Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 3 (of 16) — John Shaqi
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 3 (of 16)United States. Congress
History
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 3 (of 16)
United States. Congress
Law -- United States; United States -- Politics and government
Mr. WRIGHT.--Mr. President, I presumed from the observations of the
honorable gentleman from Delaware, (Mr. WELLS,) that he had not minutely
attended to the provisions of this bill, on which the transfer of this
stock is made expressly to depend. The treaty has in the most guarded
manner secured us in the possession of the ceded territory, as a
condition precedent to the payment of the purchase money, and this bill
has expressly provided that no part of the stock shall be transferred
till the possession stipulated by the treaty shall have been obtained.
Not such a possession as the gentleman has said the President may be
satisfied with--“the delivery of a twig and turf, or the knocker of
a door.” The treaty has defined the possession intended: it is the
possession of Louisiana, the island and city of New Orleans, with the
forts and arsenals, the troops having been withdrawn from thence. But,
sir, from his remarks, it would seem that his objections to this bill
had been predicated on his want of confidence in the Executive, as he
has expressed his fears that the stock would be transferred, before
the prerequisite conditions had been performed. He says, we ought to
be satisfied that the possession stipulated by the treaty shall have
been delivered up before we pass this bill. Has he forgot that, by
the constitution, the President is to superintend the execution of
the law? Or has he forgot that treaties are the supreme law of the
land? Or why, while he professes to respect this constitution, does he
oppose the commission of the execution of this law to that organ of the
Government to which it has been assigned by the constitution? Why, I
ask, does he distrust the President? Has he not been, throughout the
whole of this business, very much alive to the peaceful acquisition of
this immense territory, and the invaluable waters of the Mississippi? a
property which, but the other day, we were told was all-important, and
so necessary to our political existence that if it was not obtained the
Western people would sever themselves from the Union. This property,
for which countless millions were then proposed to be expended, and the
best blood of our citizens to be shed, and which then was to be had
at all hazards, _per fas aut per nefas_, seems now to have lost its
worth, and it would seem as if some gentlemen could not be satisfied
with the purchase, because our title was not recorded in the blood of
its inhabitants. But that this is not the wish of the American people,
has been unequivocally declared by their immediate representatives
in Congress, as well as by this House, who had each expressed their
approbation of the peaceful title we had acquired, by majorities I
thought not to be misunderstood. And the gentleman, although he voted for
the ratification of the treaty, now again calls on us to investigate the
title. It is certainly too late.
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