Newspaper Page Text
THE SOUTHERN TRESS. ASHINGTON^IT]^ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1850; py We understand that the President's House will be open for visitors at 12 o'clock on New Year's day. More Compromise* and Concessions proposed. ??wl tiniu fnr nmr? Mnftlifltion vems. X IJ?7 ? V .W ?J f , by common consent, to have arrived, owing to tiie courtesy of Messrs. Seward 4. Co., who luive kindly consented to a temporary postponement of their performances on the congressional boards. The suggestion of Mr. Clay, on which we commented the other day, is but the echo of the Northern prints, all of which, like Oliver Twist, are M asking for more,"?and who, more lucky than he, stand a fair chance of getting it?whether in the shape of appropriations, higher duties, or lands. In fact, the respective organs are strenuously urging the necessity of a new compromise or adjustment among the hungry claimants, by which all may thrust their noses into the public crib, and the " oxen that tread out the corn" unmuzzled, may frisk and grow fat, at the cost of the planter. Thesu dime yet simple process of log-rolling, is recommended us an infullible specific to effect these purposes. It is the 44 real old Jacob Townsend," which is to prevent fermentation, and work well on the body politic. As well might one seek to wrest from a hungry lion the bone over which he is growling, and hopes to gorge himself, as for a Northern politician to take any steps which would tend to frustrate the darling projects of spoliation in the North and We?t?and heQce the armistice which the Sewakds and Van Buuens grant the South?concentrating and marshalling their forces nil the while for a fiercer assault, so soon as under cover of the truce, the interests which require the fostering care of the General Government shall be subserved. The more candid of the organs of this powerful a id pestilent faction, do not even pay the poor compliment to Southern intelligence and manhood, to disguise their real purpose'. The N. Y. Tribune and the Albany Ecening Journal preach peace, (for the present) and hang out the white flag?but confident #f Northern, and disdainful of Southern strength, openly proclaim their policy?and give such loud notice of their Intentions, that not all the noisy u rejoicings," and shrill declamatory speeches of the subtnissionists, can prevent them from reaching the ears of the Southern people. The proofs of this are as plenty as blackberries. We subjoin two editorials from Northern papers, the tone and tenor of which cannot be mistaken. The Providence Journal says : " The anxiety of the Western members to reach the River and Harbor bill in the House ol Representatives, is natural and proper. It is a good omen for the tariff. It m y be the means of remedying a great mistake, which the friends of the tariff committed when they suffered the public lands to be given away for so many objects, in advance of any action upon that measure. Dy uniting upon a modification of the tariff precedent to the passage of any land bill, the friends of the tariff might have secured a reasonable adjustment. They may do it now by adopting the same plan in regard to the River and Harbor bill." . The Albany Evening Journal, the special organ of the Sewardites, copies this, nnd coolly speculates as follows: " While the system of legislative" log-rolling'' is generally pernicious, it is Bometimcs excusable. When it is entered into to effect good ends, partiznns may find fault, but the country will suffer no violence. Appropriations for the improvement of rivers and harbors have no enemies among those who advocate a modification of the existing tariff. But there are very many I in favor of river and harbor appropriations who | do not sympathise with tho manufacturing in- j terests of the country. Tnis is to he regretted, j It is indicative of a selfishness which, while it j prevents an expansive view of questions of na- [ tional importance prevents harmonious action between interests practically identified. Both j are alike seeking to protect, encourage and pro- j mote homo enterprise, and should be found I moving together to effect the great and beneficent purposes paramount with eaeh. Hitherto, however, there has been no such j harmonious action. The Western and South- j Western commercial interests have generally arrayed themselves against the manufacturing interests of the North and East; and the opponents of both have too often succeeded in defeating their just claims upon congressional liberality. It is to be seen whether the representatives of! these great national interests have'earned wisdom j from the past. Occupying antagonist positions,! they are powerless. Moving together with a I mutual desire to deal justly the one toward the other, every reasonable project of each may be carried through successfully. We only assert what is notoriously true, that the friends of American labor have been too yield ing to the demands of other interests. They have repeatedly suffered themselves to be thrust aside untimely if not unjustly, and have, as frequently, given tlie'r votes for measures no more just than the slight modification of the tirrffj which they solicit, without exacting an equiva-j lent from the friends of the measures thus ear- j ried by their votes or forbearance. The game of unaqrpreciated and unrequited concession has been played long enough. The friends of a just tariff should now insist that their proposition shall take precedence of others j of a national character. If this is to be an era of * compromises" and "concessions," let these "compromises" and "concessions" a- ply equally to all interests. The friends of a discriminating tariff are ready to vote for generous appropria tions for the improvement of rivers and harbors. But they should let the particular friends of that measure understand that if they are expected to vote millions from the public treasury for that purpose, they must receive some earnest in return of a desire to save the manufacturing interests of the country from bankruptcy." If this be not the sublime of effrontry, then the faculty of astonishment on the part of the public, must have been destroyed by the heavy drafts made upon it during the past session. " If this is to be an era of compromises and concessions, let them apply equally to all in terests"?that is at the North. The South has no place in the picture. The North is "the Nation" now, and the South but the strong ass crouching between burdens imposed by the North-east and the North-west. Her interests do not fall within the pale of M groat national interests." They arc only sectional?and it is factious to allude to them Such is the new exposition of our Constitution, the new uses of" our glorious Union." Southern men seeir. to cherish the delusion that slavery will yet be admitted into Utah and New Mexico. Hear what the New York Tribune says about it: Gentlemen of the South! The Free States irill unt surrender half of California to alnverr, and ?rill not consent to the establishment of tlavery in New Mexico and Utah!" The Redemption at Chaplin. The result of the Chaius affair shows with | what entire impunity the emissaries of the higher law eannot only plan, but perpetrate atroI cities. He has been bought off from the eonj dign punishment which would have been visited on the head of any offender who was not backed by such an array of friends?and the State of Maryland may whistle for him hereafter. As with the Babbett case in South Carolina, his cose might now be stricken off the docket, for no one believes that he will ever return to stand his trial. Thus hns ended in farce the tragedy tvhusVi ha ?A riiithtII v nromtriifl nn/1 ut'un tha pecuniary satisfaction obtained will not come out of hia pocket, but out of the fund devoted to the purposes of abolition. Gerbit Smith, the notorious abolition leader, assumed #5 ,000 of the fine himself, and instead of being a martyr, Chaplin will receive promo, lion for his distinguished services. The Albany Argus referring to this case, thus sums up the result, which we presume is to be regarded as unother compromise to be acquiesced in with due gratitude and humility. Thk Finale of the Chaplin Affair.?Mr. Chaplin, the negro abductor, nod the abolition candidate for Governor of this State, passed through this city on Thursday, on his way westward?having been released on bail in the sum of $18,000. Of course, as the Register suggests, he will be the lion pt the abolition threedays fandango at Syracuse?and of course will not appear again down South, unless under a requisition from the Executive of Maryland. Our readers ought perhaps to have been apprised before that this protracted meeting at Syracuse has been called for the purposes set forth in the following appeal to w woolly heads" in general: 44 Similar conventions are to be held in other of the free States, and we trust, before the end of the present session of Congress, a message will be aent thither from the entire North, that will admonish the oppressors ot'the South, and their more unprincipled abettors, that they have leaked up the linn?that they must recede from the daring encroachments that they have made upon Northern sentiments and Northern liberties?must annul that wicked bill, or consent that it must be at once a dead letter, or expect to see this American Union deluged in blood." Among the signers to this call, it should be stated also, is the candidate for canal commissioner in 1848, run by the 44 Free-soilers" on the same ticket with Mr. Van Buren for President. The New York Case. We give from the New York Herald a continuation of the proceedings in the New York Fugitive slave case, which is progressing by slow and easy stages. The city papers themselves sneer at the manner in which the frivolous pleas for delay are countenanced. The Day Book savs: Fugitive Slave Case.?The proceedings in this case yesterday were us mottled as a circus horse and amounted to just about the same as the galloping round and round of that animal. The scene opened in the Supreme Court, where Mr. Jay and his fellow counsel for the negro spent several hours in bullying the judge and embarrassing the case with all sorts of absurd pretenses ; after which he moved for the dismis sal of the writ, and for the granting of another on the ground that t' e prisoner is not held by nny court of competent jurisdiction, and secondly, that he "owes service" to a person unknown in Virginia. The writ was granted, (the other being dismissed) returnable forthwith. Mr. Jay then set up a pretense that Commissioner Hall was not a Commissioner, and asked that the case be taken out of his custody ! The polite request was, however, declined by Judge Campbell, who left the slave in the custody of the United States Marshal. Before the Commissioner the investigation was continued, with very much the. same spirit on the part of the counsel for the slave. Among other things Mr. Jay produced nn affidavit of the slave himself stating that he was a free citizen of New York, asking for a postponement of the case for the purpose of procuring testimony ! Notwithstanding that the case has been in progress since Monday morning, and that Mr. Jay himself stated that he only required six hours to produce his witnesses, the postponement was granted. The Sunday Times says: The Fugitive Slave Case.?VVc publish under the "Local" head a brief abstract of the proceed tigs in the ease of Long, the fugitive slave. The game is a plain one among the Abolitionists. It is to defeat the spirit and letter of'lie law, by delays and indefinite postponements, growing out of applications to various judges for writs of habeas corpus, returnable on different days?one of them at the next term of the Supreme Court, a week hence. The Commissioner should demand the proof that the fugitive claimed is a slave, and, if it is clear and satisfactory, surrender hiin instanler?if not, discharge him forthwith. No attention should be given to any writs issued from State courts, which are intended to nullify the act of Congress. The process under this law is a safe and summary one, and must not be rendered null and void by vexatious delays. Another Case. The Springfield (Mass.) Republican publishes, and the N. Y. Commercial Advertiser reproduces the following case, without comment: Fugitive Slave Case in Springfield.?A man from Schenectady, N. Y., came into Springfield, and claimed a black woman who resided here, married, and with a family, as a slave. She was taken before Geo. llliss, esq., where the claim was established, according to the law in such casts. The woman was given up as the claimant's property, when several of our benevolent citizens, including Daniel Lombard, esq., one of our most estimable men, obtained terms, clubbed together, and purchased her of her tnnsI ter for the sum of Si00. Mr. Lombard holds j the bill of sale in bis possession. The tears of ! sorrow exhibited by the afflicted woman, and the husband from whom she was about to be sep arated, were thus changed to tears of jo?, and a more happy pair probably never was seen. This is the operation of the Fugitive slave law in Springfield. There was no excitement or disturbance. The law was ullowed to take its course. High and exultant will be the clamorous rejoicings of the Northern compromisers, and the Southern "bluster nnd-back outs," over this re markable example of tho efficacy of the law. ) But alas! through inadvertency! or some othei i cause, the important fact was omitted that the i incident happened forty year* afro. And in referring to it, the Albany livening Journal make! the following comment: " The N. Y. Commercial Advertiser, in copy ing this* paragraph, omits to say that the case oc I curred forty year* ago. The price of fugitives 4 is riz," since Mr. Petei j V. Geyseling, of Schenectady, went to Spring field to reclaim his slave Jenny." We put this fact on record, because in thei I anxiety to clutch nt every crumb of comfort j some of the Southern submissionists will doubt | less reproduce this satisfactory case, in which tin ; master received the prodigious bonus of $100 for relinquish'ng his claim to his slave. They pay in a very different coin now, ai Messrs. Hughes and Knight ean testify from > their experience in Boston-?the claimants being the " hunted fugitives." For the Southern Prtu. New York, December 23, 1850. A certain wise king of Spain, on being told that his son was dead, replied very coolly, "well since nothing can be done, I suppose we must make the best of it," This seems to be the philosophy of the people of the South?at least a very large portion of them?and would be excellent philosophy, were they really in a situation where nothing can be done. Much lias lntplV* Knon ami miial* mm** k? ?? - ? ^ wvuv) ?iiu iuuvii ujwir mily UC flCCUIIJ" plished, if r.ot by appealing to the reason and justice of the North, at least to its interests: and by a unity of action in measures of retaliation, if not of resistance, bring the consequences of this unnatural warfare against the rights and feelings of their " Southern brethren," as they call them?home to their own doors. Whenever 1 see this phrase applied to the people of the 8outh, I am reminded of Joseph and his brethren, and expect to see them sold to the highest bidder. All that is required to bring us to our senses here, is for the authorities of the Southern States to unite in demonstrating, not by resolutions, but by actions, that their capacity j for submission is exhausted, and that though j " Isachnr is a strong ass," the .last feather will J make him kick. There are some few honest people within the circle of my acquaintance, who actually begin to think it possible the Union may be in some little danger, and that it will be prudent to pause awhile before the South js pushed any farther. They are of opinion it is politic to wait and see whether tho legislatures of the Southern States will blow another blast of resolutions, from which they may not back out as usual; or whether, ike the (isorgia Convention, they will submit 'honorably and gracefully," after the exampl f that chivalrous State, which has outdone the mountain in labor. The manifesto, or declaration of rights, or wrongs, or whatever it may be called, of that stalworth body, is very popular here, and coupled with that of the Maryland Convention, has pretty well satisfied the Abolition leaders that they may do almost what they please, provided they do it genteely?by "compromise" ?and it will be acquiesced in "honorably and gracefully," after the manner of the Empire State of the South. Should Virginia and North Carolina adopt the policy of the wise King of Spain, and finally decide to submit "honorably and gracefully" to the past, tho Abolitionists will have a clear field in future, and the "higher law" be enforced without opposition. The Union will be preserved and the Constitution deatoved. The late proceedings in the legislatures of South Carol inn, Mississippi, Virginia, and North Carolina, have however, apparently brought the Northern tempest to n lull, at least for a moment, and it is quite ovidont that a strong ell'ort will he made to hold in the Abolitionists at least till towards the close of the present session of Congress. But abolition is a hard mouthed donkey, and I question whether any of the doughty politicians, who believe they are holding him tight by the bit, when in fact they have only bridled him by the tail, will be able to keep him quiet. The probability is they will bo tos ed over his head, or kicked into the dirt if they hold him too tight. There are several reasons that occur to me, for this sudden moderation and forbearance on the part of Northern politicians, who, I ought to apprize the people of the South, are far beyond them in the trade of polities. They have to deal with men who were born in intrigue, brought up on intrigue, and whose parents were engaged in an intrigue when they were begotten. They have grown grey in political bargaining, and become so sharp by perpetual coalition that it is almost impossible to |ee their edges. They have gained all they expect by steering on one tack, and are now about trying the other. They have made the most of disunion in the South, and are now drumming up recruits in that quarter to sustain the Union. Perceiving the Fugitive slave law, is now the great rallying point of the States which are willing to acquiesce in the Compromise measures, on condition of its being carried out in the North, their object is to persuade them that it will not only be suffered to remain intact, but mat our warnae rresiaeni is aetorminea to see it faithfully executed?ut least so long as no attempts are made to carry it into execution. Any further encroachments will therefore probably be postponed to the latter end of the present session, when the distribution of bribes for the. next Presidency will be comp'eted, or perhaps until the next, meeting of the new Congress, almost all, if not all, the members of which are j pledged to Abolition, or it* ?//a.v?Free-soil ism. j There is still another reason for a pause.? j The advocates of submission, beaded by the j Washington Union, have sworn that if the North commits any more offences against the South, and especially against tiie Fugitive slave law, they will positively and for the lafct time?as they say in announcing a play?defend themselves "at all hazards and to the last Extremity." Ihave a strong suspicion, almost ainoknting to a conviction, that this is but a Seward oath ; still it is possible that they may redeem their pledges to escape indelible disgrace. It is easy to perceive i they are in great tribulation, lest they dhould Le | placed in this disagreeable predicament, j I earnestly hope the people of the South will j j not, like raw sailors, be lulled to sleep by this I delusive calm, and fancy the storm is ovef, when j it has only paused to gather new force and vio-1 | lenee. Whoever heard of fanaticism starving, I j while any tiling was left it to devour ? Whoever ! 1 i heard, or read of its shutting its maw even when ' 1 choked with fruit'm ? Whoever exneetcflmod- i ' I oration from roadm s', or forbearance froib iiy. ' i pocrisy, except to deceive and decoy .' Or vrho j ever knew the tiger to spare his prey aftet he I had succeeded in his lirst spring ! Do the fen' pie of the South flatter themselves that thos4 to '! whom the law of Gml or man is binding1, no j oath however solemn of the least obligation; ' and r,o ties of country or brotherhood of a feathers weight, when balanced against a fanut ical dogma, will thus stop short in their career. " as if by magic, except to look around for new r victims? Do they really believe that hypocritl cal ambition, will ever voluntarily cast away the j great stuff" of its support, or fanaticism put n r j strait jacket on itself ? i I would not have the people of the South - j suppose that wo of the North arc all either mad? j men, hypocrites, or fanatics, for such is not the , case. I only mean to say what I know to bo true, that they are all, more or less, educated in ? the faith of abolition, and nurtured in a holy hor> ror of African slavery, without feeling any exf traordinory sympathy for the free negro, who is generally on object of contempt or dislike, they I indulge themselves in the luxury of pitying the j imaginary sufferings of the slave, and weep, as they do at a tragedy, over the griefs of Othello f or Poronoako. This feeling is in many cases, and iudeed in all in different degrees, reinforced by party feelings, sectional ambition, and preju- ! dices against slave-holders us u class;? j though when a gentleman of the South visits j the North, he is received by those who give din- j iters and balls with cordial hospitality. But this , class don't govern the State, or represent the j popular feeling ; and when the time comes for j it, will nine times in ten support that party | which is now most conspicuous in its demon-1 strations against the South. They will not, if j the alternative were directly presented, ' give the Union for the abolition of slavery," but they will support a party, and sanction measures, the object of one of which is to ascend to power by the ladder of fanaticism, and of the others to place that Union in imminent jeopardy now, and to ensure its dissolution at no distant period. ! The people of the South have been for the last fifteen or twenty years assured that the Abolitionists constitute but a small portion of those ; of the North. It may bo so; but if it is, 1 have j kept very bud company of late, for I solemnly | declare. I have not, for the last two years, con- j versed with a single man, of any sect or party, 1 who did not hold the opinion that Congress not only had the right, but was bound to execute it, to exclude the people of the Soutli from every foot of territory possessed or hereafter acquired by the United States, where slavery does not at present exist.. This is the universal sentiment here, and of what consequence is it, whether we call this fanaticism, conscientious scruples, sectional feelings, or any other name? The effects are the same, whatever may be the j cause, and in fact the danger is greater from a sober conviction of the truth, than from a mere 1 effervescence of fanaticism. The South is iu more peril from Free-soilism, tiiam rank Aboli- , tioniam. But the great44 Union movement" in this city, < and Boston, and Philadelphia, the two latter the m: dittos of runaway negroes, where they swagger in open day, and armed cap-a-pied, and kill police officers at pleasure. And the meeting,! too, nt Syracuse, tho locus of abolition conventions ; and above all, that at Cincinnati, the paradise of pig-butchers, and the capital of the i great booby fanatic of the West. In my hum- 1 bin opinion this National Union purty is the most dangerous mino yet sprung upon the South. What is it that has endangered the i Union ? Is it not the measures comprized in the Compromise ? Yet these meetings in defence of Southern rights sustain them nil without ex- 1 eeption. The records of their proceedings uniformly commence with a wholesale approval of the Compromise. Consequently they maintain tho doctr'ne that the public domain is not the common property of the States, nny one, or any portion of which not constituting a majority, may bo excluded at the pleasure of tho Abolitionists, alias Free soilers. They maintain that those preliminary steps which have hitherto been always considered as indispensible to the admission of new States, and which are in the present crisis the only guarantees for the right of equal participation on the part of the South, are not necessary. They maintain that anybody may come from anywhere ; take possession of the laud belonging equally to all tho States, without permission, without purchase, or any shadow ot legal right whatever, and establish a government under the sanction of military usurpation, excluding one half of all the proprietors. They maintain that the authorities of a State may be coerced into submission by llio exercise of a power not conferred by thb Constitution, which, it will be recollected, only authorizes Congress?not the President?to call out the j Mujtja, and not the standing nrmy or navy, to J suppress insurrection, execute the laws of the Union, and repel invasion. There is nowhere a right conferred on the President by any constitutional provision, which bears on this question, except what may he inferred from the injunction that he shall see the laws faithfully executed? meaning nothing more than that he shall appoint competent officers, and see that they do their duty. It did not contemplate the army and navy as ordinary instruments for the preservation of internal tranquility and order, or in executing the laws, as is now the fashion in Europe; much less was it devised for the purpose of coercing or ov erawing a State, when asserting what it deemed its reserved rights. It was J intended solely to protect those very authorities i against seditions and insurrections of their own [ citizens ; and as such was to be exercised only, j at the call of their Chief Magistrate, when the j legislature was not in session. The act of Co ngress placing the army, and navy of the United States permanently at the disposal of the President, for all such purposes, and not merely for a special purpose, appears to ! me a most dangerous concession, and ought to | he rescinded. There may possibly occasions I arise, in which the exercise of this power may j be necessary, and if Congress should not be in session, it may be convened for tlie purpose of! authorizing the President to employ the army j and navy in executing the laws, when the rnili-1 tia are insufficient for that purpose. The militia are in fact the people, and the people will never | become their own oppressors. Rut armies of hirelings have no community | of interests or feelings with the people: the: officer is the slave of his superior, and the sol- j dier the slave of his officers, whom it is death | to disobey. The frames of the Constitution, J never intended to place in the hands of the | President the discretionary exercis; of a power j which In every age, and in all countries, has led j ! to the establishment of despotism. That one of I j the first acts of a President, not the choice ofj ! the neonle. but the mere creature of accident.! 1 . . . ! should be an assumption of this power, is omij nous of what may he expected in future j from that quarter; and that it has not aw.ik- j ened the attention of Congress, is only an-1 l other melancholy proof that in these times I i anything may be done under the higher law; | of abolition. It. furnishes a solemn warn-, ' ing to the South, indicating pretty clearly what ! it has to expect in future, whenever its rights, its interests, or its safety come in conflict with a dogma of fanaticism, converted into an instru-1 ment of sectional ambition and federal usurpa- | tion. But to return to the decalogue of the : great National Union party. They maintain that Congress has a right to prohibit any species of trade between the StAtcs, that offends the delicate ? msibilities of Northern men or foreigners; and that "exclusive legislation," means legislating without any restraint t from tite general spirit or special'provisions of the Constitution; thus giving Congress the power, if it chooses to exercise it, of making the President king of the ten miles square, and declaring themselves, like the British Parliament, omnipotent there. What is this, but making the Constitution ainere farrago of contradictory provisions, any one of which mny be brought to bear against all the others? All these principles are either distinctly avowed and recognized in the published proceedings of the great national Union meetings, or strictly deduciblc from their unqualified approval of the Compro j _n j u #^-11 *L5_ i 1 nunc, anu an its uucinuus. \. uii you mis Uiiciting the South ? Are these the entrenchments behind which it is to repose in safety for all future time? My letter is already sufficiently long, and I shall continue tho subject in a future one. A Northers Mas asd A Friend to the Union. Florida. We clip the following from the FloriJian of the 21st instant: We rejoice to sec that justice has been done to one who has so manfully and truly represented the real interests and honor of his State committed to his keeping. Election or U. S. Senator. An effort was made in the Senate on Thursday last, to go into the election of U. S. Senator, which was unsuccessful. The resolution proposed Monday next, the 23d instant, as the day for the election. We understand that Mr. Yulee has been nominated i 1 caucus for re-election, having received mote than two-thirds of the votes of the Democratic members elected to the legislature. Whether Mr. Y. will bo elected, however, is somewhat uncertain, as parties are nearly balanced, and a few Democrats are opposed to hitn .............. i .nJ ..n,.? ......'in... ~.i w,? J'V' OVIIUI UIIU UUIII gil/Mimo. A IIU UUIUI ^Vll* llemon spoken of in connexion with the oflicc of Senator, approve Mr. Vulee's course on the Southern question. Mr. Mullory, whose name has been brought prominently forward, says:411 iitn with liirn (Mr.Yulee) even unto the end." It is not at all impossible thut Mr. M. will be elected in case it is found impossible to elect Mr. Yulce. THIRTY-FIRST CONOR ESS. second session. IN SENATE. Monday, Dec. 30, J850. After prayer by (he Rev. It. R. Gurley, and the reading of thejournal of Thursday laRt, the Chair announced petitions to be in order. ATMOSPHERIC NAVIGATION. Mr. DOUGLAS presented n petition from John Wise, of Pennsylvania, praying the aid of Congress to the extent of some #20,000 for certain ballooning experiments hereinafter specified. Mr. Wise, for sixteen year9, has devoted his attention to ballooning. He has made one hundred different ascensions. He has demonstrated to his own satisfaction, and is rendy to demonstrate it to the satisfaction of the world, that lie can apply a balloon to the transportation of the mails, of freight and passengers ; and to efficient service in the art of war us well as in the arts of peace. If encouraged by Congress he will make an experiment with a balloon of 100 feet in diameter, to take up 10 tons of freight; nnd will ascend over the Capitol, the President's 11 >use, or Navy Yard, discharging a lot of imitation missiles,showing Iiih capacity by this agency, of destroying any fortress or army, from a position directly over them, and beyond the reach of their shot. AfUr this experiment, Mr. Wise proposes to take his balloon to St. Louis, whence be will make a passage through the air in it to New York?thence he proposes an uerial voyage over to Eog'and, with six passengers and a fife boat?and thence he pro poses a voyage mruugii me air itru imi ine woriu. He has ascertained tlint at a certain altitude tnere is a steudy current of uir flowing from west to cast, and lie is ready to denim.(Urate it in tlie aforesaid experiments, provided Congress wll aid liiin to the extent of the aforesaid $20,1)00. He desires it to enable him, untler the patronage of this Government, to make the first voyage round the world in a balloon. Mr. Douglas thought the Committee on Roads and Canals would he th? proper committee for this petition. They couIJ consider its expediency along with their own bih for Whitney's rail road. Mr. Wise was a man of science and respectability, and his petition was entitled to serious consideration. Mr. BRIGHT, of the Committee on Roads and Canals, was opposed to all visionary enterprizes. The proper sphere of the committee was in reference to travel and navigation upon Unaftrma He thought the proper committee for this petition was the Committee on Foreign Relations. (Laughter.) Mr. MANGUM. I believe the senator from Illinois is a member of that commute. The CHAIR. No sir. He hus been excused upon his own request. Mr. MANGUM. Then, sir, I protest against the reference to that committee. (Lnughter.) Mr. DOUGLAS hoped the petition would receive a serious consideration, and 011 his motion, it was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. Other petitions were presented by Messrs. Underwood, Datton, Cass, Ewing, Hamlin and WlNTHROI'. the public lands. Mr. BENTON, pursuant to notice, introduced a bill to accelerate tlie sales of the public lands, to pay off the public debt; to extinguish the federal title to the public domuiri in the new States: to secure a home to actual settlers; and to cede the unsaleable and refuse lands to the States in which they may lie. The bill provides to lessen the price of the pub lie lands to one dollar per acre, and after the end of two years to seventy-five cents, and to reduce them twenty-five cents eucli succeeding two years, till they are reduced to twenty-five cents an acre, <tc. Actual settlers to have a donation of forty acres, and a right to pre-emption claim to one hundred and twenty acres at twenty-five cents less than other purchasers. When the remaining lands are reduced by successive reductions to twenty-five cents an acre, said lands to be ceded to the States in which they lie, or when the amount in any State shall be less than 3,000,000 acres. * Mr. BENTON spoke at length in explanation of the bill. The first object was to derive some revenue from the public lands to aid in the payment of a public debt, principal and interest, of ?134,000,(MM). He showed from the reports of the Treasury, that the public Innds had ceased to be a source of revenue, from the vast amount of lands absorbed in military bounties?that there were 80,000,(MM) of acres still to be awarded in these land bounties, which, from the reduced price of land wa> rants, would cut off any revenue from the public lands for sixteen years to come. The only existing source of revenue was the customs. He was in favor of a larger adoption of specific duties; but opposed to raising the general scale of duties of the uot of 1846. Universal ail valorrmi were subject to frauds, and he was opposed to them. The great ultimate objects of his bill were to settle the public, lands, and from an increased and utable population thus secured, to secure a permanent increase to the Treasury, from the na- I cessitiea of enlarged importations. The bill was ' referred to the Committee on Public Land*. Mr. PEN 1'ON offered a resolution inquiring into the expediency pf incorporating the Coast | Survey with the Navy. Mr. GWIN presented the resolutions of the I California legislature in reference to a national j road to the Pacific. AttfiTRI KK CORRCSrOKDtKCE. A message was received from the President of the United Slates, communicating copies of the late correspondence between IV|r. Hulsetnan, the Austrian Charge dea Affaires to the United Stnte and the Secretary of State, Mr. Webster, in reference to the mission of Hon. Dudley Mann, sent out by Mr. Clayton as special agent to look alter the independence of Hungary, pending the lale struggle between that country ana Austria. The correspondence was read. The Austrian minister enters a protest against that missionary, and against the instructions given i to him by the late Administration, as violating i the principles of neutrality declared to be the foreign policy of the United States, as offensive to the laws of propriety, and the rights of Austria, dieMr. Webster, in his reply, vindicates the misI aion to Hungary, and {he instructions to Mr. j Mann, as within the rights of nations holding a I neutral position, and pleads the propriety of sym| pathy on the part of thw Government with the Hungarians in their late struggle for independence, Ac. Ac. Mr. CASH said that much of that document would be good matter for a speech on the Austrian question. He moved that the correspondence be referred to the Committee on Foreign Relatione, and be printed. Mr. UNDERWOOD said ro public document for a long lime had afforded him so much satisfaction as this. It would reco umtnd itself to the heart of every American, as occupying the true I American ground. He hoped some extra copies | would be printed. Mr. RU8K moved 5.000 extra copies. Mr. WALKER thought, that asthiscorrespon- i dence would be published by every journal in the country, this extra printing would be more than | idle. Mr. MANGUM thought this correspondence ought to be preserved as the true exposition of our national sentiment with respect to foreign nations, and as a rebuke to the insolence of Austria ; and he moved, therefore, the printing of 10,000 extra copies. Mr. RUSK accepted the motion for 10,000. Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS opposed this extra printing, this making too much of a small office. The correspondence embraced an exposition of American sentiments ; that they were entertained by the whole country, and no onedisavowed them. After further remarks "between Messrs. Maxgum. Jefferson Davis, Walker and Rusk, Mr. CLAY rose and said that our foreign af- | fairs were matters ofdelicacy, and should be treated i with great caution and great deference While we deploied the fate of Hungary?her fate was J sealed. There was an end to it. Is it worth while to continue to irritate Austria and Russia with things gone by Let us put ourselves in the possitiou of Austria, and how would we have acted under similur circumstances. He concurred in the general tone of the reply to the Austrian minster ; but Mr. Clay doubted the position taken, that the submission of Mr. Mann's instructions to the Senate and their publication was a domestic affair, of which there was no occasion for the Austrian government to complain. Domestic questions of this sort may very properly become a subject of diplomatic correspondence. He saw no necessity for the extra copies. We had a great destiny to fulfil and it was our duty to act with circumspection in reference to our affairs with foreign nations. The motion to print the 10,000 extra copies was lost. If? to 21. Various reports were made, and several bills were considered of a local character. soldiers' bounty lands. A joint resolution was received from the House, va^iuihmic! kiic 111 iiu i ci w ui inoi oraoiuii| iu j provide /or the assignment of land warrants to other persons, from the soldiers or others to whom the bounty is due. Mr. FLLCII moved to refer the subject to the 1 Committee on Public Lands. Messrs, Donor, of Iowa, Umpehwood, Walker, Ewino, John Davis, Fklch, and Turney debated the question involved, and the subject was referred. And after some other incidental business, the j Senate adjourned. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Monday, Dec. 30, 1850. Mr. LASERE announced the presence of Hon A. G. Pknn, representative elect from the third Congressional district in Louisiana, to supply the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Wm. Harmanson. Mr. Penn was qualified and took his seat. \ Mr. SIBLEY introduced a bill amending the act establishing the territory of Oregon, and that of establishing the territory of Minnesota. Referred to the Committee on Territories. Mr. WHITE introduced a bill granting a right of way through public lands, for tlie Buffalo and Mississippi, and (lie Northern Indiana railroad, which bill was read twice. Mr. W. asked that the bill should he put upon its passage, slating that the public lands through which 'lie road would pass, was of little value. Mr. SWEETZER moved its reference to the Committee on Public Lands. Negatived. Mr. COBB, of Alabama, asked Mr White to accept nn amendment granting a right, of way for n railroad connecting Charleston with Memphis. He d eclared his willingness to vote for the bill of Mr. White, and stated that, the bill proposed by him cb an amendment, was reported by t,l^ Committee on Publ.c Lands at the last session, am! was first upon the calendar, lie feared, however, that when tl e calendar should be taken up, lb? bill might be objected to, and added that the measure was of great importance to a portion of the people of Alabama. Mr. WHITE declined to accept the amendment. Mr. COBB then proposed the bill n<V>resaid, ns an amendment to that under consideration. Mr. WENT WORTH askingif the hill granted anything more than rights of way, was answered in the negative. Mr. WHITE asking if it was in order so to amend the lii l now pending, was answered by the Speaker that it was not, unless the route indicated in the amendment connected with that nam- | cd in the bill. The question arising on the third rending of the bill, objection wns made and it was not so read. Mr. A. G. BROWN introduced a bill granting the right of way and public lands 10 Louisiana and Mississippi, in aid of ihe construction of a railroad from Madisonville in the former State, to Jackson in the latter. Referred to the Committee on Public Lands. Mr. McLANE moved the reference of the report of theSuperintendent of the Coast Survey to the Committee on Commerce. amendment to the bounty land bill. Mr. G. W. JONES called for the consideration of the motion, to suspend the rules for the introduction of the joint resolution, authorizing the sale i ,?r i..n.t i? : ' 1?I HII14 tl nnoiti I/I nniKHiin iu UC m.lUCU UUUCri the act of August, JH.5I). The rules wereeuspended. Ayes 131, Noes38.J The resolution was then read a first and second time. Mr. CALDWELL did not propose to detain the House with remarks upon the general merits of the measure, it being evident there was a large majority in its favor. He would simply remnrk that the commissioner on pensions will not issue warrants until there is action by the House, whereby he should determine whether or not to huve the words for sale und transfer printed on the backs of the warrants. Mr. CALDWELL moved the previous ques-1 tion, and under its operation the resolution was I read a third time. Mr. VINTON moved a reconsideration of the vote ordering it to be engrossed and read a third time. Mr. VINTON was unwilling that his silence should be construed into assent to this mtnstire. If desiring to make a fortune, there was no proposition he would sooner vote for. It takes away from the benificiaries of the late act, the only security of any practical value. For a quurter of a century, agents had endeavored to procure the passage of a Bounty Land bill; but that of the last session did not suit them. It granted an equivalent to soldiers for their services. But the present measure is urged at the solicitation of agents to put fortunes in their pockets. Individuals will become possessed of regions of land as vast as counties or States ; but warrants in the hands of those to whom they are issued, will come down to forty per cent upon their true value. The bill of the last session provided for the issue of a patent and the location of the land by the Government, free of cost to the claimant. Patents for 160 acres would h? available, and would sell for what they were really worth. The law proposed, wculd require an explanatory law for the protection of,the Land office. Pnrties would die, and thousands of frauds would he attempted. The history of all bounty land acts showed that the benefits had gone to speculators, and the soldier got but a song. By his motion the act grant| tng bounties to those serving in the Mexican war j was so m >dified as that scrip for one hundred dolI lars could be obtained at the option of the claim j ant. Thin prevented the depreciation or warrant* i j below one hundred dollars. In the act of the last 1 J se&sion nor in the one now proposed in amendment of it, there was no such guard. Mr. V. re-1 I peated that if the people were aware of the nrovi- j sions whereby they can obtain warrants without ! I the aid of agents, they would oppose this men( sure, which he characterized as one which will throw one hundred millions of dollars into hands for which they were not intended. Mr. CALDWELL stated that under the law as construed by the Secretary of the Interior, not I one half of those entitled to its benefits would receive them. People in his State, of the highest | character, spurned the advantages at present ex-i tended. The joint, resolution would save bene/i-' ciaries from the grasp of speculators. He knew ; not the history of the gentleman from Ohio, but [ presumed he had some 100,000 acres of land for j sa'e. Mr. VINTON was undsrstood to ask th* gen?; tlsmtn from Kentucky, if intimated th*? he^ wast governed in hia course by pemonai considerations. k Mr. CALDWELL, resuming, stated that he only intended to intimate that he, Mr. V possessed large quantities of land, which he desired .in sell. Persona entitled to [talents for forty or eighty acres, could not now dispose of them, but if authorized to sell or transfer, they would sell for something like their true value. Speculators and large landed proprietors were hostile to this, but the soldier desired the privilege of transfer. Mr. C. condemned the construction placed upon the luw. He was astonished to hear of it upon his arrival home. The Senate, at the Inst session, after its passage, sent to the Houses biil forbidd.ng transfers, end it was defeated. Mr. VINTON explained, stating that the House were voting >n the Senate bill at the hour of ndjoournment. That bill was intended to correct a mistake in the enrollment. Both branches had voted Tor the restriction. On the question of the passage of the resolution, the yeas and nsys were called for, and resulted as follows: Yeas.?Messrs. Alexander, Alston, Andrews, Ashe, Averett, Bayly, Bocock, Booth, Bowdon, Bowlin, Boyd, Breck, Briggs, Buel, Bullard, Burt, Butler, Caldwell of Kentucky, Caldwell of North Carolina, Cartter, Cleveland, Cobb of Alabama, Corwin, Crowell, Danner, Dimmick, Disney, Edmundson, Ewing of Tennessee, Featherston, Fuller, Gentry, Gerry, Giddings, Gilmore, Goodenow, Gott, Gould, Hall, Hamilton, Hampton, Harris of Tennessee, Harris of Alabama, Hnymond, Hibbard, Hilliard, Hoagland, Houston, Howard, Howe, Hubbard, Inge, Jackson of Georgia, Jackson of New York, Johnson of Arkansas, Jones, Kaufman, Latere, Littlefield, Mann of Massachusetts, Mann of Pennsylvania, Marshall, Mason, McClernand, McDowell, McGaughey, McKiseock, McLanahan, McLane, McLean, McMullen, McQueen, McWillie, Meachnm, Morehead, Morris, Morrison, Ogle, Olds, Orr, Parker, Peaslee, Penn, Potter. Powell, Robinson, Savage, Sawtelle, Shepperd, Silvester, Spalding, Sprague, Stanton of Tenn., Stanton of Ky., Stevens, Stetson, Thompson of Pennsylvania, Thompson of Kentucky, Toomhs, Walden, Waldo, Wallace, Watkins, Wentworth, Whittlesey, Williams, Wilmot, Young?108. Navs.?Messrs. Albertson, Benle, Bennett, Rokee, Brown of Indiana, Burrows, Cable, Camphell, Chandler, Clarke, Cole, Conger, Deberry, Doty, Duer, Durkee, Evans of Ohio, Fowler, Gilbert, Gormoo, Grinned, Hallo way, Hammond, Harlan, Hay, Hebard, Henry, Hunter, Julian, Kerr, King of New Jersey, John A. King, Preston King, Matteson, Miller of Ohio, Miller of Iowa, Otis, Peck, Putnam, Reed, Richardson, Rockwell, Root, Schenck, Schoolcraft, Sweetzer, Thompson of Missisaioppi, Tuck, Underbill, Vinton, * hite, Wright?51. Mr. POTTER moved that when the Hou^e adjourns, it adjourn to meet on Thursday! 'Negatived? 118 to 29. Mr. Born and Mr. Housrov had leave to withdraw certain papers from the files of the House. The House then adjourned. T E L E G R A P H I C. [By Telegraph?for the Southern Press.J Boston, December 30. ARRIVAL OF THE BALTIC. LATE INTELLIGENCE FROM EUROPE. The ateamer Baltic put into Provincetown, off Cape Cod, on Saturday evening, and remained there until Sunday noon. Captain Comatock was endeavoring to purchase conl, whichjwas very scarce. Should he not find fuel enough, the Baltic will come to this city. She passed off Halifax at 1 p. m. Friday last. The passengers have all arrived at Boston. The cotton market during the week was steady, and prints had further advanced h lo J cent on all American descriptions. The week's sales amount to 41,418 hales. There was no change in other descriptions of cotton. Breadstuffs, owing to the large receipts, were heavy, with adownwanl tendency. Indian corn, per 480 lbs., was quoted nt 30s 6d to 3:2s. Indian meal 13s 61 to 14s p?r bbl. Provisions were earnest. The produce market is without much attraction. Cotton and sugar firm. American stocks remain unchnutrcd. The inonpy, market firm, and the demand for English securities good. Consols 97J. ? The political news piesents Tio specially new feature. Affairs in rjermany, and on the continent, be irig more pacific. Ghe*t Fiiik i Phil uelphia.?We are indebted. to V<r. Rogrrs, of Bain's Te'egraph, for (lie following despatch sent to Itini tins morning from the office in Philadelphia, which wns in great danger of being also consumed in the ennflugralion noticed.?We regret, to near of the loss ihc Ledger has met with, and hope they ure fully insured. Philadelphia, 9 o'clock, A. M. The Ledger building took fire this morning, and is lotally destroyed. It wi'l be impossible to save the adjoining building on Cbesnut st., as it is now in a blaze from the basement to the roof. It took fire in the engine room. The telegraph office was in great danger, but it is believed it will escape. Loss estimated at 470,0110 to fcbO.OOO. Second Despatch. Dec. 30?10 40 a. m. The Ledger Building in Ruins?Gre.at Loss " The firemen, though they worked with great energy, were unable to arrest the flames after the three upper stori s had been burnt ; and I regret to sav that the entire building, with most of its val uabie machinery, tyne, <fcc., is now n heap of smouldering ruins. 11 appears that the fire broke out about 7 o'clock this morning in the basement, connecting almost simultaneously, by means of the flue, with the press room and fourth story ; thuH in a very short time enveloping the entire building in flames. The loss by this catastrophe will Ire very heavy, but at present cannot lie estimated. 1 have not learned the amount of insurance. The buildings adjoining were not much injured. third despatch. Philadelphia, Dec. 30, p.m. At 12 o'clock the fire in the Ledger building was subdued. The 4th, 5th, and (ith stories are completely burnt out. The basement and 1st and 2d stories are greatly damaged by water, and much disarranged. With the usual energy of the proprietors. they are already making arrangements to have the presses in working order to iasue the Ledger to-morrow as usual, the type of which will be set up in the new tluincy Granite building. The loss is now roughly estimated at $150, 000, most of which is insured. The Rulletin office, on Third street, near the Ledger building, sustained some damage. New York, Dec. 30?2 p. m. The Fugitive slave case hits again been postponed until Friday next, owing to the absence of counsel. The flour market is steady?sales of 2000 bbls. at $4,75 a $4,87 for common to straight State brands; Southern and Genessee $5,12j; corn meal and rye flour unchanged. i Grain quiet?small sales and prices of both wheat and corn unchanged. Provisions quiet?Mess pork $12,25; lard 7Jcta in bbls . Grocery unchanged?prices steady. Cotton firm?small sales at an advance. W hisky 27et8. in bbls. The weather very cold. AT ODD FELLOWS' HALL. WHIPPLE'S GRAND ORIGINAL EXHIBITION OF THE DISSOLVING VIEWS, -7s Exhibited in the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. Representations of the most beautify Scenery of all parts of the world, with a great variety of Ancient and Modern Structures, Ruins, Cities. Caetles. Ac., which are produced in a truly wonderful manner. The most beautiful scenes grow into proportion and again disappear, .but so sudden and mysterious is the transition that it can only be compared to the magic of a dream seen by the eye. Commencing Tuesday evening the 24th instant, also every successive evening through the week; and Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, commencing at 3 o'clock. A splendid Series of Views, among which several represeenlations of White Mountain Sceuery in New Hampshire. Doors open at half-past 6; exhibition commences at half-past 7 o'clock. Tickets 25 cents; children half-price. Reductions made for schools. dec 23 PERFUMERY. "1 CASES of Ana fresh PerAimery from the J. w housee of Lubin. Prevoat, & Pivtr, no* opening at PARKER *9