Kentucky only in part; Virginia, South Fessenden calling for an explanation of the Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisi- reasons upon which the first section is ana, Mississippi and Kansas were. by order founded, of the Secretary of War, supplied with their quotas for 1861 in advance, and Pennsylvania and Maryland in part." This advance of arms to eight Southern States is in addition to the transfer, about the same time, of 115,000 muskets to Southern arsenals, as per Mr. Stanton's report. Governor Letcher of Virginia, in his Message of December, 1861, says, that for some time prior to secession, he had been engaged in purchasing arms, ammunition, etc.; among which were 13 Parrott rifled cannon, and 5,000 muskets. He desired to buy from the United States Government 10,000 more, when buying the 5,000, but he says "the authorities declined to sell them to us, although five times the number were then in the arsenal at Washington." Had Jefferson Davis' bill relative to the purchase of arms become a law, the result might have been different. Sale of Arms to States. January 9th, 1860. Mr. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi introduced to the Senate a bill "to authorize the sale of public arms to the several States and Territories, and to regulate the appointment of Superintendents of the National Armories." 18th. He reported it from the Military Committee without amendment. February 21st. Mr. Davis. I should like the Senate to take up a little bill which I hope will excite no discussion. It is the bill to authorize the States to purchase arms from the National Armories. There are a number of volunteer companies wanting to purchase arms, but the States have not a sufficient supply. I move to take up the bill. Mr. Davis said: "It is, that the volunteer companies of the States desiring arms, may purchase them of the Government manufacture. It is a long settled policy—and I think a wise one on the part of the United States-to furnish arms, of the approved pattern for the public service, to the militia. The appropriation which is made to supply the militia with arms, has not been found sufficient. There are constant applications for arms beyond the quota. The Secretary of War has no authority to issue them beyond the fixed allowance to each State, being its pro rata share of the arms which may be made with $200,000. The Secretary of War, under that pressure, has this year recommended that the appropriation for the arming of the militia should be increased. In the meantime, there are volunteer companies with State appropriations anxious to obtain arms if they will be furnished. If the Congress thinks proper to exclude them from the purchase of arms from the armories, then they must go to private establishments, and get patterns which are not those established by the Government, arms which I believe to be inferior; and arms which, if they were brought into the service of the United States, in the event of the country being involved in war, would not receive the ammunition which the Government supplies. If they are to buy arms at all, it is therefore advantageous that they should buy the Government pattern."-Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 36th Congress, Part 1, p. 862. March 1st. Its consideration was re sumed. On motion of Mr. Trumbull of Illinois, ar amendment was inserted in the first section. requiring the payment "in cash, at the time of delivery." It was debated further, without a vote. 5th. Mr. Fessenden moved to add the following to the first section: The motion was agreed to. The bill is as follows:-Section 1. That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby authorized to issue to any Provided, That the whole number of arms State or Territory of the United States, on which may be sold, as aforesaid, shall be application of the Governor thereof, arms ascertained and determined in each year by made at the United States Armories, to the Secretary of War, and no State or Tersuch extent as may be spared from the pub-ritory shall be allowed to purchase a numlic supplies without injury or inconvenience to the service of the General Government, upon payment therefor, in each case, of an amount sufficient to replace, by fabrication at the national armories, the arms so issued. Section 2. That so much of the act approved August 5th, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, as authorizes the appointment of a civilian as superintendent of each of the national armories be, and the same is hereby repealed, and that the superintendents of these armories shall hereafter be selected from officers of the ordnance corps. After a brief discussion, it was made a special order for February 23d. 23d. Its consideration was resumed. Mr. ber of arms bearing a greater proportion to the whole number so ascertained and deter. mined, than the Federal population of such State or Territory bears to the aggregate Federal population of all the States and Territories of the Union, according to the census of the United States next preceding such purchase. 16th. Mr. Davis of Mississippi moved the following as a substitute for the above proviso: "That the sales of each year shall not exceed the increased manufacture which may result from said sales; and that the whole number to be sold, if less than the requisitions made, shall be divided between the States applying to purchase, pro rata, as arms fur During the debate, on March 28th, between Mr. Simmons of Rhode Island, and Mr. Davis of Mississippi, the latter made these remarks: "The Senator runs into an error which 1 find very often prevails, that the militia of the States are not a part of the Army of the United States. It is our glory that the defence of the country rests upon the people. He proposes, then, to arm the militia in time of peace with a weapon which they will aot use in time of war."-Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 36th Congress, Part 2, p. 1351. In the House, the bill was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and was not reported. Washington, December 13th, 1860. To our Constituents: The argument is exhausted. All hope of relief in the Union, through the agency of committees, Congres sional legislation, or constitutional amendments, is extinguished, and we trust the South will not be deceived by appearances or the pretence of new guarantees. The Republicans are resolute in the purpose to grant nothing that will or ought to satisfy the South. We are satisfied the honor, safety, and independence of the Southern people are to be found only in a Southern Confederacy -a result to be obtained only by separate State secession-and that the sole and primary aim of each slaveholding State ought to be its speedy and absolute separation from an unnatural and hostile Union. Signed by J. L. Pugh, David Clopton, Sydenham Moore, J. L. M. Curry, and J. A. Stallworth of Alabama; Alfred Iverson, J. W. H. Underwood, L. J. Gartrell, and Jas. Jackson, (Senator Toombs is not here, but Crawford of Georgia; Geo. S. Hawkins of would sign), John J. Jones, and Martin J. Florida. It is understood Mr. Yulee will sign it. T. C. Hindman of Arkansas. Both Senators will also sign it. A. G. Brown, Wm. Barksdale, O. R. Singleton, and Reuben Davis of Mississippi; Burton Craige and Thos. Ruffin of North Carolina; J. P. Benjamin and John M. Landrum of Louisiana. Mr. Slidell will also sign it. Senators Wigfall and Hemphill of Texas, will sign it. to the caucus : Mr. Davis made the following statement Being a member of the Committee of Thirty-three, I state that the above witnessed despatch was communicated to the committee this evening, and a resolution passed proposing no specific relief, eight Northern How the Telegraph was made to aid States dissenting, avowedly intended to in effecting Secession. Senator TooMBs has publicly declared in Georgia that he would, under no circumstances, serve in the Senate after the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln. He said the same thing in the following telegraphic despatch to Mr. KEITT: "Macon, November 14th, 1860. "To Hon. L.M. KEITT: I will sustain South Carolina in secession. I have announced to the Legislature that I will not serve under Lincoln. If you have the power to act, act at once. We have bright prospects here. "R. TOOMBS." --- SOUTHERN MANIFESTO. Washington, December 13th. At the request of Hon. REUBEN DAVIS of Mississippi, member of the Committee of States. the Southern members of Congress assembled at his rooms to-night and adjourned at eleven o'clock, at which the following declaration was made and signed by those present. It had already been presented to the Committee of Thirty-three: counteract the effect of the above despatch, the South. From information derived from and, as I believe, to mislead the people of Republican members of the committee and other Northern Representatives, I fully concur in the above despatch. The Savannah News of Monday, December 24th, publishes the following address to the people of Georgia, telegraphed from Washington, on Saturday, December 22d: Fellow-Citizens of Georgia: I came here to secure your constitutional rights, or to demonstrate to you that you can get no guarantees for these rights from your Northern Confederates. The whole subject was referred to a committee of thirteen in the Senate yesterday. I was appointed on the committee and accepted the trust. I submitted propositions, which, so far from receiving decided support 38 from a single member of the Republican that the rights of the South, and of every 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 this Committee of Thirteen are representative men of their party and section, and to the extent of my information, truly represent the Committee of Thirty-three in the House, which on Tuesday adjourned for a week without coming to any vote, after solemnly pledging themselves to vote on all propositions then before them on that date. That committee is controlled by Black Republicans, your enemies, who only seek to amuse you with delusive hope until your election, in order 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 and 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 in the Union ought to be instantly abandoned. It is fraught with nothing but ruin to yourselves and your posterity. Secession by the fourth of March next should be thundered from the ballot-box by the unanimous voice of Georgia on the second day of January next. Such a voice will be your best guarantee for LIBERTY, SECURITY, TRANQUILLITY and GLORY. ROBERT TOOMBS. IMPORTANT TELEGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE. Atlanta, Georgia, December 26th, 1860. Hon. S. A. Douglas or Hon. J. J. Crittenden: Mr. TоOMBS's despatch of the 22d inst. unsettled conservatives here. Is there any hope for Southern rights in the Union? We are for the Union of our fathers, if Southern rights can be preserved in it. If not, we are for secession. Can we yet hope the Union will be preserved on this principle? You are looked to in this emergency. Give us your views by despatch, and oblige WILLIAM Ezzard. J. A. HAYDEN. G. W. ADAIR. R. C. HONLEster. From the Raleigh Standard Extra of Jan The State Journal of to-day, one of the organs of the disunionists, contains a telegraphic despatch calculated, and no doubt intended, to inflame the public mind and to precipitate North Carolina into revolution. This despatch, most probably sent here from the Journal Office, Wilmington, is as fol lows: LATORS TO THEIR POSTS. IMPORTANT!—IMMEDIATE RETURN OF LEGIS Wilmington, Dec. 31st, 8 P.M. The following is the substance of a despatch received here this evening: "Cabinet broken up in a row; Floyd, Thompson and Thomas have resigned; the President has gone over to the North. Federal troops on their way South. Our fort at the mouth of Cape Fear will shortly be occupied by troops for coercion. The citizens of North Carolina call upon the Legislature for advice and assistance." The above produced great excitement in our community. As soon as we saw it we telegraphed to a well-informed and reliable friend in Washington city, whose reply is as follows: "No troops ordered South. No new Special Despatch to the Republican. "The cabinet is broken up, Mr. Floyd, This despatch is signed "Robert Toombs" tion of union or disunion. The Macon (Georgia) Telegraph of the 2d Charleston, January 1st, 1861. War. He is for coercion, and war is inevitable. We believe reinforcements are on the way. Provent their entrance into the harbor at every hazard. "D. F. JAMISON, "President South Carolina Convention." From the Neu Orleans Delta. THE SOUTH CAROLINA CONVENTION TO THE The following highly-important despatch from the President of the South Carolina Convention, has been furnished to us for publication by Mayor Monroe, to whom it was addressed: Charleston, January 1st. To the Hon. John T. Monroe, Mayor of New Orleans: The Convention of South Carolina has directed me to send you the following telegram, just received from our Commissioners at Washington: "Holt has been appointed Secretary of War. He is for coercion, and war, we believe, is inevitable. We believe reinforcements are on the way. We shall prevent their entrance into the harbor at every haz ard. "D. F. JAMISON, "President South Carolina Convention." From the National Intelligencer. In January, when the Crittenden plan of adjustment was voted down in the Senate, rather because of the absence of Southern Senators than by the strength of its opponents, we find from the St. Louis journals, that a despatch was reported to have been straightway sent from Washington to that city by Senators Polk and Green, representing as follows: "The Crittenden resolutions were lost by a vote of 25 to 23. A motion of Mr. Cameron to reconsider was lost; and thus ends all hope of reconciliation. Civil war is now considered inevitable, and late accounts declare that Fort Sumter will be attacked without delay. The Missouri delegation recommend immediate secession." We need not say that no such despatch was ever sent by these gentlemen. Yet, says the St. Louis Republican, "all over the city (St. Louis) it was spoken of as the despatch from Messrs. Green and Polk." The temporary rejection of the Crittenden plan was in like manner pressed into the service of the Secessionists in order to accelerate the pace of grave, deliberate, and patriotic North Carolina. The Raleigh Register of the 19th instant contains the following despatch, under the signature of Mr. Crittenden himself, published to counteract the disturbing effect of the exaggerated rumors which had been put in circulation from this city: "Washington, January 17th, 9 P. M. "In reply, the vote against my resolutions will be reconsidered. Their failure was the result of the refusal of six Southern Senators to vote. There is yet good hope of MY DEAR SIR: Mr. Crittenden is not present, but I can say with confidence that there is hope of adjustment, and the prospect has never been better than now since we first assembled. Very truly, your friend, S. A. DOUGLAS." Hon. JAMES BARBOUR. In addition to the foregoing testimony on the subject, we insert an extract of a letter from the Hon. John S. Millson to Mr. Barbour to the same effect: "For myself, I say that I have never had so confident an expectation as Ihave at this time, of such a termination of the present controversy as would be satisfactory to me, and, I believe, to a large majority of the people of Virginia." TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA. We deem it our duty, as your Representatives at Washington, to lay before you such information as we possess in regard to the probable action of Congress in the present alarming condition of the country. At the beginning of this session, now more than half over, committees were appointed, in both Houses of Congress, to consider the state of the Union. Neither committee has been able to agree upon any mode of settlement of the pending issues between the North and the South. The Republican members in both committees rejected propositions acknowledging the right of property in slaves, or recommending the division of the Territories between the slaveholding and non-slaveholding States by a geographical line. and In the Senate, the propositions commonly known as Mr. Crittenden's were voted against by every Republican Senator; the House, on a vote by ayes and noes, refused to consider certain propositions, moved by Mr. Etheridge, which were even less favorable to the South than Mr. Crit tenden's. A resolution giving a pledge to sustain the President in the use of force against the seceding States, was adopted in the House of Representatives by a large majority; and in the Senate every Republican voted to substitute for Mr. Crittenden's propositions resolutions offered by Mr. Clark of New Hampshire, declaring no new concessions, guarantees, or amendments to the Constitution were necessary; that the demands of the South were unreasonable, and that the remedy for the present danger was simply to enforce the laws; in other a words, coercion and war. ng In this state of facts, our duty is to warn you that it is vain to hope for any measures of conciliation or adjustment (from Congress) which you could accept. We are also satisfied that the Republican party designs, by civil war alone, to coerce the Southern States, under the pretext of enforcing the laws, unless it shall become speedily apparent that the seceding States are so numerous, determined and united, as to make such an attempt hopeless. We are confirmed in these conclusions by our general intercourse here; by the speeches of the Republican leaders here and elsewhere; by the recent refusals of the Legislatures of Vermont, Ohio and Pennsylvania, to repeal their obnoxious Personal Liberty Laws; by the action of the Illinois Legislature on resolutions approving the Crittenden propositions, and by the adoption of the resolutions in the New York and Massachusetts Legislatures (doubtless to be followed by others) offering men and money for the war of coercion. date. We have thus placed before you the facts Special Despatch to Union and American. and conclusions which have become manifest to us from this post of observation men have carried the Convention overwhelmRichmond, (Va.) Feb. 5th.-Resistance where you have placed us. There is nothingly. Submission Unionists, not twenty ing to be hoped from Congress-the remedy elected is with you alone, when you assemble in sovereign Convention. We conclude by expressing our solemn conviction that prompt and decided action, by the people of Virginia in Convention, will afford the surest means under the Providence of God, of averting an impending civil war, and preserving the hope of reconstructing a Union already dissolved. J. M. MASON, R. M. T. HUNTER, D. C. DE JARNETTE, M. R. H. GARNETT, SHELTON F. LEAKE, E. S. MARTIN, H. A. EDMUNDSON, ROGER A. PRYOR, THOS. S. Bocock, A. G. JENKINS. Washington City, January 26th, 1861. [Owing to the detention of Ex-Governor Smith, at his home in Virginia, by sickness, this address could not be presented to him for his signature. There is no doubt he would have joined in it, if present.] STIRRING THE FIRES. The Richmond Examiner of Friday last contains the following despatch, intended to "operate" on the election to be held in Virginia to-day: "The following despatch fully explains itself. The voters of Virginia cannot now fail to perform their duty: "Charleston, January 30th, 1861. "To Judge Hopkins, Richmond, Virginia: Reinforcements have been ordered ENQUIRER. From another column of the same paper. THE OLD DOMINION-ALL HAIL! From the Nashville Union of February 7th. Listen to the following glorious news from old Virginia: Richmond, Feb. 6th.-To Wm. Williams: The Submissionists will not number thirty in the Convention. The Resistance men have more than one hundred elected. The action of the Convention will be prompt as soon as the Washington Conference adENQUIRER. journs. Will Tennessee elect members to her Convention that wish to wait, wait, wait until Black Republicanism trample us in the dust or kick us out? We are indebted (says the Charlotte Bul letin) to our much-esteemed Senator, the Hon. T. L. CLINGMAN, for the following highly important-information, by telegraph dated: |