Kitabı oku: «Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 15, August, 1851», sayfa 26

Monthly Record of Current Events

UNITED STATES

The political intelligence for the last few weeks is of remote and secondary, rather than of immediate and primary interest. The political parties have begun to hold State Conventions, the proceedings and resolutions of which are of some importance, as indicating the temper and policy which may be expected to characterize the ensuing elections.

In Vermont the Whig State Convention convened at Bellows Falls, June 25th. Resolutions were passed expressive of continued adherence to the principles by which the party has been heretofore guided, among which are specified a tariff of specific duties – so levied as to afford protection to American industry; appropriations by the Federal Government for the improvement of harbors and rivers, and a liberal policy toward actual settlers in the disposition of the public lands. Slavery is represented as a "moral and political evil," for the existence of which in the Slaveholding States, the people of Vermont are nowise responsible, but to the extension or continuation of which under the authority of the Federal Government, they are opposed. The Fugitive Slave law is declared to be "a matter of ordinary legislation, open at all times and on all occasions for discussion, and liable to be modified or repealed at the pleasure of the people as expressed through their representatives;" that it is "objectionable in some of its provisions, and while they cheerfully admit their obligations to obey it as a law of the land designed to fulfill a requirement of the Constitution," they insist upon the right of making modifications of it, as time and experience shall show to be proper. Other resolutions were passed expressive of attachment to the Union, and of hostility to all doctrines of secession or disunion, in whatever quarter manifested; and of concurrence in the "moderate, and discreet, and practicable measures recommended to Congress in the present National Administration." Hon. Charles K. Williams was nominated for re-election as Governor. The Free Soil State Convention was held at Burlington, May 29th. Resolutions were passed denying the power of the General Government to make appropriations for purposes of Internal Improvement, unless of a strictly national character; in opposition to a National Bank; recommending an equality of protection to all interests; in favor of free grants to actual settlers of the public lands; denying the power of Congress over the subject of slavery in the States, which, it is affirmed, can not claim to be legalized beyond the limits of State lines; in favor of the Wilmot Proviso, and adverse to the admission of any new Slave States into the Union; declaring the unconstitutionality of the Fugitive Slave law; approving of the law of the State, enacted at the late session of the Legislature, granting the privilege of habeas corpus to alleged fugitives from labor; and, finally, professing devotion to the Union, until perverted to an engine of oppression to the States. A speech, arguing strenuously against the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave law, was made by John Van Buren, Esq. Hon. Lucius B. Peck was nominated for Governor; he has declined to accept the nomination on the ground that he can not assent to the resolutions passed by the Convention, inasmuch as he believes the Fugitive Slave law to be constitutional, and does not consider the act passed by the late Legislature, authorizing the State courts to take, by habeas corpus, a slave out of the hands of the United States officers, to be a just exercise of the power of the State. The Democratic State Convention, held in May, passed resolutions decidedly approving of the Compromise measures, which were declared to be a pledge of the fidelity of the States to each other, and recommending the observance of them with the utmost fidelity and good faith. Hon. John S. Robinson was nominated for Governor.

In New Hampshire the Democratic State Convention met at Concord on the 9th of June. Resolutions were passed expressive of firm attachment to the Union; of acquiescence in the Compromise measures; and affirming the duty, on the part of all citizens, of unconditional submission to the laws. Hon. Levi Woodbury was unanimously presented as a candidate for the Presidency, subject to the decision of the National Convention to be held at Baltimore.

In Pennsylvania the State Convention for the nomination of Executive officers was held at Reading, June 4th. Resolutions were adopted in favor of a strict construction of the Constitution; affirming the obligation of Congress to refrain from all exercise of doubtful powers; declaring that the rights of the individual States ought to be scrupulously regarded, and that the citizens of one State ought not to interfere with the domestic institutions of any other; that all appropriations made by the General Government should be strictly confined to national objects. Resolutions were passed, fully endorsing the Compromise measures of the last session; and condemning the State law of March 3, 1847, withholding the use of the State jails for the detention of alleged fugitives from service, as interposing obstacles on the part of the State to the execution of a provision of the Constitution, and as an infringement of the principles of the Compromise. It was likewise declared that the Convention was in favor "in levying duties upon foreign imports, of a reciprocal interchange of our products with other nations," while "recognizing clearly the practice of the Government to maintain and preserve in full vigor and safety all the great industrial pursuits of the country." Hon. William Bigler was nominated for Governor. No candidate was formally presented for nomination as President at the ensuing election, although it was universally understood that the preferences of the Convention were almost unanimously in favor of Mr. Buchanan. The Convention for the nomination of Judicial officers met at Harrisburg on the 11th of June. On the 28th of that month a ratification meeting was held at Lancaster, at which Mr. Buchanan made a speech, forcibly advocating the principles of the resolutions proposed. They embraced a recommendation of a tariff based upon the ad valorem system, and expressed a cordial adherence to the principles adopted at the Democratic Convention held at Baltimore in 1848. A strict adherence to the Compromise measures was recommended; the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave law, and the duty of its enforcement on the part of the North, were affirmed. The course of Governor Johnston in neglecting to sign the bill for the repeal of the law of March 3, 1847, was declared to be in violation of the wishes of a large majority of the people of the State. The Whig State Convention met at Lancaster on the 24th of June. The series of resolutions presented and adopted, advocate the principle of protection to American industry, and declare the tariff of 1846 to be unequal in its tendencies, and ruinous to the interests of Pennsylvania. The attachment of the citizens of that State to the Constitution is warmly insisted upon; and a faithful adherence to the Compromise measures is promised. The general policy of the State and National administrations is fully endorsed. A special resolution, offered by way of amendment, in favor of the Fugitive Slave law, was cut off by the previous question, and the series of resolutions, as presented, was adopted. A resolution was carried, "That General Winfield Scott is beyond question the choice of the Whigs of Pennsylvania as their candidate for the Presidency of 1852, and that we earnestly recommend him to the Whigs of the Union as the most deserving and available man for that high office." Gov. Johnston was re-nominated.

In Ohio the Whig State Convention assembled at Columbus, on the 3d of July. The resolutions passed affirm that the Conventions of 1848 and 1850 "declare the position of the Whigs of Ohio on State and national policy: That protection to American Industry, a sound currency, the improvement of our rivers and harbors, an unyielding opposition to all encroachment by the Executive Power, and a paramount regard to the Constitution and the Union," are the cardinal principles of the policy of the party. All the provisions of the Constitution are declared to be equally binding. The course of the present National Administration is unqualifiedly sanctioned. In respect to the Compromise measures, and the next Presidency, the following resolutions were adopted: "That as the Compromise measures were not recommended by a Whig Administration, and were not passed as party measures by Congress, perfect toleration of opinion respecting those measures should be accorded to Whigs everywhere." "That it is the desire of the Whigs of Ohio that Gen. Winfield Scott should be the candidate of the Whig party for President of the United States at the election of A. D. 1852: and we cordially recommend him to the Whigs of the Union as the most deserving and suitable candidate for that office." Hon. Samuel F. Vinton was nominated as candidate for Governor.

In Mississippi the State Rights Convention was held June 16th, at Jackson. Resolutions were passed reaffirming the policy indicated by the Convention of October, 1849, which was in the main as follows: A devoted and cherished attachment to the Constitution, "as it was formed and not as an engine of oppression," was expressed. The institution of slavery was declared to be exclusively under the control of the States in which it exists; and "all attempts on the part of Congress or others to interfere with this subject, either directly or indirectly, are in violation of the Constitution, dangerous to the rights and safety of the South, and ought to be promptly resisted." The right of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, to prohibit the slave-trade between the several States, or to prohibit the introduction of slavery into the Territories of the United States is denied. The Wilmot Proviso is declared to be "an unjust and insulting discrimination, to which these States can not without degradation submit." The Legislature is requested to pass laws to encourage emigration of citizens of the slave-holding States into the new Territories. The resolutions of the Nashville Convention of 1850 are sanctioned and approved. The Convention declare the admission of California into the Union to be the "enactment of the Wilmot Proviso in another form," as set forth in a letter from the Congressional delegation of the State, under date of June 21, 1850. The Compromise measures are disavowed, particularly the admission of California, the division of Texas, the action on the subject of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia; and the course of the southern members of Congress who voted for those measures is most warmly condemned. While the "right of a State peaceably to withdraw from the Union, without denial or obstruction," is affirmed, the Convention "consider it the last remedy, the final alternative, and also declare that the exercise of it by the State of Mississippi, under existing circumstances, would be inexpedient, and is a proposition which does not meet the approbation of this Convention." The platform of the Union party, as adopted by common consent, declares "The American Union secondary in importance only to the rights and principles it was designed to perpetuate." It is represented that in the spirit of compromise which enabled the original thirteen States to found the Union, and which the present thirty-one must exercise to perpetuate it, they have considered the whole series of the Compromise measures, "and while they do not wholly approve, they will abide by it as a permanent adjustment of this sectional controversy." It is declared that, as a last resort, Mississippi ought to resist to the disruption of the Union any action by Congress upon the subject of slavery in the District of Columbia or in places subject to the jurisdiction of Congress which should be inconsistent with the safety or honor of the Slaveholding States; or the prohibition of the inter-state slave-trade; or the refusal to admit a new State on account of the existence of slavery; or the prohibition of the introduction of slavery into Utah or New Mexico; or any act repealing or materially modifying the Fugitive Slave law; upon the faithful execution of which depends the preservation of the Union.

In California the Whig State Convention recommend the extension of the pre-emption laws over all except the mineral lands of the State; the donation to each head of a family actually settled upon it, of 160 acres; liberal grants for educational purposes; appropriations for public improvements; the adoption of measures to construct a railroad to connect that State with the valley of the Mississippi; the establishment of steam communication with the Sandwich Islands and with China. The Compromise measures are also cordially commended.

The Fourth of July was celebrated with more than usual enthusiasm in almost every section of the country. In Washington, upon the occasion of laying, by the President, the corner stone of the extension of the Capitol, Mr. Webster delivered an oration which will rank with his most eloquent speeches. He gave a rapid sketch of the growth and progress of the Republic, from the time when Berkeley prophesied that the star of empire was about to take its westward way. He then portrayed the distinctive nature of American liberty, as distinguished from that of Greece and Rome, or of modern Europe, and altogether peculiar in its character. Its prominent and distinguishing characteristic he stated to consist in the capacity for self-government, developing itself in the establishment of popular governments by an equal representation; and in giving to the will of the majority, fairly expressed through its representatives, the binding force of law; and in the formation of written constitutions, founded upon the will of the people, regulating and restraining the powers of Government; added to the strong and deep-settled conviction of all intelligent persons among us that in order to support a useful and wise government upon these popular principles, the general education of the people, and the wide diffusion of pure morality and true virtue are indispensable. Mr. Webster then proceeded to deposit under the corner stone a document written by his own hand, which, after reciting the circumstances of the ceremony, thus concludes: "If, therefore, it shall be hereafter the will of God, that this structure shall fall from its base, that its foundations be upturned, and the deposit beneath this stone brought to the eyes of men, be it then known that, on this day, the Union of the United States of America stands firm – that their Constitution still exists unimpaired, and with all its original usefulness and glory, growing every day stronger and stronger in the affections of the great body of the American people, and attracting more and more the admiration of the world. And all here assembled, whether belonging to public life or to private life, with hearts devoutly thankful to Almighty God for the preservation of the liberty and happiness of the country, unite in sincere and fervent prayers that this deposit, and the walls and arches, the domes and towers, the columns and entablatures, now to be erected over it, may endure forever. – God save the United States of America." After which he presented some statements setting forth in several aspects the comparative state of the country upon that day, and upon the same day, fifty-eight years before, when the corner stone of the original Capitol was laid by the hand of Washington.

The Legislature of New York closed its extra session on the 11th of July. The skirmishing upon the passage of the Canal Enlargement Bill was sharp and protracted; but the large majority in its favor in both Houses pressed it steadily on. Previous to the final passage, a protest was presented, signed by 32 representatives. In the House the vote stood 81 for and 36 against the Bill. In the Senate the numbers are 22 to 8. The majority in the Senate was augmented by awarding the seat in the district in which a tie was returned, to Mr. Gilbert, the candidate in favor of enlargement, on the ground of illegal votes cast for his opponent; and by the death of Hon. William H. Brown, Senator from the first district, who died a few days before the close of the session. As under the next appropriation New York loses a representative in Congress, it became necessary to make a new division of the State into Congressional districts. Of the 33 members to which the State will be entitled, taking the vote for Governor at the late election as a criterion, the Whigs will elect 20, the Democrats 13. The Whig majority for Governor was but 262. In the present Congress the members are equally divided between the parties. The gain to the Whigs has been effected by classing together, in several cases, into one district, counties in which the Democratic majority is large. At the annual meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati, on the 4th of July, a speech was made by Hon. Hamilton Fish, Senator-elect, in which he defined his position with respect to the leading political question of the day. It will be borne in mind that his refusal to do so while he was a candidate for the United States Senate, was the ground of the determined opposition made to his election. He said that while the Compromise measures were under consideration, they did not meet his approval; one in particular he thought open to exception as well on the ground of omission as enactment. But they had been enacted, as he believed, constitutionally; and from the moment that they became laws, he had avowed his acquiescence in them; and though he hoped for a modification of some of their provisions, he thought that the present was not the time for wise and prudent action. In a word, while he did not approve, he fully and unreservedly acquiesced. He offered, as a toast, these fundamental principles: "An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature for which they have fought and bled, and without which the high rank of a rational being is a curse instead of a blessing." – "An unalterable determination to promote and cherish, between the respective States, that union and national honor so essentially necessary to their happiness, and the future dignity of the American Empire."

The Legislature of Rhode Island adjourned on the 21st of June, after a session of four and a half days. Among the acts passed was one for re-organizing the Common School system of the State; and one providing for secret ballots at elections.

In Ohio the new Constitution, a synopsis of which we gave in our Number for May, has been accepted by the popular vote, by a decided majority. The article prohibiting licenses for the sale of ardent spirits, which was separately submitted to the people, was also adopted, though by a majority less than that in favor of the other articles.

By a recent law of Kentucky, widows having children of an age suitable for attending common schools, are entitled to vote in the election of school trustees.

The Governor of South Carolina has issued his proclamation for the election of representatives to the Southern Congress. He recommends the choice of two delegates from each Congressional district. The anniversary of the battle of Fort Moultrie was celebrated at and near Charleston, on the 28th of June. An address to the Moultrie Guards was delivered by Thomas M. Hanckel, Esq., in the course of which he declared that the only remedy for the grievances of the South "was to be found in an inflexible determination to dissolve this Union – a determination which would accept of no indemnity for the past, listen to no concessions for the present, and rely on no guarantee for the future; but which would ask and accept nothing but the sovereign right of self-government and Southern Independence." Among the toasts given were the following: "The Compromise – A breach of faith, and a violation of the Constitution. Resistance is all that is left to freemen." – "Separate State Action – the test of patriotism." – "Our sister State, Georgia – We will take all the corn she can raise, but beg of her to keep the Cobb at home." – "Federal threats and Federal guns – The first none of us fear, the last, if pointed at us, we will take."

In Alabama Senator Clemens is vigorously canvassing the State in support of the Union party and in defense of the Compromise measures. On the 2d of June, he made a speech at Florence, in which he commended the entire series of measures, and defended his own course in relation to them from attacks made by members of his party. Senator King has published a letter in which he announces his decided hostility to the Compromise measures. He pronounces the admission of California into the Union an act of injustice. Under no contingency could he have sanctioned the bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia under certain circumstances; and he should feel himself bound to vote for the repeal of the emancipation clause, whenever proposed. He would vote again, as he did at the last Congress, for the repeal of the Mexican law prohibiting slavery in Utah and New Mexico.

The Legislature of Connecticut adjourned on the 2d of July, without having made any choice of United States Senator. In the House, a series of resolutions was passed by a vote of 113 to 35, declaring the duty of a cheerful submission to law, endorsing the Compromise measures as constituting a fair and equitable adjustment of the whole vexed questions at issue, and meeting the full approbation of the Assembly; pronouncing the Fugitive Slave law to be in accordance with the Constitution, containing merely enactments to carry into effect the provisions of that instrument, and calling upon all good citizens to sustain the requirements of the law. The resolutions were sent to the Senate at a late period of the session, where various motions of amendment were made, all of which were lost. Before they could be finally acted upon, the hour fixed upon for adjournment arrived, when a motion was made and carried for their indefinite postponement. The resolutions were returned to the House, and entered upon the journal.

The Legislature of Michigan, at its late session, divided the State into four Congressional districts, as rendered necessary by the results of the late census. These districts are so arranged that it is supposed the Democrats will secure the entire delegation in Congress. A number of Mormons, who had settled on Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan, have been arrested on charge of various crimes. Among the number was James J. Strang, who claims and is believed by his followers to be endowed with special divine inspiration. They have been tried on an indictment for obstructing the United States mail, and acquitted by the jury after a very brief consultation.

In Virginia the Convention is laboriously engaged in framing the new Constitution. In our last Record, by a clerical error, we reversed the terms of the compromise on the suffrage question. In the House the West are to have 82 members and the East 68. In the Senate 30 members are to be chosen from the East and 20 from the West, giving the West a majority of four on joint ballot. This settlement has been adopted by the Convention, who have stricken out the clause reported by the committee prohibiting the Legislature from passing laws for the emancipation of slaves, and inserted a provision that an emancipated slave remaining in the State more than twelve months shall be sold. A public dinner was given to Mr. Webster on the 28th of June, at Capon Springs, in Western Virginia, at which he made a speech, which was most enthusiastically received. In the course of it he said: "I make no argument against resolutions, conventions, secession speeches, or proclamations. Let these things go on. The whole matter, it is to be hoped, will blow over, and men will return to a sounder mode of thinking. But one thing, gentlemen, be assured of – the first step taken in the programme of secession, which shall be an actual infringement of the Constitution or the laws, will be promptly met. And I would not remain an hour in any administration that should not immediately meet any such violation of the Constitution and the law effectually and at once; and I can assure you, gentlemen, that all with whom I am at present associated in the government, entertain the same decided purpose." He concluded with the following sentiment: "The Union of the States – May those ancient friends, Virginia and Massachusetts, continue to uphold it as long as the waves of the Atlantic shall beat on the shores of the one, or the Alleghanies remain firm on their basis in the territories of the other." The British Embassador, Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, made an eloquent speech, which was received with warm cheers, and elicited the following toast: "England and the United States – One language – one creed – one mission."

From California our dates are to May 31. On the night of the 3d of May, the anniversary of a great fire of last year, a destructive conflagration took place in San Francisco, by which a large portion of the business part of the city was destroyed. The number of buildings burned is set down at 1500; the loss was at first stated at from ten to twelve millions, which is probably three or four times the actual amount. A number of lives were also lost. In one case six persons undertook the care of a store supposed to be fire-proof; the iron doors and window-shutters became expanded by the heat to such a degree that it was impossible to open them, and the inmates were all burned to death. The work of rebuilding was commenced and carried forward with such characteristic rapidity, that within ten days after the fire 357 buildings were in process of erection, of which the greater part were already occupied. At the close of the month it is stated on reliable authority, that the number of buildings actually tenantable was greater than before the conflagration. The city of Stockton suffered severely by a fire on the 12th of May. The amount of gold produced continues to be very great. The gold bluffs of the Trinity River, the reported discovery of which caused such an excitement a few months since, prove to be of little or no value; but the extraction of gold from the auriferous quartz is rapidly developing itself as experience points out new and improved methods of procedure. This promises to become the most productive of all the mining operations in California. It is evident that the market is altogether overglutted with goods, the large amount destroyed at the fires, apparently producing no effect upon prices in general. Political excitement runs high: party lines beginning to be strictly drawn. The nominations for State officers of both parties have been made. The depredations and outrages of the Indians have not altogether ceased. The severe code of Lynch law still continues in practical force, though instances of its execution are somewhat less frequently given. Large numbers of emigrants from China are arriving; a British vessel from Hong Kong lately brought 381 Celestials to San Francisco. They promise to out-number the emigrants from any other foreign people, and manifest a most unexpected facility in acquiring the language, manners, and modes of thought and life of their new homes. An expedition raised in the southern part of the State, for the purpose of invading the Mexican province of Lower California, appears to have miscarried.

In Oregon a treaty has recently been concluded with portions of the Callapooya and Twallaty tribes of Indians, who cede to the United States a large tract of the most valuable lands in the valley of the Willamette. These Indians refuse to leave that portion of the country, and will probably continue to reside within the limits of the reservations. Unlike the tribes to the east of the Rocky Mountains, they are desirous of adopting the habits of civilized life, many of them being now in the service of the whites as laborers.

In Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and along the whole course of the Upper Mississippi, great damage has been done by an unusual and long-continued flood of that river. Many towns of considerable size have been quite overflowed. At St. Louis, during the greater part of the month of June, the levee was entirely submerged, and all the stores upon Front-street filled with water to the depth of several feet. For a vast extent along the Mississippi, Missouri, and their tributaries the bottom lands have been submerged for so long a time as to destroy the growing crops. It is the most disastrous inundation which has occurred for several years. Three distinct shocks of an earthquake were felt at St. Louis on the 2d of July. The morning was somewhat cool and cloudy, followed not long after by a slight rain, with thunder. In the afternoon the weather cleared up, and so remained for the remainder of the day. The cholera has appeared at several places in the West, more especially on the line of the Mississippi. It does not appear, however, to have assumed a decidedly epidemic character. The troops under the command of Col. Sumner, on their way to New Mexico, have suffered severely; as well as the trains of traders. The small pox has committed terrible ravages among the Sioux and other Indian tribes on the plains of the Northwest. In January the weather was extremely cold, and some 40 or 50 of the Indians in exposed situations were frozen to death. Affrays have taken place among various tribes of Indians in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. A steamer has recently set out from St. Louis, with about 100 voyagers bound for the Rocky Mountains. The steamer is destined for the mouth of the Yellowstone, about two thousand miles up the Missouri, the head of steamboat navigation. From this point the passengers will proceed in Mackinaw boats to the falls of the Missouri. Most of the passengers are employees of the American Fur Company. Dr. Evans, U. S. Geologist, is of the number; and two Jesuit missionaries, Fathers De Smedt and Hæken, take the opportunity to visit the wild tribes of Indians near the Mountains, among whom they intend to remain for two or three years.