Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 (4 of 16 vol.). United States. Congress

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СКАЧАТЬ Nelson, from the committee appointed the eleventh ultimo, on so much of the Message from the President of the United States as relates to the Military and Naval Establishments, presented a bill authorizing the appointment and employment of an additional number of navy officers, seamen and marines; which was read twice, and committed to a Committee of the Whole on Monday next.

Foreign Relations

      The House again proceeded to the consideration of the first resolution of the report made by the Committee of Foreign Relations.

      Mr. Cook addressed the House at considerable length.

      Mr. R. Jackson said: Mr. Speaker, not having been in the habit of public speaking, it is with great diffidence I rise, to make any observations on the resolutions now under consideration, after so much has been said upon the subject. But, sir, knowing the deep stake that the portion of citizens which I have the honor to represent, and the United States at large, have in the present embarrassed state of our political affairs, was I to remain silent, sir, I should feel as if I was guilty of treachery to their interests. I shall not attempt to follow gentlemen in their arguments who have gone before me in the debate, but confine myself to making such observations on the resolutions and the state of our political affairs, as appear to me to be necessary and proper. By the first resolution we are called upon to declare "that the United States cannot, without a sacrifice of their rights, honor and independence, submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France." Why we are called upon to make this declaration, I cannot conceive. I do not see the use of it, unless it is considered by the committee as a kind of test act, which they think ought to be administered to every member of the House to ascertain whether they are of sound principles or not. I do not like such abstract propositions; I think them useless, as nothing can come from them in a legislative way; no bill can be formed from it; however, I do not see anything at present to prevent me from voting for it. By the second resolution we are called upon to declare "that it is expedient to prohibit, by law, the admission into the ports and harbors of the United States of all public or private armed or unarmed ships or vessels belonging to Great Britain or France, or to any other of the belligerents having in force orders or decrees violating the lawful commerce and neutral rights of the United States; and also the importation of any goods, wares, or merchandise, the growth, produce, or manufacture of the dominions of any of the said powers, or imported from any place in the possession of either."

      Here, sir, I shall take the liberty to dissent from the committee, for I do not think it to be expedient to join them in such a resolution as this. For I would ask, what are we to promise to ourselves from such a system as this; what will be the probable effects of it? Will it compel the great belligerent Powers to do us justice for past injuries and secure us for the future? If I thought it would, I would most cheerfully vote for it. But, sir, I have no reason to suppose it will, for we have now had considerable experimental knowledge of the effects of the embargo system, both as it respects ourselves and foreign powers, and we have found from experience, that, as a coercive measure, it has had no effect. It has not compelled France or England to do us justice, or to rescind their unlawful edicts and decrees, issued against neutral commerce. And those nations having now experienced the effects of the embargo for nearly one year, whatever alarm it might have given them, when first laid on, that alarm has ceased. And we have it from high authority, that France cares nothing about it, and that in England, owing to the great events now passing in Europe, it is forgotten. And shall we still, with all this information and experience, adhere to this system, and still think we can legislate France and England into a comitance to do us justice, and bring them to the bar of justice in this way? Far be it from me to censure any one for the part they have taken in endeavoring to maintain the rights of our country, and giving security to the interest of our citizens. But, sir, I think, in the business of legislation, that the same line of conduct ought to be pursued, that we would pursue in the common and ordinary proceedings of life; for should any of us undertake to do any thing, suppose it be to get a vessel afloat that had been stranded, and the means employed were totally inadequate to its accomplishment, should we not abandon those means and try some other? We have tried the embargo, and found it altogether ineffectual, and we have no reason to suppose, that by a further continuance of it, it will answer any of the purposes for which it was intended.

      I will now take some view, as it appears to me, of what has been, and will be the effect of the embargo, if continued, as it respects ourselves. The burden of it has already been very great, on a large proportion of our citizens. It has been grievous, and very sore. For how otherwise can it be, when we consider that all the navigation business, from one end to the other of these United States, is totally stopped, excepting a small remnant of our coasting trade, and that remnant under very great embarrassments; and all that numerous class of our citizens, dependent on commerce, deprived of their usual means of gaining a livelihood, and in consequence thereof thousands of them have been obliged to live on their former earnings, and consume that little property they had treasured up for their future support? And if the embargo is continued, the inevitable consequence must be, bankruptcy to many of our merchants, and absolute distress, misery, and want, to a large proportion of our citizens who live in the seaport towns, and great embarrassments to all classes of citizens throughout our country. And if this system is continued, we must incur the hazard of having civil commotions in our country, for experience has proved, that when great distress prevails among the people, and that distress arises from political measures, which the people are divided in sentiment upon, the hazard is very great that civil commotions will take place. Some gentlemen have undertaken to show how much we have already lost by the embargo. But I shall not go into any calculation of this sort, for I am convinced that it defies calculation; it is impossible to follow it into all its turnings and windings. It is enough for me to know that the loss is immense, and that we have received such a shock by it, that it will require a long time to come, to recover from it. Gentlemen have also endeavored to point out such parts of the Union as they think are suffering the most by the embargo. There is no doubt but that it does bear harder upon some portions than on others, and that it is unequal in its operation. But, sir, my idea is, that it bears the hardest upon that part of our citizens where they are the most dependent on commerce for their living; and this being the case, in nearly as great a degree, perhaps, with the citizens of Rhode Island as in any part of the Union, it follows that my constituents are suffering as much as any portion of the United States.

      But, sir, its pressure is upon the whole country, and it carries misery throughout our land; and if continued, the distress occasioned by it must still be much greater than it has been, and will become intolerable in some parts of the Union, and the consequences may be dreadful to the nation. And as to its effects on France or England, for myself, I am of opinion, that the Emperor of France and King of Italy is well pleased with it, for, as it is observed by Mr. Canning, "it certainly comes in aid" of his grand design of destroying the commerce of the English, and trying to give that nation the consumption of the purse; and, until he is satisfied with that speculation, he will wish us to keep on the embargo. And since Spain and Portugal have refused any longer to be under the control of Bonaparte, and have bid him and all his hosts defiance, and have connected themselves with the English, I believe the English care nothing about the embargo, but would give us their free leave to keep it on forever; for, sir, it gives the greatest activity to their colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia, and must be the means of increasing their settlements with astonishing rapidity. Experience has already proved to them, that their colonies in the West Indies can be maintained without us, and Spain and Portugal and their colonies having become open to them, to vend their manufactures, and with what can be smuggled into the continent and into our country, in spite of all the laws that can be made against it, will furnish them market enough; and our navigation being all laid up, and out of the way, their ships will obtain great freights from Spain and Portugal to the colonies, and from the colonies back to the mother country; and in consequence of our retiring into a state of dignified retirement, as it has been called, they will have nearly the whole trade of the world in their own hands. And it appears to me, sir, in every point of view that I can place the subject, if we continue the embargo, it will operate to distress ourselves a hundred times more than it will anybody else. I will now, as I have heard the call so frequently made, that, if you do not like this system, point out a better, СКАЧАТЬ