Important Loan Bill. third, that measures be taken to protect the In the House, Saturday, archives of the Government; fourth, that the Mr. Sherman called up the forts, while in the possession of the Govern- bill authorizing the Presiment, in the South, be promptly supplied dent, at any time before the 1st of July, to with men; fifth, that a sufficient number of borrow, on the credit of the United States, vessels be placed in Southern ports to protect not exceeding $25,000,000; certificates to be commerce and collect the revenue. Of course issued for not less than $1,000, with coupons this received no consideration, but it was payable, semi-annually, with interest, and the felt, by the Northern Senators, to express the faith of the United States pledged for the true feeling of the majority of people in the payment of the interest and principal. Sevgreat North-west-so rapidly was the senti-eral substitutes were offered and much oppoment of resistance to revolution taking deter- sition manifested by the Democrats and mined shape. Southerners to the loan. It passed, 124 to 46. CHAPTER XXI. FEBRUARY 1ST. NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN ULTIMATUMS. THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE REPUBLICANS AND THE OPPOSITION. OVERTURES OF MESSRS. SEWARD AND ADAMS. VIEWS MR. DOUGLAS AND JOHN Ꮲ . HALE. REPLIES OF MASON, OF VIRGINIA, AND WIGFALL, OF TEXAS. THE UNION IN THE BALANCE. PROPERTY IN MAN THE ISSUE FORCED. OF Seward's Union in its historical relations. We shall, therefore, quote quite at length from their efforts, and thus place within the reader's reach the means for forming a correct judgment upon the great issues, as they were shaped February 1st. THURSDAY, January 31st, Mr. Seward pre- | same day, in the House of sented to the Senate the memorial of the Representatives, added to New York Chamber of Commerce, bearing the significance of the day, 38,000 signatures, petitioning for a settlement of national differences by compromise. The report, instructing the Committee of Twentyfive, who bore the memorial to Washington, commended the proposition of the Border States Committee as the basis of adjustment, [see page 172.] In presenting it, Mr. Seward Mr. Seward said, in reference to the memodelivered his views, at length, on the crisis. rial, that it was an embodiment of the feelHis speech drew out Mason, of Virginia, Mr. ings of that eminent class which controls the Douglas, John P. Hale, and Wigfall, of commerce of the nation's greatest emporium. Texas. Their several speeches canvassed the The memorial might, he said, also be reentire question of Union and disunion. Being garded as a fair exponent of the wishes and the recognized exponents of their parties and views of the whole commercial interest of the sections, their declarations are to be re- country. Such a memorial would command garded as landmarks in the legislative his- obedience in England, France, Russia, Prustory of the revolution, and will be referred to sia, or Germany-where the will of commerce by historians as authority for their conclu- decides questions of peace or war. Happily sions respecting the relations of the contest- for the United States, commerce was but one ants, and the accountability of each for the of several interests entitled to a controlling results which followed to the country. The influence. Agriculture, manufactures, mining, speech of Charles Francis Adams, on the each are entitled to, and receive, equal re Seward's Union SEWARD'S UNION spect. As representatives of thy of the Senate's consideration. Seward's Union to the Union. These whether you call them Secession or Revolution on the one side, or coercion or defiance on the otherMr. Seward had waited anxiously for prop- are all to subside and pass away before Union, ositions which the seceding States might which is to become the grand absorbing oboffer as terms to the adhering States; or, to ject of interest, affection, and duty upon the state the proposition in its other form, he part of the citizens of the United States. A had seen nothing which would justify him great many partisan interests are to be rein believing that any of the propositions sub-pressed and suppressed to give peace to the mitted by the adhering States would be ac-partisan interests expressed by the Charleston cepted by the seceding States. He had held Platform, the Baltimore Platform, the Chicago himself open and ready for the best adjust- Platform, by the Popular Sovereignty Platment which could be practically made. He form, if, indeed, the Union is in danger, and approved the spirit of conciliation, of fraternal is to be saved. With these interests and with kindness, of affection, adopted by so large these platforms, everybody standing upon a portion of the people of his State towards them or connected with them is to pass away, the various sections of the country, and, in if the Union is in danger and is to be saved. return for acting as their spokesman, in pre- He added: "But it will require a very short senting their memorial to the Senate, he time, if this Union is in danger and does reshould advise them to continue to manifest quire to be saved, for all these interests, all the same spirit, to show forth their devotion these platforms, and all these men to disapto the Union by voting for it; and, if it pear. You, everybody who shall oppose, reshould be demanded, by lending or even giv- sist, or stand in the way of the preservation ing their money to it; by fighting for it in of this Union, will appear as moths on a sumit, if it must come as a last resort for its main-mer's eve, when the whirlwind of popular intenance, taking care that speaking always goes before voting, voting goes before the giving of money, and all go before a resort to arms, which, at best, was hazardous and painful, and therefore should be the last measure to be resorted to for the salvation of the Union. This was the spirit in which he had determined to come up to the great question, which he thought would yet be peacefully settled. He had not expected the great controversy to be settled in the sixty days of Congressional action already had; nor did he expect the allotted ninety days of the session would see the differences adjusted, peace restored, and the Union firmly reestablished. It was not time enough for the people to appreciate the danger and to agree upon the remedy. A great many and various interests and elements are brought into conflict in this sudden crisis, a great many personal ambitions, and a great many sectional interests, and it would be strange if they would all be accommodated, arranged, and harmonized so as to admit and give full effect to the one profoundest and most enduring sentiment or passion of the United States-that of devotion dignation arises that shall be excited at the full discovery that this Union is endangered through faction, and even impracticability, on the one part. I have hope and confidence that this is to come around just as I have said; and quite soon enough, because I perceive, although we may shut our eyes to it, that the country and mankind cannot shut their eyes to the true nature of this crisis.” He then adverted to the issue actually presented. The vital. question of antagonism between the North and South was sprung upon the country twelve years ago, but was strongest in its development in 1850, when all the Pacific coast, and all the Territory in- . tervening between it and the Louisiana purchase, was thrown suddenly upon our hands, for the purpose of our organizing in them free and independent Republican Governments as a basis of future States. It had been an earnest-nay, an angry controversy, but it was closed, on the previous day, by the admission of Kansas as a State. The vital issues were closed-though there remained the passions which the long, contest had engendered. He said: Seward's Union Seward's Union "Kansas is in the Union, | ence, and subject to dissolution California and Oregon are in the Union, and now the same contest divides and distracts this Union for Freedom and Slavery in the Territories of the United States just as before. What is the extent of the Territories which remain, after the admission of Minnesota, Oregon, and of Kansas? One million, sixty-three thousand, five hundred square miles-an area twenty-four times that of the State of New York, the largest of the old and fully developed States. Twenty-four such States as this of New York are yet to be fully organized within the remaining Territories of the United States. Now, under what is accepted by the Administration and the Government as a judicial decree, upheld by it, and put in practical operation by it, every inch of that Territory is Slave Territory. I speak of that decision not as I accept it, but as it is accepted and enforced by the existing Administration. Every foot of it is Slave Territory as much as South Carolina. Over a considerable portion of it a Slave Code, made by a Government created by the Congress of the United States, is enforced; so that, according to the claims of those who insist upon their rights in the Territory of the United States for Slavery, the whole of this 1,063,000 square miles is Slave Territory. How many slaves are there init? How many have been brought into it during these twelve years in which it has been not only relinquished to Slavery, but in which the Supreme Court, the Legislature, and the Administration have maintained, protected, and guaranteed Slavery there? Twenty-four African slaves! One slave for every forty-four thousand square miles. One slave for every one of the twenty-four States which, supposing them each to be of the dimensions of New York, or Pennsylvania, or Indiana, cover that portion of the area of our Republic. Sir, I have followed this thing in good faith, and with zeal and energy, but I confess that I have no fears of Slavery anywhere. In the peculiar condition of things which has existed, Slavery has succeeded in planting only one slave upon every 44,000 square miles of Territory. 64 This, then, has ceased to be a practical question. In lieu of it comes up a great, and vital, and fearful question-the question of union, or of dissolution of the Union--the question of country or of no country-the question of hope-the question of greatness, or the question of sinking forever under the contempt of mankind. Why, then, should I despair that a great nation of thirty millions will be able to meet this crisis? I have no fear. This is a Confederacy. It is not an imperial government, or the government of a single State. It is a Confederacy, and it is, as it ought to be, dependent upon the continued assent of all the members of the Confederacy to its exist Mason, of Virginia, followed. He said: Mason's Declaratory "When the Government is in progress of disintegration; when there are six States that have separated from the others, and are now arming themselves upon a large scale; when my own State appropriated, twelve months ago, in anticipation of what now seems to be occurring, the very large sum, for a single State, of half a million of dollars to purchase arms; and when, within a few days, another appropriation was made of $1,000,000 for the same purpose; when we find that other States have done the same thing; when we find that the people themselves are arming; when counties and towns are exercising their municipal authority, and are raising money for this same purpose-while these things are going on, and while the public mind is engaged in the Slave States that are not yet separated in devising some mode by which the Amer ican mind can again be united in a common union, what do we hear from the Senator from New York, (Mr. Seward?) What do we hear from that Senator who now occupies the position before the country which he now does, acknowledged to be the head of the political combination which is to bring into power the incoming Administration, said by the newspaper press to be the probable right hand of that Admin Speech. MASON'S DECLARATORY istration-what do we hear from Mason's Declaratory that Senator? Any suggestion from a quarter of such weight as to what he would recommend to a majority of the States, in order to meet the demands, just or unjust, of the Slave States? None. Any remark approving or disapproving the propositions before the country, We know what his opinions are in regard to the proposition offered by the venerable Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. Crittenden,) by declaration and by votes, uniform and continued. We know what his views are in the negative, and what are his views in the affirmative. His affirmative vote was given in this chamber to substitute the resolutions of the Senator from New Hampshire, (Mr. Clark.) What are they? Propositions declaring, in substance, that the Constitution needed no amendment; that the demands of the Southern States are unreason. to amend the Constitution in this regard? None. REJOINDER. The 317 Mason's Declaratory six per cent. stocks com- Mason presumed that that was the use intended to be made of the money. He did not, in his own mind, do the Senator the injustice to believe that with this money he proposed to subsidize or demoralize the Southern States. He took it for granted that it was to sustain the army which was to conduct the fight, which he recommends. This ungenerous contradiction again called up Mr. Seward. He replied: able, and that the only remedy for this condition of things in the country was to enforce the Constitution and the laws. That is the affirmative view of the honorable Senator from New York. Now, what is it he has elaborated? Why, the honorable Senator, in the midst of a maze of generalities which marked his speech-and it was a maze, and a misty one-in that general maze he marched to the line and told us what his policy was, and I assume it is the policy of those he is to bring into power.-And "I am sure the honorable Senator does not intend what was it he told us? What his recommendation to misrepresent me. I contemplated, after the exto these gentlemen who have sent here this enormous petition? Not adopting their views, not look-piration of all compromise, a Convention of the peoing to any amendment of the Constitution whatever, ple of the United States, called in the constitutional his recommendation is given to us in four distinct form; and after that Convention shall be held, or refused to be held-when it is impossible anything propositions of what is to be the policy of those can be done but that, by force of arms, this Union whom he intends to lead-if history does not misinis to stand or fall, I have advised my people to do form us, after the 4th of March next. He recomas I shall be ready to do myself to stand by the mends that these gentlemen, when they go home, Union; to stand or perish with it." should employ themselves in the great work of restoring the breaches made in the Union. How? Why, he said, speak first, next vote for the Union, next give money for the Union; and the last, fight for the Union. These are the four measures proposed by the Senator to heal the gaping breach in the Union. I can understand what he means when he recommends his constituents to speak for the Union. I can understand when he recommends them to vote for the Union. But I would like to This sentiment brought loud applause from the galleries, then crowded densely by one of the most eminent audiences which that new chamber yet had seen gathered within its walls. Mason then resumed: "I wanted to bring the honorable Senator, who is the exponent of the new Administration, to the pol know what he means when he recommends them to icy by which it is to be directed. I understand from give money for the Union?" Mr. Seward explained. Government had been humiliated so far, by its financial management, as to see its stocks-which, two years before, commanded a premium-fallen so low as to be sold at a discount of thirty per cent. The credit of New York on her him now, that all remedies failing, through the Constitution or a Convention of the States, his recommendation is battle bloodshed to preserve the Union. His recommendation to the people is, that they shall contribute money, which shall march an army upon the South-for what? To preserve the Union. It is gone. It is broken. There is no union now in this country. Sir, those States were out; Government, to believe for one moment you could ever subjugate the people of the States to restore the Union. I want to speak to them. I want to let my people, the people of Virginia, who have offered themselves as mediators to restore this Union, know that this is the remedy we are to expect from the counsels of those for whom the Senator acts." Seward here interrupted, to qualify Mason's inferences, and said: Seward's Explana tion. Mason's Speech. and if the battle is to be fought, it is to be fought | the full advantage of this commentary upon against them for the purpose of reducing them to his preceding declarations, and desired to subjection and dependence. That honorable Sena- place before the American people the fact tor is too wise in the experiences of States, and that he proposes but one remedy-either to knows too well the construction and theory of this preserve this Union or to restore it, and that is the ultima ratio regum. Seward interpolated. "I did not say "restore,' I said 'preserve." Mason then resumed, speaking earnestly and with some excitement: "Well, let the Senator choose his language. He has presented the argument of the tyrant— force, compulsion, and power-as the only resort. He says he is to punish treason and sedition, whether he finds it North or South, and that is the only rem edy he proposes in the existing state of facts. He takes no notice of the other fact, that organized potitical communities, claiming to have resumed all the sovereign power which they once delegated to this confederation, are now out of the Union-actually and completely outside. There is not a Federal offi cer in their limits-not one-with all Federal authority denied with laws punishing as sedition and treason obedience to any authority abroad. And yet the Senator still says we know nothing of all that— nothing of the purposes of Government. I under stand him to ignore all that, as though it did not ex And be it one man in a local Convention who is resisting the laws, or be it 3, or 5, or 10,000,000, still it would be treason and sedition, and he knows but one remedy-force, sir; I want to bring him to that point. I want that, of others, the people of my honored State should know, and that the scales should fall from their eyes. I am aware that there is a puny, pusillanimous trick to hoodwink the eyes of that people by crying peace, peace,' when there is no peace. I point them now to the remedies proposed by those most potent in the counclis of the new Government. I point them to the four great remedies proposed by the Senator. If I were to use a light expression on so grave an occasion, I should say the Union is past praying for. Speaking will not do; voting will not do; because those men who are to be parties to the voting are outside the Union, and will not vote. And money-how is money to do it? Why, the honorable Senator has disclosed how. Not by demoralizing or subsidizing by bribery, bat by using it as the sinews of war. The next thing in the four acts of the drama to be enacted is, battle! battle! Now, sir, let my people understand it; and if any man among them is so puny as to be deluded by these idle efforts, by circulating papers among them, saying there are propositions for amendment of the Constitution which will be car ried-propositions that will secure their rights—“ be "I looked to no such contingency as Seceded States and a dissevered Union. I looked to no such condition of things. The honorable Senator and I differ equally in regard to the future and in regard to the present. He, with the earnestness of an ardent imagination, sees this country hereafter rent and dissevered, and then recombined in separate Confederacies. I see no such thing in the future. But I do see a returning of reason and judgment to the American people; a return of harmony, and a consolidation of the Union firmer than ever before. The honorable Senator may very well see that we may differ in our anticipations of the future, because we differ so much in regard to the actual living present. Sir, I am in the Union of the United States-this same blessed, glorious, nobly-inherited, God-given Union. I am in the Senate Chamber of the United States, pleading for it-maintaining it-defending it. The honorable Senator says it is gone-that there is no Union; yet he is here, on this same floor with me, and where is he? In the Union or out of it? He is actually present here, and I hold him to be in the Union. I will not refer to those associates of his and mine who are not here now. * * * But the Senate Chamber is here. The seats are there, the States are here; the Union is here, here are all these, and I expect that there will be, in the returning of reason, a further choice from those States, and these places will be filled. If I contemplated that, in any case, it would be necessary to fight for this Union, it is because I know that treason and sedition may-not alone in the States of the South, but in the States of the North, anywhere and everywhere-be excited and armed so as to assail the Union. And whenever it shall come to that, whether in my State or any other State of the Union, then I expect whatever can be done shall be done which reason can do; then I expect what is right to be done shall be done in the way in which treason, in the last resort, is necessarily, as well as painfully, met." Mason rejoined, that he gave the Senator ist. |