So the House again refused to adjourn. The question again recurring on the admissibility of the said preamble and resolution, After further debate, On motion of Mr. William Kellogg, at 2 o'clock and 20 minutes p. m., the House adjourned until to-morrow at 12 o'clock m. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1859. Two other members appeared, viz: From the State of Arkansas, Albert Rust. From the State of Texas, Andrew J. Hamilton. On motion of Mr. Clemens, by unanimous consent, Resolved, That the daily sessions of this House shall be at 12 o'clock meridian. The Clerk having announced as the business in order the question submitted by Mr. Stevens, and pending when the House adjourned yesterday, as to the admissibility of the preamble and resolution proposed to be submitted by Mr. John B. Clark, After debate, Mr. Stevens withdrew the same. The question then recurring on the said preamble and resolution, Mr. Gilmer moved to amend the same by striking out all after the word "Resolved," and inserting in lieu thereof the following, viz: Whereas the circumstances and condition of the country require that the asperities and animosities which for the last few years have been rapidly alienating one section of the country from another, and destroying those fraternal sentiments which are the strongest supports of the Constitution, should be allayed: whereas, inasmuch as the history of the government furnishes instances of success in giving quiet to the country by the united exertions of conservative national men, irrespective of party, there is reason to hope for a like result from similar labors: whereas, in 1851, when the minds of the people of the north and of the south were inflamed on the subject of slavery, national men appealed to the country as follows, to wit: "The undersigned, members of the thirty-first Congress of the United States, believing that a renewal of sectional controversy upon the subject of slavery would be both dangerous to the Union and destructive of its objects, and seeing no mode by which such controversy can be avoided, except by a strict adherence to the settlement thereof effected by the compromise acts passed at the last session of Congress, do hereby declare their intention to maintain the said settlement inviolate, and to resist all attempts to repeal or alter the acts aforesaid, unless by the general consent of the friends of the measure and to remedy such evils, if any, as time and experience may develope. "And for the purpose of making this resolution effective, they further declare that they will not support for office of President or VicePresident, or of senator or of representative in Congress, or as member of a State legislature, any man, of whatever party, who is not known to be opposed to the disturbance of the settlement aforesaid, and to the renewal, in any form, of agitation upon the subject of slavery. "Henry Clay, William Duer, David Outlaw, Alexander Evans, H. A. Bullard, C. H. Williams, T. S. Haymond, John R. Thurman, "The effects of which on the popular mind were to induce the democratic party in their national convention at Baltimore, in 1852, to resolve and pledge themselves to the nation as follows, to wit: "That Congress has no power under the Constitution to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the Constitution; that all efforts made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient' steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our political institutions. "That the foregoing proposition covers and was intended to embrace the whole subject of the slavery agitation in Congress; and, therefore, the democratic party of the Union, standing upon the national platform, will abide by and adhere to the faithful execution of the acts known as the compromise measures settled by the last Congress, the act for the reclaiming of fugitives from service included, which act being designed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be repealed or so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency. "Resolved, That we will resist all attempts at renewing, in Congress or out of it, the slavery agitation, under whatever shape and color the attempt may be made." And the whig party in the same year, at the same place, resolved and pledged themselves as follows, to wit: "That the series of measures commonly known as the compromise, including the fugitive slave law, are acquiesced in by the whig party of the United States, as a settlement, in principle and substance, a final settlement of the dangerous and exciting questions which they embrace; and so far as the fugitive slave law is concerned, we will maintain the same, and insist on its strict enforcement, until time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse, not impairing its present efficiency; and we deprecate all further agitation of slavery questions as dangerous to our peace, and will discountenance all efforts at the renewal or continuance of such agitation, in Congress or out of it, whatever, wherever, or however the attempt may be made; and we will maintain this system as essential to the nationality of the whig party and the integrity of the Union." Therefore resolved, That, fully indorsing these national sentiments, it is the duty of every good citizen of this Union to resist all attempts at renewing, in Congress or out of it, the slavery agitation, under whatever shape and color the attempt may be made. Pending which, Mr. Ellihu B. Washburne moved that the whole subject be laid on the table. And the question being put, It was decided in the negative, {Nays 116 116 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are Mr. Charles F. Adams Cyrus Aldrich Mr. John Covode Mr. John B. Haskin Mr. William Allen Thomas L. Anderson Francis M. Bristow Henry C. Burnett Horace F. Clark John B. Clark George B. Cooper Samuel S. Cox James Craig Burton Craige Martin J. Crawford Jabez L. M. Curry Thomas G. Davidson John G. Davis Reuben Davis Daniel C. De Jarnette William H Dimmick Henry A. Edmundson William H. English Emerson Etheridge Mr. Thomas B. Florence Philip B. Fouke Muscoe R. H. Garnett Thomas C. Hindman Mr. Carey A. Trimble Cadwalader C. Washburn Ellihu B. Washburne Israel Washburn, jr. Alfred Wells James Wilson William Windom John Wood John Woodruff. Mr. Laban T. Moore George H. Pendleton James H. Thomas So the House refused to lay the subject on the table. The question then recurring on the amendment submitted by Mr. Gilmer, Mr. Gilmer modified the same by adding at the end thereof the following, viz: "And that no member should be elected Speaker of this House whose political opinions are not known to conform to the foregoing sentiment." Pending which, Mr. William Stewart moved that the whole subject be laid on the table. Pending which, After debate, Mr. Thaddeus Stevens renewed the point of order heretofore submitted by him, viz: that the pending propositions were out of order, it only being competent for the House at this time either to proceed with the election of a Speaker or to adjourn. Pending which, Mr. Thaddeus Stevens moved the previous question; which was seconded. When, Mr. John Cochrane moved, at 3 o'clock and 32 minutes p. m., that the House adjourn. And the question being put, It was decided in the negative, The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are |