Book S^2^L. 
 
THE SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. J. L. ORR, OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 ■•j:^ 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY H. 18.50, 
 
 In Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, on the Prendent's Message tram- 
 mitting the Constitution of California. 
 
 Mr. ORRsaid: 
 
 Mr. Chairman-. ,1 propose, in the brief hour 
 allotted to me, to examine and present what I con- 
 ceive to be northern-sentiment up'on the subject of 
 slavery',' and the Inevitable results of that senti- 
 ment. I believe, sir, there is nTuch misunderstand- 
 ing, both at the North and the Sontti. as to the 
 ejMi^i.t aiiu ciiaraccer or that leelmg. I know the 
 misapprehension that exists in that part of the 
 country which I have th« honor to represent, and 
 I desire to lay before my constituents and the peo- 
 ple of the South, the result of my observations since 
 I have been a member of this House, so that they 
 may be prepared to judge of the proper means of 
 meeting, counteracting, and repelling that sentiment. 
 
 The first evidence of abolition sentiment in the 
 northern States to which I refer, is to be found in 
 tlie numerous abolition societies organized in every 
 part of tiiat section of the Union, composed of 
 large numbers of individua's of ail classes and 
 sexes. These societies meet at stated periods, for 
 the avowed purpose of advancing their political 
 and moral tenets; they appoint their emissaries, 
 who traverse the country, and who, by their slan- 
 ders, poison the minds of the masses of their people 
 as to the true character of the institution of slavery. 
 They have established newspapersand periodicals, 
 which are circulated in great profusion, not only 
 in the non-slaveholding States, but are thrown 
 broadcast over the South, through the mails, for 
 the purpose of planting the thorn of discontent in 
 the bosonasof our now happy slaves, and inciting 
 them to the perpetration of the bloody scenes of 
 St. Domingo. These auxiliaries of the American 
 anti-slavery society, not content with a general 
 combination against the institutions of the South, 
 fornri a component part of the American and 
 foreign anti slavery society, in which they unite 
 with the zealots of foreign countries in an unjust 
 crusade against their breth ren of the South . Most of 
 the avowed A holidtftoifits have, however, ilit-. merit 
 of frankness at least. They seek to emancipate 
 our slaves it is true, but concede that it cannot be 
 done consistently with the Constitution; they 
 therefore declare an uncompromising war against 
 the Constitution and the Union; while others, who 
 intend to effect the same end, have not the candor 
 to own it, and hypocritically profess an attachment 
 to the Constitution, which they are really .seeking 
 to destroy. 
 
 Another evidence of tht extent of aboli'ion sen- 
 timent in the northern States is, the promotion of 
 certain gentlemen to seats in the other wing of this 
 
 Capitol. I allude, sir, first to the election of Wm. 
 H. Sew.^rd. It might be that this " faction," as 
 the Abolitioni.sts have been denominated, could, 
 through . their societies and conventions, create 
 some attention, and excite the contempt of sensible, 
 moderate men, for their fanaticism; but I would 
 inqnirp. how comee It to pas."? that, insignificant as 
 it is said to be, it is enabled to elect from the great 
 State of New York — the Empire State — a man to 
 represent it in the Senate of the United States, 
 whose greatest distinction has been his untiring ad- 
 vocacy of the doctrines of abolition .' Doe3 it not 
 show that the major part of the people of that State 
 sympathize deeply with their Senator in his nefa- 
 rious princi|)Ies.' Look at the receiit election, by 
 the Legislature of Ohio — a State in numbers 
 second only to New York — of Salmon P. Chase 
 to represent that State in the Senate of the United 
 States. He has been amongst the most zealous of 
 all his infatuated compeers: even Wm.. H. Seward 
 was not more so, in the advocacy of radical abo- 
 lition, and the Legi.slature of Ohio, knowing his 
 sentiments, and representing the people of that 
 State, have honored him with one of the highest 
 official stations on earth. Others, too, have been 
 elected to that body, who owe their promotion to 
 pledges given their constituents, that they would 
 oppose the admission of any more slave States or 
 slave territory into the Union, and favor the ap- 
 plication of the Wilmot provi.so — that true scion 
 from an abolition stock — to the territories acquired 
 from Mexico. One would .suppose, that when a 
 Senator avowed that, acting as a Senator, he recog- 
 nized a higher obligation than his oath to support 
 the Constitution of the United States — an obliga- 
 tion which requires him to violate and set aside 
 the provisions oft hatsacred instrument — theLegia- 
 lature of his State, then in session, would have 
 promptly branded such a dfclaration with the in- 
 famy it deserves. Such a dfciaration, it is knowrn 
 to the country, was recently made in the Senate 
 by the fc'enator from New York, to whom I have 
 alluded— but the Legislature of that Stale adopted 
 no resolutions con lemnatoiy of this sentiment. 
 
 They did, however, pass resolutions, with great 
 unanimity, sustaining fully the ultra positions of 
 their distinguished— no, their notorious Senator. 
 Resolutions have been ado[iied in every non-siave- 
 holding State, instructing 'heir Senators and re- 
 questing their Representativts in Congress, to vote 
 in favor of the adoption of the Wilmot proviso, 
 and in opposition, in many cases, to the admission 
 ot any other slave States. 
 
73888 
 
 E-^t^S '^'i'^^ 
 
 Mr. MoLANAHAN asked if the gentleman 
 from South Carolina had observed that the Legis- 
 lature of Pennsylvania had recently laid upon the 
 table resolutions in favor of the Wilmot proviso? 
 
 Mr. ORR. 1 have; and 1 honor the patriotism 
 of your constituents in coming to the rescue of the 
 Constitution in these perilous times. Instructions, 
 such as I have .spoken of, did pass the Legislature 
 9f Pennsylvania two years ago. 1 repeat the 
 issertion, that every non-slaveholding State has 
 passed resolution-s of an unmistakable abolition 
 diaracter. Yet the unceasing eftori.-: of the press 
 iiere,and of newspaper correspondent.<^, are directed 
 to induce the people of the South to believe that 
 ;his hostility to our institutions is confined to a few 
 fanatics, and that abolition is not the general sen- 
 iment of the country. 
 
 Anothev evidence of the progress of abolition 
 sentiment is the legislation of the non-slaveholding 
 States obstructing the delivering up of fugitive 
 (laves. What is the constitutional provision upon 
 hat subject.'' *' No person held to !>ervice or labor 
 in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping 
 into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
 regulation therein, be discharged from rnoh per- 
 vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim 
 of the party to whom such service or labor may 
 be due." Some of the northern States have passed 
 aws imposing heavy penalties on any State officer 
 vho may aid the owner in recovering his runaway 
 lave. The State officers of all ilie Stales swear to 
 uppon the Constitution of the United States as 
 veil as ihe constituiimi of the State in which the 
 (fficer reside.^. Now, if the Constitution of the 
 Jnited States requires that a person held to service 
 hall be delivered up, and a State officer refuses to 
 »bey that provision, does he prove faithful to his 
 •ath? And is not the penalty imposed by the par- 
 icular State a compulsion upon the officer to corn- 
 nit perjury ? This legislation reflects truly the 
 eeling of the northern States upon this subject. 
 iVhen £i slave escapes, friends receive him with 
 )pen arms, and clandestinely convey him beyond 
 he reach of his lawi'ul owner. If ihe slave, per- 
 ;hance, is overtaken, or hunted out of his .secret 
 liding pia»-cs, the owner perils his life, through the 
 awless violence of the mob, in reclaiming his 
 )roperty, and in asserting rights solemnly nuar- 
 mtied to him by the Constitution: The laws and 
 jopular tumults aguiiisMhe master, to which 1 have j 
 idverted, clearly ' indicate the settled, deliberate! 
 lurpose of the northern States to deprive us of our | 
 ■ights in that species of property. _ | 
 
 Northern sentiment on the subject of abolition j 
 ?peaks trumpet-tongued in the political privileges ' 
 conferred on free negroes in some of the northern 
 States. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Mas- [ 
 sachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York, all ex- ! 
 tend the right of sutTrage to the African. At the \ 
 last State election in New York, the free negroes . 
 held the balance of j.owrr between ih^^ two politi- 1 
 cal parties. Reprtsentatives upon tliis floor re- | 
 ceive the votes of this degraded class, and the | 
 success of republii ui institutions is made to de- j 
 pend upon the j(irf--i>i."»i< uml xniMx^tncf of the free I 
 negro sovereh^ns. The aim of the Abolitionists 
 looks first to the emancipation of our slaves 
 throughout the South, and then is to follow their 
 elevation to all the social and political privileges of 
 the white man. The thick-lipped African is to 
 march up to the s.une ballot-box, eat at the same 
 
 table, and sit in the same parlor with the white 
 man. This, the Abolitionists would say, is "a 
 consummation devoutly to be wished for."' 
 
 Another evidence, sir, of the progress and in- 
 tolerance of this sentiment, is to be found in the 
 separation of two of the most numerous and re- 
 spectable Christian denominations in this country, 
 (the Baptist and the Methodist.) They assembled 
 in convention and conference, year after year, to 
 advance that holy cause in which they had mutu- 
 ally embarked. But, sir, the demon of faniuical 
 discord stalked into their associations; Christian 
 charity and brotherly love were impotent in re- 
 sisting its encroachment upon their peace and 
 union; northern members demanded that their 
 •southern brethren should surrender and eschew 
 the institutions of the country in which they lived 
 — that they should become traitors to the State to 
 which their allegiance was due, and prove recreant 
 to their obligations to the community in which 
 they lived. They were too holy to commune at 
 the same altar with their southern brethren, until 
 the latter should pronounce slavery a sin, and 
 agree to enlist in an effort for its extinction. The 
 lertvia wo.-o too isnominious for Christians or pa- 
 triots. With a manly maepenucnce, the ecvith- 
 ern wing of both denominations rejected the offer, 
 and the separation of their churches ensued. 
 These two. sir, were heavy blows against our po- 
 ' litical union, from the shocks of which we have 
 not yet recovered. 
 
 Another evidence of the extent of this sentiment 
 is exhibited in the popularity, the universal popu- 
 larity, of the doctrine of free soil — the legitimate 
 scion, as 1 before remarked, of the abolition stock. 
 The popularity of that doctrine is not to be judged 
 by the independent free-soil parly organization. 
 Those who candidly avow the opinion are few in 
 number; they refuse to cooperate with either of 
 the other parties, and hence a separate organiza- 
 tion; but the mass of the northern people com- 
 prising the two great political parties, sympathi?.* 
 in sentiment and feeling with the Free-Soilers. U, 
 is idle to disguise the fact. The speeches deliv- 
 ered by northern Representative!* since the corn- 
 menceiiient of this discussion, is a thorough vin- 
 dication of the truth of this assertion. They may 
 be well arranged in two classes, one of Vv'hith 
 broadly asserts that the North has been guilty of 
 no aggression upon the South — that the South 
 has no just cause of complaint against them — that 
 our demand to share equally in the common prop- 
 erty of all the States is an aggression upon the 
 North— that our fugitive slaves are always prompt- 
 ly surrendered upon thedemand of the owner. This 
 is the language addressed by them to northern con- 
 stituencies; they do not appeal to them to quiet 
 this infamous agitation— they do not remind them 
 of iheir coDsiituiional obljcrations ; and thus their 
 course can have no other effect than to fan the 
 flames of fanaticism until they shall burn out the 
 vitals of the Constitution and I nion. 
 
 The other class show equally, in their speeches, 
 their attachment to the doctrines of free soil. Every 
 northern man of this class who has addressed 
 the committee on this subject, except my fnend 
 from Indiana, [Mr. Gormak,] and my friend from 
 Pennsylvania, [Mr. Ross,] is in the same <»te- 
 o-ory. Their speeches open, generally, with a 
 violent philippic against the South. They cliarge 
 us with arrogance* and some of them are in not 
 
haste in volunteering their services to march troops 
 into our midst lo force us to continue in the 
 Union if we should choose to secede tVom it. They 
 tell us that they are in favor of non-interveniion. 
 What does this non-intervt?ntion amount to ? If 
 it were a bona fide non-interference with our rights, 
 il would be all that the South could ask — all that 
 bhe has a ri^ht to demand under the Constitution. 
 But this much she does demand; and depet.d upon 
 it she will be appeased by nothing less. Some 
 of the northern non-interventionists deny that Con- 
 gress has the power to pass the Wilmot proviso; 
 others maintain the position that Congress has 
 the power, but should not exercise it, and straight- 
 way offer the excuse to their constituents, that it 
 is not necessary to pass it — that the Mexican laws 
 are in force and they exclude slavery. This is the 
 opinion entertained by General C.vss and all the non- 
 intervention Northern Democrats in this House. 
 Is not this a heavy tribute which non-intervention 
 pays to free-soil.- It ic- tantamount to saymg, we 
 are in favor of the end which the proviso aims to 
 acconipjisb, viz: the exclusion of the slave States 
 from all ihe territory acquired (Vom Mexico — we 
 oppose its adoniion only because we regard it as 
 
 unncessary, and because vue believe thecoor.^e we 
 
 propose to pursue will most effectually subserve 
 the end without giving offence and producing irri- 
 tation ill the South. I repeat it, sir, such non-in- 
 tervention pays a heavy tribute to abolitionism. 
 
 Another, and perhaps, Mr. Chairman, the most 
 pregnant indication of the progress of abolition sen- 
 timent, is the remarkable condition of things that 
 now exists throughout the country in relation to the 
 admission of California into the Union. I venture 
 to say that never in the history of this Govern- 
 ment has any important question been presented 
 for the consideration of Congress where party hoes 
 were all broken down as they have been on this 
 question. It is an Administration measure — one 
 which certainly reliects but little credit upon its 
 wisdom or patriotism. Parties have but recently 
 emerged from the heat of a presidential struggle, 
 end upon all other questions, .'^ave this alone, which 
 have been introduced into this House at the present 
 ses.sion, partisan gladiators have waged as 'fierce a 
 contest as in days of yore. Irregular and objec- 
 tionable as all the California proceedings have been, 
 but one solitary Representative (I refer again to 
 my friend Mr. Ross) from the free States has 
 avowed himself opposed to its admission into the 
 Union; parties are broken down— the North is 
 making it a sectional question. Northern Whigs 
 and northern Democrats, Whig Free-Soilers and 
 Democratic Free-Soilers all rally upon this com- 
 mon platform, and the emulation between them is 
 great as to who shall be foremost in introducing this 
 embryo State into the Union. Some of the objec- 
 tions to its admission into the Union I will briefly 
 notice. No census had been taken either by tlie 
 atithority of the pretended State or by the au- 
 thority of Congress. We have no official inform- 
 ation which would auihori/.e us to determine 
 whether the population was ten thousand or one 
 hundred thousand. The number of votes said to 
 have been polled in the ratification of the constitu- 
 tion was about thirteen thousand. This number 
 of voters, where the population is an average one, 
 would indicate a population of seventy thousand 
 souls. The proportion of the adult male popula- 
 tion m California is greater by far than in the 
 
 States, comparatively few women or children bar- 
 ing emigrated thither. If the nunil'Pr of votes polled 
 be adopted as the criterion by v.liirli the popula- 
 tion is to be adjudged, it could not have exceeded, 
 at the date of the ratification of ilc constitution, 
 forty thousnid; and with these i'K(<i=, Congress la 
 importuned to admit California wi;li two Repre- 
 sentatives, with a less populuii'U! of American 
 citizens than each rnemljer on this floor represents. 
 Tliei) as lo its boundaries, they contain suffi- 
 cient territory to make five large States, em- 
 bracing a sea-coast of more than eight hundred 
 miles. 
 
 The convention which framed the constitution 
 was called not by authority of Congress, but by 
 a military officer, who, by virtue of the commis- 
 sion he held under the Government of the United 
 States, exercised the functions of civil governor. 
 His ukase directed that the convention should con- 
 sist of thirty-seven members. After the conven- 
 tion was elected, it assembled, and, by a vote for 
 which it had no authority, not even from the 
 military dictator, it increased the number of dele- 
 gates from thirty-seven to seventy-iiine, and al- 
 lowed the additional number, without referring 
 it to the people, to take their seats, they being the 
 defeated candidates at the election. In my judg- 
 ment it was the duty of the President to have cen- 
 sured the officer who thus exercised the high pre- 
 rogative of military dictator. If the President 
 had desired to carry out the will of Congress 
 according to his ])ledges, that officer could not 
 have escaped punishment, for Congress at its last 
 session positively refused to allow the people of 
 California to do that which the military governor, 
 by a military order, or proclamation, bearing stri- 
 king analogies to an order, iiistructed them to do. 
 Who are the people of California? A world in 
 minature— the four quarters of the globe are repre- 
 sented there. No naturalization laws having been 
 passed, there was no legal impediment to their ex- 
 ercising the right of suffrage. The whole proceed- 
 ! ing — not having the consent of Congress, the right- 
 ful legislature of the territory — was illegal and 
 revolutionary. I repeat, Mr. Chairman, thi.t with 
 all these inigulariiies we find evtry party in Con- 
 ; gress from the northern Stales in favor of the ad- 
 mission of California into the Union — ard why.' 
 For no other reason than that slavery has been ex- 
 cluded by her constitution. If her people had 
 assembled under lav«'ful authority, with an ascer- 
 tained population equal to the present ratio of 
 representation, they aloiie would have had the 
 . power to determine the question whether slavery 
 should or should not exist within her lirgits. If 
 that decision had been to exclude slavery, no mur- 
 mur of cornplaint would have been heard from any 
 southern man; but I undertake to say here, if sla- 
 very liad been tolerated, we should have found 
 just as unanimous a sentiment in the northern 
 States agauist her admission into the Union, as we 
 now find in favor of that proposition; and I do not 
 make this assortion without good foundation. 
 When Florida applied for admission into the 
 Union, a large minority in Cun^ress voted against 
 it, when every initiatory step had been regular, on 
 the isolated ground tliat slie was a slaveholding 
 State. 
 
 I have other evidences, Mr. Chairman, of north- 
 ern sentiment upon the subject of slavery. The 
 speech recently delivered by the distinguished 
 
;nator from Massachusetts, [Mr. Webster,] 
 id the action of the House in laying upon the 
 ble the resolution of the gentleman from Ohio, ! 
 
 the early part of the session, has induced the | 
 lief in the South that a sense of justice had re- 
 rned to their northern brethren. These appear- 
 ices are deceptive. It is an illusion which I 
 epiy deplore. The Senator from Massachu- 
 tts made a truly patriotic .speech; but what j 
 J he propose.' All that he offered was, to give i 
 
 the South her clearly-defined constitutional ] 
 fhts. This gratified us. It gratified us to know ] 
 at a distinguished northern man would frankly 
 d ingenuously concede our rights, and enforce 
 eir execution by his vote and voice. How has 
 at speech been received in the State of Massa- 
 usetts, of which he is the proudest ornament.' 
 er legislature was in session; and fearing lest 
 at speech might contain the balm to heal the 
 visions of the country, straightway new poison 
 is poured into the wound. Resolutions were 
 ,ssed, taking the strongest and most offensive 
 ound. They did not instruct him, it is true, for 
 e dominant party do not assume the right to 
 struct; but that Senator has not been sustained i 
 ' his immediate constituents. A few have en- ' 
 irsed his sentiments, but a lar^e majority of; 
 e people and of the press of Ma.?sachusetts have i 
 ndemned him. He has not been more fortu- 
 .te here — one after another of the Massachu- j 
 tts delegation have addressed the committee, all ! 
 suming positions adverse to those taken by Mr. j 
 ''ebster. The only hope of aid in. this House 
 ok its departure to-day, when the honorable 
 ntleman who preceded me [Mr. Wikthrof] j 
 inounced himself in favor of General Taylor's 
 istatesmanlike plan of settling the existing dilfi- 
 ilties. Daniel Webster once spoke and could , 
 leak for New England. The waves of fanaticism j 
 ive broken over the land of the Pilgrim Fathers, 
 id are sweeping off the influence and power of 
 if best and brightest men. When his genius has 
 •oved itself impotent to stay this onward wave 
 
 the minds of those whose service he has so 
 uch honored, upon what ground can the South 
 st her hopes of peace and safety in this govern- 
 ent? 
 
 The action of the House in laying Root's 
 solution upon the table promised fruits whic . 
 ill never be gathered. If the proviso is not 
 ressed at the present session, it will not be be- 
 luse the North have abated one tittle in their 
 jvotion to it. The advocates of that measure 
 •e satisfied they will accomplish their purpose 
 -lite as effectually, and much more adroitly, in 
 lother way. 
 
 But, sir, there is still further evidence of north- 
 rn sentiment. We iiave been told by one gentle- 
 lan, in this debate, " that the only way in which 
 16 abolition of slavery in the States can be con- 
 'itutionally effected, is to confine it within its 
 resent limits;" another said, " that no more slave 
 tales or slave territory should come into this 
 Inion — sooner civil war, "dc; another, " theWil- 
 lot proviso was an abiding principle in the hearts 
 f the people of the free States;" and still another, 
 ^ho isa moderate northern man, " that slavery was 
 
 national shame and a national disgrace." I quote 
 lese sentiments that they may be contrasted with 
 he of-t-reiterated assertion, that it is not the pur- 
 lose of the northern States to abolish slavery 
 
 where it now exists. They tell us plainly they 
 
 can effect abolition in the States, through the legis- 
 lation of this Government, without violating the 
 Constitution; and they admit, further, that they 
 will do it by indirect means, but their constitu- 
 tional scruples forbid direct legislation in abolish- 
 ing slavery. 
 
 Now, sir, 1 have a great contempt for the mo- 
 rality or honesty of that sort of reasoning which 
 would make an act unconstitutional if executed 
 directly, and which satisfies the conscience that it 
 is constitutional if done indirectly. 
 
 The instifution of slavery being a " national 
 shame and a national disgrace " in the opinion of 
 the North, and having the power to abolish it by 
 indirect rr.eans, the legislation of this Government 
 (for the North have the majority") is to be hostile 
 to our institutions. We then present this anom- 
 oly, that a Government established by wise and 
 patriotic men for the security and safety of the 
 persons and property of all its parts — a Govern- 
 ment which derives its sustenance by taxation 
 upon all its parts, is to depart so far from the pur- 
 poses of its creation as to destroy, by its hostile 
 legislation, the property of one-half of the States 
 COinpoaing that Government, and tlial, loo, when 
 the States thus threatened are in such a hopeless 
 minority m Congress, that they are unable to pro- 
 tect themselves against that hostile, unconstitu- 
 tional legislation. The value of our slave property 
 is some sixteen hundred million of dollars: this is 
 to be destroyed through a majority. 
 
 The rule for construing the Constitution, which 
 is fast being established, is, that tlie majority have 
 the right to rule, and whatever construction they 
 give is the true construction. Such, Mr. Chair- 
 man, is not our reading or construction of that 
 instrument. The Constitution is to protect the 
 rights of minorities; majorities have always the 
 ability to protect themselves. If they have the 
 absolute right of making and construing, then there 
 is no necessity for a written constitution. If the will 
 vf the majority is absolute, il is the strong against 
 the weak — the law of force which existed between 
 individu.als before Government was instituted. If 
 the power now claimed for the northern States is 
 persevered in, it requires no spirit of prophecy ;o 
 foresee that it must end in disunion. The institu- 
 tion of slavery is so intimately interwoven with 
 society, and is so indispensable to our social, po- 
 litical, and national prosperity, that it will not be 
 surrendered so long as there is a southern hand to 
 strike in its defence. We intend to preserve and 
 perpetuate it. We have another demand, and that 
 is, that we shall be allowed to enjoy our property 
 in peace, quiet, and security. I tell northern gen- 
 tlemen today, that five years will not elapse be- 
 fore they will be required to make their choice be- 
 tween nonintervention and non-agitation through 
 Congress on the one hand, and a dissolution of 
 this Government on the other; and I tell southern 
 people, if this agitation is continued during that 
 time, their peace and personal security will require 
 them to choose between secession and negro eman- 
 cipation. Sir, I do not desire to be considered an 
 alarmist; but if gentlemen will recur to the history 
 of the country, they will learn that the anti-slavery 
 party was contemptible and insignificant, but it 
 has now grown to be a great collossal power, over- 
 shadowing almost the entire North, and has en- 
 listed under its bannys ail the political parlies 
 
there. If its progress is as rapid in the next five 
 years as for the last ten, you will find no northern 
 kepresentative who will so far outrage the senti- 
 ment of his constituents as to oppose even the 
 abolition of slavery in the States. 
 
 I will here digress, Mr. Chairman, to reply to a 
 complaint which has been urged by several north- 
 ern gentlemen, charging that the South has for a 
 series of years occupied the Federal offices. On 
 reference to the past, it will be found to be true 
 that the South has held a larger share of the prom- 
 inent offices of the Uovernment than those of the 
 North. 1 am able to give a .satisfactory reason 
 for this fact, and to show whence it arises. When 
 a southern man enters into public life, he is 
 brought in by the party to which he is attached, 
 and he is continued in office, if he be a faithful 
 representative, so long as his party continues in 
 the ascendency, or until he chooses voluntarily to 
 retire. In the North a different rule prevails — 
 rotation in office is the recognized system with all 
 parties. The rule may be a correct one in offices 
 of profit merely, but when applied to representa- 
 tives, either State or Federal, the constituent can 
 never be so well represented. Southern men re- 
 nj^in longer in Congrees: they have therefore bet- 
 ter opportunities for the development of their ge- 
 nius and talent, and their experience gives them 
 the advantage over abler men who are without 
 experience; their services become more conspic- 
 uous; and when individuals are selected for prom- 
 inent stations in the Government, they are placed 
 there because they have more national reputation. 
 Butnorlhern gentlemen, whilstthey have observed 
 this fact, with some manifestations of jealousy, 
 forget that nearly three-fourths of the public ex- 
 penditures of this Government fall into the north- 
 ern lap. I'he gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Har- 
 ris] denied, for the first time, as 1 believe, this 
 statement, and went into a minute examination I 
 for the purpose of showing that the South had 
 received more than her proportionate share of 
 those expenditures. He obtained the services of 
 an experienced clerk in making the calculation, 
 and he reports, that in a period of ten years, out 
 of nineteen millions for local appropriations, nine 
 millions have been given to the South, while only 
 ten millions have gone to the North. The clerk 
 has committed a palpable I'lunder, and I wonder 
 that he has not been guillotined ere this for in- 
 competency or infidelity. Only nineteen millions 
 of dollars expended on local objects during a pe- i 
 riod of ten years I The gentleman from Illinois 
 hurries to the census of 1840, to learn there that 
 this appropriation gives to every white person in 
 the North $1 02, and at the Souih ^.1 90. I pro- 
 pose to advert to a few items only, which I sup- 
 pose the clerk did not embrace in his calculations. 
 They will show which section of the Union has 
 foraged most liberally from the public treasury. 
 The expenditure for pensions up to lb38amounted 
 in the northern States to ^128,000,000;* in the 
 southern Slates to $7,000,000. New York con- 
 tributed to the support of the revolutionary war 
 $7,179,983, and had received in 1838, in pensions, 
 §7,850,054. The public lands donated by Con- 
 gress to the northern States have been worth 
 $•7,584,899; the same in the South $4,025,000. 
 
 ' I am indebted to the author of a pamphlet entitled 
 '• The Union, pa^t fand Ciiture— how it works, mid how 
 to save U," for many of th^e slatistios. 
 
 Since the establishment of the Government, tl 
 cost of collecting the customs has been ^53,000,00 
 $43,000,000 expended in the North, and §10,00( 
 
 000 in the South. Bounties on pickled fish, &( 
 in the North, exclusively, $10,000,000. Thefoi 
 on the northern coast have cost, on each mil 
 $838; on the southern coast $535 per mile. 
 184G there was one light-house to every fifty mil 
 of northern coast; whilst in the South there w 
 one for every two hundred and seventy-six mil* 
 The expenditures for internal improvements frc 
 1824 to 1833, in the North, was $5,194,441; in t 
 South $957,000. From 1^34 to 1845, for the sai 
 purpose, in the North, $7,231,639; and in t 
 South $1,171,500. 
 
 Thus much, sir, with reference to what the ge 
 tleman said about appropriations. 1 propose nc 
 to exaiTiine so much of the same gentlemai 
 speech as to the relative number of troops furnish 
 by the North and the South in the late war wi 
 Mexico. I adopt his figures, and assume them 
 be correct. The South furnished 47,649 volt 
 teers; the North 24,712. The gentleman says tl 
 this is not the fair way of making the calculation 
 " that the amount of service rendered in monll 
 is tlie fairest way of making the calculation." t 
 figures show, that the South furnished service 
 months 365,500 months; the North 309,400. Tl 
 still gives the South a preponderance. Not cc 
 tented, however, with this result, he sets out up 
 a third series of figures, that he may give t 
 North the superiority. This calculation incluc 
 all the enlistments made during the war, as a: 
 for the ten new regiments; and assumes, that tw 
 thirds of these enlistments were from the Nor 
 and when his calculation is footed up, the Noi 
 furnished service equal to 813,648 months, and t 
 South equal to 627,625 months. Well, I go ba 
 to the census of 1840, and he, at least, can ma 
 no objection to the authority, he having appeal 
 to this source in the first branch of his argume 
 
 1 therefore take his figures, and reply with 1 
 authority. If the South furnished 47,649 voli 
 teers, according to population the North shot 
 have furnished 98,148. They furnished 24,71S 
 deficit of their just proportion 73,436. 
 
 The South furnished service of volunteers 
 monthsequal to 365,500 months. The North shot 
 have furnished service in months equal to 754,C 
 months; they furnished 309,400 — deficitoftheirji 
 proportion 444,620. Butif theenlisfmentsaresup 
 added to the above, it will he seen that the Noi 
 furnished service in months equal to 813,648; I 
 South 627,625. The North should have furnish 
 service in months 1,294,780 months — deficit of 1 
 just proportion 481,132. 
 
 I enter into these calculations for the purpose 
 vindicating the truth of the Southern Address — 
 the purpose of vindicating the truth of the allej 
 tions which have been made by southern memb 
 on this floor, that the South contributed more th 
 her just proportion of troops in making the acq 
 sitions from Mexico which the North mean to < 
 elude us from, either through the Wilmot prov 
 or the *' non-intervention'" policy, in coimecti 
 with the pretense that the Mexican laws are 
 force. He went a little further, and introduced 
 estimate of the service by the North and the Sot 
 in the Revolutionary war. He says, for the c( 
 tinental line of the Revolution, the North fumisl 
 172,436 men and the South 59,.335. 
 
6 
 
 is known, Mr. Chairman, to every one who is 
 liar with the history of the Revolution, that a 
 large proportion of the troops that were en- 
 d in that protracted and perilous contest, were 
 connected with the continental auny. If the 
 enian had made an accurate examination of the 
 bor of troops furnished by each of tiie States, 
 ould have found that Virginia alone furnished 
 Jl. Pennsylvnria, with a population equal to 
 inia, furni.-,lied 34,9G5; New York ;29,83(i; 
 h Carolina 31,131. South Carolinasent ihir- 
 ven out of every forty-two of her citizens ca- 
 ; of bearing arms, Massachusetts thirty-two, 
 lecticut thirty, New Hampshire eighteen, 
 vill answer with statistical facts the delusion 
 ing in the minds of some who believe that the 
 niary and social condition is more elevated in 
 'forth than in the South. We have heard that 
 inia was sinking — was falling fast into dacay; 
 her sisters have advanced in prosperity and 
 th whilst she has been retrograding, — all of 
 h is attributed to her system of domestic serv- 
 . Why, sir, this is but an asssumption — a most 
 irrantable assumption, because it has no foun- 
 n in fact. The Abolitionists make their prose- 
 believe that Virginia is ui a most dilapidated 
 — that her forests have all been destroyed 
 ; face of her tields furrowed with deep gul- 
 -and that her low giounds have been exhaust- 
 y unskillful husbandry- Virginia has more 
 th according to population than any one of the 
 lern States. The average wealth of each in- 
 fant, free and slave, is $471; or free alone, •!,74l. 
 entucky the average wealth of each inhabit- 
 free and slave, is§i319; whilst that of Ohio is 
 \3-21. Pennsylvania $219; New York ■^■2-28. 
 , sir, theproductionsof theslaveholding States 
 compare favorably with the non-slaveholding. 
 advantage will be found to be largely on the 
 of the former in the value of those productions. 
 South produces more Indian corn, and the 
 h more wheat; but the South has a complete 
 jpoly, by soil and climate, in the production of 
 n, sugar, rice, and tobacco, 
 le value of these four crops the last year ex- 
 3 $125,000,000. But compare the productions 
 ndividual States. Michigan and Arkansas 
 : admitted into the Union about the same time; 
 ligan is one of the most flourishing of the 
 iwestern States, washed on three sides by 
 »able waters, and enjoying an extensive sys- 
 of internal improvements; and her crops last 
 yielded to each inhabitant ^31 50. The crop 
 Arkansas yielded to each white inhabitant 
 ; and if the slaves are counted as persons, 
 ralue of the crop was $81 50 for each inhabi- 
 so that the production of Arkansas, with a 
 e soil, though not a genial climate, nearly 
 es that of Michigan. 
 
 r. Chairman, 1 am admonished that my hour 
 awing rapidly to its close; I therefore return 
 e subject from which I digressed longer than 
 ended. Whether slavery be a sin or not, is a 
 tion v/ith wliich this Government has nothing 
 0. It is recognized by the Constitution, and 
 ;cted to the fullest extent. He who believes 
 iful, therefore, and feels a moral duty devolv- 
 )n him to extirpate it, should candidly avow 
 self a disunionist, and seek to dissolve this 
 losed sinful alliance. If, on the contrary, he 
 ady to abide by the Constitution, in letter and 
 
 spirit, then his warfare against slavery is ended — 
 he must ground his arms, and cease to agitate. I; 
 is a matter of indilTerence to us whether you con- 
 sider slavery right or wrong; we alone must be 
 the judges of its blessings and its curses. We do 
 not complain of your abstraci opinions upon that 
 subject, but it becomes a question of the profound- 
 est interest to us, when you make your abstrac: 
 opinions on the morality of the institution the 
 basis of your political action. 
 
 The abolition feeling in the North is founded in 
 religious fanaticism — its votaries, like fanatics in 
 every age of the world are guided neither by relj- 
 gion, morality, nor justice. The Scripture argu- 
 ment in favor of slavery is unanswerable; but still 
 argument never reaches the understanding or con- 
 science of the fanatic. The history of the Crusades, 
 which involved Europe in blood and carnage, welj 
 illustrates its folly and madness, when kings and 
 nations vied with each other in their benevolen: 
 and Christian purpose of expelling the Infidels from 
 the city of Jerusalem. When the phrensy of 
 madness sears the brain, reason, the great helm 
 of human action, fails to control its motions; and 
 here is the great danger of abolition. The masses 
 may be sincere; but when they attempt to cnfoi-ce, 
 as they are now doing, a supposed moral obligf- 
 tion through political channels, without regard ;o 
 the rights of others, or the supreme law of the 
 land, cool-headed and discreet men must rise up 
 in the majesty of their strength and crush it, or 
 consent to give up our institutions, and be crushed 
 by it. Fanaticism is not often sated until it has 
 gorged itself with blood or ruin. 
 
 The dangers to the Republic every patriot de- 
 sires may be diverted, and the union of these 
 States preserved in its pristine purity. It is ei> 
 deared to us by a thousand ties hallowed by the 
 memories of the past, and excites in the mind emo- 
 tions little short of veneration. I desire it to be pre- 
 served, but it must be preserved in its purity, if i; 
 is worth preserving at all. That man alone is a 
 disunionist who will trample down the Constitu- 
 tion and destroy the rights of the States. I have 
 spoken plainly, sir, of the perils to which we are 
 exposed. I know that my section of the Union 
 i.? deceived and deluded as to the true situation 
 of this controversy. They have cherished with 
 abiding confidence the hope that their northern 
 brethren would cease their aggressions and do them 
 justice. The events which have transpired nere, 
 and to which 1 have adverted (Webster's speech, 
 and the laying of RoorS resolution on the table) 
 have added to the delusion. I warn them to rise from 
 the lethargy into which they have been betrayed. 
 I tell them now, in all candor, that I see no return- 
 ing sense of justice in the North. They should 
 appoint their delegates to the Nashville Conven- 
 tion: let them assemble there and deliberate upon 
 the grave issues which abolition has presented — 
 let them concentrate the sentiment of the South, 
 and lay such plans as to defeat the ends of abo- 
 litionists. Every southern State should be fully 
 represented there by her ablest Constitution-loving 
 sons. That convention, sir, will meet, although 
 it is probable that the confident expectation of a 
 compromise will prevent its being as numerously 
 attended as it would have been some months back, 
 the people believing that the necessity of its con- 
 vening has passed away. I fear, sir, they have 
 been deluded in the hope of compromise, so iriJas- 
 
triously instilled into their minds for the purpose 
 
 of defeating the Nashville Convention. That effort 
 has been partially succe.'^.^ful: but tlifi roiivention 
 will nevertheless assemble, and the South will not , 
 readily forget those by whom they have been de- 
 ceived. Sir, it has been fashionable to denounce 
 that convention, and to disparage the purposes of 
 those who called it. For one, 1 am not ashamed 
 of that convention — nothing could make me 
 ashamed of it, but the failure of the South, or of! 
 those with whom my honor is more immediately 
 bound up, to attend it. The ends of that conven- 
 tion were high and holy; it was called to protect ' 
 the Constitution, to save the Union, by taking 
 
 such steps as might prevent, if possible, the co 
 summation of measures which would probably le 
 to tho distrurtion of both. Had the purpose be 
 disunion, those who called that convention wou 
 have waited until the irretrievable step had be 
 taken, and nothing U ft to the South but subm 
 sion or secession. The present is a critical cc 
 juncture of political aftairs; there is a propriet 
 nay, almost a necessity for southern men to coi 
 mune with each other. 1, for one, wish that hi 
 mony may mark their deliberations, and tliat t 
 result of those deliberations may be worthy oft 
 occasion and of the cause for which they will C€ 
 vene. 
 
 Printtil at th" Ponsres-ionHl Glohe Offirp. 
 
Yr