I am invited very specially to a wedding in Washington & probably I may be there for one day on the 9th April. Would to Heaven! that General Taylor might come out in favor of the Missouri Compromise! I should glory in sustaining him. Endorsed: Superscription-16 March 1850 Copy of a letter to Remarks of Jefferson Davis in Senate March 18, 1850 in defense of Mr. Buchanan's position on the slavery question. Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I wish merely to refer to the language of Mr. Buchanan, as reported in the Congressional Debates, and will endeavor to keep myself in order, in the few remarks I may offer upon it. Mr. President, I did not hear the Senator from New Hampshire make the statement which he is reported in the National Intelligencer to have made, in relation to Mr. Buchanan. If I had, I should have raised the question of accuracy with him then. I heard the Senator from New York make the statement in relation to Mr. Jefferson, and heard it promptly answered by my colleague and the Senator from Michigan. Certainly it is not true that Mr. Buchanan or Mr. Jefferson have ever announced, that the Democracy of the North were the allies of slavery in the South. That they have announced that the Democracy of the North were the natural allies of the South, is true, and it has been my pride to believe them so. I wish I could feel that it were as true now, as in the days when Mr. Jefferson pronounced it. The Democracy of the North are, or should be, the natural allies of the South in this; that strict construction being the basis of their creed, they therefore should protect them in their constitutional rights-the only guaranty that the minority has ever desired, and one of which it can never be honestly deprived, under a confederation like our own. This sort of alliance Mr. Jefferson referred to, and this sort of alliance Mr. Buchanan claimed for the Democracy of the North. If that be all that the Senator from New York meant, he used bad language to state his meaning. If that be all that the Senator from New Hampshire meant, he can find in the speeches of Mr. Buchanan a full corroboration of that opinion. If more, the Senator from New Hampshire, I think, will fail in his researches. In February, 1842, Mr. Buchanan stated, what I believe he would still maintain if he were here, and what I understand the Senator from Michigan on my right [Mr. CASS] to have maintained the other day. In an argument on the veto power Mr. Buchanan said, at the time to which I have referred: "Let me suppose another case of a much more dangerous character. In the southern States, which compose the weaker portion of the Union, a species of property exists which is now attracting the attention of the whole civilized world. These States never would have become parties to the Union, had not the rights in this property been secured by the Federal Constitution. Foreign and domestic fanatics, some from the belief that they are doing God's service, and others from a desire to divide and destroy this glorious Republic, have conspired to emancipate the southern slaves. On this question, the people of the South, beyond the limits of their own States, stand alone and unsupported by any power on earth, except that of the northern Democracy." That is what Mr. Buchanan stated. Let the Senator from New Hampshire produce anything of his inconsistent with this. It was further amplified and powerfully illustrated in the continuation of this speech. To this speech I refer the Senator from New Hampshire in any researches he may have to make, to sustain his assertion on this subject. I have read from it, because in it I believe Mr. Buchanan went further than in any other, and because I am proud of the position therein taken by that illustrious member of the northern Democracy. J. A. Quitman 1 to Jefferson Davis (From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Letter Book of Governor Quitman.) Hon. Jeffr. Davis Executive Department Washington City: Dr. Sir I was not aware until a few days since that it was customary to transmit the credentials of his election to the Senator elect. This will account to you for not receiving the enclosed immediately after the election. I remain very respectfully Your obt. Sevt. J. A. QUITMAN. The above credentials spoken of, and accompanying letter were this day forwarded to the Honl. Jefferson Davis F. H. Elmore Jefferson Davis to F. H. Elmore 1 Washington, D. C., 13th April, 1850 Dr Sir: Since the receipt of your letter we have had some consultation in relation to the proposition you submitted in relation to the Nashville convention. The prevailing opinion is to leave the matter entirely in the hands of the people. My own view is and has been that the convention should meet for preventive purposes. That it is necessary to begin an organization of the South the want of which has left us a divided people, when union and cointelligence was necessary for our safety. The charge which has been made of a design to sever the Southern states from the confederacy but increased the propriety of meeting. If we had no other purpose than to redress past wrongs it would be proper to wait until the measure of our grievances was full; but to check aggression, to preserve the union, peaceably to secure our rights requires prompt action. We should no doubt have greater una [ni] mity, higher resolve if called upon to avenge the blow, than if only required to paralyze the arm upraised to strike. Then it would be the energy of revolution, now it is the preservation of the Constitution. A postponement is in my opinion, equivalent to abandonment of the Southern convention, and to being hereafter branded as disunionists who were arrested in their purpose. It is needless to add that I cannot aid in the object of postponement. Long since I resolved that if the measure was abandoned it should be by no agency of mine, and have believed that the toryism we now see was only to be put down by the action of the faithful. If a few meet, many will rue the day when they oppose us, and our strength will increase thenceforward-I write freely to you whose aim and feelings I know to be such as I cherish-If a different course be adopted from that which I approve, my cordial wish is that my opinions may prove to have been those of an over excited mind-as ever yr. friend JEFFN. DAVIS. Remarks of Jefferson Davis April 16, 1850 on appropriation for the Mexican boundary commission. Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. Mr. President, I wish to move an amendment to the amendment of the Senator from Connecti 'The original of this letter was given to Miss Laura A. White by Miss Ellen Elmore and Mrs. Thomas Taylor, daughter of F. H. Elmore, and is now in Miss White's possession. cut, [Mr. SMITH.] I will say nothing about the amount of the salary fixed by the Senator. I think it small for the station; but I wish to make a remark about the position assumed by the honorable Senator as to the amount of work which has been executed; I hold that a great deal has been done; I hold that the grand problem has been solved, which was, to determine the initial point and direction of the line which connects the boundary on the Pacific with the junction of the Gila and Colorado. Both extremities have been settled, and it is now a simple operation, which any common surveyor can perform, to connect the two ends of that line. It is the simplest part of the labor which remains to be done. It is a great error to estimate the amount of the labor by the length of the line which has to be run. The Senator is mistaken when he supposes that very little has been accomplished. The difficulty was to establish the initial point and the direction in which the line should run; for this, science and judgment were required. That has been performed upon both ends of the line. Now, it is the simple operation of surveying to complete the line, and then to follow up the river Gila to the point where another constructive line is to be established, to connect the branch of the Gila with the intersection of the boundary line and the Rio Grande. There will occur another high astronomical problem, to be solved as that to which I have referred has been done; the rest is all simple surveying, and this operation may be rapidly performed. I think no more time will be necessary than has been allowed by the Senator's first proposition. The line that has been determined from San Diego to the junction of the Gila and the Colorado, can be completed as soon as funds have been furnished. The officer in command, who has acted as the astronomer, has directed this to be done by his lieutenant. It is to trace the line, and set up the monuments along it. The amendment which I propose to offer is to add, after the word "surveyor," in the amendment of the Senator from Connecticut, "and the astronomer," and after the words "dollars per annum," the words "and either of these duties being, or having been, performed by an officer of the army, that his pay during the time of the employment shall be increased to that sum." I offer this amendment for the following reasons: The duty of an astronomer is quite as dignified, and requires a higher grade of acquirement than that of commissioner or surveyor. The surveyor is in fact a subordinate officer to the astronomer. The Mexican commissioner and surveyor are officers of high rank and of a high grade of compensation. An officer of our army has heretofore been engaged in performing the duties of astronomer; and, indeed, I do not know where else we should go to get the astronomer; one who combines astronomical with topographical attainments is perhaps nowhere else to be foundcertainly not in such position that he would accept this appointment. It may be assumed, then, that we are compelled to select an officer of the army; and when this is done, it is neither just nor politic that he should be expected to support himself on the pay of a captain. Unless the provision herein proposed be made, this will be the case. I have referred to the circumstances by which he will be surrounded. You know the condition of the country. The result is, that the compensation in the case supposed, and which, if this amendment fail, will be the existing case, will be hardly sufficient to have a servant and buy his supplies of absolute necessity. When, therefore, you select an officer competent for this duty, and require him to sacrifice all other considerations to his official obligations, you should give him adequate compensation, and shield his professional and his national pride. You should take into account the station and the associations in contact with which you place him by this extraordinary service. I hope, I feel, that this does not require further argument. Mr. SMITH. I cordially approve of the amendment suggested by my honorable friend from Mississippi, [Mr. DAVIS.] I wish to call his attention, however, to a provision contained in the House bill, having in view, in part, the very object the honorable Senator has adverted to. The object of that amendment is to vest in the President power to make an extra allowance to officers of the army, when stationed on the Pacific coast, and especially in California, where we all know that their regular pay is not sufficient to cover their expenses; and it may be in consequence of that fact that this provision has been inserted in the House bill, in order that the President may be clothed with discretion in the matter to make such extra allowances as may be just and reasonable to cover the extra expenses of the officers of the regular army that may be engaged in the service. The amendment of my honorable friend applies only to one officer-the astronomer-attached to the commission for running the boundary I suppose he will be from the corps of topographical engineers. There will be other officers of that corps associated with him in that duty. Colonel Emory and some other officers were originally detailed for assistance |