUTE jn but if
otherwise conducted it would be the very worst
lie did not believe the government could be main
tanned upon the principles which brought the dom
inant party into power. lie was sorry to hear the
President declare that the 8th resolution of the
Chicago platform, concerning slavery in the Terri
tories, was still law to himself and his party The
denial ofprotection to slavery under any circum-
stances by the Republican party, placed
an impossible gulf between it and the
people ofthe Southern States. He contendcd for


the equality OF the rights of the people of the
South in the Territories, and if this was denied
the Southern States would not remain in political
connexion with those of the North. The South
was entitledby the expenditure Of blood and treas


ure to an equal share of the Territories and they
would never submit to be hemmed in and denied |
the power Of expansion. An impartial admins
tration they expect and demand All these diff !
culties were understood at the commencement of |
the last session of Congress, but the majority of
the dominant party refused to bulge one /
inch, or to meet the South half way. The Com
mitee of Thirteen Of the Senate, formed at the be-


N.r,Frn nF


solitary proposition. The measures of his distin-
guished predecessor SIR. Crittendenl were uuani-
mously vote against by every Republican Sena- +.
tor, all of whom steadily voted down every propO-
In this connexion he arragned with severity the
course of the Republicans, who, while the
Union was going to pieces, and petitions
for an adjustment were pouring in, re-
fused to DO anything. Their ultmatum con-
sisted in declaration that Congress should not
have the power to interfere with slavery in the
States-a power which nobody had ever claimed
as belonging to Congress-even upon this propn-
stion. One half the Republican Senators voted in
the negative, and it received bare constitutional
majority. This was all that was acc mpIished after
three months of argument and of entreaty, and
was totally unsatisfactory as settlement. For
the future there seemed to him little hope that the
dominant party would agree TO any satisfactory
settlement. The sagacious Senator from New
ork, who as far as he had seen. had not changed
one single dogma of his creed. In a speech to the
Illinois delegation he indicated the policy of the ad


ministration. In 1.-THE assumed that the principles
of the Republican party had been secured, and
more, that they should save the Union in order to
perpetuate the ascendancy of the Republican par
ty. Their policy now was. to establish a Union
party in the Border States BY means OF
ie eral patronage looking to the ultimate extinc
ton of slavery there. For the time being without
surrendering solitary principle of their creed,
they would shift their flag from the Chicago plat
form to the Union party. This policy was ingeni-
Gus, and, if successful, would raise at once the
question of emancipation in the border States Let
the Republicans, however, not misunderstood the
position of the latter. They had sought to mediate
between the conflicting sections not because thev
were intimidated by Senatorial threats of blood
letting, but because sincerely attached to the Union
and Constitution. He paid an eloquent tribute to the
gallantry of Kentuckians, and said they had shed
blood upon the battle fields of the country than
the constituents of the Senator from Michigan who
had made the threat of blood letting, would ever
shed upon the soil of Kentucky. The cry of equal
itv would be raised upon the mountains and plains
of his State, and if justice denied her, he pro-
phesied that she would Join her sisters Of the
South. 1t was for the Republican party to say
what they intended to do and he would conclude
by the expression Of the opinion that war could
only be averted by the withdrawal of the troops
The President might be blamed for this course by
some, but he would merit the gratitude Of the
cOuntry.-Mr. HALE said with regard to the
policy of the President he intended TO give no ad-
vice till it asked for. He had selected his con-
stitutiona advisers, and probably did not want
outside counsel The Senator fromkentuclsy had said
that the remaining eight States of the South would
not remain in the Union If equality not grant
ed Before Kentucky came into the Union slavery
had been prohibited in every Territory of the U nj
ted States .aud in 1920 it was prohibited north of
$3.50. These restrictions had been repealed by the
Legislation of 1854, all the Territories opened to
slavery, and the Supreme Court had given a deci- |
sion recognizing the right of slavery to enter the
Territories. What then die the South complain
in sd hpnn
the people in opposition to the will of the ma
jority. The South had in the Territories all
and more than she had claimed. The Su- !
preme Court had decided that it was the duty of
Congress to protect slavery. Why then this cry of
aggression? When, where, how and by whom? The
policy of the late Democratic party had for years
ruled the country, the chief feature ofwhich the
protection, the support and the perpetuity of Ameri
can slavery. The Federal Government was now sub
ject to demands. What more did the South
want? Did she want to carry slavery into the
States? If so, let her say The South had all
the territories now, and tuere were no more to
give her. These reiterated declarations of North.
ern oppression were totally unfounded When the
term was first used he thought it was intended as a
joke.-ln the course of his remarks Mr. Hale
made ausion to "the Senator from the late State
of fTexas.-Mr WIGFALLsaid he believed Texas was
State before she joined the Union a State in
the Union, and was a State nOw.-Mr HALE
said he would not go into philosophical discus
sion. He would correct himself BY saving "tbe
late Senator from Texas" Laughter Mr.. Hale
then argued to show that the whole trouble was


that the late "ins'' were not "outs' Laughter
He had been out in the cold for long time, and
was astonished at the equanimity with which he
had borne his condition, when he saw how seriously


being turned out affected gentlemen on the other
side. The great difficulty the restlessness


of disappointed politicians. They were in the
greatest crisis of the country's history, and if
the dscontented, the fretful and the impatient


were to be listened to and obeyed, the experiment