Whole Xo. 43(5.
Tarborotigh) (Edgecombe County, JV. C.) Tuesday, January 8, 1833.
Vol, IX JVb 20.
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fcV GEORGE HOWARD,
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LEGISLATIVE REPORT.
The Joint Select Committee, to whom was refer
red the letter of his Excellency the Governor
of South Carolina, to his Excellency the Gov
ernor of this State, with the accompanying
documents, Report
That th e union of the North American
Colonies, and the subsequent declaration
of Independence, are political events of
momentous interest in the history of this
country; and arc associated in the recol
lection, and embalmed in the affections of
the people of this State. These were
monuments of imperishable fame, pro
claiming to an oppressed and benighted
world, the rights of man, and his capaci
ty for self-government. In support of
these principles the illustrious Washing
ton led our fathers to battle; and valor
established in the field, what wisdom had
declared in council. These were united
efforts in a common cause; the watch
word was then "Liberty and Union, now
arid forever, one and inseparable. Vic
tory added lustre to the spar-spangled
banner, the storm of war disappeared,
and peace smiled on "the land of the
brave and the home of the free."
"To form a more perfect union?' and
"to secure the blessings of liberty" to
themselves and their posterity, the heroes
and patriots of the Revolution establish
ed the Constitution of the United Slates
of America. It is a splendid production
of human wisdom; admirably combining
and harmoniously intermingling the ele
ments of liberty, and the principles of so
cial order. Political philosophy, thro'
out the world, looked in amazement on
the august spectacle; while the votaries
ot legitimacy in the Eastern hemisphere,
predicted its early dissolution Hither
to, disappointment has blasted their
hopes.
This Constitution has secured to us
the enjoyment of happiness for forty-five
years; experience has proved it to be fit
ted to every exigency; it has conducted
us to glory in war and to prosperity in
peace. Should this temple of liberty tot
ter to its fall, it will overwhelm in its ru
ins the rights of man, and his hopes "will
be extinguished for ever." We will be
come a mark for the finger of scorn;
man's capacity for self-government will
be a theme of ridicule, and a subject for
derision; instead of the doctrine of uni
versal emancipation, the dogma of uni
versal despotism will be proclaimed to a
degenerate world.
The people of this State are ardently
attached to the Constitution, and sincere
ly devoted to the Union. The spirit of
,0 glows in tneir bosoms with its primi
tive ardor; they recognize the right of the
oppressed to break asunder the ties which
connect them with the oppressor; but it
is a right which should not be exercised
for "light ,or transient causes." The
dissolution of the .Union will be accomna-
nied by deeds of violence and scenes of
blood, at the sight of which valor may
stand appalled. '1 he arm of the son rai
sed against the father the poniard of
me Drotner plunged into a brother s bo
sum the wife weeping over the murder
cd body of her husband the widowed
mother bewailing the loss of her onlv son
are all unexaggcrated incidents of Civ
il War. May God, in his mercy, avert
this awful calamity from our beloved
country:
Although a diversity of Onininn nro
vails in this State, as to the constitution
ality ot the acts of Congress imposing
duties on imposts: vet. it is holing t
large majority of the people think those
acts unconstitutional, and they areall uni
le,(1 l!e 8entiment, that the existing
Tariff is impolitic, unjust and oppressive;
and they have urged, and will continue
to urge its repeal. As . the National
Debt is so nearly extinguished, all con
cur in the propriety of reducing the du
ties an imports to a Revenue standard,
which should be graduated to the wants
of the General Government for current
expenditures. Thev believe this svslpin
of policy is one of the cardinal objects of
mo plenum lumimsiraiion; ana that a
reduction of the Tariff will annually oc
cur uutil the desired abatement be at
tained. They arc opposed to the collec
tion of Ucvenue by the Federal Govern
ment for purposes of Internal Improve
ment, for reasons not necessary now to
be assigned. The proposed reduction
of the duties will relieve the Southern
States from the evil of which they com-
Ilium. x nun, in u periou oi tranquility
and profound peace, a Convention can be
assembled in the mode prescribed by the
Constitution, to revise and amend that
charter of our rights, so as to remove all
doubts as to the constitutional power o(
Congress to impose duties on importa
tions for the protection of any branch of
industry.
The General Assembly of this State
umm, mm me ooctrine ot lullilication
avowed by South Carolina, and declared
in an Ordinance made by a Convention
which recently assembled in Columbia, is
revolutionary in its character, will, in its
operation, be subversive of the Constitu
tion of the United States, and leads to a
dissolution of the Union. This opinion
is entertained with much deferen ce to
the opinions of others, and is now ex
pressed more in sorrow than in anger,
and from a deep sense of duty to our
neighbors. We cherish sentiments of
the highest respect for the virtue, talents
and chivalry of the citizens of that State.
Tl icy no doubt believe, that a crisis of
fearful and oppressive extremity has ar
rived, when no other alternative i loft m
patriotism, but boldly to stand forth in
lefence of reserved rights, and valorous-
ly to resist the oppressor.. The philoso
phy of the human mind teaches us, it is
o constituted, that honest differences of
opinion will arise; manly ingenuousness
torhids their concealment, and magnani-
. ..... ?
mity will duly appreciate their expres
sion, and receive it with forbearance.
Let us not deceive ourselves with "the
cry of peace, peace, when there is no
peace;" this would be the language of de
lusion and fully. 1 ruth and itistice for-
bid, that we should "aught extenuate, or
aught set down in malice; in the hour of
trial and difficulty, ingenuous frankness
is the dictate ot generous hearts mowing
in an honest cause.
This is an awful crisis. The attitude
which our Southern Sister has assumed,
and the relation in which she now stands
to the Federal Government, fill us with
the deepest solicitude, and the most
heart-thrilling anxiety. North Carolina
is not only deeply implicated in the exist
ing controversy, as a member of the Uni
on; but from her proximity to one of the
contending parties, and their community
of interests, may be vitally involved in
the issue of the conflict. She is the bor
der State, and her fields may become the
battle ground of the combatants. These
considerations justify us in approaching
with feelings of kindness our sister State
and in soliciting her to Dause ere she
takes a leap, the consequences of which
are not within the reach of human eye.
With the olive branch of peace in our
hands, and with the offerings of concilia
tion in our hearts, let us address hor in
lanuac of friendship, and implore
her to the exercise of a little more for
bearunce. Let us beseech her to. recol
lect the long agony of her departed wor
thies in the great struggle for freedom;
Jet us remind her of their toil and suffer
ing, and of the blood and treasure which
were expended in the establishment of
our political institutions. Let us invoke
her in the name of her Pinckneys, her
Rulledges, her Sumters, and her Mari
ons let us call upon her in the name of
liberty and the rights of man, to pause.
We have been taught by more than hu
man wisdom, that "blessed are the peace
makers;" let us then endeavor to procure
an adjustment of the existing controver
sy, and let us use all constitutional means
in our power, to produce a reconciliation
between the contending parties. To
that end, your Committee recommend the
adoption of the following Resolutions
Here follow the resolutions as insert
ed in our last paper.
(0We extremely regret our inability to in
sert entire th? Resolutions reported to the Legis
lature of Virginia, by the Joint Select Committee
on Federal Relation?, &c. The 7th resolution
disapproves "the remedy" of Nullification the
Slh, is as follows:
0. Resolved, That we have observed.
in the recent Proclamation of the Presi
dent of the United States,, principles
avowed, and powers assumed for the Fe
deral government, which we feel it to be
our solemn duty to disapprove and pro
test against. That we regard them as
violating the true construction and spirit
of the Constitution, and as inconsistent
with the doctrines which this Slate has
repeatedly asserted. That we hailed the
communication of the President to Con
gress, at the commencement of its ses
sion, as the harbinger of better times, as
recalling the government to the objects
far which it was originally constructed,
as leading a way to the removal of the
cause of all our existing difficulties, and
as containing an exposition, as just as it
was able, of the true principles on which
our admirable political system was in
tended to be founded. Thnt wn f(o
called on to express our disapprobation
of the principles of the recent Proclama
tion, lest our silence should be misinter
preted, and the known approbation of
Virginia of other measures of the present
Administration, should be regarded as
sanctioning opinions which we sincerely
believe to be of dangerous tendency, and
which, if admitted, would obliterate the
lines which separate the States, and re
volutionize the character of our govern
ment as a confederacy. That although
the people of these United States, it is
true, assented to the present Constitution,
and are bound by all laws made in con
formity thereto; yet we regard it as equal
ly true, that it was a confederacy formed
nv the states as such, ratified by the
States as such, and of which the States.
as distinct political communities,are now
the members. 1 hat we can never con
sent to deny the right of any individual
fetate which voluntarily entered into this
political association for an indefinite pe
riod, to withdraw herself peaceably from
it, when causes shall occur, which in her
judgment shall render such secession ne
cessary, i hat while, however, we re
gard a State as having a right to secede
from the Union, "when the sole alterna
tives left are the dissolution of the Union
with them, or submission to a government
without limitation oj powers," we think
that prudence dictates that no State
should ever resort to such an alternative,
until the last extremity has been ap
proached, and every constitutional effort
has been tried, and every peaceful experi
ment exhausted, to obviate the supposed
injury.
That in case of "a deliberate, palpable
and dangerous exercise of other powers not
granted ly the said compact, the. Stales who
are parties thereto have the right, and are in
duty bound, to interpose far arresting the
progress of the evil, and for maintaining
within their respective limits the authorities
rights and liberties, appertaining to them."
That as a consequence from this prin
ciple, asserted in 1798, we can never re
cognize the conclusion assumed in the
Proclamation, that a citizen of a Stato
which has peaceably withdrawn itself
from the confederacy, who in discharge
of the allegiance he owes his own State,
and in obedience to her laws and man
dates, violates a law of the remaining U
nion, can thereby forfeit his life as a trai
tor. That we view with regret, some of
the doctrines held forth in the Proclama
tion, as to the origin of our government,
as involving a morelalitudinous construc
tion of the federal compact, than was ev
er contended for by the ancient federal
party in our country, and we awfully fear
that their tendency will be, unless happi
ly arrested, to accelerate the very catas
trophe their promulgation was intended
to repress.
CT'The Raleigh Register says: Wo
learn from an unquestionable source,
that a few days since at Spartanburg,
(S. C:) Mr. Calhoun and Gov. Hamilton
were hung in elfigy.
CT'Duff G reen, editor of the U. S. Te
legraph, has made an address to the pub
lic, for the purpose of giving a statement
ot the circumstances attending the as
sault made upon him on Monday, 24th
ult. by Gen. Blair, a membei of Con
gress from South Carolina. He says,
that "Gen. Blair is perhaps the largest
man in the United States; in the vigor of
life. I was passing him on the pavement,
and without any previous warning, he
struck me a severe blow with a large
club on the head. The blows were fol
lowed up until 1 was brought to the earth,
my left arm broken, and my left leg disa
bled and severely wounded. At this cri
sis, the by-stan ders interposed and sepa
rated us. In reply to an inquiry from a
by stander, Gen. B. said the provocation
was, that I had called the Union Party of
South Carolina I'ories."
CTA personal encounter took place at
Edwardsville, (Illinois) on the ICth ult.
between Gov. Ninian Edwards and Judge
Smith, a Judge of the Supreme Court of
that Stale. In the version of the affair
given by the former, he says that the
Judge approached him with two loaded
pistols, and presenting the muzzles of
both at him, offered him his choice, call
ing him a damn'd dog; whereupon, the
ex-Governor, instead of accepting the of
fer, knocked the Judge down with his fist,
and caned him until they were separated
by the intervention of others.
CTThe Courtland Herald states, thatt
the act passed by the Legislature of Ala
bama at its last session, prohibiting the
importation of slaves into that State, has
been repealed the present session.
C?We have received the first number
of a new paper, published in Wilmington
in this State, by H. S. Ellenwood, Esq.
late of Hillsborough, called the "Wil
mington Advertiser."
The Editor in an address to his pat
rons and friends, stating the course which
he shall pursue, says that he "feels bound
to oppose the new doctrine of Nullifica
tion in all its forms, and by whomsoever
advocated." With regard to the Tariff,
he says, "our views are in concert with
those of President Jackson, as expressed
in his message to Congress."
Raleigh Constitutionalist
GT-The West Point Cadets, wjth the
liberality and spirit which characterize
them on all occasions, have transmitted
S500 to the Treasurer of lie' Polish
Committee, as their contribution for the
relief of the gallant exiles of Poland.
ithrown destitute on our shores.