North Carolina Newspapers

j- COMMERCIAL, AQRIClUlLTniJKAIL AN MJEMAM IWTEJL1LKGIENC1BM. LIBERTY.. ..THE CONSTITUTION... UNION. l - i K . J - i' " " .ii - - . ; .j T : I " ; . I J! ; .. : 'f 1 ' I TOVTP ?3Ti. TliOfV , 1 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY . BY THOMAS WATSON.: ' - t - v At three dollars per annum-payable in advance. S t'rom the Washington Globe. , Some time since, a correspondent of the Richmond . Enquirer requested that paper to republish the speech of Mr. Livingston, then a very yotmg man, ion the Sedition Law : a re quest which the want of a copy of the speech prevented compliance with. -;Having found in a volume of American Eloquence the speech )f';Mr. L. on the Alien bill, which custom and -public reprobation have indissolubly coupled in our minds with its Sedition "companion, we give it to our readers as a specimen at that early day, of those ' powers and purposes" in -ivhich Mr. Jefferson, ini1824, expressed" the tWngestand mosthaflectionate confidence. SPEECH OF MR. MVINGSTdfc, ONTIir. ALIEN. BILL. Delivered in the House of Representatives of the fin ited States, Jmi( 1, 1 70S. ' Bv the provisions ofhis bill, the President might or- "Hfr danirroas or suspected aliens, to depart out of - Hhe terrtotory of the-United States. The penalty ' provided for disobedience of the President': order, vvas imprisonment and apcrpetual exclusion from the riirhts of ciiizenshipa The hill provided that, if any vl!cn 'ordered to depart, ghoul J prove to the satisfaction of the President, that no injury to the United States would arise from buffering him to re main, the President might grant him a license to remain for fucIi a time as lie slwahb deem proper, and at sdeh plaee as he should designate. The bill having been read the third time, the quest;cn Jr was about to betaken ori its final passage, when Mr. Livings rox addressed the Houe as follows: Mn.' Speaker, . . I esteem' it one of the most fortunate occur rences of my life, that, afterUm inevitable ab sences from my seat in this blouse, I have ar rived in iime to expres my dissent to the pas sage of this' bill. It would have been a source of eternal regret, and the keenest remorse, if any private affairs, and domestic concerns, however interesting, had deprived me of the opportunity, I ai now about to use, of slating my objections, and recording my vote agajnst an act which I belicveto be in direct violation of the constitution, and marked with every characteristic of the most odious despotism. On my arrival, I inquired what subject oc cupied the attention of the House, and being told it was the alfen bill, I directed the printed ropy to be Jjrougfht to me, but to my great sur :risq, seveii or eight copies! of different bills on the .same subject, were put into my hands; among them.it was difficult (so strongly were; they marked with the same family features,) to discover . the individual btfl then under discus sion. This circumstance gate me a suspici on that the principles of the measure were erron eous. Truth inarches directly to its end,- by a single,4inueviating path. Er?or is either unde termined in its object, or pursues it through a -thousand ' wind in ir -vavs : the multinlicitv of propositions, therefore, to attain the1 same general but doubtful end, led me to suspect, that neither the object, nor the means pro posed to attain it, were proper or necessary. These surmises have been confirmed by a more .ihinjyte .examination of the bill. In the con struction of statutes, it is a received rule to examine 'what was the state of things when they were passed,, and what were the evils they m tre intended lo remedy ; as these circumstan rcs; will be applied in the construction of the Jo framing it. The state of things, if we are to judge from the complexion pf the bill, must be, that a n'umoer of aliens, enjoying the protection of our government, are plotting its destruction; that thev are ehgaofed in treasonable machina- - tions against a people, who have given them an asvlum and support, and that there exists no provision for their expulsion and punish ment. If these things are so, and no remedy (exists for the evil, one ought speedily to be . provided ; but even then, it must be a remedy that is consistent with ;the;' constitution under ' which-we act; for, by that instrument, all pow ers',', not expressely, given by it to the Union, are reserved to the States: it follows, that un less an express, authority can be, found, vesting us with the power, be the evil ever so great, it can only be remedied by the several States, wno have never deleo-ntexl the authority to ' . ,onrrrcss. . ' .... Wc must -legislate upon facts, not on sur lriiises ; we must have evidence, not vague sus picions, if we mean to legislate with prudenjee. ! M'hat; facts have been produced! What ejvi Vdcnce"' has been submitted to the House? 'I nave heard, sir, of none; but if evidence of iiicts could riot bei procured, at least it might have been expected, that reasonable cause of suspicion should.be shown." Here asrain, "geixtlemen. are at fault ; they cannot even show uiicea ny tne interference of foreigners. But the instances are unfortunate-, because all those v powers have been overcome by foreign force, "ox divided by domestic faction, not by the in fluence of aliens who resided among them; .;and if any instruction is to be gained from the history of those republics, it is, that we ought to banish) not aliens, but all jhpse eitizens who io not approve tiie executive acts. This rW- trine, I believe, i-gentlemen are not ready to avow ; but if this measure prevails, I shall not think the other remote. If it has . been proved. that these governments were destroyed by the conspiracies of aliens, it yet remains to b shown, that, we are in the game situation ; or that any such plots have been detected or are even reasonably suspected here. Nothing of uiis kina has yet been done. A modern lhe cus. indeed, has told us, that he has procured f tnat will enable him to penetrate the vu T 'iroy xms monsier oi seaiuon. ;Vho, tne fair Ariaciu. , whb kindly gave him nie Pall Ke has not revtled; nor, though a . suspicion w hy aliens ought to be suspected. e na e, inaeed, been told, that the fate of Venice, Switzerland arid Batavia, was pro- several days have elapsed since he undertook the adventure, has he yet told us where the monster lurks. No evidence then being pro duced, we have a right to say,, that none ex ists, and lye t we are about to sanction a most important act, and on what grounds? Our in dividual suspicions, our private fears, our over heated imaginations. Seeing nothing to ex cite these "suspicions, and not feeling those fears, I cannot give my assent to the;bill, even if I did not feel a superior obligation to reject it on other grounds. The first section provides, that it shall be lawful for the President "to order all such aliens, as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and -safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machination against the government thereof, to depart out of the United States, in such time as shall be expres se4 in "such order." - Our government, sir, is founded on the es tablishment of those principles, which consti tute the difference between a free constitution and a despotic power; -a distribution of the legislative, executive and judiciary powers into several hands; a distribution strongly marked in the three first and great divisions of the con stitution,! By the first, all legislative power is givn to Congress; the second vests alf execu tive functions in the 1 resident, and the third declares, ;that the judiciary powers shall be exercised by the supreme and inferior courts. Here - then is a division of the governmental powers strongly marked, decisively pronoun ced, and every act of one or all oi" the branches, that tends to confound these powers, or alter their arrangement, must be destructive of the constitution. Examine then, sir, the bill on your .table, and declare, whether the few lines, 1 have repeated from the first section, do not confound these fundamental powrers of govern ment, vest them all, inmost unqualified terms, in one hand, and thus subviert the basis on which our liberties rest. Legislative power prescribes the rule of ac tion; the judiciary applies the general rule to particular cases, and it is the province of the executive to see, that the laws are carried into full effect. In all free governments, these powers are exercised by different men, and their union in the same hand is the peculiar characteristic of despotism. If the same pow er, that makes tlfb law, can construe it to suit hisiinterest, and apply it to gratify his ven geance; if he can go further, and execute, ac cording to his own passions, the judgment which he himself has, pronounced upon his own construction of laws which lie alone has made, what other features are wanted to complete the picture of tyranny ? Yet all this, and more, is proposed to be done by this act; by it the Pres ident alone is empowered to make the law, to fix in his mind, what acts, what words, thoughts or looks,! shall constitute the crime contempla ted by the bill. He is not only authorized to make this law for his own conduct, but to vary it at pleasure, as every gust of passion, every cloud of suspicion shall agitate or darken his mind. The same powx-r that formed the law then applies it to the guilty or innocent victim, whom his own suspicions, or the secret whis per of a spy, have designated as ' its object. The President then having construed and ap plied it, the same President is by the bill author ized to execute his sentence, in case of disobe dience, by imprisonment during his pleasure. This then comes completely within the defini tion of despotism : an union of legislative, ex ecutive and judical powers. But this bill, sir, does not4 stop here;-its provisions are a refine ment upon despotism,and present an image of the most fearful tyranny. Even in despotisms, though the monarch legislates, judges and ex ecutes, ye the legislates openly ; his laws, though oppressive, are known, they precede the offence, and every man, who chooses, may avoid the penalties of disobedience. Yet he judges and executes by proxy, and his private interests or passions do not inflame the mind of his deputy. But here the law is so closely concealed in the" same mind that gave it birth the crime is "exciting the suspicions of the President" that no man can tell what conduct will avoid that suspicion: a careless word, perhaps mis represented or never spoken, may be sufficient evidence, a look may destroy, an idle gesture may ensure punishment; no innocence can pro tect, no circumspection can avoid the jealousy of susoiciori. Surrounded bv spies, informers and .all. that infamous herd which fatten under laws like this, the unfortunate stranger will ne ver know either of the law of accusation or of judgment, until the moment it is put in execu tion: he will detest your tyranny, and fly from a land of delators, inquisitors and spies. This, sir, is a refinement upon the detestable contri- vance of the decemvirs, j Mhey nung tne taoies of their laws so high, that few could read them, a tall man, however, might reacn a snori one might climb and learn their contents ; but here the law is equally inaccessible to nign anu low, safelv concealed in the breast of its author; no industry or caution can penetrate this recess and attain a knowledge of its provisions, nor even if they could, as the rule is not permanent, would it at all avail. Having shown, that this bill is at war with the fundamental principles of our government, I might stop here in the certain nope oi us rejection. But I can do more; unless we are resolved to prevert the meaning of terms, I can show, that the constitution has endeavored to "make its surety doubly cure, and take a bond of fate," by several express prohibitions of measures like the one you contemplate. One of these is contained in the ninth section of the first article ; it is at the head of the articles which restrict the powers of Congress, and declares, that the emigration or importation of such; persons as any of the States shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited prior to the year 1803." Now, sir, where is the difference between a power to prevent the ar rival of aliens, and a power to send them away as soon as they arrive? To me they appear precisely the same. The. constitution expressly says, that Congress shall not yet Congress are about to delegate this prohib- itea power, and say tne President may exer cise it, as his pleasure may direct! Judiciary power is taken from courts, and given to the executive ; the previous safeguard of a presentment by a grand inquest, is remo ved: the trial by jury is abolished : the " public trial," required by the constitution, is changed into a secret and worse than inquisitorial tri bunal. Instead of giving "information on the nature and cause of the accusation." the crimi nal, alike ignorant of his offence and the dan ger to which he is exposed, never hears of ei ther, until the judgment is passed and the sen tence is executed, Instead of being "confron ted with his accusers," he is kept alike ignorant of their names and their existence; and the forms of a trial being dispensed; with, it would be a mockery, to talk of" process for witness," orthe i' assistance of counsel for defence." Thus are all the barriers, which the wisdom and humanity of our country has placed between accused innocence and oppressive power, at once forced and broken down. Not a vestige even of their form remains. No indictments, no jury, no trial, no public procedure, no state ment of accusation, no examination of witnes ses in its support, no counsel for defence: all is darkness, silence, mystery and suspicion. But, as if this were not enough, the unfortunate victims of this law are told, in the next section, that, if they can co"nvince the President that his suspicions are unfounded, lie may,; if he pleases, give them a licence to stay. But how can they remove his suspicions, when they know not on what act they were founded? How take proof to convince him, when he is not bound to furnish that on which he proceeds ? Miserable mockery of justice! Appoint an abitrary judge, armed with legislative and ex ecutive powers added to his own! Let him condemn the unheard, the unaccused object of his suspicions, and then to cover the injustice of the scene, gravely tell him', you ought not to complain, you need only disprove facts you have never heard, remove suspicions that have never been communicated to you; it will be easy to convince your judge, whom you shall not approach, that he is tyrannical and unjust, and when you have done this, we give him the power, he had before, to pardon you if he plea ses ! . So obviously do the constitutional objections present themselves, that their existence'eannot be denied, and two wretched subterfuges are resorted to, to remove them out of sight. In the first place, it is said, the bill jdoes not con template the punishment of any crime, and therefore the provisions in the constitution, re lative to criminal proceedings and judiciary powers, do not apply. But have the gentle men, who reason thus, read tfie bill, or is every thing forgotten, in our zealous hurry to pass it? What are the offences upon which: it is to operate?' Not only the offence of being "sus pected of being dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States," but also that of being " concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof and this, we are told, is no crime. A trea sonable machination against the government, is not the subject of criminal jurisprudence ! Good heaveni to what absurdities does not an over zealous attachment to particular measures lead us! In order to punish a particular act, we are forced to say, that treason is no crime, and plotting against our government is no of fence ! And to support this fine hypothesis, we are obliged to plunge deeper into absurdi ty, and say, that the acts, spoken of in the bill, are no crimes, and therefore the penalty, con tained in it, is not a punishment, but merely a prevention!;! that s to sa' we invte strangcrs to come amongst us; we declare! solemnly, that government shall not prevent them ; we entice them over by the delusive prospects of advan tage; in many parts of the union we permit them to hold lands, and give them other advan tages wrhile they are waiting for the period at which we have promised them a full participa tion of all our rights. An unfortunate stranger, disgusted with tyranny at home, thinks he shall find freedom here; he accepts our condi tions; he puts faith in our promises; he vests his all in our hands : he has dissolved his for mer connexions and made vour country his own ; but while he is patiently waiting the expi ration of the period that is to crown the work, entitle him to all the rierhts of I a citizen the tale of a domestic spy, orthe calumny of a se cret enemy, draws on him the suspicions of the President, and unheard, he is ordered to quit the spot he had selected for his retreat, the country which he had chosen for his own, per haps the family which was his only consolation in life, he is ordered to retire to a country whose government, irritated bv his renunciation of its authority, will receive only to punish him and all this, we are told, is no punishment! So manifest do these violations of the con stitution appear to me, so futile the arguments in their defence, that they press seriously on mv mind, and sink it even to despondency: They are so glaring to my understanding, that I have felt it my duty to speak ot tnem in manner, that may perhaps give offence to men whom I esteem, and who seem to think differ ently on this subject; none, however, I can as sure them, is intended. I have seen measures carried in this House, which I thought militated Mrftint thn snirit of the constitution; but never before have I been witness to so open, so wan ton, so undisguised an attack. ' I have now done, sir, with the bill, and come to consider the consequences of its operation One of the most serious has been anticipated, when I described the blow it would give to the constitution of our country. We should cau tiouslv beware of the first act of violation ; ha bituated to overleap its bounds, we become familiarized to the guilt, and disregard the dan erer of a second offence ; until proceeding from one unauthorized act to another, we at length throw off all restraint which our constitution has imposed ; and verv soon! not even the semblance of its form will jemain. But, if regardless of our duty as citizens, and our solemn obligations as representatives; re gardless of every sanction human and divine, we are ready to violate the constitution we have sworn to defend will the people submit to our unauthorized acts will the States sanc tion our usurped power? Sir, they ought not to submit they would deserve the chains which these measnres are forging for them, if they did not resist. For, let no man vainly imagine, that the evil is to stop here; that a few unprotected aliens only are to be affected by this inquisitorial power. The same argu ments, which enforce those provisions against aliens, apply with equal strength to enacting them in the case of citizens. The citizen has no other protection for his personal security, that I know, against laws like this, than the hu mane provisions I have cited from the consti tution. But all these apply in common to the citizen and the stranger: all crimes are to be tried by jury : no person shall be held to an swer ui ess on presentment : in all criminal prosecutions, the accused is to have a public trial: the accused. is to be informed of the na ture of the charge ; to be confronted with the witnesses against : him; may have process to enforce the appearance of those in his favor, and is to be allowed counsel in his defence. Unless, therefore, we can believe, that trea sonable machinations and the other offences, described in the bill, are not crimes, that an alien is not a person, and that one charged with treasonable practices is not accused unless we can believe all this in contradiction to our understanding, to received opinions and the uniform practice of our courts, we must allow, that all these provisions extend equally to alien and nativej and that tle citizen has no other security for his personal safety, than is extended to the stranger, who is within his gates. If, therefore, this security is violated in one, instance, wliat pledge have we that it will not be in the other The same plea of necessity will justify both. Either the offences, descri bed in the act, are crimes, or they are not. If they are, then all the humane provisions of the constitution fbrbldi this mode of punishing, or preventing them, equally as relates to aliens and citizens. If thev are not crimes, the citi zen has no more safetv bv the constitution. than the alien; for all these provisions apply only to crimes. So that in either event, the citizen has the same reason to expect a similar law to the one now before you, which will sub ject his person to the uncontrolled despotism of a single man. Y ou have already been told of plots and conspiracies; and all the frightful images, that are necessary to keep up the .pre sent sys tem of terror and alarm, have been pre sented to you ; but who are implicated by these dark hints these mysterious allusions ? They are our own citizens, sir, not aliens. If there is aiiy necessity for the system now proposed, it is more necessary to be enforced against our own citizen's, than against strangers ; and I have no doubt, that eitherin this or some other shape, this Avill be attempted. I now ask, sir, whe ther the people of America are nreoared for x x X X this? Whether they are willing to part with all the means which the wisdom of their an cestors discovered; and their own caution so lately adopted to secure their own persons? Whether they are willing to submit to impri sonment, or exile, whenever suspicion, calum ny, or vengeance,! shall hi ark them for ruin? Are they base enough to be prepared for this? No, sir, they will,: I repeat it, they will resist this tyrannical system; the people will oppose, the States will not submit to its operations ; they ought not to acquiesce, and I pray to God they never may. : My opinions, sir, on this subject, are expli cit, and I wish they may be known; they are, that whenever our laws manifestly infringe the constitution under which thev were made. the people ought not to hesitate which they should obey: if we exceed our powers, we be come tyrants, and our acts have no effect. Thus, sir, one of the first effects of measures, such as this, if they be acquiesced in, will be disaffection among the States, and opposition among the people to your government; tumults, violations and a recurrence to first revolution ary principles: if they are submitted to, the consequences will be. -worse. After such man ifest violation of the principles of our constitu tion, the form will not long be sacred ; pre sently every vestige of it will be lost and swal lowed up in the gulf of desjjotism. But should the evil proceed no further than the execution of the present law, what a fearful picture will our country present! The system of espion age thus established, the country will swarm with informers, spies, delators and all that odious tribe, that breed in the sunshine of des potic power, that suck the blood of the unfor tunate, and creep into the bosom of sleeping innocence only to, awaken it with a burning wound. The hours of the most unsuspecting confidence; the intimacies of friendship, or the recesses of domestic retirement, afford no security: the companion whom you must trust, the friend in whom you most confide, the do mestic who waits in your chamber, are " all tempted to betray your imprudence or guard- less iolliesj to misrepresent your words, to convey them, distorted by calumny, to the se cret tribunal where jealousy presides, where tear officiates as accuser, where suspicion is the only evidence that is heard. . These, bad as they are, are not the only .ill, consequenses of these measures. Among them we may reckon the loss of wealth, of popula tion and of commerce. Gentlemen, who sup port the bill, seemed to be aware of this, when yesterday they introduced a clause to secure the property of those who might be ordered to go off. They should have foreseen the conse quences of the steps, which they have been taking: it is now j.00 late to discover that large sums are drawn from the banks, that a great capital is taken from commerce. It is ridicu lous to observe the solicitude they show to re tain the wealth of these dangerous men, whose persons they are so eager to get rid ok If they wish to retain it, it must be by giving them ; : security to their persons, and assuring them that while they respect the laws, the laws wilL protect them from arbitrary powers; it must be, in short, by rejecting the bill ori; your table, i might mention other inferior considerations: Sht, sir, rather to entreat the pardon of the House, for having touched on this. Compared to the breach of our constitution, " and the establishment of arbitrary power, eve ry other topic is trifling; arguments of conve nience sink mto oihing; the preservation of wealth, the increase of commerce, however weighty on other occasions, here lose their importance, when the fundamental principles of freedom are in danger. I am tempted to borrow the -impressive language of a foreign speaker, and exclaim "Perish our commerce, let our constitution live;" perish our riches, let our freedom live. This, sir, would be the sentiment of every American, were the alter native between submission and wealth: but here, sir, it is proposed to destroy our wealth in order to ruin our commerce: not in order to preserve our constitution, but to break it not to secure our freedom, but to abandon it. I have done, sir; but before I sit down, let me entreat gentlemen seriously to reflect, be fore they pronounce the decisive vote, that gives the first open stab to the principles cjf our government. Our mistaken zeal, like thp prtriarch of old, has bound one victim ; it lies at the foot of the altar; a sacrifice ' of the first born offspring of freedom is proposed by those who gave it birth. The hand is already rais ed to strike, and nothing, I fear, but the voice of heaven, can arrest the impious blow. Let not gentlemen flatter themselves that the fervor of the moment can make the people insensible to these aggressions. It is an hon est, noble warmth,-produced by an indignant sense of injury. It will never, I trust, be ex tinct, while there is a proper cause to excije it. But the people of America, sir, thougfi watchful against foreign aggressions, are not careless of domestic encroachment; they are as jealous, sir, of their liberties ?t home, as of the power and prosperity of their country abroad ; they will awake to a sense , of their danger. Do not let us flatter ourselves then, that these measures will be unobserved or dis regarded; do not let us be told, sir, that we excite a fervor against foreign aggressions on ly to establish tyranny at home; that, like the arch traitor, we cry "Hail Columbia," at the moment we are betraying her to destruction ; that we sing out, "happy land," when we are plunging it in ruin and disgrace ; and that- we are absurd enough to call ourselves "free and enlightened," while we advocate principles, that would have disgraced the age of Gothic, barbarity, and establish a code, compared to which the ordeal is wise, and the trial by bat-, tie is merciful and just. From the Winyaw (S. C.) Intelligencer. Cotton. The late decline in the price of this staple of our agriculture, is better proof than volumes of argument " that the producer may in certain cases, pay the whole of a tax." The. price fell the full amount, and we believe some thing more than the amount of the expected English duty. " This, however, ought before to have been evi dent 'to any man of common reflection. The cotton market of 'Liverpool, necessarily regu lates the market of the world, from its great . excess of purchases over any and all others'.! And in the present distressed state df the agri cultural produce ol this country, there is nothing to which the cotton planter can transfer his labor with hopes of better profit. As he cannot therefore diminish the quantity of cot- ) ton produced, the consequence is, and must be, not only that his income will be reduced but that his already depreciated property be comes every day ot less value, as his laid and negroesswill be estimated according to the diminished profits that may be-derived from them. , , The cotton planter bitterly oppressed ot home, and taxed abroad as a matter of retalia tion by those who would be under a just mas ter his best customer struggling to. keep want from the door, and to retain some ofihe hard, earnings of better days, complains of the diffi culty attending even those modest wishes.. By way of consolation, a " moderate" man tells him, "-It is true, this tariff is oppressive and unconstitutional, worse than the oppression which roused the men of 1776 to peril all' things, but you must trust to thegenerosityj and magnanimity of those who are fattening on your distresses ; it is better to submit to unconstitutional oppression than to make any opposition which might bring down upon jroti the whole force of your oppressors, which you are not able to meet." Another, also a "mo derate!" man, cries " Treason, Rebellion.": A third undertakes to prove to him in the facfe of facts, that he ought not to find fault with! the Tariff that it does him little, if any harm! and besides that it is the " will of the majority w nence arioca wo w v iiiujirjibj , -to whichwe are called on to pay such unboun ded obedience, much mOre than Eastern sub mission ? Does it arise in any natural right pertaining to those who form this " majority, T to rule over and govern us for their interests and advantage ? Are we their born " thralls," and hereditary vassals? Oh, no. Whence then comes this power ? " From the Union V And how docs it come from the Union ? The very word supposes equality of rights and equality of laws. And the power of the Union, an Union forrhed between equals, arises from the compact which created it Beyond the letter of the compact, this, "Union" has no power. The legal power of the only to do those things entrusted to , it by. the rwitntion. and no disproportion of niemberj fcJV 7 - . : t .hit aiVtnnrittr nOK ' .. - rt founa in iuv can comer on u u; "v ; bond, .. jenv that the ma- We .have no .niennon --v mjus jorityy."ffV.r,fce prorislons 6f t!. p . I r ' ' iijij ar I" Constitution, Vu' hpir -cower to waU 1 L J J " " IT- 4 "r st--.