220 



CONGRESS, U. S. 



tion ; but simply to state the reason why I can- 

 not vote for his amendment. According to my 

 view of the relations now subsisting between 

 this Government and the seceding States, the 

 laws of the United States are suspended there 

 by act of revolution, not by act of peaceful se- 

 cession ; and therefore, being in a state of sus- 

 pension, I think any law on the subject wholly 

 unnecessary." 



The last hours of the Thirty-sixth Congress 

 were rapidly approaching, and the remainder 

 of the session was chiefly devoted to making 

 that decision which had already been antici- 

 pated. The adjournment of Congress with- 

 out any action relative to the crisis of the 

 country, had been steadily foretold. The va- 

 rious propositions now came up in each House 

 for the last time. 



In the Senate a communication was received 

 from the President of the Peace Conference, 

 (see PEACE CONFERENCE,) containing the final 

 action of that body. This was referred to a 

 committee consisting of Messrs. Crittenden, 

 Bigler, Thomson, Seward, and Trumbull. At 

 the next meeting of the Senate the committee 

 reported the propositions as they came from 

 the Peace Conference. After the report was 

 made, Mr. Seward, of New York, rose and 

 said : 



"The honorable Senator from Illinois (Mr. 

 Trumbull) and myself constituted a minority 

 of the committee. We dissent from the report, 

 and we proposed in committee to submit a sub- 

 stitute. The majority held that, for some rea- 

 son sufficient in their estimation, we were not 

 entitled to submit a minority report. I there- 

 fore ask leave of the Senate to introduce a joint 

 resolution in my own name, and in which the 

 honorable Senator from Illinois authorized me 

 to say that he concurs with me, and which I 

 ask unanimous consent to have read and print- 

 ed ; and it will be the subject of consideration 

 at such time, hereafter, as the Senate shall 

 choose to hear it, either in connection with the 

 other or not." 



The proposition of Mr. Seward was read, as 

 follows : 



A joint resolution concerning a national convention 

 to propose amendments to the Constitution of the 

 United States. 



Whereas the Legislatures of the States of Kentucky, 

 New Jersey, and Illinois, have applied to Congress to 

 call a convention for proposing amendments to the 

 Constitution of the United States : Therefore, 



Be it resolved, &c., That the Legislatures of the other 

 States be invited to take the subject into consideration, 

 and to express their will on that subject to Con- 

 gress, in pursuance of the fifth article of the Consti- 

 tution. 



Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, moved to amend 

 the first section of the report by substituting 

 the first section of the Crittenden proposition. 



A discussion followed on the propriety of 

 amending the recommendation of the Peace 

 Conference, when Mr. Pugh, of Ohio, rose and 

 said: 



" I want to make an appeal to the friends of 



some proposition of peace. This is the last 

 day of the session but one, and we have not 

 made the progress of one line. "We have gone 

 into an eternal discussion about questions of 

 order, and that, too, in defiance of the rule of 

 the Senate. I insist that the question shall be 

 decided without further debate." 



Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, replied : 



"After as careful an examination as I have 

 been able to give this proposition from the 

 Peace Conference since it was printed, that is 

 to say, within the last day or two, I have come 

 to the conclusion that it would not only make 

 a great many more difficulties than it would 

 remove, if it should be adopted as an amend- 

 ment to the Constitution, but that it would 

 place the South the slaveholding States in a 

 far worse position than they now occupy under 

 the present Constitution, with the Dred Scott 

 decision as its exposition." 



Mr. Crittenden followed, urging the Senate 

 to approve of the Peace Conference proposition, 

 and justifying his support of it in preference to 

 his own propositions for the following reasons : 



" I do not stop to inquire whether I like these 

 resolutions better than I do those proposed by 

 myself, or the amendments now offered by the 

 Senator from Virginia. We are near the close 

 of our session. I have looked upon the pro- 

 ceedings of this great and eminent body of men 

 as the best evidence of public opinion outside 

 of this body, and of the wish and will of the 

 States they represent. I am for peace. I am 

 for compromise. I have not an opinion on the 

 subject of what would be best that I would not 

 be perfectly willing to sacrifice to obtain any 

 reasonable measure of pacification that would 

 satisfy the majority. I want to save the coun- 

 try and adjust our present difficulties." [Ap- 

 plause.] 



The Presiding Officer (Mr. Bright in the 

 chair) called to order. 



Mr. Crittenden : " That is what I want to do. 

 That is the object I am aiming at. I attach no 

 particular importance I feel, at least, no selfish 

 attachment to any opinions I may have pro- 

 claimed on the subject heretofore. I pro- 

 claimed those opinions because I thought them 

 right ; but I am ready to sacrifice them, any 

 and every one of them, to any more satisfac- 

 tory proposition that can be offered. I look 

 upon the resolutions proposed by this conven- 

 tion as furnishing ns, if not the last, the best 

 hope of an adjustment ; the best hope for the 

 safety of the people and the preservation of 

 the Government. I will not stop to cavil about 

 the construction of these words ; but I see none 

 of the difficulties that suggest themselves to the 

 mind of my friend from Virginia. Look at that 

 third section, which has been the subject of his 

 particular criticism. Every part and portion 

 of it is a negation of power to Congress, and 

 nothing else ; and yet he has argued as if it 

 gave Congress power ; as if it conferred more 

 power upon Congress. It leaves to the States 

 all the rights they now have ; all the remedies 



