The southern press. [volume], June 27, 1850, Image 3

About The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852

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From Urn Union
To theBditor ofttoVMoa.
Sib : On my return from New York a
day or two aince, a friend in this city placed
in my hands the following extract from a
correspondent of the Journal of Commerce :
Mr, Benton proposed in his speech the
other day to give Texas fifteen millions; but
she will oe content with ten, and her creditors
have agreed to take eight.
One of the modes in which hostility to
any adjustment is manifested is by representing
the offer to Texas as bribery and fraud;
and it is even alleged that members of Congress,
and politicians influential jyiih Congress,
are interested in Texas funds.
tu a, jv? en,.tk~rn ?i_
* ?*v VUVigg VV/II1W9 A A VIII me K/yubuvi II MI
tras and the Northern Abolitionists. Mr.
Wallace, of South Carolina, makes it in his
letter to his constituents.
One Southern gentleman, who ia as ultra
as Mr. Wallace himself,* and who was selected
by the governor of South Carolina as
the successor of Mr. Calhoun?I mean Genera)
Janes Hamilton?is said to be interested
in or to represent a portion of the
stock. But no friends or promoters of the
compromise scheme are at all interested in it,
so far as I have ever learned.
It is only this morning that 1 have been
able to obtain a copy of the letter of Mr.
Wallace to bis constituents, to which the
above paragraphs refer.
Whether, in the language of the New
York correspondent^ 1 am as ultra as Mr.
Wallace, 1 think it needless to stop to in
IJUirCj UUl II liic tuui|;aiiiH.Hi ncio icvoidcuj
perhaps the constituents ot that gentleman
might regard it as a very equivocal sort ol
compliment to his discretion to be deetned as
ultra as myself.
As, however, the very stringent bill of indictment
which Mr. Wallace has preferred
against the bond-holders of the late republic
of Texas, the correspondent of the Journal oi
Commerce has applied somewhat personally
to myself, I feel it a duty I owe at least to
the interests of those I represent,, if not to
my own character, to notice as briefly as
possible Mr. Wallace's letter.
I do this in no spirit of unkindness towards
that gentleman, whom I know to be an able,
and 1 believe to be singularly honest and
most worthy individual, not a little prone by
the force of opinions honestly entertained, to
that occasional inflammation to which we are
liable who happen to live in the parallel of
32 deg. 50 min. and in the 79th degree of longitude
west of Greenwich. As no one has
probably suffered more under this fever than
myself, there can be none more ready to
forgive it in others.
r :n tvjt- aat~ 11
I will) iijuieuvei, uu uuiu irii. auace
and myself the justice to believe that the
paragraphs which I am about to quote, and on
which I am about to comment, were written
without a direct or even remote allusion to
myself. Our intercourse in this place has
been too kind and civil (I may say, almost
at the death-bed of our late illustrious and
distinguished countryman) to justify such
a belief. If I could entertain such an opinion,
I think Mr. Wallace knows enough ol
me to be convinced that I should not have
selected the columns of your paper as a mode
of seeking either vindication or redress.
What I am going to say shall be said
without one particle of personal disrespect to
that gentleman; for however we South Carolinians
may sometimes wrangle at home,
when we are in a land exterior to our own,
the generous and noble sympathies which
belong to the country which gave us birth,
unite us in fraternal affections which are seldom
to be violated, or, if violated, their violation
to be always deplored.
But Mr. Wallace has made a very rough
onslaught on a very unfortunate class of
sufferers, known in common parlance as the
public creditors of Texas, whose griefs,
without a profane interpolation, might constitute
a new chapter in Job, if we could only
have the benefit of the labors of that great and
inspired historian of human wo. But as we
have no such help or " appliances to boot, "
I must perform this office, however imperfectly,
myself.
In its performance, Mr. Wallace must
not expect, as old Dennis says, to have " all
the horss play " to himself. " He who
plays at bowls must expect to meet with
rubbers." I say this, sir, without a premeditated
vindictiveness or " any malice aforethought;"
for I assure you, in all sincerity,
considering the weakness of Mr. Wallace's
argument, I am somewhat relieved that he
has not put more strength in his virtuperation.
I will now recal to your readers what Mr.
Wallace says on this subject.
It will be seen by the length of the quotation,
I am disposed to do entire justice to
the argument of Mr. Wallace, whatever
may be its force. He rays:
"Next in order is the purchase from Texas,
a slave State, of 79,000,000 cf acres. If
this territory be purchased, it will thereby j
be taken out of the compact of annexation, j
and placed under the jurisdiction of the AboJifipn
Government of the United States; and
who can doubt for a moment that slavery
will be abolished in it, and that it will be
formed into at least three free States, and
brought into the Union??for they can get
into the Union no other way. This is
one design of the scheme. That is, to take
the Texas territory, abolish slavery in it,
and dupe the South by making tbem contribute
their share out of the public treasury
to pay for it. Mr. Clay holds to the doctrine,
that if it be purchased, slavery will
be excluded by Mexican laws.
"There is another feature of this proposition
which I will now bring to your notice.
. When Texas was admitted into the. Union,
she owed a national debt of about ten millions
of dollars. She reserved her unapnrnnriated
lands to Dav this dnht* Th#? hill
proposing to purchase these lands of Texas
provides that the purchase money shall be
first applied to the payment of the same
debt. This proposition?which is, in fact,
a gross insult to Texas, as it clearly implies
that she cannot be trusted with the fund, to
dispose of it as her national faith shall demand?has
in it another secret object.
"The evidence of the national debt of
Texas is in bonds. These bonds are held
bv many perseps other than the citizens of
Texas. They have been bought up perhaps
by adventurous speculators, at great
sacrifice, below their par value. The proposition
to pay the money for these lands
would, under any circumstances, involve a
design of bribery and corruption. To propose
to pay it directly to these bondholders
at the public treasury, is a direct, attemptto
bribe every Texan bondholder in the United
States to the support of the whole scheme
of adjustment a* a unit. Who are tbeae
bondholders? Are any of the high func
tionariea of government stockholders ia these
bonds? Who will answer this grave inquiry?
How many agents of these bondholders
are lobby members, and who throng
the purlieus of the Capitol, ready to grasp
the promised spbils ? Tons of silver and
gold are at stake upon the issue made by
Mr. Clay's writ in partition of the public
treasury. All of a sudden the productions
of a numerous list of letter-writers crowd
the pages of the " Union," who discourse
eloquently about the proposed plan of capitulation,
and the South are, in etfect, gravely
told that, inasmuch as defeat is certain, they
had better accept Mr. Clay's plan ot settlement,
as it is framed to enable the South to
surrender with the best possible grace.?
Th?w in ftffar.t. admit that it in an undid
guised capitulation; but Mr. Clay, who is
now the great Free-Soil leader, magnanimously
concedes to us the honor of marching
from the held, with our swords drawn,
our drums beating, and our colors flying.
"To Massena, the marshal of b ranee, a
similar concession was made at the seige ot
Genoa. When bis soldiers marched out ol
the city, they were covered with rags and
vermin. They looked like spectres oi men,
to such a deplorable condition were they reduced
by famine and pestileuce. They staggered
under the weight of the arms they had
so nobly used in defence of their country's
honor. They deserved a better fate. But
were I to accept in your name the terms of
capitulation now offered by Mr. Clay, 1
should, in my judgment, deserve a worse
fate."
1 shall in some degree reverse the order
of this category of ills, if I am compelled by
the continuity of the narrative to end with
the seige of Genoa and Massena's ragamuffins.
Mr. Wallace says that when Texas was
admitted into the Union "she owed a debt
of ten millions." This is a small mistake?
immaterial, however, to the issue. She in
point of fact owed a debt of fifteen millions.
He says a proposition to pay this debt by the
Government of the United States, as an
.equivalent for a cession of territory, would
involve, 1st, a design of bribery and corruprinn
(\ nrp?iimf> nf Tpvan tn rpII Kpr lnnrl'^
< ""*? I ? idly,
to bribe every Texas bondholder to
iupport the whole scheme of adjustment as
i unit; 3dly, that the provision in Mr. Clay's
bill, that the bonds for which the Government
of the United States is considered responsible
should be first paid, is, in fact, " a
gross iasult to Texas;" 4thly, that these
bondholders are " lobby members, who have
bought up the securities they hold at great
jacrifice below their par value, and who
throng the purlieus of the Capitol, ready to
grasp the promised spoils"?yes, "tons oj
Iold and silver;" 5thly, that the purchase ol
79,000,000 acres of slave territory is to make
chree free States, that they may be brought
.nto the Union; for they can get in, in no
jther way.
1st. Of the design of bribing and corrupting
Texcs. It certainly involves I should
think, a very small portion of moral obliquity
to afford an inducement to people to pay
their just debts. It is a pity that the world
?vas not a little more open to this species of
corruption. We should have more honest
men and fewer rogues.
But Mr. Wallace happens to forget that
for a large portion of this debt of Texas?
yes, fully three-fourths of it, the Government
of the United States is responsible, not only
on every principle of national faith, public
and municipal law, but on certain canons ol
common honesty, which Don Fabricio himself,
in that amusing history ofhuman nature,
known under the title of Gil Bias de Santillane,
would not be inclined entirely to repudiate.
For the payment of this portion of the
public debt of Texas, the then republic
solemnly pledged her revenues arising from
custom-house duties. By the articles of annexation,
the Government of the United
States very quietly appropriated in perpetuity
the whole of this ample and immediately
productive fund to itself, and by a compact
between Texas and herself, remitted without
their consent, the creditors of the latter to
the public lands for their payment.
I had the honor, under the appointment
of the revenue bondholders, to prepare and
present the memorial to both houses of Congress
at the commencement of the present
session of Congress. I beg leave to submil
a brief summary of the argument comprised
in that memorial, which, in my humble
judgment, establishes the liability of the
Government of the United. States to the
revenue debt of Texas beyond the possibility
of refutation:
" Your memorialists do not think it necessary,
at this moment, to discuss, how far, under
the law of nations, the Government of the
United States had a right to stipulate against
a general liability for that portion of the
public debt of Texas for which her public
lands and her public faith and credit were
alone pledged. It is quite sufficient for our
purpose to affirm that our security for the
payment ?f her debt to us is not to be impeached
by any such stipulation. We held
a specifie pledge of her revenues arising
from her custom-house duties, and contend
that that security has neither been annulled,
defeated, r.or impaired, by the act of annexation,
nor by any stipulation between
Texas and the United States, " that the latter
was in no event to be called upon to pay
the public debt of the former."
"This assumption is founded on the fact
that we held a lien on all the revenues ol
Texas, prior to her annexation to the Union,
connected within her limits, and that this
lien must continue through all time, until
the interest and principal of the debt we held
is finally paid oil and extinguished.
"A stipulation between the United States
and Texas, that the public lands of the latter
should be the only source from which hei
public debt was to be paid, is surely not
binding on us. We were no parties to this
stipulation, nor was our consent asked to relinquish
our lien on the only certain and productive
fund for our navment. and take a sc
curity of remote and doubtful availability.
"But, whatever may have beep and may
be the value of the pledge of the public lands
of Texas, we had that security already on
which the articles of annexation conferred no
new obligation.
"The United States, therefore, could have
taken a cession of ti e revenues arising from
the custom house duties of Texas only cum
outre, burdened with the mortgage we hold.
" We respectfully urge that the inviolability
of our right could only be permanently invaded
by a breach of the public faith.
"The invincible strength of the principle i
for which we contend mey be illustrated Dy
a case between private individuals.
"What court of equity or good conscience
would tolerate or permit a roort?*?er; without '
the consent of the mortgagee, to extinguish <
the mortgage on a valuable and productive '
security by a sale, even for a valuable consideration
to a purchaser, with notice merely <
by covenanting to substitute another subject
of property, unproductive and valueless, for
an indefinite period ? Nor would the iact
that this subject of property, inferior and unproductive,
was embraced in the original
mortgage, furnish even a plausible pretext
for depriving the creditor of his valuable
pledge, and postponing bis payment idefinitely.
"A principle so manifestly unjust could not
have been contemplated by either the republic
of Texas or the Government of the
United States.
"The stipulation against the assumption
?r v ? tu 11.
VI illV f/UVUV, VJ V V V VI A V A U 9 1/ J lllw VIIUVU
States was against a general liability. It.
would be impossible to suppose that, as the
debt we hold is charged on the revenues of
Texas arising from customs, the United
States would in pepetuity appropriate these
duties to herself, without ultimately providing
for our payment, .and satisfying a
mortgage now resting on the imposts ol
Texas under the highest sanctions of the
public faith.
"Our right remains as unimpaired since the
act of annexation as it was before.
"We cannot believe that either Texas or
the United States intended any act of injustice
towards us; yet it would be eminently
unjust for the United States to receive from
Texas a grant of her custom-house duties
with a purpose of defeating our lien on
them.
"Between man and man, justice will not
j permit any one to destry another's right, by
| contracting for the purchase of a title with
a person that is known to be under a legal
and moral duty to others, inconsistent with
that title. The law will not sanction a purchase
made in prejudice to another man's
right. In our case the principle applies with
all its force. VVe trusted Texas on the security
of her custom-duties, and the United
States received a transfer of these duties,
with an exclusive and paramount faculty ol
levying them as long as this confederacy
shall last."
Others may add to the force of this argument,
I cannot. If it be valid, the Government
ot the United States, by Mr. Clay's
adjustment, is to receive a 'compensation ol
some seventy or eighty millions of acres ol
land, which, at twenty-five cents per acre,
would be worth some twenty millions oi
dollars, as a bonus to pay a debt of its own
of some tenor twelve millions. Yet Mr.
Wallace thinks this bribery and corruption.
If, however, this should not be a correct inference
from his argument, the acceptance
of this cession and the payment of this money
'9?
j 2d. To " bribe every Texas bondholder
[ to support the whole scheme of adjustment
as a unit."
Mr. Wallace, I am quite sure, did not intend
to designate me as this integrated and
potential unit, although the correspondent ol
the Journal of Commerce would seem to give
color to the inference that Mr. Wallace did
intend to charge me with this guilt; yet he
has the charity to absolve me from its turpitude,
by affirming that I am as great an
ultra as Mr. Wallace himself.
Unit is certainly for myself a very unlucky
term ; for 1 believe, under the kind:
ness and confidence of others, I am almost
I rL? -4. i_ * I 1
me uiuy ugcm ui me ueui who uus appeureu
at Washington since the meeting of the
bondholders on the 11th ot February last, to
represent the debt in question and to advocate
its payment. Where the other bondholders
who have thronged the Capitol are,
I am at a loss to conjecture. Whether 1
have been bribed into the support of Mr.
Clay's bills will appear from the following
brief summary :
The memorial which I presented to Con
gress, and which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary in both house#?tlr.
i prayer of the memorial neither asked, anticipated,
nor had any reference to the scheme
of Mr. Clay. That gentleman-had offeied
his resolutions of adjustment before he presented
our memorial. The prayer of the
memorial does not ask his scheme of compromise.
I beg leave to recite its prayer:
"In reference to their own debt your memorialists
respectfully pray, that as the principal
part ol the impost levied on the consumption
of Texas is collected at New York and
New Orleans, by proper enactments you
call for a registry of our bonds at the treasury
of the United States, where they are
alone to be transferred, and give us for the
semi-annual interest coupons, debentures on
the custom-house at New York and New
Orleans receivable in payment of the public
duties, or payable in cash at the offices of
the assistant treasury in those cities; and that
the receipts of the custom-houses in Texas
be set apart as a permanent and accumulating
s nkingfund for the final extinguishment
of the nrinciDal of our bonds?without, in
deed, you should prefer providing by law for
an issue of bonds of the Government of the United
States, bearing an interest of six pel.
cent, in equivalent amounts to the bonds we
hold, redeemable at the pleasure of the Government,
in full satisfaction of our debt.
It is quite true we suggested to Congress the
probability that Texas would willinglly cede'to
the United States the proprietary interest in her
public lands, without any allusion to a cession in
sovereignty for the payment of her public debt, as
will appear in the concluding paragraph of the
memorial; which reads as follows:
"We believe, from the recent official declaration
of two of the governors of Texas and infallible
tokens of public sentiment among the people,
Texas is prepared to cede such portion of her
public lands to the United States, (which doubtless,
in the end, would vastly transcend in value i
the amount of her debt,) that it may be paid in
good faith to her public creditors. If Texas lias
not pressed heretofore on the Government of the i
Union formal proposals providing for this object, i
it has, perhaps, resulted from a feeling of delicacy i
and pride connected with the stipulations con- i
la in en in the articles of annexation. But it is i
known to your memorialist that her people great- I
lv desire to do amnle malice to iheir mihlic rrcrli- i
tors." i
Ami here permit me to remark that, when the
Government of the United States took the whole
of the custom-house revenues, they lookout of <
our possession, without our consent, the whole of .
the available security which we had. Nearly all I
thepublicdomsin ofany value within the whiteset- '
dements had been appropriated by actual settlers, t
or had been patented to those holding land cerlifi- t
cutes. If wf had sought the public lands in payment
of our debts, wc should have had, at great t
risk of life, without the smallest military protec- <
tion, to penetrate a remote und savuge territory,
over which the Indiana roam with a degree of li- t
cense which finds its parallel alone in the rude t
wanderings of the ancient Scythians. To us, <
these lands would be utterly valueless. To the I
United States, it would be the reverse, from the t
means of the government to survey and sectionize .?
them, I would not take them at two cents per i
acre. Indeed, without the risk of exchanging the 8
parchment of our patents for the covering or our t
cr&niums we cannot secure their location. Yet r
Mr. Wallace proposes to turn the public creditors i
of Texas over on these agreeable bowling greens, t
to play scalp-and-tomahawk with the Indians, tn c
/ Ju 1 ?- full
s&Ua&ction of our respective debts; whilst the 1
custom-house duties of Texas, to which we have |
a legal as well as morel claim, shall be applied to
the lips of the exhausted treasury of this poor 1
Government of ours ?
By sanctioning a spoliation and proceeding j
like this, Congress would virtually repudiate the <
whole of the Texas debt, aad in point of fact t
leave us without remedy in the premises. In case i
our Government does, however, indulge in this I
repudiation, 1 will make afttir offer to Mr, Wal- I
lace. If he will go into the Indian territory I
of Texas, and undertake the location of the t
lands in which 1 should be interested under this t
mode of payment, I will give him one-half of the <
whole for his trouble. It is humane that I should 1
give hiin notice that 1 doubt whether he would I
locate enough land to bury him before Bowlegs, I
or Red-stick, would have his scalp hung up in I
his wigwam of buffalo hides, as a curious sped- <
men of the once capacious covering of the line (
frontal development of a Carolina nullifier. i
But, to return to the bribery and corruption'of i
the Texas bondholders an m unit to support Mr. <
Clay'? adjustment. As I believe I have been al- |
most the sole representative here, let me speak ;
from the card. - I
My friend, Judge Butler, chairman of the Ju- <
diciury Committee of the Senate, will do me the I
justice to say that I have urged repeatedly the ac- <
tion of his committee on the memorial 1 presented ]
to Congress, totally irrespective of Mr. Clay's <
bills, because I do not wish this measure of just <
indemnity blended with political questions, which
might defeat it. But both himself and Mr. Thompson,
(of Pennsylvania,) the highly distinguished
chnirman of the committee in the House, have
said thai it was hopeless to expect the action of
their respective committees until Mr. Clpy's Adjustment
should find its final solution, and it
should be seen what disposition might be made
of it by that measure. Now. 1 will go one step
further in relation to Mr. Wallace's unfounded
charge. I do not believe that a single Texan bondholder
had solicited a single member of Congress
to support Mr. Clay's Compromise. At least 1
can soeak authoritatively Tor myself. -As an
humble citizen of this country, and certainly as
a Southern man not very liable " to sevee fits of
moderation," I be~ leave to say, without essential
modification, Mr, Clay's plan would not have
met my acceptance, however 1 itight approve in
some respects of the general outline or pacification
involved in that scheme, or (lie patriotic motive
which dictated its preparation. That gentleman,
with the indulgent forbearance which always
belongs to genius and often to conscious power,
at an early period of the session, allowed me to
suggest to him a scheme of Adjustment, but which
lte thought, perhaps, too strongly Southern to authorize
a hope for its adoption, however much he
might have approved of some of its provisions.
1 think, therefore, that Mr. Clay's decoction of
tin; (or ns the gentlemen of the fancy have it,) of
"blunt," has not been so potential a drug in seducing
us from our allegiance to the South as Mr.
Wallace supposes.
Whilst 1 have looked to Mr.Clay's plan of adjustment
as a scheme which in its progress might
be so amended as to tranquilize tne country, 1
huve always at the same time looked to the ultimate
payment by the United States of the public
debt of Texas, for which her revenues had been
pledged, as beyond the contingencies of Mr.
Clay's bill because it rests on obligations so man
ifest as not to be susceptible of violation, except
by a gross breach of national honor.
4thlv. That the provision in Mr. Clay's bill,
that4 tne bonds, for the payment of which the
Government of the United ^States is supposed to
be responsible,should be first paid, is "a gross insult
to Texaa." If the pride of Texas is offended
by this provision, I snould regard her us far
more testy than Sir Anthony Absolute in the
play. But whether in a sale, considering that the
subject matter of the sale is specially mortgaged
for the debt, and for which the vendee is specially
liable, he has not a right to stipulate, without offending
tli* self-love of the vendor, that he shall
take up this lien out of'tlie purchase money, I
think a lawyer would be ut no loss to decide,
however difficult the problem to a preux chevalier,
whose optics might be fur more accute in discovering
insult and indignity. Hudibras says that
pigs can actually see the wind; and there is no
knowing how little a man can see who wishes to
be blind, or bow fur by extending his vision to
see what no one else can see.
5thly. That the bondholders are lobby members,
who have bought up these securities they
hold at a great sacrifice below their par value,
"who throng the purlieus of the capitof, ready to
grasp the promised spoils." Yes, "tons of gold
and silver.'
There are two affirmations of matters of fact,
in this statement which are worthy of the serious
consideration of Mr. Wallace. Who are the
bondholders who have thronged the Capitol, so
much to the annoyance of honorable members in
passing through the lobbies to the Restaurants to
take their veal cutlet and punchIt has not been
my good fortune, with all the sympathy which
belongs to common sufferers, to have seen one
solitary bondholder howling about "the purlieus
of the Capitol " Perhaps Air. Wallace thinks
every man he meets in the rotunda aTexnn bondholder
who has a suspicious appearance, more
especially if lie bus a "lean and hungry look."
I can scarcely bring myself within the category of
a lobby-member, as l happened to have the privilege
of an entree on the noor of both houses, and
ceftainly I have not disturbed the tranquility of
any gentleman who happens to receive eight dollars
a day and his mileage, with the privilege from
a high place of abusing those who happen to be
outside of the Capitol.
Has Mr. Wallace taken the trouble to inibrm
himself whether the bondholders of Texas are
indeed a gang of adventurous speculators, who
have bought up her securities at a sacrifice far below
their par value ?
Let me give that gentleman a few facts in the
place of his conjectures. The State of Texas has
taken due precaution, by instructing her auditor
and comptroller to report a scheme of reduction
for the payment of their public debt, by which o
nominal debt is reduced one-half in amount; by
which the bonds are not to be paid by the obligation
on the face of them, but by what at a period
of great need the government received on these
securities when their credit was at some 80 per
cent, below par. So that it will be clearly perceived
that 1 exas is likely to take effectual measures
to prevent adventurous speculators fYom
receiving tne fruits of their fraud, to wit: by receiving
what Texas promised to pay.
Let m# tell the gentlemen, that on three-fourths
of the large debt that I represent here, Texas received
par on every farthing, and that the balance
(the other fourth) she has made par by a special
covenant under seal from the extreme value of
the loan, at a moment of great peril in her history.
Even this latter loan was scarcely negotiated at a
larger discount than the Government of the United
States were compelled to borrow during the war
of 1812.
Gthly. That the purchase of 79,000,000 acres
of slave territory is to make three free Stutes, that ;
they may get into the Union; for they can get in
in no other way.
Now, sir, 1 do not consider the Texas bondholders
as in the smallest degree responsible for
this purchase. Mr. Clay iiu/erted this provision <
in his bill without consulting us, and I do not
know that our claim should be prejudiced by the i
odium which is attached to this meditated transaction.
Mr. Wallace may rest satisfied, even if
the Government of the United States should be
willing to buy, Texas will never sell below 36
deg. 30 min., except it may be with a slight
deflection front, or curve run in, the line, to
enable the inhabitants of New Mexico to retain
their ancient capital of Santa Fc. All above 36
dcg. 30 min. is destined, on being formed into a
new State, to be a free Stute by the articles
of annexation. But suppose, after this cession
and during the territorial condition of New Mexico,
a sufficient number of Southern emigrants
for the purpose of working the mines should go
into New Mexico, and determine to establish
slavery among her institutions, what becomes of
Mr. Wallace's objections?
Slavery will be governed by the laws of physical
geography rather than by a. code of ethics.
All that the South contends for is, that it shall not
>e excluded by the political organization in the
l'erritorics from their enjoyment. On this point
ivery Southern man is prepared to nail his colors
jo the mast,
Ono would really suppose that it was seriously
neditated that the General Government should
inter the limits of Texas like a press-gang, on
rower Hill, knock Texas down, and compel her
o swallow a dose so uncomfortable to digest as
welve millionsof dollars. It is alleged that a sale
>f her territory would involve great national disionor
to herself. Georgia sold her territory to
he Government of the United States at a cost of
tome fifteen millions?ont of which the States of
Vlabama and Mississippi were formed without
iny such imputed humiliation. A plain man,
inder the influence of this species of Quixotism,
night think that there would be for less discredit
n Texas selling her land than in leaving her debt
inpaid. We wish no sovereignty purchased for e
>ur payment, but that the <ftbt should be paid r
with the least possible disturbance to the public
peace.
It is high time, sir, that I should bring this
ong narrative to a close.
Mr. Wallace thinks if we accept Mr. Clay's
Adjustment, we shall acquiesce in a dishonorable
:apitulation. Let us see what this Adjustment is
.0 be beflire we make up our judgment. If we
Hibmil to dishonor, we shall have nobody to
dame but ourselves for our craven cowardice.
Massena may have marched out of Genoa with
tia troops covered with rags and vermin, or in
<ilk? perfumed with cologne, but what is that to
m, or "to Hecubu?" I am sure, if we are
iestined to march out of the Capitol, it will be
uvith neither, but with our side arms, "flags
lying and drums beating," as Mr. Wallace says.
I am sure, at least, my friend Mr. Wallace will
h> one of the nioat portly-looking captives that
?v*r come out of u besieged city?fat and welllicssed,
and not an <ifflnsive iiuecl within I'ortv
bet of him. Now, sir, suppose we of the South
tre prohibited by the Wilmot Proviso, or any
ilher proviso, from hiking our slaves into the
territories?rlhe common property of the people ol
ill the Stales, or thut a State with slave institution*,
with nevertheless a republican form of government,
should be denied admission into this
Union. Mr. Wallace and myself at least know
jite Stat* which would not ask Mr. Clay for the
honors of a capitulation, or apply to a Nashville
Convention for instructions. She could walk out
of the Union and stand bv her arms; and 1 think
1 should pay both Mr. Wallace and myself a
poor compliment, if I did not believe our position
would be easily debited in such a conjuncture.
With u firm conviction of the truth of this declaration,
I ant not the less sensible of the policy
of an honorable pacification of the painful controversy
which now divides the people of thisxouiiiry.
1 do not think it wise or well tempered to
denounce those who may differ in opinion with
us rather on matters of detail than principle, or
still less to speak disparagingly of those who, if
they cannot do every tiling for the South, are prepared
to do all they can. It does not belong, 1
hope, to whut I believe was (Rice the ancient
chivalry of South Carolinu to stigmatize, as a
base scheme of knavery, intended for no other
purpose but to cheat, an Adjustment which comes
from a man who is now verging on eighty?on
the brink, perhaps, of a grave, which whenever he
finds it will be an honored one?the splendor of
whose genius is a fit garniture for (he loftiness of
his spirit?a scheme which has summoned to its
nid another gentleman, the noble benevolence ol
whose heart and whose august intellect have not
sheltered hint front persecution and inlUntous
slander at the threshold of his own home, for
during to sny one word in the spirit of peace for
his distracted country, or one word in a spirit of
justice for us?a scheme which numbers among
its adherents those who fearlessly are sacrificing
ihemseLjrt's at home in the effort to protect our
rights tuid interests here. No, sir, 1 cannot come
up exactly to the pitch of this proscriptive denunciation.
If Circumstances had permitted me to have accepted
the seat in the Senate of the United States
from South Carolina which wus offered me,
whilst 1 should have borne a perfect loyalty to
the principles, and sentiments, and wishes ol the
people 1 represented?for this is a crisis in
which I could have occupied no middle ground?
even at the sacrifice (if need had been) of my own
interests ; yet I should have felt, with the more
matured views of hitman life, that in being conscious
of the integrity of my own motives, it was
at once an office of humanity to have some little
Ciiiiriiy in lmerjirciiiig iiiuwc ui mucin.
Mr. Wallace has certainly laid about him with
an indiscriminate, (and he will pardon me for
saying) with a somewhat uncharitable violence,
toward a class of persons whose course has at
least been free here from all olfence, and whose
misfortunes should rather have recommended them
to his sympathy.
He is my countryman, and I part with him
now rather in good humor than otherwise ; although
in the comprehensiveness and minuteness
of his sweep, he has been something like that
great, but capriciously tempered animal in the
show, who, ir he sometimes uses his lithe proboscis
to pick up a pin, or draw a cork from a bottle
of brown stout, often employs his truncated and
sinuous organ for a widely different purpose.?
And to us poor Texan bondholders, wno have received
a wipe from this terrible instrument of
flexibility and tension, it is even but a poor consolation,
in prowling about the purlieus of the
Capitol, in our flight to exclaim, "We have seen
the ELEPHANT!"
I remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient
servant, J. HAMILTON,
of South Carolina.
Washington, June 25.
Ttlegraphed to the Arte York Herald.
The Great Telegraph Case.
Boston, June 24, 1850.
r. 0. j. smith vs. hugh downing and others.
This trial, previously noticed, has now occupied
the attention of the United States District
Court for the Eastern Division of Massachusetts,
for nearly a week. Hon. Levi Woodbury, ol
the Supreme Court, presides.
The action on the part of the plaintiff consists
in an application to the Court for an injunction
against the defendants, for using House's printing
telegraph, which is claimed to lie an infringement
of Morse's patent.
. Chas. L. Woodbury, Esq., opened the case for
the defence in an able and ingenious argument,
adducing the testimony of various scientific men,
well versed in electrical sciences, to prove that
Morse's claim, in his patent, was too broad, and
included things previously discovered by others;
and in no respect did the invention of Mr. House
infringe or interfere, in the slightest degree, with
Professor Morse's invention of his telegraph machine.
Mr. Woodbury was succeeded by Mr. Gilford,
of New York, on the same side, who has consumed
the best part of four days in a veryable
and argumentative speech. He has gone
elaborately into the whole history of electrical discoveries
having a bearing upon telegraphs?show
ing what progress had been made in Germany, and
other parts of Europe, prior to Morse's first suggestion
on the subject. He also adduced the
evidence of Professors Henry, Renwick, Jackson,
Silliman, and other scientific men, which he said
proved what Morse could claim and could not
claim. He said that House's instrument entirely
differed from Morse's?that it interfered with no
principle, or parts, or part of apparatus to which
Morse was justly entitled. He also went into
careful and minute analysicnl descriptions of the
two machines to show that House's was organized
and worked in a separate and distinct manner
from that of Morse. He contended that electomagnetic
motion was a motive power discovered
before Morse ever thought of telegraphs, and that
he could not make it the subject of a patent. He
then went into an able and masterly review of
Morse's old patent, and of his celebrated re-issue,
and endeavored, from the documents themselves,
to show their weakness and invalidity. The
whole speech would amply repay perusal.
Mr. Gifford will probably close to-day. He
will be followed to-morrow by the Hon. Rufus
Choate, for defendant#. After whom the counsel
for plaintiff will be heard, viz: P. O. J. Smith,
snd R. B. Curtis, Esijrs.
From the Pacific News, May 15.
Commercial and Financial Affairs.
Until the disastrous fire of the 4th instant , business
improved rapidly. Purchasers from the surrounding
country were buying to a considerable
sxtent, and staple marketable articles found ready
iale. Flour had advanced in price, and remained
iirm with an upward tendency. Money was dedining
from previous high rates of interest, and
owns offered, where securities wsre undoubted,
is low as six per cent, per month. The lumber
market was nllYiost entirely inactive, trade sales
rare, and forced sales for payment of freight the
mly transactions of moment. The cargo of the
Susan Dove, sold just previous to the fire, averaged
J40 per m. ; and although the lumber was partly of
i !-. J.... : i i :
mpruTCU ivjuun, nun u?nijini?uu suiuc iiuusts, me
talcs wu generally considered an advance upon
previous rates.
The occurrence of the fire completely suspended
business operations for one day, and partially
iheekcd them for two or three days; subsequently,
md during the whole following week, with some
exceptions, its depressing influence upon the
narket and business matters, has been apparent.
Holders of money immediately claimed advanced
ates of interest; holders of real estate, in business
ocations, advanced rents, anc^ "Valuation; prices
)f lumber from the yards adfanced 100 per cent.,
md of bricks and some other building materials
n about the same proportion. These advances
lave not all been sustained. Capitalists have 1
alien back from rates of interests first claimsd,
he fire having curtailed many opportunities of
nvMtment upon securities before considered un- I
loubted. <
fCy-Talking of "enlargingnewspapers, the <
editor of the Chicago Journal suggests , that it's <
iot the largest calf that makes the best real.
From the Florence (Jila.) Gazette.
Wa?ihnutow, May SB, 1850.
Dear Sir: Since one of the editors in the district
which I have the honor to represent has
charged me with sentiments not friendly to the *
Union, for no other reason that I can discover, 1
unless it he my exertions to hinder and delay f
abolition movements, 1 now ask you to publish
my opinions upon the new scheme of president- 8
making?called union, compromise, concession, f
adjustment, fraternity, and equality between
North and South, black and white. "
We will now examine it in all its parts, and '
see what the scheme will now effect, and what it
may be expected to accomplish in the future.
Part 1st gives all the vast territory obtained
from Mexico by conquest, treaty, and purchase,
up to abolition.
Part 2d gives up, also, a large portion of Texas,
i.. ... t. ft. ... m;u..u.;?ni ti,
abolition.
Did my constituents?any of them?when they
voted for me, expect me to give votes for either of
these parts of the scheme?
Part 3d, in order to reconcile Texas for making
two abolition States out of her territory, pays or
assumes to pay Texas bonds to the amount of
(en or fifteen millions of dollars. This makes her
bonds, formerly worth ten cents in the dollar,
worth ?1 10 upon the passage of the act.
Did anybody vote for me, expecting me to
agree to this? Would I have been elected if 1
had agreed to do so?
Part 4th proposes to abolish the slave trade in
the District of Columbia, and frees the negroes
sold in violation of the law?thus giving Congress
jurisdiction, and passing an act of positive
abolition of slavery under particular contingencies.
In other words, what a citizen of any slaveliolding
State may novo lawfully do is prohibited in the
ftilure, under the penalty of losing his property,
by a law passed to please abolitionists.
Did any man vote for me, expecting that 1
would brgin abolition in this or any other manner?
1 Him ia liic extent 10 wnicn ?pouucm iiooiiuuii
will go; for it cannot digest more at any one session
of Congress.. Fanatical abolition would vote
to break up slavery to-morrow, and put black and
white upon equality at once.
Political abolition, however, knows that it will
require another presidential election to prepare
the minds of the Southern people to bear more;
but give political abolition three years, with a
powerfbl party press upon each side, combined
with strong industrial interests, upon the hopes of
affiee among all parties; connect therewith the influences
of frauds and deceptions practised in elections,
the fears bf the timid, and the love of union
with }>atriotic men of till parties, and at the end of
three years the South will be ready to bear the
'utal abolition of slavery in the District of Colombia,
in the forts, arsenals, dock-yards, und naval
stations, the slave trade between the Stales, a
prohibition against separating families, with penalties
of emancipation for all violations of its provisions.
Such a progressive step toward abolition
in this age of progression will not be greater,
if indeed it equals what is now proposed, and is
called compromise und concession.
By the second presidential election, you will
find another net of compromisers, who, to save
the Union, will be willing to enact the "English
common law" for the United States, which provides
that if a slave but touches " free soil " his
chains fall off, and he becomes a "free man."
This will hardly be considered a " new doctrine "
seven years hence.
The commandants of forces in (lie District, the
forts, naval stations, &c., &<*., will by the act be
required to register the names of nil slaves who
can touch or set foot upon these spots "consecrated
to freedom "?nnd all who do touch,
will, by the United Stutes district courts, be declared
entitled to this English liberty, and the
Supreme Court will never set aside one of their
decisions.
Nothing is easier, plainer, or more direct than
such a result,after you set out upon the road; the
I road to mill or market will not be plainer. In h
[ very short time every man who wants a public
| office, or any part of the forty millions yearly
expended by this Government, will know how to
find it, because he can obtain his desires by travelling
no other path but that which leads to abolition.
This is all I have to say now.
Respectfully, yours,
DAVID HUBBARD.
M. C. Gallawat.
Letter of the late John C. Calhoun.
We regret the necessity of again alluding
to this letter ; but the bvVwing duplicate oi
a letter to the " Sou/Arori," from Hon. D.
Wallace of South Carolina, renders it necessary.
The Submissionists have never been
sincere in their labored attempts to connect
Mr. Calhoun's name with the October Convention.
No member of that convention
has done, or ever will do it. The charge is
false, and malicious as it is false.
But we will here stale, that the name oI
.he illustrious Carolinian would not have
dimmed the lustre of the history of the October
Convention, nor would it have cooled
the ardor or abated the enthusiasm of oui
{ons in its support. Well might it have been
his act, for it would have hereafter shone out
the brighest star in a deathless fame.
We take pleasure in saying that our acquaintance
with Mr. Wallace, while sojourning
here, justifies the belief that he is a
high toned and worthy gentleman, and we
shall always be pleased to show him the hospitalities
of our state.?Jackson AUssissippian.
Washington, D. C., June 4, J850.
To the Editor of the "Southron," Jackson, Mississippi.
Sir?In your paper of the 24th ultimo, you have
given to the public an article under the caption
" Letter of Hon. John C. Calhoun," in which
you have introduced my name to your readers, in
terms not very remarkable for decorum.
1 learn from the number of your paper referred
to, that you charge interference on the part of Mr.
Culhouri, to influence the deliberations of the convention
of the people of Mississippi, which assembled
at Jackson in October last; and that I
attended that convention as the agent of South
Carolina, or of Mr. Calhoun, to influence its deliberations
in person, with a view to procure such
action as might result in a general convention of
the Southern States. You were pleased in the
the same connection, to allude to a speech which 1
lately made in Congress, as being ultra, etc.
Now, upon all these subjects you are certainly
at liberty to entertain your own opinions. You
may fbrin what opinions you think proper, in regard
to myself?my speeches in or out of Congress?and
be they favorable or unfavorable, 1
shall not sleep the lees sound on that account.
, You may prnmulge federal doctrines as much
as you please, and cringe under the crack of the
Northern whip as long ns you please. All this is
no business of mine. But when you charge that
my visit to Jackson, Mississippi, in October last,
was coupled with an intention or desire to influence
the deliberations of the convention, then and
there met, respect for the people of Mississippi,
ns well as myself, rcriuires that I should milke a
proper response lo the gratuitous and unfounded
charges.
I now state, without rpialification, that I never
did, at any time in my life, hold any conversation
with Mr. Calhoun, on the subject of the Jackson
Convention, or the Nashville Convention, until
after the meeting of the present Congress in De- J
cember last, and then the first had met and ud- journed,
and the last was already called. And I state,
further, that 110 message, either verbal or in
writing, ever passed between Mr. Calhoun and 1:
myself upon the subject of either of the said con- j
ventiona, and that every charge, allegation, and
inuendo, which have been Ailminated by llie par- 1
ty presses in reference to my connection with the t
Mississippi and Nashville conventions, art utterly 1
fdtt and unfounded. i
Will you, sir, as an act of justice, publiah this
reply to your charge against me? I
1 am, sir, with due respest,
Your most obedient servant,
% D. WALLACE. j
It is not generally known that there is a large '
Alum mine in Coosa county. It is situated in tne j
vicinity of the mouth of Hachet creek, and by a '
little exertion and industry, and a small outlay of
*apital, Alum enough could be got to supply the J
ivants of the world. It is only one link in the '
'real chain of mineral resources of Alabama.
We have almost everything in the way of minfrals
known to man in Alabama, and could we <
once secure a fair development of the resources I
of this State, would astonish the world.?8$*t$ *
Guard. I
Extract* from California Paper*.
The San Franciacp Journal </ Commerce of ths
[5th ult. says:?Yesterday, at yie Byron House,
corner of Jackson and Kearney streets, Philip
3mith, of Pennsylvania, Dennis Skelton, of Louitiaaa,
grappled each other, and commenced wresting
ill gooa humor, but the latter becoming angry,
itruck Smith with his fist, and he returned it with
ktal effect. killing Skelton dead upon the spot. A
tearing of the case was had before a jury, and
ifier an investigation Smith was discharged from
ustody.
Joseph Brokie, a native of Edinburg, Scotland,
formerly in the volunteer army ui Mexico,
was drowned in attempting to swim the river at
McLean, Jtlfrey, A Co'e Ferry, at Stockton.?
The unfortunate deceased, previous to the attempt,
deposited twenty-nine ounces of gold dust in the
bunds of Capt. Geo. Bowles.
Police report ok San Francisco.?In the
May number of the Watchman, we find a summary
of poli^ cases from September 4, 1849, to
March lit), 1850, which we transfer to our columns:?
Cases of murder - - . .4
Attempt to kill - - - 10
Larceny ----- 170
Drunkeness and disorderly conduct - 391
Delirium and attempts at suicide - 18
Perjury * - - - -2
Highway robbery - - - 3
Assault and buttery - - - 70
Mutiny - - - - - 4
Conspiracy - - - -2
Swindling - - - - 5
Burglary - - - - 1
Desertion - - - - - 40
Discharging fire-arms - - - 21
741
marriages and deaths in california.
Married.?In San Francisco, op the 7th of May,
at the manse of the First Presbyterian church, by
the Rev. A. Williams, Joseph Stedman to Eliza
Kcnnon.
On the 1st inst., at Big Bar, Yuba countv, by
J. Dick, es<j. Capt. Hiram Fogg, of Boston, Mass.,
to Miss Eliza A. Cameron, of Oskaloosa, Muhar<-o.,
Iowa. ^ \Jj
Ditd.?At the Folsom Diggings, on the 18th of
April, John A. Wolfe, formerly of Cincinnati,
Onio.
In San Francisco, on the 6th ult., of dinrrhm
ind dysentery, ElishuL. Sillinmn, of New Haven,
Conn., uged 57 years. Mr. Silliman was long
known in his native city as a prominent and valuible
citizens.
At Coloma, California, on the 8th April, 1850,
.Mrs. Rebecca E. Hurd, wife of A. B. Hurd,
ind daughter of F. S. and Mary A. Crnns. They
left their home at Foil du Lac, Wisconsin, Feb.
29, 1849.
On board brig Fawn, near Benicia, Mr. Joshua
Bulchelder, of Salem, Mass., uged 26 years.
On board harque J. W. Coffin, April 16th,
Timothy Collins, of Penobscot, Me., aged, 38
years.
On same vessel, April 26th, Gabriel Romaze,
iged 1 year and 3 months.
In Sacramento city, on board the barque San
Francisco, April 29th, Mr. Isaac Wallace, in the
25th year oi his age. He wus from Beverly,
Vfnss., where he leaves a wife and two children.
At Forksville, on Monday, April 22d, Raymond
Farmer, of South Boston, Miss., aged 40 years.
In San Francisco, on the morning of the 26th
jf April, Capt. Henry H. Willis, of Baltimore, jn
the 42d year of his age, leaving an affectionate
.vife mid two children to mourn his loss. .
In San Francisco, on the morning of the 9th ult.,
Tohu Henry Beach, Esq., of Saratoga Springs,
New York.
On brig Kate Heath, Feb, 24th, accidentally,
Mr. Jeremiuh Martin, of Portland, Me.
At Acapulco, on the Pacific Ocean, on the 27th
if March, 1850, Capt. Albert Cauling, late of N.
Jrleans, and formerly captain of the tow boats
in the Mississippi river. His papers and effects
ire in the hands of United States Consul, at Acapulco.
On board brig Quaddy Bell, April 16th, lat. 6
15 P., Ion. 119 50, W., Thomas S. Burnhum, of
La bee, Me., aged 46 years.
The Asiatic Trade.
Already do we bear of enterprising shippers
intending the establishment of Rteamers between
diis port and Canton, via. Honolulu ; and notless
than six large vessels are expected daily in our
liarbor, freighted with the rich manufactures of
the Celestial world. The rapid sales and high
prices wiucn consignees nicci wun on me pari 01
urcliasers for these rich fabrics, will undoubtedly
induce other capitalists to enter largely into the
trade, and, no far as we can see, with but little
risk.
The arrival of two or three vessels from Canton
in the port of New York, laden as were the
vessels which have arrived here within the past
two weeks, would have produced a plethora in
'.lie market which would have lasted l'or several
nonths ; here it has had n contrary effect, and
inn but served to create purchasers and stimulate
prices, in New York and other Atlantic cities,
there are but few of the entire population who
-an possibly afford to purchase; whereas on the
Pacific coast, nine out of every ten are not only
able but exceedingly anxious to procure the luxurious
and costly articles imported.
Noi less than one hundred thousand dollars
have been expended by persons in this city,
within the last two or three weeks, for presents to
friends on the Atlantic borders, who, before their
arrival here; would never have dreamt of buying
such costly articles of fUrnilure or apparel. As
our population increases andt he resources of the
country are developed?as our people shall cease
to be home-made in their habits, the wealth concentrating
here will be sufficient to carry on profitably
and successfully a trade with Canton and
other Asiatic ports, that shall nut to blush the operations
heretofore carried on by the East India
Company. This trade musi concentrate here, to
lie radiated hence through the channels of trade
to the great marts of the Eastern world.
To secure this trade the more effectually, and
to find a permanent outlet for it through our own
domains; our merchants and capitalists should at
once co-operate with those gentlemen, who, in the
Western and Eastern States, are advocating so
wurnily and patriotically the practicability and
necessity of a great chain of a road over which
this trade may flow, supplying not only our own
cities and towns, but the depots of the European
continent. A public expression in this quarter
from our mercantile class would have a desirable
effect and influence on those who now doubt the
practicability, although admitting the necessity,
of building u railroad, such as is contemplated by
our brethren on the Atlantic side.?Pacific News,
May 4.
Churches in California.
In the autumn of 1848, the Rev. T. D. Hunt,
late of the Sandwich Islands Mission arrived at
this place, and commenced the first stated services,
according to protestant forms of worship, under
an engagement for the term of one year, as chaplain
of the town of San Francisco. No church
organizations, however, were effected until the
spring of 1849. Then, with the thronging emigration
and an increase of ministers of the gospel,
churches began to be formed in this and other
communities. The following summary, it is believed,
presents a complete view of the various
relitrinuM societies existing at the present date1^ and
*
the order of their formation.
First Presbyterian Church in Benicia, Rev. S.
Woodbridge, Jr. Next in the order of time occur
the churches of thin city.
First Presbyterian Church, Rev. A. William's?
First Baptist Church, Rev. O. C. Wheeler's?
Church of the Holy Trinity, Rev. S. E. Mines'
Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. W. Taylor's?
-First Congregational Church, Rev. T. D. Hunt's
-Grace Church, Rev. P. L. Vermehr's. *
At Monterey is the Rev. S. H. Willey, Prestytcrian,
who officiates as chnplain to the military
ost. No church organized.
At San Jose, are the Rev. J. W. Doug/ass,
Presbyterian, and the Rev. J. D. Briarly, Bapish?and
religious services are maintained by a
Methodist society, as yet without a stated minstry.
At Sacramento, a Methodist Episcopal Church
las been formed, Rev. Mr. Owens, and the^Rev.
T. A. Benton, Congregational, and Rev. J. Cook,
Baptist also officiate, but have not as yet organized
churches.
At Stockton, Rev. James Woods, Presbyterian,
has organized a Presbyterian church, the third in
:onnection with the Preibytery of California. A
Methodist society also maintain worship.
The Rev. W. 'G. Canders, Presbyterian, offi:iates
as a missionary in Nappe. Valley, and at
Sonoma.
Smart olp Ladt.?I. B. Philbrook kept three
:ows on his farm at Hardwich, Vt., last year,
Vom which his mother, a lady of 90 years of age,
vith his assistance, made in qin? months, nine
mndred pound* of butter.