Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

patriotism and fairness they are not designed to impeach. He doubtless considered carefully and well what the South could be induced to accept; and he undoubtingly believed this to be embodied and presented in his plan of compromise. A slaveholder himself; born, educated, and living amid the influences of the institution; he could not or did not realize that his conditions would seem inadmissible to any but the narrowest and most miserable fanatics. Assuming his premises, regarding the matter exclusively from his standpoint, and putting conscience and consistency entirely out of the question, his proposal was fair enough; and its cordial adoption would doubtless have exhilarated the stock market, and caused general rejoicing on exchanges and around the dinner-tables of merchant princes. Its advocates, with good reason, claimed a large majority of the people in its favor, and clamored for its submission to a direct popular vote. Had such a.submission been accorded, it is very likely that the greater number of those who voted at all would have voted to ratify it.

But, on the other hand, these facts deserve consideration:

I. The Democratic and 'Conservative' politicians who united on the Crittenden Compromise, and clamored for its adoption, had had control of Congress and the Federal Executive through seven-eighths of our past national history. If this were the true panacea for our troubles respecting Slavery, why had they not applied it long ago? Why not adopt it under Polk or Fillmore, Pierce or Buchanan, without waiting to the last sands of their departing power? Why not unite upon it as their platform in

the Presidential contest of 1860? Why call upon the Republicans to help them do, after forty years of controversy, what they might themselves have done, without help, almost any time during those forty years? Why repudiate, against the most urgent remonstrances, in 1854, a compromise which, so far as it went, was substantially identical with this, and now ask those whom they then overbore to unite with them in ratifying another and a worse, in 1861 ?

[ocr errors]

II. The Conservatives,' so called, were still able to establish this Crittenden Compromise by their own proper strength, had they been disposed so to do. The President was theirs; the Senate strongly theirs; in the House, they had a small majority, as was evinced in their defeat of John Sherman for Speaker. Had they now come forward and said, with authority: Enable us to pass the Crittenden Compromise, and all shall be peace and harmony,' they would have succeeded without difficulty. It was only through the withdrawal of pro-Slavery members that the Republicans had achieved an unexpected majority in either House. Had those members chosen to return to the seats still awaiting them, and to support Mr. Crittenden's proposition, they could have carried it without difficulty.

III. But it was abundantly evident that the passage of this measure would not restore the Union. Several States had already plunged into Secession, their oracles avowing that they wanted no concession, and would be satisfied with none. Every suggestion that they should wait for some overt act, at least for some official declaration, from Mr. Lincoln,

SENATOR ANTHONY'S PROPOSITION.

had been spurned by them. They made haste to secede, from fear that concessions would be offered-that their pretexts for disruption would somehow be obviated. To send concessions after them, in their scornful, imperious, insulting stampede, would be inviting them to heap new and more dishonoring indignities on the nation they were defying. It was, in fact, to justify their past treason, and incite them to perseverance and greater daring in the evil way they

had chosen.

IV. Our 'conservative' Supreme Court, by its Dred Scott decision, had denied to Congress all power to exclude Slavery from a single acre of the common territories of the Union; it had held the Missouri Compromise invalid on this very ground; and now, the North was called to reënact and extend that very line of demarkation between Free and Slave territory which the Court had pronounced a nullity. True, Mr. Crittenden proposed that the new compromise should be ingrafted upon the Constitution; but that only increased the difficulty of effecting the adjust ment, without assuring its validity. For, if the new Southern doctrines respecting property, and the rights of property, and the duty of protecting those rights, and the radical inability of the Government to limit or impair them, be sound, then the guarantee to Free Labor of the territory north of 36° 30′, must prove delusive. Indeed, Mr. Jefferson Davis, at a meeting of the Select Committee framed to consider these very resolutions, proposed, on the 26th of December, the following:

381

Resolved, That it shall be declared, by amendment of the Constitution, that property in slaves, recognized as such by the local law of any of the States of the Union, shall stand on the same footing, in all constitutional and Federal relations, as any other species of property so recognized; and, like other property, shall not be subject to be divested or impaired by the local law of any other State, either in escape thereto, or by the transit or sojourn of the owner therein. And in no case whatever shall such property be subject to be divested or impaired by any legislative act of the United States, or any of the territories thereof."

13

When the Senate came to act upon Mr. Crittenden's proposition, Mr. Anthony, of Rhode Island-a very moderate, conservative Republican-made a new overture which ought to have closed the controversy. Announcing his intention to vote for the substitute proposed by Mr. Daniel Clark, of New Hampshire, as "abstractly true," and more in accordance with his idea of the mode in which our troubles should be composed, Mr. Anthony proceeded:

“I believe, Mr. President, that, if the

danger which menaces us is to be avoided at all, it must be by legislation; which is more ready, more certain, and more likely to be satisfactory, than constitutional amendment. The main difficulty is the territorial the other side of the chamber, and of those question. The demand of the Senators on whom they represent, is, that the territory South of the line of the Missouri Comproty. All this territory, except the Indian resmise shall be open to their peculiar properervation, is within the limits of New Mexico, which, for a part of its northern boundary, runs up two degrees beyond that line. This is now a slave territory; made so by territorial legislation; and Slavery exists there, recognized and protected. Now, I am willing, so soon as Kansas can be admitted, to vote for the admission of New Mexico as a State, with such Constitution as the people may adopt.

"This disposes of all the territory that is adapted to slave labor, or that is claimed by It ought to settle the whole

the South.

question. Surely, if we can dispose of all

the territory that we have, we ought not to

13 January 16, 1861

quarrel over that which we have not, and which we have no very honest way of acquiring. Let us settle the difficulties that threaten us now, and not anticipate those which may never come. Let the public mind have time to cool; let us forget, in the general prosperity, the mutual dependence and the common glory of our country, that we have ever quarreled over the question that we have put at rest; and perhaps when, in the march of events, the northern provinces of Mexico are brought under our sway, they may come in without a ripple on the political sea, whose tumultuous waves threaten to ingulf us all in one common

ruin.

now

"In offering to settle this question by the admission of New Mexico, we of the North who assent to it propose a great sacrifice, and offer a large concession. We propose to take in a State that is deficient in population, and that possesses but imperfectly many of the elements of a member of the Union, and that will require, in one form or another, even after its admission, the aid of the General Government. But we make the offer in a spirit of compromise and good feeling, which we hope will be reciprocated.

"And now, Mr. President, I appeal to Senators on the other side, when we thus offer to bridge over seven-eighths of the frightful chasm that separates us, will you not build the other eighth? When, with outstretched arms, we approach you so near, that by reaching out your hands you can clasp ours in the fraternal grasp from which they should never be separated, will you, with folded arms and closed eyes, stand upon extreme demands which you know we cannot accept, and for which, if we did, we could not carry our constituents?"

There was no response to this; and the Senate, after having refused-30 to 25-to postpone the subject to take up the Kansas Admission bill, proceeded to vote on Mr. Clark's substitute, which was in these words:

"Resolved, That the provisions of the Constitution are ample for the preservation of the Union, and the protection of all the material interests of the country; that it needs to be obeyed rather than amended; and that

an extrication from our present dangers is to be looked for in strenuous efforts to preserve the peace, protect the public property, and enforce the laws, rather than in new

guarantees for peculiar interests, compromises for particular difficulties, or concessions to unreasonable demands.

"Resolved, That all attempts to dissolve the present Union, or overthrow or abandon the present Constitution, with the hope or expectation of constructing a new one, are dangerous, illusory, and destructive; that, in the opinion of the Senate of the United States, no such reconstruction is practicable; and, therefore, to the maintenance of the existing Union and Constitution should be directed all the energies of all the departments of the Government, and the efforts of all good citizens.”

The vote was now taken on this substitute, which was adopted, as follows:

YEAS.-Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Bingham, Cameron, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, King, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson-25 [all Republicans].

NAYS.-Messrs. Bayard, Bigler, Bragg, Bright, Clingman, Crittenden, Fitch, Green, Gwin, Hunter, Johnson, of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, of Oregon, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh, Rice, Saulsbury, and Sebastian-23 [all Democrats, but two Bell-Conservatives, in italics].

Messrs. Iverson, of Georgia, Benjamin and Slidell, of Louisiana, Hemphill and Wigfall, of Texas, and R. W. Johnson, of Arkansas—who had voted just before against taking up the Kansas bill-had now absented themselves or sat silent, and allowed Mr. Clark's resolves to supplant Mr. Crittenden's, which were thus defeated. They doubtless did this in obedience to a resolve, preconcerted with Messrs. Davis, Toombs, etc., to accept no adjustment or concession which did not receive the vote of a majority of the Republi

cans.

14

In the last hours of the session,' the subject was called up by Mr. J. M. Mason, of Virginia, when Mr. Clark's substitute aforesaid was reconsidered and rejected-22 to 14

in order to have a direct vote on the 14 March 2, 1861.

GOV. SEWARD'S CONCESSIONS.

Crittenden proposition; which was then defeated: Yeas 19 [Conservatives']; Nays 20 [Republicans]; as before. Several more Southern Senators had meantime seceded and left. Mr. Lazarus W. Powell, of Kentucky, having moved" the appointment of a Select Committee of Thirteen on the crisis at which the country had now arrived, the Senate assented, and Vice-President John C. Breckinridge appointed Messrs. Powell, Hunter, Crittenden, Seward, Toombs, Douglas, Collamer, Davis, Wade, Bigler, Rice, Doolittle, and

16

Grimes on said Committee-five of

the thirteen Republicans (in italics). Mr. Davis [Jefferson] asked to be excused from serving, but finally consented. The Committee met two or three days thereafter, and held several animated sessions, but to little purpose. Mr. Crittenden's main prop

osition--the line of 36° 30′—was voted down after full discussion: Yeas Messrs. Bigler, Crittenden, Douglas, Rice, and Powell-5; Nays, Messrs. Davis, Doolittle, Collamer, Wade, Toombs, Grimes, and Hunter-7: absent, Mr. Seward. Messrs. Hunter, Toombs, and Davis, it is said, would have supported it, had it been proposed and sustained by the Republicans. The remaining propositions of Mr. Crittenden received generally a majority of the whole number of votes, but were not considered adopted; the Committee having agreed upon a rule that nothing should be so considered that did not receive a majority both of the Republican and the anti-Republican votes. When the Committee met again," Mr. Seward submitted the following proposition: “First. No amendment shall be made to 15 December 5, 1860. December, 20, 1860.

383

the Constitution which will authorize or interfere, in any State, with the domestic give to Congress any power to abolish or institutions thereof, including that of persons held to service or labor by the laws of such State."

This was adopted by the following

vote:

YEAS-Messrs. Powell, Hunter, Crittenden, Seward, Douglas, Collamer, Wade, Bigler, Rice, Doolittle, and Grimes-11.

NAYS-Messrs. Davis and Toombs-2. "Second, The Fugitive Slave law of 1850 shall be so amended as to secure to the

alleged fugitive a trial by jury.”

This, having been amended, on motion of Mr. Douglas, so as to have the alleged fugitive sent for trial to the State from which he was charged with escaping, was voted down-all the Republicans and Mr. Crittenden sustaining it; all the rest opposing it.

Mr. Seward 18 further proposed, and the Republicans sustained, the following:

Resolved, That, under the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution, Congress should pass an efficient law for the punishment of all persons engaged in the armed invasion of any State from another by combinations of individuals, and punishing all persons in complicity therewith, on trial and conviction, in the State or District where their acts of complicity were committed, in the Federal Courts."

This was negatived by the solid vote of the anti-Republican members.

It can hardly be necessary to trace further the abortive proceedings of this Committee. They came to nothing, through no want of good-will on the part of a majority of its members, but because most or all of those from the South could or would accept nothing as sufficient short of an utter and shameful repudiation by the Republicans of the vital principle of their party-the consecration of

[blocks in formation]

ing a vote or any decisive action thereon, made haste to telegraph to Georgia, for effect upon her approaching election, as follows:

January next. Such a voice will be your best guarantee for liberty, tranquillity, and R. TOOMBS."

glory.

Though it is neither essential nor

the Territories to Free Labor. Thus: Mr. Robert Toombs, of Georgia, having submitted a series of propositions, which were, in substance, the Breckinridge platform, without wait-practicable here to record all the mitted to Congress at this fruitlessly abortive projects of 'conciliation' subC. L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, deserves fruitful session, that presented by Mr. notice, as the fullest and most logical embodiment yet made of Mr. Calhoun's subtile device for enabling a minority to obstruct and baffle the majority under a political system preserving the forms of a republic.

"WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 1860. "I came here to secure your constitutional rights, and to demonstrate to you that you can get no guarantee for those rights from your Northern confederates.

"The whole subject was referred to a Committee of thirteen in the Senate. I was appointed on the Committee, and accepted the trust. I submitted propositions, which, so far from receiving a decided support from a single member of the Republican party of the Committee, were all treated with derision

and contempt.

"A vote was then taken in the Committee

on amendments to the Constitution, proposed by Hon. J. J. Crittenden; and each and all of them were voted against, unanimously, by the Black Republican members of the Committee.

"In addition to these facts, a majority of the Black Republican members of the Committee declared distinctly that they had no guarantees to offer; which was silently acquiesced in by the other members.

"The Black Republican members of the Committee are representative men of the party and section, and, to the extent of my information, truly represent them.

"The Committee of thirty-three on Friday adjourned for a week, without coming to any vote, after solemnly pledging themselves to vote on all the propositions then before them, that day. It is controlled by the Black Republicans, your enemies, who only seek to amuse you with delusive hopes until your election, that you may defeat the friends of Secession.

"If you are deceived by them, it shall not be my fault. I have put the test fairly and frankly. It is decisive against you now. I tell you, upon the faith of a true man, that all further looking to the North for security for your constitutional rights, ought to be instantly abandoned.

"It is fraught with nothing but ruin to yourselves and to your posterity. Secession, by the 4th day of March next, should be thundered from the ballot-box by the unanimous voice of Georgia, on the 2d day of

[blocks in formation]

"ARTICLE XIII. Sec. 1. The United States are divided into four sections, as follows:

"The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and all new States annexed and admitted into the Union or formed or erected within the jurisdiction of said States, or by the junction of two or more of the same or of parts thereof, or out of territory acquired north of said States, shall constitute one section, to be known as THE NORTHI.

"The States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas, and all new States annexed or admitted into the Union, or erected within the jurisdiction of any of said States, or by the junction of two or more of the same, or of parts thereof, or out of territory now held or hereafter acquired north of latitude 36° 30′ and east of the crest of the Rocky Mountains, shall constitute another section, to be known as THE WEST.

"The States of Oregon and California, and

19 February 7, 1861.

« AnteriorContinuar »