President, if the political firmament seemed to me dark
before, there has been little in the discussion this morning to
cheer or illumine it. When the proposition of the Senator from
Kentucky was presented--not very hopeful of a good result--I was
yet willing to wait and see what developments it might produce.
This morning, for the first time, it has been considered; and
what of encouragement have we received? One Senator proposes, as
a cure for the public evil impending over us, to invest the
Federal Government with such physical power as properly belongs
to monarchy alone; another announces that his constituents cling
to the Federal Government, if its legislative favors and its
Treasury secure the works of improvement and the facilities
which they desire; while another rises to point out that the
evils of the land are of a party character. Sir, we have fallen
upon evil times indeed, if the great convulsion which now shakes
the body-politic to its center is to be dealt with by such
nostrums as these. Men must look more deeply, must rise to a
higher altitude; like patriots they must confront the danger
face to face, if they hope to relieve the evils which now
disturb the peace of the land, and threaten the destruction of
our political existence.
"First of all, we must inquire what is the cause of the evils
which beset us? The diagnosis of the disease must be stated
before we are prepared to prescribe.
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