Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16)United States. Congress
History
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16)
United States. Congress
Law -- United States; United States -- Politics and government
Mr. DAYTON (the Speaker), said, that he did not rise to accept the
challenge given by the gentleman who spoke last from South Carolina, and
to point out a nation more free and enlightened than ours; nor did he
mean to contest the fact of ours being the freest and most enlightened
in the world, as declared in the reported Address, but he was
nevertheless of opinion that it did not become them to make that
declaration, and thus to extol themselves by a comparison with, and at
the expense of all others. Although those words were in his view
objectionable, he was far from assenting to the motion for striking out
the seven or eight last clauses of the Address. The question of order
having been decided, Mr. D. said he would remind the committee, that if
they wished to retain, or even to amend, any section or sentence of all
that was proposed to be struck out, they ought to give their negatives
to this motion, as the only means of accomplishing their purpose. It was
sufficient, therefore, for those who were opposed to the question for
striking out the whole, to show that any part included within it ought
to be preserved. Not unnecessarily to waste time, by lengthening the
debate, he would take the clause first in order, and confine his remarks
to that alone. This part of the Address had certainly not been read, or
had been misunderstood and misrepresented by the member from
Pennsylvania.
Mr. AMES said, if gentlemen meant to agree to strike out the whole as
proposed, in order to adopt those words substituted by the gentleman
from South Carolina (Mr. HARPER), he must observe that he thought this
would be as far from giving satisfaction to others, who, it appeared,
wanted no substitute. He, therefore, hoped that kind of influence would
not prevail on this occasion. The gentleman who made the motion did it
to accommodate matters, and not because he himself objected to the
answer reported.
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