Chapter M: Gayoso De Lemos (4)

On the score of informal negotiation it will be recollected that from the earliest days of the Government to the present time, the subject of impressment has been pressed upon the British Government, not only in times of war, but in times of peace. If there were in reality any foundation for the charge on our Government, of having sacrificed the interest of, or lost a security to, our seamen, by a rejection of this informal article, it will be only necessary to recur to the correspondence between our Ministers and the British Commissioners, and it will be found that not only formal, but informal articles were such as we ought not to have accepted; that reasonable concessions on our part were offered for the sake of accommodation and refused; that the Treaty of 1794 was, in some measure, proposed as the basis, but was not accepted by the British Ministry. Let me ask the gentleman for a single moment what were the terms offered in this treaty, which he regrets that the Government did not accept? Independent of its exceptionable provisions, it was accompanied by a note which contains a reservation to the British Government to regulate its own proceedings, and leaves us but two alternatives--either to declare war against France, or suffer the British Ministers to rule us. What do they offer us now? If we will trade as they please, and pay them a duty on all our exports, we may carry on our commerce. Is it possible that any man who professes himself an American could accede to this? The spirit of 1776, refusing to pay a duty of two per cent. on tea, would certainly not now yield that for which they then contended, and become again tributary to the British Government. This is not all. Even this admired treaty, which the gentleman from Virginia so much regrets, allows us to trade to the colonies if we will pay tribute. Was it not easily discoverable that two, three, four, or five per cent. would be laid upon the trade, and virtually prohibit us from carrying on this commerce altogether? It was better than prohibition: but if we would not tax it, they would prohibit it altogether. What right had they to demand this? Certainly none, and yet gentlemen wish to raise the embargo, to embrace these regulations, open all our ports to this fettered commerce, and will not place it in the power of the Executive to suspend the embargo. I am a little astonished that gentlemen who consider the embargo as the heaviest curse which could befall this nation, should be against any measure for removing its pressure. But so it is. Here permit me to say that I admire the flexibility of the gentleman’s sentiments. It must be well known to every gentleman in the House, that a gentleman from Virginia, in combating measures which were then carried into effect, as the non-importation law, said, that if we take measures at all, they should be strong measures; none of your milk-and-water measures, but an _embargo_; which would be an efficient measure. This same gentleman, at the present session, exclaims against the Executive influence which produced the embargo. At this very session we cannot forget the scramble between him and another gentleman in this House, (Mr. CROWNINSHIELD,) as to who should have the honor first to propose the measure; he even urged expedition in the measure, as he had a bill ready prepared. In the course of deliberation on the subject, he urged it as the only thing which could promote the national interests; and persisted in this, till one of his colleagues informed us of the effect which it would have upon Britain. He then rose and told us that he had done with the measure; that the measure was partial--not unconstitutional--that it was a new invention; that it was expressly aimed at Great Britain, and this was the great objection. But _now_ we are told that the British Government will ask nothing better of us than giving up the carrying trade. But, unless the gentleman can prove that they are the carriers for their enemy and for us, he will find it difficult to prove that it favors England. Really I am at a loss to see the difference between the proposed measure and that which the gentleman so long since supported for authorizing the President of the United States to suspend the non-importation law. But the gentleman disclaims the influence of precedents. The gentleman has another objection--that it proceeds from a recommendation from the Executive. The gentleman took the liberty to pay a compliment to the President of the United States for declining a re-election; but he expressed great resentment against those States which solicited him to retain his station. I consider this as the highest mark of respect for the course pursued by the present Administration. But it seems, although totally irrelevant to the subject under discussion, the gentleman from Virginia has undertaken to question the motives of all who have joined in the request. The man who has the vanity and arrogance to suppose that he is superior to all mankind, may boast of his republicanism, but he possesses none. I envy him not his sensations. It will be recollected that the constitution has not denied the right of a President, for two successive terms, again to be elected. The legislatures, then, did not travel out of their constitutional course, and it would have been as modest in the gentleman from Virginia--to say no more of it--to have let the subject alone.

In regard to the constitutionality of this measure, which has been questioned, the bill supported by the gentleman from Virginia two years ago, was to enable the President to do a thing at a distant day, if he should think it expedient. What is the object of the present resolution? To put the whole commercial interest at the discretion of the President? Certainly not. If certain events take place, the President is to be authorized to suspend the operation of the embargo law. We command; he obeys. He is the agent, we the principal. The law, giving power to suspend the non-importation law, was more vague than this resolution. In that he had a perfect discretion, there was no landmark laid down in the law. Here there is. The distinction taken by the gentleman from Virginia is a distinction without a difference. The principles of both are the same. The powers given, and the consequences of the exercise of those powers, are the same.

But it seems that the gentleman from Virginia has undertaken to arraign all the measures of Government taken for some time past. A few days ago he was violently opposed to the raising a military force. At the present moment he draws consolation from the circumstance that both Great Britain and France are hostile to us. If he really feels a satisfaction in the hostile attitude of both powers, he ought certainly not to complain of the acts which he says have placed us in that situation. I cannot conceive how a man can with propriety arraign the conduct of an Administration, when he says their measures have produced the very effect for which he is so gratified. We learned from his observations the other day, and it was insinuated again yesterday, that the raising of an army was against the interest of the country. In 1805 and 1806, he was in favor of strong measures against Spain, for he said in the same proportion as we took measures against Spain, Great Britain would respect our rights; because France and Spain being one and the same, measures taken against one were also against the other. But the effects of strong measures seem now to be viewed in a different light. If it was just then to raise an army against France or Spain to make them respect our rights, it is certainly proper now to take strong measures against both France and England, except the gentleman show that the dispositions of nations as well as of men have changed since that time. At the present time the military spirit is a horrid thing; at that time, it was a very pleasant thing.

For a single moment let us consider the embargo. The gentleman says it is unconstitutional. That the constitution having prohibited the power of laying a duty on exports, denies the power to prohibit exportation altogether. There is no difference in this respect between the non-importation law and the embargo. If the argument be true, you must allow trade at all times, whether it furnish a means of annoyance against yourselves or not. Is it not a well-known fact, that Great Britain is in the utmost want of supplies for that navy which murders your citizens and blocks up your ports; and, therefore, you partially disarm them. However gentlemen please themselves and amuse the people--for that will be its only effect--with the idea that the embargo is a pleasant thing to Great Britain, we find that, even by the debates in their Parliament, their orders are considered as measures so hostile, that they expect a declaration of war. How happens it that we become their apologists? that their conduct strikes gentlemen on this floor in a more favorable light than it does the Britons themselves? They consider them as too strong. These members of Parliament must be much mistaken if some gentlemen in this House are correct.

To return to the embargo. I believe most religiously, that had it not been for sentiments expressed in this country so favorable to Great Britain; had it not been for insinuations that it was impossible for us to maintain this measure, before this time we should have been treated with respect by Great Britain. I cannot, while up, but notice what must be obvious to all--that not only in this House, but abroad, every attempt has been made to show that this measure is improper, unjust, and injurious. The table of this House has been loaded with petitions against the embargo; it is known from what source. Another circumstance attends them, that, though they come from different quarters, they owe their existence to one parent, and come from one land. It is very easy to sow the seeds of discord and discontent, if persons industriously and insidiously apply themselves to that object. Whenever a measure has been attempted against Great Britain, we have found what rancorous opposition it has met with. We are now asked to raise the embargo. What encouragement have we to do it? The Treaty of 1794 sacrificed our most important rights. Did it conciliate that Government? Did she even then respect your rights? From that moment to the present, your flag and citizens have been constantly violated. More than three, four, or five thousand seamen, have been impressed into their service. Is it possible that gentlemen can criminate the Government of the United States for not accepting a treaty which gave no security against this? Certainly not. The gentleman told us yesterday that we were contending with a great commercial nation, and had very little to offer in exchange for what we ask. Was it necessary to make this apology for Great Britain? I have thought very differently. Was our commerce of so many millions “nothing?”

Let us now consider the other point which is taken, that the circumstances attending the treaty alter the aspect of it--for this treaty is, to say the best of it, no better than Jay’s, which the gentleman says he so much abhorred. When Jay negotiated his treaty, almost all Europe was in arms against France; Spain, and Italy, then independent nations. When this new treaty was formed, Italy, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, &c., were at the feet of France; and that war which was engendered at the Court of St. James between Prussia and France was decided. Prussia was overwhelmed, and the knowledge of it reached our Ministers before signing this treaty. Germany was at peace. In this situation, was the attitude of Great Britain so imposing as to justify greater sacrifices than were made in 1794? It was not. It was believed and said in this country, that the arms of Bonaparte would conquer the world. Why, then, make this sacrifice? Had we any assurances, if that treaty was ratified, it would be held sacred? On the contrary, doubts were expressed and conditions annexed to it. Has not her conduct since justified a refusal of more than informal stipulations? At the moment when she attacked Copenhagen, she had a treaty with Denmark. She first attacked the town, and then offered terms of accommodation, which were of course refused. What can be said in justification of that outrage? There was, as we were told the other day, some supposition that the fleet was about to be delivered up to France. It was no such thing, sir; it was justified on the supposition that the Treaty of Tilsit contained some secret articles, and the British Government did not know what they were. When she had taken the Danish fleet and burnt the city, she asked the mediation of Russia to secure a peace between them. Can we believe her sincere in these things? If she really believed there were such secret articles, is it natural to believe that she would ask this mediation to restore friendship between her and the injured nation? If we could not see a treachery through this mist, we must be blind. But I would not have noticed the subject, except that a disposition has been manifested to criminate our Government, and prejudice the minds of the nation, instead of looking to the real cause.

I should have supposed, after what has been communicated to us, no one would have accused this Government of a want of justice in its negotiations with foreign powers. Whoever has read the instructions of the Secretary of State to our Ministers, must be convinced to the contrary. Even on the subject of impressments, they were instructed to press it in such a manner as not even to irritate the feelings of Great Britain. A peculiar solicitude has been displayed in all our proceedings to maintain friendship. It has been all in vain. We have been driven to the last alternative, either to shut up our ports for a while, or to fight. What do gentlemen now ask? That we should open our ports to Great Britain alone; for that would be the effect of raising the embargo. Has it been in the power of our Government to make a settlement? No. Are gentlemen willing to put up with what has happened? The terms which Great Britain has offered, it would have disgraced any people to accept. After she has attacked your national ship, shed the blood of your citizens, and obliged you to exclude ships of war from your ports, she requires that you rescind your proclamation before she will even tell you what satisfaction she is willing to make. She says, I have abused you; humble yourself, succumb to me, and I will make such satisfaction as I think fit. This is the nation for whom you are to lift the embargo, and these the favors you are to receive in return. I had rather see this nation again tributary to them than sacrifice so great a proportion of their independence, than acknowledge that all we have done is wrong, and all they have done is right. I consider that whenever this nation is reduced to such a state of apathy as to endure these things, our independence is not worth a straw. You have certain rights--first principles. Recede from them, and you open yourself to perpetual violation; if persisted in, they will prostrate your independence. With these sentiments I cannot consent to repeal the embargo, and the opposition to this resolution seems to be founded in a wish to do that.

Mr. KEY.--I rise on this occasion with great embarrassment, because in no instance of my political life, has any measure called on me to act, in which the interests of my country were more deeply involved. In common with my fellow-citizens of Maryland, I feel a total aversion to the continuance of the embargo, and I am confident I speak the almost unanimous sense of my constituents in calling for its repeal. However proper some of them might have considered it in the first instance, as an experiment from which good might result, yet all now are satisfied that nothing short of its immediate repeal will save them from great distress, and that a long continuance of it will induce bankruptcy and ruin. I am willing, sir, to admit, that those who advocated the embargo were actuated by the purest motives, and had the best interests of their country at heart--that they adopted it as a measure from which great permanent good would result; but time, which tests the correctness of political measures, has sufficiently elapsed to convince them of their error--at least it has impressed on my mind a conviction, that we deeply suffer, whilst those it was intended to operate on, lightly feel its effects. I was originally opposed to the measure--I still am opposed to it; although I anxiously wish its immediate repeal, yet I am compelled to vote against the present resolution, because in my heart and judgment I believe it is so worded as to violate, if adopted, the Constitution of the United States--and that I am unwilling to let the repeal of this law depend on contingencies, not known or designated and which are to grow out of the acts of foreign Governments.

An honorable gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. LOVE,) who originally voted for the measure, has this day admitted it to be a curse. I concur with him, as I hope he will now with me, in a vote and prayer for its speedy removal. I believe the embargo to be partial in its operation, oppressive, and, if persisted in, ruinous to the country. These are strong terms, but if gentlemen will lend a patient ear, I will endeavor to convince them of their truth, and I will use as much brevity as is consistent with perspicuity. The view I take of this subject is extensive, but I hope not diffusive.

The resolution proposes to vest the President with power, on the happening of certain European events, to suspend the embargo law. I am against it, because I want an immediate repeal, because it is unconstitutional to vest the President with power to suspend a law, and because it is partial in its operation, oppressive, and ruinous.

It is partial in its operation in two respects--first as it regards the persons on whom it operates, and secondly, as it respects the product operated on.

The district I have the honor to represent is not bounded on navigable water. So far then as it respects my constituents, (and many other districts of different States are in the same situation,) the law executes itself with rigor. From their geographical position, they are excluded the means of selling their surplus produce, while this very law operates as a bounty in effect to the citizens of other parts of the United States. I call the attention of the committee to the northern parts of the State of New York. That State binds on Lake Erie to Niagara, on the whole extent of Lake Ontario, on a great part of the river St. Lawrence, and the Lakes Champlain and George, and has an immediate, direct, easy communication with the British, in Upper and Lower Canada. The whole Genessee country, and the counties lower down, have a steady, constant market, the prices tempting, the access easy, and few or no officers to interrupt the daily supplies given to their British neighbors. We cannot shut our eyes to the fact of this commerce being steadily carried on.

The embargo, so far as it restrains places from exporting their surplus produce, goes to enhance the price of such produce in foreign markets--the enhanced price affords the temptation, and the easy access gives the means to that country to export it, and in fact, by excluding others, gives them a monopoly of supply. Near four hundred miles of northern coast, in proximity to the British settlements, gives to New York upon the lakes a steady market. Vermont binds on lakes which communicate with Canada. Passamaquoddy openly and publicly furnishes supplies to New Brunswick. In this state of things, and in the mode the law is executed, it is partial and oppressive, and my constituents and others in similar locations so feel and experience it.

But, sir, there is another portion of our fellow-citizens, on whom this law executes itself with peculiar severity, I mean the frugal, hardy, laborious and valuable fishermen of the Eastern States. I see gentlemen smile at a member of the Middle States supporting the interests of the fishermen; but, sir, I should think myself illy entitled to a seat in this House, if I did not know the value of that class of men to society and the Union. I wish, sir, their numbers, character, and usefulness, were better known and understood than I fear they are. And as on this subject my opinions may not be orthodox, I will refer to the head of the church.

Mr. Chairman, in the year 1791, the now President of the United States, then Secretary of State, made an able and luminous report on our fisheries. These are his words: first, as to the annual value of a fisherman’s labor, secondly, as to the situation and value of the whale fishery as carried on from a sand bar--

“About 100 natives on board 17 ships (for there were 150
Americans engaged by the voyage) came to 2,255 livres, or about
$416 66 a man.”

“The American whale fishery is principally followed by the
inhabitants of the island of Nantucket--a sand bar of about
fifteen miles long and three broad--capable of maintaining
by its agriculture about twenty families; but it employed on
the fisheries, before the war, between five and six thousand
men and boys; and in the only harbor it possesses it had one
hundred and forty vessels--one hundred and thirty-two of which
were of the large kind--as being employed in the southern
fishery. In agriculture, then, they have no resources; and
if that of their fishery cannot be pursued from their own
habitations, it is natural they should seek others from which
it can be followed, and prefer those where they will find a
sameness of language, religion, laws, habits, and kindred. A
foreign emissary has lately been among them, for the purpose
of renewing the invitations to a change of situation; but,
attached to their native country, they prefer continuing in
it, if their continuance there can be made supportable.”--_Mr.
Jefferson’s report, January 10, 1791, on the subject of the
fisheries._

I call the attention of the committee to every letter of this report, and then let each member ask himself the situation of the fishermen under the embargo law.

Sir, by the Treasury report laid on our desks it appears that the exportation of dried fish alone, in the last year, amounted to 473,924 quintals; and the whole product of the fisheries amounted to $2,300,000--a sum equal to the one-eighteenth part of the whole agricultural produce of the United States: thus in effect, in point of product, adding another State to the Union. Is this class of men, whose farm is the ocean and whose crop is its fish, to have their whole or nearly their whole interests sacrificed by the unequal operation of the embargo? I hope not, sir. I trust gentlemen will see the oppression of the law, and its partial operation, and remove it.

Again, sir, as, to the product, how does this law operate? The cotton planter and the tobacco planter have their articles little deteriorated by time. The embargo, to them, suspends the use of their capital only; but to those who have flour or fish, the embargo, if continued for a few months, destroys their capital--the thing itself. In this respect the embargo works partially; and in reference to its operation on particular portions of our country, on particular classes of people, or on the product, it ought to be repealed at once, and without delay.

Sir, it is a very remarkable fact, and not more remarkable than true, that if you compare the number of fishermen with the product of their labor, and the number employed in agriculture with the product of agriculture, that the value of the former to the latter is as ten to one--a people whose habits and manners are in consonance with republican institutions, and who are as valuable as the agriculturists. God has given them a noble estate in the ocean, most bountifully stocked, and diligently do they work it, with profit to themselves and advantage to their country.

THURSDAY, April 14.

_Suspension of the Embargo._

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS felt that the question which was about to be decided was one of so much importance, every member of the House must be specially responsible for his vote on it; and, laboring under that responsibility, he felt it a duty to state some of the reasons for the vote he should give. I shall vote against the resolution, said Mr. W., and in so doing shall not be influenced by the reasons assigned by my friend from Virginia, (Mr. RANDOLPH,) nor by those of the gentleman from Maryland. When this resolution was first presented to us, I felt very much inclined to vote for it; but upon considering it more maturely I cannot. This I regret exceedingly, because I shall perhaps differ from a large majority of the friends to the embargo. Gentlemen themselves who advocate it, if all the consequences which certainly attach to it are deliberately considered, will I hope give it up. What is the object of the resolution, or rather of the embargo itself, for I presume it is intended either to fix the day or the circumstances on which it shall be suspended? [Mr. RANDOLPH observed that while up he had forgot to propose an amendment to the resolution so as to declare it expedient to repeal the embargo.] No, sir, said Mr. W., it is not expedient. This amendment, however, has cut in upon me unexpectedly; but as the debate has heretofore been a kind of general battle, partaking of war, army, embargo, treaty, resolution, and amendment,--I shall be in order on any point, it has taken so wide a range.

The resolution is pernicious, and for this reason: the embargo is not designed to affect our own citizens, though I confess it operates hard on them; but to make an impression on Europe; and beyond all question, the firmer you stand, the more likely is your measure to have effect. What is the opinion inferable from the adoption of such a resolution? Does it not tell the belligerent powers of Europe with whom you are contending, that you are tired of the embargo; that you are sick of it, and will accept any modification of their general principles (I would rather say practice, for they have no principle) so hostile to your neutral rights, rather than submit to it any longer? I hope this consideration will have weight with gentlemen, who, like myself, are friendly to the embargo, for assuredly it is entitled to it. Besides, are gentlemen aware of the embarrassment they will not be able to avoid in framing a law on such a subject? It will be scarcely possible to define the circumstances on which you will permit the suspension to take place, without incurring one of two risks; either too precise to admit the President’s acting, for being a law its letter must be fulfilled, or so general as to invest him with a discretionary power altogether inexpedient. I cannot conceive a situation more disagreeable than would be the President’s with such a power. Though I subscribe to what I consider the sound part of the declarations of the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. RANDOLPH,) the other day, as to the tendency this resolution will have to throw a monstrous and unusual power into the hands of the President, yet I do not believe it unconstitutional; nor can I subscribe to the arguments of my friend with respect to the constitutionality of the laws laying an embargo; for, sir, if they prove any thing they prove quite too much; and did I possess but a moiety of the eloquence and ability of that gentleman, I could certainly confute them. I contend that the power to lay an embargo is granted in the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.” If you cannot prohibit commerce with a particular port or nation, of what avail is the power to regulate it? The law prohibiting all trade with St. Domingo is authorized by the same clause of the constitution, and yet it never was supposed to be unconstitutional. Will it be questioned that you can prohibit exportation from the United States in the vessels of any particular nation? Will it be questioned that you have a right to exclude foreigners from trading with the Indian tribes within your jurisdictional limits? Most assuredly you have these rights, and all derived from the same general power to regulate commerce. The embargo is not an annihilation, but a suspension of commerce, to regain the advantages of which it has been robbed; it follows that it is a constitutional regulation of commerce. The gentleman read my name among others in the negative on the passage of the section in the bill to authorize the President to suspend the non-importation law. I will not undertake to say what were the reasons of the gentleman for voting against that section, but I know that my reason was, it vested the President of the United States with power to suspend the law at the time when we ourselves should be in session. I thought then as I do now, that it is inexpedient, under any circumstances, to give the President power to suspend the operation of a law during the session of Congress.

Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL said, I will now return to the subject before the House. The gentleman last up, (Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS,) has rendered it unnecessary for me to enter into a discussion of a part of this subject, which might otherwise have claimed more particular notice. With that gentleman I agree, in almost every thing he has said, except as to the effect which this resolution would have upon foreign nations. If I had supposed that this measure held out to foreign powers the slightest pretext for believing that we are so tired of the embargo as to be induced to repeal it, under any circumstances whatever, except such as are consistent with the honor and dignity of the nation, I would be the last man to propose it to this House. But under a conviction that this resolution can have no such effect, that it holds to foreign powers a language directly opposite to this, and that they will see in it the only object which its supporters can be fairly supposed to have, to put it in the power of the Executive to remove, a pressure, as soon as circumstances will render it proper, which is acknowledged to bear hard on the American people, and must continue so to do so long as the causes that produce it remain unchanged, I have brought it before the House, and under this impression alone am I disposed to support it. So far, sir, from thinking that it will induce foreign nations to believe we are disposed to remove the embargo, before the causes that produced it are first withdrawn, I am clearly of opinion that this resolution will convince them that we are determined the embargo laws never shall be repealed, until they revoke their orders and decrees, or until we shall have determined to appeal to war, the last resort of an injured nation. They will see, in this measure, what is believed to be the true principle that ought to direct our conduct--a firm determination to persevere in the embargo until they are brought to a sense of justice, or until that crisis in our affairs has arrived, that will make it our interest and our duty to resort to arms in vindication of those rights which have been so grossly violated--and then the embargo may not be necessary. War and an embargo at the same time are seldom supposed to be necessary; an embargo frequently precedes war, but scarcely ever accompanies it. These remarks are made, because so many misrepresentations have gone abroad with respect to the objects, the effects, and probable duration of the embargo, and the views of those who imposed it. Some considered its operations directed against one nation alone, to wit, Great Britain; while others of the same party declared it could do that power no injury. The first of these positions is not founded on any facts to support it, the laws imposing the embargo being general in their operation; and the result, as far as we can judge from the best information that has yet reached us from that nation, proves the latter to be totally incorrect. Some pretended to state it as a measure that was to be permanent, and forever unalterable, and on that ground opposed it; while others on the same side pronounced it a temporary expedient, a mere chimerical experiment, that was not designed to be persevered in for any time, and therefore declared it useless, and likely to produce no good. In answer to such contradictory objections, it would seem almost unnecessary to say any thing. The one would appear to destroy the other. Those who made them have been equally incorrect in stating the views of those who imposed the embargo, as they have been unfortunate and inconsistent in the grounds upon which they have opposed it. No one could reasonably suppose the embargo was intended to remain forever, to be a permanent, unalterable measure, or to continue longer than the existence of the causes that produced it. Neither ought it to be supposed that it would be removed during the existence of those causes, unless some alternative was resorted to in its place. These representations, or rather misrepresentations, are therefore futile, not founded in fact, and calculated only to deceive and mislead the public mind.

The objects of the embargo have already been stated to you. These were, among others, to take a stand previous to an expected war, to prepare the nation to meet it; to collect and preserve at home our resources and our seamen, from being captured by foreign powers; to produce a pressure on those foreign powers, that might make them sensible of the advantages they derived from our trade, and, by making them feel the want of it, bring them to a just estimate of their own interests, and a sense of justice toward us; and also to pause for a short time in order to determine what system we ought to pursue. These were, it is believed, the principal objects of the embargo. The time has not yet arrived that puts it in the power of this nation decisively to determine with which of the belligerent powers we must go to war, if, indeed, it be necessary to go to war with either. The conduct of those powers has not been such as to induce us to consider either the one or the other friendly disposed toward us--and it might be hazarding too much to go to war with both at the same time. It is not, therefore, the proper time, either on the ground of peace or on that of war, to remove the embargo, as has been insisted upon by those who have been opposed to the measure. But it has been contended by some who are friendly to the embargo, that the resolution before you holds out to the belligerent powers a ground for believing that we will repeal the embargo laws, without any change being first made in their measures relative to our commerce. I am unable to see any thing in the resolution that justifies such an opinion, or that presents to those powers any prospect of their removing the embargo, until they revoke their orders and decrees, or change them in such a manner as to render our commerce safe. What does the resolution say to the belligerent powers? Is not its language clear and explicit? It says to them you must act first, before the embargo shall be removed. The Council of the Nation have solemnly so determined; your orders and decrees have produced the embargo, and it shall continue until you withdraw them. It is announcing to those nations in the strongest language in our power that we are determined not to shrink from the ground we have taken; that we will not relinquish the measures we have adopted, until they first withdraw their measures so destructive to our commerce, and then the embargo shall be removed--then the commercial world will be unshackled, and trade restored to its usual channels, to its full liberty. This resolution will turn the eyes of the American people to the real source of their present difficulties--the conduct of the belligerent powers, in passing their orders and decrees, by which they have bound in chains or rather annihilated the commerce of the civilized world; in these they will see the true cause of the embargo, the reasons that render it essentially necessary to save our trade from certain ruin; and to these they must look to unbind the chains and permit trade to return to its usual channels, and pursue its natural course. On these grounds, and with this view, this measure was brought forward, and is now supported by me.

FRIDAY, April 15.

_Death of Mr. Crowninshield._

As soon as the Journal was read--

Mr. BACON said: I rise with feelings of the deepest sensibility, to perform a solemn and painful duty. It is to announce to the House the death of my friend and colleague, Mr. CROWNINSHIELD, who expired this morning at six o’clock.

Whereupon, on motion of Mr. FISK,

_Resolved, unanimously_, That a committee be appointed to take
order for superintending the funeral of JACOB CROWNINSHIELD,
late a Representative from the State of Massachusetts.

_Ordered_, That Mr. CUTTS, Mr. TAGGART, Mr. QUINCY, Mr. COOK, Mr. GREEN, Mr. ELY, and Mr. BACON, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the said resolution.

On motion of Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS,

_Resolved, unanimously_, That the members of this House will
testify their respect for the memory of JACOB CROWNINSHIELD,
late one of their body, by wearing crape on the left arm for
one month.

On motion of Mr. NEWTON,

_Resolved, unanimously_, That the members of this House will
attend the funeral of the late JACOB CROWNINSHIELD, to-morrow
morning at ten o’clock.

On motion of Mr. SMILIE,

_Resolved, unanimously_, That a message be sent to the Senate
to notify them of the death of JACOB CROWNINSHIELD, late a
member of this House, and that his funeral will take place
to-morrow morning at ten o’clock.

SATURDAY, April 16.

The House met at nine o’clock, and after reading the Journal, adjourned till twelve o’clock, in order to attend the funeral of Mr. CROWNINSHIELD.

The House met accordingly at twelve o’clock.

TUESDAY, April 19.

_Suspension of the Embargo._

Mr. RANDOLPH said that they had lately gotten into a strange habit of calling things by their wrong names. The other day, said he, we received a bill from the Senate for making an addition to the Peace Establishment, without limitation; we christened the bill by the style and title of a bill to raise for a limited time an additional military force. Here is a bill authorizing the President of the United States, under certain conditions, to suspend the operation of the embargo; and for certain conditions certainly none ever were nearer uncertainty than these are. What are the conditions? They are not positive, and of these, such as they are, the President at last is to determine. The President, under certain conditions, is to suspend the embargo, and when you inquire what those conditions are, you find them uncertainties--contingencies of which, when they happen, he is the sole and exclusive judge. Now if we do authorize the President to suspend the embargo under certain conditions, let us ascertain them. Let them not be uncertain. Let him not have a discretion whether he will suspend the embargo or not.

It is not my purpose now to recapitulate my former argument on this subject; but I do say that if the President of the United States is to have a discretion at all, it ought to be absolute and unqualified, not only substantially so, but nominally so; and the objection to this bill is, that under the pretence of qualification to discretion, under the mask (not by this intending any disrespect to the other branch of the Legislature) of restricting the power, you do in fact give him an unqualified power; and no gentleman who reads the bill can for a moment hesitate to acknowledge the correctness and soundness of the doctrine. I rise not so much to enter into discussion (for I feel myself unable) as to offer an amendment, which, if it be lost in Committee of the Whole, I will reiterate in the House to ascertain its sense. I move therefore to strike out from the enacting clause in the first section to the end of it and insert:

“That the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in
the ports and harbors of the United States, and the several
acts supplementary thereto, shall be repealed, so far as they
prohibit trade with France and her dependencies, and States
associated in common cause with her, as soon as the United
States shall be exempted from the operation of her decrees of
the 21st November, 1806, and December, 1807, and the President
of the United States shall have officially been notified
thereof, and shall have received assurances that the existing
stipulations between the United States and France will be
respected by her.

“_And be it further enacted_, That the said acts shall be
repealed, so far as they prohibit trade with Great Britain,
her dependencies, and States associated in common cause with
her, as soon as her Orders of Council of November last shall
be revoked, so far as they affect the commerce of the United
States, and the President of the United States shall have
received official assurances thereof, and that the neutral
rights of the United States shall be respected by them. And
the President of the United States shall be and he is hereby
authorized and required, on the receipt of such assurances from
either of the two belligerents, to notify the same forthwith
by proclamation; whereupon the embargo shall be removed in
regard to such belligerents. And if such assurances be received
from both belligerents, proclamation shall in like manner be
forthwith issued; whereupon the acts aforesaid, and the several
acts supplementary thereto, shall cease and determine.”

I will state in a few words why I have not inserted in that amendment any condition respecting reparation for the affair of the Chesapeake. It was not because the bill from the Senate contains no such principle; but because the embargo has never been considered, that I recollect, certainly it was not so considered by the gentleman who moved the resolution, as a reaction on our part in consequence of that outrage; because the step was not taken till some time after that outrage; and because it was taken before we knew whether reparation would be made for the outrage or not. In fact it was never said by any gentleman who advocated it, to have any connection with that transgression, which stood on its own demerits. The embargo grew out of the French decrees and British proclamations, and if justified by the British proclamation, was assuredly yet more justified by the Orders of Council which followed it. It was then a measure intended to meet the aggressions on our commerce by the two belligerents; and not a measure of resentment in consequence of the aggression on the Chesapeake. It is therefore that I have thought proper not to mingle subjects which at all times ought to have been, and I understand now are kept separate and distinct.

Mr. QUINCY.--Mr. Chairman, the amendment proposed to this bill by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) has for its object to limit the Executive discretion in suspending the embargo to certain specified events--the removal of the French decrees; the revocation of the British Orders. It differs from the bill, as it restricts the range of the President’s power to relieve the people from this oppressive measure. In this point of view, it appears to me even more objectionable than the bill itself. To neither can I yield my sanction. And as the view which I shall offer will be different from any which has been taken of this subject, I solicit the indulgence of the committee.

A few days since, when the principle of this bill was under discussion, in the form of a resolution, a wide field was opened. Almost every subject had the honors of debate except that which was the real object of it. Our British and French relations, the merits and demerits of the expired and rejected treaty, as well as those of the late negotiators, and of the present Administration; all were canvassed. I enter not upon these topics. They are of a high and most interesting nature; but their connection with the principle of this bill is, to say the least, remote. There are considerations intimately connected with it, enough to interest our zeal and to awaken our anxiety.

The question referred to our consideration is, shall the President be authorized to suspend the embargo on the occurrence of certain specified contingencies? The same question is included in the proposed amendment and the bill. Both limit the exercise of the power of suspension of the embargo to the occurrence of certain events. The only difference is, that the discretion given by the former is more limited; that given by the latter is more liberal.

In the course of the former discussion a constitutional objection was raised which, if well founded, puts an end to both bill and amendment. It is impossible, therefore, not to give it a short examination. It was contended that the constitution had not given this House the power to authorize the President at his discretion to suspend a law. The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. KEY) and the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. RANDOLPH,) both of great authority and influence in this House, maintained this doctrine with no less zeal than eloquence. I place my opinion, with great diffidence, in the scale, opposite to theirs. But as my conviction is different, I must give the reasons for it--why I adhere to the old canons; those which have been received as the rule, both of faith and practice, by every political sect which has had power, ever since the adoption of the constitution, rather than to these new dogmas.

The Constitution of the United States, as I understand it, has in every part reference to the nature of the things and the necessities of society. No portion of it was intended as a mere ground for the trial of technical skill or verbal ingenuity. The direct, express powers, with which it invests Congress, are always to be so construed as to enable the people to attain the end for which they were given. This is to be gathered from the nature of those powers, compared with the known exigencies of society and the other provisions of the constitution. If a question arise, as in this case, concerning the extent of the incidental and implied powers vested in us by the constitution, the instrument itself contains the criterion by which it is to be decided. We have authority to make “laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution” powers unquestionably vested. Reference must be had to the nature of these powers to know what is “necessary and proper” for their wise execution. When this necessity and propriety appear, the constitution has enabled us to make the correspondent provisions. To the execution of many of the powers vested in us by the constitution, a discretion is necessarily and properly incident. And when this appears from the nature of any particular power, it is certainly competent for us to provide by law that such a discretion shall be exercised. Thus, for instance, the power to borrow money must in its exercise be regulated, from its very nature, by circumstances, not always to be anticipated by the Legislature at the time of passing a law authorizing a loan. Will any man contend that the Legislature is necessitated to direct either absolutely that a certain sum shall be borrowed, or to limit the event on which the loan is to take place? Cannot it vest a general discretion to borrow or not to borrow, according to the view which the Executive may possess of the state of the Treasury, and of the general exigencies of the country, particularly in cases where the loan is contemplated at some future day, when perhaps Congress is not in session, and when the state of the Treasury, or of the country, cannot be foreseen? In the case of the two millions appropriated for the purchase of the Floridas, such a discretion was invested in the Executive. He was authorized, “if necessary, to borrow the sum, or any part thereof.” This authority he never exercised, and thus, according to the argument of gentlemen on the other side, he has made null a legislative act. For so far as it depended upon his discretion, this not being exercised, it is a nullity. The power “to pay the debts of the United States” will present a case in which, from the nature of the power, a discretion to suspend the operation of a law may be necessary and proper to its execution. Congress by one law direct the executive to pay off the eight per cent. stock. Will gentlemen seriously contend that by another it may not invest him with a general discretion to stop the payment; that is, to suspend the operation of the former law, if the state of the Treasury, or even more generally if the public good should in his opinion require it? An epidemic prevails in one of our commercial cities; intercourse is prohibited with it; Congress is about to terminate its session, and the distemper still rages. Can it be questioned, that it is within our constitutional power to authorize the President to suspend the operation of the law, whenever the public safety will permit? Whenever, in his opinion, it is expedient? The meanest individual in society, in the most humble transactions of business, can avail himself of the discretion of his confidential agent, in cases where his own cannot be applied. Is it possible that the combined wisdom of the nation is debarred from investing a similar discretion, whenever, from the nature of the particular power, it is necessary and proper to its execution?

The power of suspending laws, against which we have so many warnings in history, was a power exercised contrary to the law, or in denial of its authority, and not under the law and by virtue of its express investment. Without entering more minutely into the argument, I cannot doubt but that Congress does possess the power to authorize the President by law to exercise a discretionary suspension of a law. A contrary doctrine would lead to multiplied inconveniences; and would be wholly inconsistent with the proper execution of some of the powers of the constitution. It is true that this, like every other power, is liable to abuse. But we are not to forego a healthy action, because, in its excess, it may be injurious.