Newspapers / Highland Messenger (Asheville, N.C.) / April 14, 1843, edition 1 / Page 1
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4 Ml f,; .r....v'. I rWeeflflOjrNewspcri devoted loTjlcIigioii; Monditjr, Politics, jBcieace Agriculture arid Xfeneral Intelligence. T VOL. Ill NUMBER 3a ASHEVILLE, N; C , APRIL 14, 1843; WHOLE NUMBER 142. till VTv f.v vy r 'xo us II rv II i vr Published weehljr, . BY J. H. CHRISTY & CO. ' ... raxreass "... ITiii paprr i puWmhcd at Two foLU year, in advanco-rTwo Dollam and Fiftjr Ccntt in six montht or, Tliive Dullur t the end of tho year. (S''c prospectm.) . Ai'rcrlHifmonls inprti d nt One Dollar por wjuaro for the first, and Twcnty.Five Cent for each continuance. Court Ordert Will be charged twenty-fiTe per cent, extra. , , HIGHLAND MESSENGER Friday. April 11, 1843. .- - r ' ii i.i 1 1 i ' i " . -'i i OCT u auuibvr column will buiouhcta rttrnmonicuiiorr In refi-rence to n practice which i said to prcv.iU to tatnt; extent iu the western part f ibis State, of, at least indirtft horse, racing, ly members of ilu church t We should have been dixpose'd to doubt the truth of the statement,' had it nut have como from n most reliable source. TV ic'c.3 af n member of a christian church giving his sanction to tho demoralizing pract'ueof racing, by training his horses for the turf, is so preposterous and contra Victory ' every piinciplo which Is supposed to covurn su'ch men, thut without good evi. dtnee wo coula fl baye believed tt. What ! a Migious horse.r..cr! ns well talk about n religious drunkard, 6 religious sftcarer, or a n lig:is debauchee ! Wte would be. lii ve u much in the t.iiifrrity of the one an the other! O shiirr., where is lh.v blush! For the sake of connistency, for the sake of the church of God. and for tho sike of every tiling sacred, wc entreat lhoe accustomed to this course either to abandon it utterly, repent of their sins, and by proper humiliation and reformation, otrivw to reinstate themselves into the con fidence of their brethren and frionds, or else to leave the church, and henceforward seek companionship with jackies and black, legs, to whom such conduct properly1 be longs. There is another matter relating to our good fiiendsoul West, whichwe wish to given mere passing notice that is, a goodly portion of the members of the late. Tota) Abstinence Society, ns wc have been crctli- ( ,lv iniorihed, have ullowed themselves to iimU-V- a ifttle'in the use of the crilfer" iuee lliHr profeSNtoiis of Tetotalisril ! Is ,u So'i-nr on ye. If you are men, be mit, pufon n petticoat and bustlf , an I go into the house, sit down, and patch quiltsor sew carpet-rags.or engage in some other kind of child's work. And dillo, ditto, rlilto to every body else, whether cost, west, north or south, who pretends to be friendly to the Total Abstinence cause, ' joins a society, and still drinks liquor. ' SPEARING AT THIS PLACjE. UVmentioned last week that Messrs. GiU-T ham and Cungman, candidates to reprc -sent ibis lhsui t in the next Congress of the Unite I Slates, addressed a portion of the ei'izens of this county at this place on lhe4ih inst. Mr. Gkaiiam commenced at little beloi'ifa o'clock, P. M. declared him self a candidiite for re-election returned thanks for past favors and in reference to his course; in the past Congress, said that he did for the people what he would have had them under u change f "relations do for him Entered upon tho Land question ; said lie h.id heard of dissatisfaction among 'some of his friends in reference to his vote on that subject, but believed" the vote right when he gavo it, nnd believed so yet MxoluiueJ foe- what the extra session of Congress. was called, viz., to provide a rc venue Said that the Whig party in Con gicss -determined on distribution then, but his policy was, first, o pay jff llw public debt contracted by the preceding adminis tration j am) provido a revenue cave It as his opinion that-distribution ought to have ' taken plaee in 1834, when the country was out of debt, but not now nevertheless de. - c lured that he went for the principle in Into, but differed from others as,to the proper time to distribute, and maintained that the Govemnuut should not give away money while it owed debts which it was unable to pay thought we should be just before go. tierous. Mr. G. here proceeded to argue the question of distribution generally, and referred to his circular on that subject saul he IkuI uniformly voted against Trea sury notes, which ho considered forming one currency for the Government and its .officers and another for the people. On the subject of the Tariff, Mr. G. said that he was in favor of a Tariff for revenue, and spoke of the policy of all nations on this subject that all civilized nations col ?eetd more or ! revenue in this way. lie argued the subje-A generally, but said that he had Voted against the Tariff of 1842 because he thought the duties on some arti cles toolilgh. Ho jdtciared, himself oppo eed 1o the proposition to assume the debts of the States by Gingi&ftrppoHed to it, he said, " tip onsloawddwotheoiricrX Ue Had voted aaltist tl,'CEbnkrupt fact, be causehe thoujfit it wrong, pud consequent ly voted for jtrappal. . While on this sub ject, he said tlui ho wont with his party while he believW them Id the right, but no fa rther that ri wai responsible to his con. siituents,iiia CfUntry and his G:od, for his public acts, and would always think Bad act for himself i , -$ -r 0n the Currency question, he spoke of Hie disuppointiTMn't ut the people in not ex periencing some relief through the action of Congress of t!e doings of the last Congess and the veto of the President said that President Tyler had no currency scheme of his own, and seemed to have little to do on the subject but thwart the action of Con gress said that he (Graham) had never been partial to orv-man power, and was now more opposed to it than ever. The last half hour of Mr. Grahajc's time was tnken op in expliinfng arid defend ing his course in refercneo to the change of postmasters at this place, which occurred some twelve months ago, and which, as it is ofa local nature, would not be interesting to or readers at a distance, and the most of those who have fell on interest in the matter were, wo presume, present on the occasion, and heard for themselves. On tho whole, Mr. Graham npoku one hour and ufit-Pti minutes, and was immediately followed by . Mr. CUNGMAN, who commenced by reviewing Mr, course, and remarks in reference to the Post Oflko at this place in this he occupied net-rly half an hour then proceeded to review Jlui part of Mr. Gbaham's speech which referred to tho Land question Read from Mr. G. a late circular and from one published by Mr. G. two years ago, and attempted to show a dis crepancy between Mr. G.'s course then and nfiic Charged him f ith having been in fa vor of a high TarifT Ave years ago, In order To pay oflrthe public debt, and now alleging that the proceeds of tho public lands should le used 'for that purpose Road from Presi dent Tyler's message on the Land Bill, and then from the 'report of the corrrmittcc"to whom that mras igo was referred, in which Mr. Tyler's reasons for vetoing it were denounced and then chargid Mr. G. with voting for that report ond now offering the same reason himself Attempted to show what he calltjd Mr. Gs inconsistency on tho Land question generally, and particu larly of his view? of the propriety of distri butlon in 1834, ond not now Adverted htrgdyto Mr. G.'s doctrines nd practice , to hie opinions' on Ih'e Land question and his votes on the same, and proceeded to urge that H was imptirtant that thuLand Dill should have passed at the last Congress, Inasmuch as umlcr the new ratio of reprc. seniation tha Western States would have a majority in Congress', and hereafter hold on to tho laud. On the Tarift" question, Mr. C. spoke of M r. G.'s voting on the proposition to take up the question, but ofhisnof roJngou the main quew.ion--ifdirectly accused him (Mr. G.) of ', sloping," nnrj quoted from his circular and accused him of preaching up for a high TarifT, and Voting for a low ono. . Mr. C then proceeded to speak of his own personal relation, proapcvU, itc, and urged that if the party was " split" he would Dot be guil tySpokc one hour and fifteen minutes." Mr. GRAHAM replied proceeded to answer the objections which had been urged against him said that Mr. C waa disposed to ccniure tim, but did nottTmsrh propose any thing epoke of" his absence when votes were taken in the House, and said that wheirthe people cane to consider all the circumstances they would be. surprised at his having been absent no more than what he was dwelt particularly on the objection to his vote on the Land Bill, and concluded bv inquirincof Mr. C. how ho would have voted on ha Tariff." Mr. CL1NGMAN, in answer, said that he would have voted against the bill, and with a few remarks closed the discussion. This is a faithful rrport of the entire dis. cussioo', with the exception of the Post office affdr. We giro h without " note or com.' ment," at least for the present. " The jury can retire and make up their verdict." It it trulj' said that the temperance canoe ia producing light. Instead of making hirker out of corn, in many places "oat writ," the manufacture from it an on, which m eaid firti a beatitifu) light. . t'0 TUC M-SEM3S.J , ,MAlaj ol uouders. .. .While some of tha inhabitants of " the far west" are uttorly astonished at tl0 dia reel, or at least, some of the hard words in use ia the old 14 Stntoof Buncombe," those of said State4' are in their turn, not less surprized at tho conduct of some of their western' neighbors. At the . western call for information, tho hard word Lycciiin" was promptly, torn to piecea and put toge ther Again, ia so clear aud plain a inanm r, that with-vtb.:rtprencj! added, ven llie scanty resources of tltget will be amply sufficient to bring it ftlly within the grasp of a western intellect tTton -may not we, of the V old Sut,".w'alii sJrno, degree of confidence, clakti at the hands of our west, era brethren, some information relative to a portion of their conduct, at which some of us are a little astonished t. We allude to what we, in this country . of dictionaries, call religious-horse racing. But this being a strange word, and intended for a country of but few books,, wc will explain a little not like making bed quilts, by cutting to pieces and putting together again, but by a brief allusion to the conduct itself Religious-horse-racing," then, means horse racing carried on by professors of religion ; by professed members of the visible church of Christ, whether private or officiaW Thoiigh this may bo regarded ua right, by those western pupils of Webster and Walk er, yet wo, in this land of M Lyceums" nod ample literary resources, are taught to view it in a different lighu.--!ret we navo BU old book called " tho Bible," winch we believe contains a revelation of the will of God, to marrr and we regard it as the only perfect and safe rule ol conduct, to ensure happiness in this world, nnd in that which is l come. This book teaches us that wo should n frain,tpot only (mm evil, but even from its appearance, and that having named the name Christ, we should depart from all iniquity nnd walk nshe also walked. That we should refrain from all such diversions as we cannot use in the name of the Lord Jesus, ozc. . But it would seem, from the conduct of our western brethren, as well ns from a Catalogue of their bjoks publisncd by a late writer, viz. "a Tennessee River ian," that they ore destitute of this invalu. able book. If so, we ask no further expla nation of their conduct; It is perfectly natural. But if, in the arduous task of com piling the catalogue of Webster's Spelling Book and Walker'a Pictionary.lheauthor overlooked the Bible, though it was a west ern booh, then our astonishment Is not, l-.i the least, abated. We nro aware, that tho horse-raccr would justify his practice by saying " that it was lawful ;" but we cannot conceive that that fact clnngcs its moral coloring. Houses of ill fame, too, have been legalized; but docs that in n moral sense justify the conduct of their wretched inmates? But say the reli- sious racers, " we do not bet on our horses ; wo Kiiow IIIUl WUUPJ UU OIUIUI. A 17 , an christians allow, that horse-racing for a wager, is a species of gambling, and that all gambling is sinful. ". But our object is to improve tho breed of this noble animal, nnd not to countenance gambling." But does racintr really improve the stock? If so, in what way, I would nsk, docs it in crease the natural strength of the horse, or accustom to those actions which he is called to perform in the ordinary services of man! No: we thinkthat it abates his natural strength, and teachrs him actions and ha. bits which quite disqualify him for tho most important services lor which he was origin ally designed. Again, the northern horses are far superior to those of tho south and west, whore this mod.- of false improvement has long been practised. I his, however, nfay not be known in that desolate land of but two books --- . - But says the pious racer, " I am a farm.. ". a -fa er ; l nuve to live oy sucn means as l nave, or can get ; ' I toise my horses for market ; and although I very much disapprove of horse racing for money, yet many do np prove of It; and if it be known that my horse Is'fnst, he will command a far better price." ' Yes, brother, this is the truth ; but what kind of a language does It speak for a man professing godliness? ' V Horse, racers are gamblers; gambling i sinful ; nssuch, I am opposed to it; but yet I will train the horse, and prepare him ready to the hand of the gambler, because he will bring me more money." Now, my friends, look for a single moment at the other side of the question i If thero be evif attached to gambling, can yotrgo thug far, and not rnnlrnM n mnrnTslaTn 1 View the nrocpss contract a moraTstaTn f 4 View the process of training awhile ! is thereno horses kill ed? no riders, ? Is there no swearing? no fighting? no drunkenness? no lying? no cheating? Yes, verily; the race.ground abounds with these evils. And yet " there is no harm in preparing my horse forThe gambler's use." 'Strange indeed ! that even the inhabitants of the far west," without the Bible, and only two other books, do not know better.. Truly this language, for a christian, sounds hs stranuely to us here In. " the State of Buncombe, as the word " Lyceum" can possibly sound to our bre-thn-nof the west. " VVhat! the increased value of u race-horse amply reward me for all my pains in training? make foil amends for all th wounrfs inflicted on my brethren in the church? and (if an official member) for the loss of the confidence of my bre. thrn, and 'the consequent vacant at my religious meetings." Surely, then, you must valuo these things at a very low rntr;. Alas ! alas ! (says the. pious racer) the weaknes9, and ignorance of the people ; if they will be to fodieh as to stumble at this innocent conduct, and thus deprive them selves of tha. great and .lasting benefits, which they might receive from all tho warm exhorla'ions, fervent prayers and whole, some instruct ions of my praycr-meetuigs, I cannot help tt; their blood be upon their jwn houda. Fornotooe of them can give any butter reason for their highly censurable conduct, than they will nol attend tho reli. gious meetings of horso. races. Well, be it so I must- do the , best I can with my hjooded stock. Though others, mistaking my motives ond following my examples, may do wrong ; or although an orphan boy or a little negro may chance to be dashed from tlw affrighted beast into Eternity, dur ing the process of training, that is nothing lo roc ; . So I but got my fillies trained - Ana aiirvad Ineir ipvcd aUroad, That money may oome flowing in, Twilt be a good reward. We give the above, as the opinion enter tained by many (if not all) of the profes. s irs of religion, in the Siato of Buncombe. We have ouly supposed the excuses of our western brethren, in justification ol their conduct.' 1 But after all, wc may be mista. ken, nnd they may. bfUy-wu to justify their courirc.and make It thus appear to all. If so. bv doing this they will confer upon their brethren of this'" State'" a very pe Culiar favor. But if not, may we not fondly hone, that they "will acknowledge tho im. rr..pricty,of " religious horse.racing-," and nhandon the practice ? Your prompt com pliance, dear brethren, will very much ob- l! A ... - -v lljje JX JNQCJTliNO LiUNCOMBITE. roa TIIK MRSSEXCER. The Kciitiu-klau and tho calf; OB, A M1DNIGFIT ROBBER. Messrs. Editors, Without going into a minute detail of the hiatory of tho above aniinulsor their epecies, I will merely state that, on a cold uiglit in December, 18 , a Kentucktau stopped at my lather' limine for tho night. Supper ever, he retired, wishing to take an early start next morning, (laving becu up once or twice in tho night to ascertain the wherabouta of the stars. &C, he had loft the door open (for btf slepf in a room with an outside door an 1 a pen tion, and door in it, in tho inside) both f whit:h he hud lelt partly open. After having (as he thought) been asleep for sometime in the second pap, lie was awukened by the breathing of some one just at tho side of hid pillow, which at that unusual hour of the night, and in the " blackness of dark uess,'.' most terribly frightened him, where, upon In inquired, ' Who there?" No oiiswc being given and the breathing ron tinum;? he repeated in a loud voice. " Who arc yi f? Speuk, or you are a dead man." t he r ptier made no. answer, but still his breath rtg could bo more, distinctly heard. and once, if hot oftencr, he was heurd to grit h' teeth, as if in defiance of his threats "Speak! cried out the more and more slarmed Kentuckian ; no answer still being riven, ho became almost wild with terror ind alarm, and after raising up upon one tUow, with greift difficulty he manned up courage sullieient to reach out theothei hand t) feel whether he could find the ob ject of his terror. This was a dangerous exploit, lor in doing it he laid his hand directlr upon what -he considered a cold white corpse, for he now partially saw th object, and the" chill of denih seemed to CQursi through his veins with a coldneWs ntid rapidity whicli he had never uelore ex perience'd, tytcompinied by a suddeu ba ! This o'Crcome him, and he It'll back and screamed as in the last agonies of death, " Ltimllord ! O murder murder ! ! O Lord, Lrd ! murder run licro 0 miir dor! run here, landlord0 murder!" This wised tho whole posse conitlatus of the Tpi-i'l'ises, Including men, women, chil dren, ilgs nnd cats. After much terror, difficulty and confusion, a light was obtain ed, anlh room of the dying man entered by the 'whotofamily, armed with .sticks", tongs, shovels, guns, nnd firebrands- He Was found upon his back in bed, as pale as a glass of milk, wtnVtifs" bands clasped, and in a profuse cold sweat. At the foot of the bed stood his foe, with four legs, n fail behind it, two ears, two horns, and a real bona fide calf skin on it! with its back covered with snow. When the gentleman went out (as I said before) he left the dnors open, and soon aficra snow . fell, which caused the calf to seek shelter whore it did. And, gentle reader, a few momenta after that I went to sleep. J M.E. Edinyville, April 1. Tjje late gales A late English paper speaking of the late destructive gales in thut region says : "JThe sacrifice of life and property at tea during the Inst six weeks, basbeen, we Regret to say , without parallel in" ihefhjsjory of our mercantile affairs On the coast of England, 154 vessels were wrecked, and 190 lives lost ; on the coast ol Ireland, 5 vessels were . lost, with 134 lives; on tlie const of Scotland, 17 vessels were wrecked, and 39 lives lost ; and on the coast of France, 4 vessels and 100 lives lost. Tho value of the vessels nnd cargo have been roughly estimated ut 595,000. Blackwood's orimo or smoking. Another thing most be observed by all who would sneceaa folly ape the gentleman ; nercf to smoke a eigar in the street in mid-day. No better sign can you hare than this of a fellow recklrssof decency and behaviour ; a gentleman smokes, if he smokes at all, where he offends not the oifactpries of the passers by. Nothing, hr is aware, approaches more nearly the moat offensive personal insult, than to eompel ladies and gentlemen to inbaler after you, die ejected fragrance of vour penny Cu ba nr'yonr throe half peanyniild Havana, t ' s,; From the Columbia 01r rw. JH ' V,,, An Allegory ,;. ,. Ia dayi "lang tynel I know man, , , And Uncle Sam's the bny, That had a Conit Mutton horao WMhort fe Mtsl slte-'i ' 1 For twenty yoara, when Uncle Sam "A milling" wiah'd to go, - , ' 'He'd throw his grist upon old Jobs ' Aod toddlu off -not alow' T-.'. John a'nmbled not, aor ahy'd, aor pranoe'd . But wont right straight u alwad," , And always brought the needed meal To make the children bread. Now, Uncle Sam, when ia his ep$ - Upon iucalcukday, ' Swopped John off for a pie-bald scrub ' That acaree could ace his way. hen Uncle Sam a milling went, Wl)cn next day tame round, j. He learnt full aoon the piebald's trick 4 While rotting sa tha grousd. - Sometimes the wilful scrub Would pknge - . And throw the boy m aud, 'At others aliy against the fcooe Aod npill the olnldren'i food. - -i - . : . . Now, Unolo Sam declared ia wroth He'd try ihii scrub no more. But gi t the Constitution breed Tho Stock he bad before. And sure enough, a brother true To gallant John he got, H?-wa a noblo charter too, " A charity at Ik tpot," How happy, now, waa Unele 8am ! He lliought of days of yoro When ai-ntt-d on hi faithful John He HasLi'd oVr mead and moor. Hm children, loo, how gladaome Uuy ! Tliey had no eare, no dread, They knew their trusty steed would bring Tho needed meal for bread. When twenty yeara their eourae had sped Years full of hope and joy, A new exprrimrnt was tried By thiB8nnic-5ammy boy. Young John he gave- for a " vsholt team" ' Of "prtt" o(.Jonkey breed Whifili he declared wore "6er" far Thun anyeingle atped. Ero long this team, lash'd two and twof With bags tipon their backs. With Undo Sam to guide the while, For mill were making tracks " O, what a nobte sight" he cried, M How cA'ffp, how prop'rout too Thcc are the lad to tote the griat 1" And up Ins cap he throw. He scarce had uttered forth the wordi, When down a donkey Ml The rest became entangled soon, , And down they wont " pell melt." Ala ! alack ! cried Uncle Sam, As bags and donkeys full, " O, give mo back tho good old race And eume the donkeys all !" Poor Uncle Sam, how wcrpi ho now To hear his children's erica And sigh to know the home ia gone That whilom brought aupptics. Now, tinkers all, I h6plyoo.1 learn From Undo Sam's wild pranks, . Ti best to take the good old vay Ia Politics and Banks! ZEKE, Legislative Poetry. Th e correspondent of the Missouri Republican, at Springfield, III., detailing the proceedings of the Illinois Legislature says, that Mr. Dubola from a Seloct ('-onimitti to whom had been referred a bill explaining the term ordinary times' used in the late slaylaw, reported the bill back with an amendment, containing the following cctiuri de fining the expression above mentioned. When rqoney thuploty( all property's high Rut when it ia gonn, iht-rv is norm to bilv. i f Ttic mrrr.ilcwi Trreditor the debtor will sue. Ana owures be rants nothing but what u his due; Yet scow h will sell to gel pay for his stlkr ' And leave the) poor children to c;ry for the milk. Then tho Wagon and home he will sell for a song, And declare Tic is doing his deb'or no wrong; For a full suit of clothes, he Hunks it no harm To tnho in full judgment a snug little farm. To prevent snoh oppression tho law thinks H right To interpose in due timo Iho arn of its might, To save from destruction the unfortunate poor And keep them from begging, at creditor's door. Appraisers should value a horse or a cow, . Or anything else, whether hoc. axe or ulourb. L With, an cyo to the value between two extremes, in oramnry lime' is what the law means. The Q(iu ndment was adopted, says the letter writer with acclamation, and the bill ordered to be engrossed for a third reading. Newspapeh statistics There are in the United Slutes, according to the census, one hundred ft nd t h i i ty eight daily papers, eleven lutndredandfortyone weekly papers, and one hundred and twenty-five semi weelv The number of daily papers in the United States is larger than one would imagine and "the number of what arc colled periodicals i much larger thin can he profitably supported. There arc but five States in the Union which hare no daily papers and there are but four, which have not periodicals. Three of the oldest ond most influential States of the American Union, viz. Virginia, North and tJouth Ua. rolinn, hue the smalitst proportionable number of newspapers. A lady uVaThelgbboring town, who bad been brought up under the forms of the Epiacopal Church, lur ng the recent religious txcitement, became impressed with an idea that extemporane ous prayer was more romformable to tbe serin tores than the liturgy. The pastor consequently called on her, and endeavored to convince her of her fancied error. " But sir," said she, " how ean ' od fcconr.ilc the prayeffor die President of the United States with the known disgust which the very mention or bis name excite T" The paslor answered " do not the scriptures teach ns lo pray for all men ; and ia there a man in the nation wh stands more in need of being prayed for than John Tyler 7" The lady was satisfied PhU: Forum. . Blackwood's onrooiv or Mo"tacb. There is an affectation amoog the vulgar clever, of wear ing the mti eke which they clip and cut la Vandyk ; this ia useful, as affording a ready means of dialinguishin'g between a man of talent and an as the former, trusting to his bead, goes clean shave4, and fonks Tike an Englishman ; tbe latter, w hose strength Trim altogether in his hair, exhausts the power of Maeaasar m endeavoring to make himself as much like an ourang-outang a possible. : uim of sr. FRrtxcis, of un OCP,' '-.,- In reply to Mi.M-,Kue,nf Cumberland, , Oa. the lustruetivu Uesolutious. r'Mr. Speaker; Having bad so ample an opportunity afforded me on Monday last, of Jiving my views fully on these resuluions, should not have mads another call on tho alteration of thisllouso, were it not for the violent manner in which the gentleman from Cumberland has indulged, in assailing my motives on thut occasion. I shall tow, however, promise to be as bi icf as possible, . in replying to that gonllcman's denuncia tionsand i csn assure tlie HouaehatTam truly sincere, when 1 state, thai .1 was ex treniely sorry when 1 fouud the mover of these fesyjuijonsi thought fit to. iairoduco them, for when, at best, the two great parties in this House can with difficulty set in concert, in performing the legitimate ob jects for which we h tve assembled, it cannot b e.iH.cied tint u scries ot resolution of this charncter is, in uny way,, calculated to allay the txciUineut that now exists, or br.ng about thut unity of action so desirable in too intercourse 61 a deliberative bjtly. In these resolution, sir, ih to is not only a greot consiitutional question involved, but a thrust is made at ouu of the great de patimi nts of our Govoriioient, which iscal cula'ud to destroy the Independence and Consequently the utility of the Judiciary. Can tin mover ol' these rt solutions inform the House, why it beccmes necessary, dt this late period, to declare by resolution wlyat are the powers and duties of the Le gislature of North Carolina? I had sup posed that these were fully expressed in the first and tenth Articles of the Constitution. An instrument, by which the people cf this Stale have beeii governed for upwards of sixty years, cannot now need tbu uid of a resolution tu inform this body what are its powers and duties. It is, from the sections referred to, that this body derives ull its powers first to make laws, and secondly to elect certain Slate officers ; and by the Constitution of the United States, they are authorised to elect United States Senators. These nnd these alone, arc nil the powers conferred by the Constitution, nnd any act dono which docs not come within the scope of these powers, is an act of usurpation on the part of the Legislature, not warranted by tho Constitution. Iiut I am told, that by the oightecnth section of the bill of rights, which is mode a part of the Constitution, the people have a right to Instruct their Repre sentatives. This right, 1 shall admit in tho fullest extent yen, further, I admit that the Legislature, being a portion of the free citizens of the State, have a right to ex press their wishes on National subjects either by way of resolution or otherwise, and that they ought to have given them by the Senators, respectful consideration ; but wlidj I thus admit this right in the Legisla ture, or any other body of tho citizens of this Suite, I must positively deny the right, in this or nny other body, to give mandato. ry instructions, such os these resolutions in tend to convey. The section of tho Bill of Rights, to which mv uttention Ins been cl' ed hiiWevf-f, can ha-w--fHifliv!y connexion with these: resolution. Any, who are in tho slightest degree acquainted with th : history ofthiscountry.or of that from which we received our notions of the common law will remember that from the reign of Ed ward VI, down to Georgo I, various sta. toleSvWere passed, called Riot Acts, which made it a felony for twelve or more persons to assemble together to petition Parliament for a redress of grievances ; nor were theso Statutes confined to the opposite side of the Atlantic. The American Provinces also felt the force and tyranny of their operation nnd tho Patriarchs of the revolution who frur.ied lheB.ll of Rights, hnd no doubt an eve to those statutes when the clause refer red to was adopted by them. But who are the people, and who the Representatives? They ore the free people ol North Carolina, met in primary, not in Icgislntivcasscmbltes, to consult for the common good. The Re prescnlatives arc the members of the Gen eral Assembly of the State of North Caro-linn--they are tlv; agent a of the people of this State, authorized to pns laws, which can operate on the people !his State only. Thai is the"rtie construction of this clause in the Hill of flights,, and cannot mean Senators in Congress, .s obvious t're.n tho fact,, that the power to e!o :t S.-nntcrs ii not derived from the State Coi.stm:'-b;i ; and from the further fact, thpt the Legislature had no power to elect Senators for many years aiter tbu StaleGrrrrsrHWron wdpU ed." The power to elect Senators is derived fmm the United States' Constitution, nnd there is ho article or clause in that instru- ment giving to tho Legislature the power claimed for them by, this, resolution. But we arc told by the gentleman from Chatham;-(Mr. Jackson,) that the Lcgishu ture mnv be considered as n primary asscm b'y, and he has read for us some resolu tions from a meeting in Mecklenburg, of very ancient date, giving instructions to Congress. These, if I heard o right, were Instructions from a primary assembly of the ciiixrhsof Mecklenburg to the Dele gates in Congress, who framed the' Articles of Confederation ; but the idea that this LmUlature may be considered as a primary assembly is begging the question. As how ever, I am willing to meet the proposition in every possible shape in which it rosy bo presented, I say that neither the Legisla ture nor the primary assemblies of the peo ple of this State have the power to pass tho mandatory resolution now under considers' tion; so as to give it the effect Intended by i T TT
Highland Messenger (Asheville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 14, 1843, edition 1
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