USA > Georgia > The bench and bar of Georgia: memoirs and sketches. With an appendix, containing a court roll from 1790-1857, etc., volume II > Part 4
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On all manufactures of cotton, or of which cotton shall be a component part, twenty-five per centum ad valorem, excepting cotton twist, yarn, and thread, which shall remain at the rate of duty fixed by the act to amend the several acts imposing duties on imports, of 22d May, 1824 : And provided, That all manufactures of cotton, or of which cotton shall be a component part, not dyed, colored, printed, or stained, not exceeding in value thirty cents the square yard, shall be valued at thirty cents per square yard ; and if dyed, colored, printed, or stained, in whole or in part, not exceeding in value thirty-five cents the square yard, shall be valued at thirty-five cents per square yard.
On this plan, a yard of cotton goods which cost the importer eight cent spaid as much as a yard that cost thirty-five cents,- both taxed eight and three-quarter cents per yard, making more than one hundred per cent on the inferior article. It was this principle, bearing so heavily on articles consumed by the masses, that excited the South against the Tariff, as it had the effect of keeping out all foreign fabrics and giving the market exclusively to home-manufactures of cotton at the enhanced price. For refer- ence, the following table is given, showing the vote on the passage of the bill in the House of Representatives, June 28, 1832 :-
STATES. YEAS. NAYS.
STATES. YEAS. NAYS.
1. Maine 6
1 7. New York. 27 2
2. New Hampshire 5
8. New Jersey 3 3
3. Massachusetts ... 4 8 9. Pennsylvania. 14 12
4. Rhode Island .... 2 10. Delaware 1
5. Connecticut .. 2 3 11. Maryland. 8
6. Vermont. 3 12. Virginia. 11 8
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JOHN FORSYTH.
YEAS. NAYS.
Brought over.
13. North Carolina ... 8
4 19. Louisiana 1
2
14. South Carolina ... 3
6
20. Indiana
3
15. Georgia 1
6 21. Illinois 1
16. Kentucky 9
3 22. Alabama. 2
1
17. Tennessee.
9
23. Missouri. 1
18. Ohio 13
24. Mississippi 1
Total 132 65
The members from South Carolina who voted for the Tariff of July 14, 1832, were James Blair, William Drayton, and Thomas R. Mitchell ; and the member from Georgia who voted for it was James M. Wayne. The Representatives from Georgia who voted against it were Augustin S. Clayton, Thomas F. Foster, Henry G. Lamar, Daniel Newnan, Wiley Thompson, and Richard H. Wilde.
The bill passed the Senate July 9, 1832, by a vote of 32 to 16, -- the following Senators voting against it :- Littleton W. Tazewell and John Tyler, of Virginia ; Bedford Brown and Willie P. Man- gum, of North Carolina ; Robert Y. Hayne and Stephen D. Miller, of South Carolina ; JOHN FORSYTH and George M. Troup, of Georgia ; George M. Bibb, of Kentucky; Felix Grundy and Hugh L. White, of Tennessee ; Elias K. Kane, of Illinois ; William R. King and Gabriel Moore, of Alabama; and Powhatan Ellis and George Poindexter, of Mississippi.
At the Annual Commencement of Franklin College, in August, 1832, a number of gentlemen consulted together on the grievances of the Tariff, and held a public meeting at Athens. After the preamble, reciting the acts of Congress complained of, and their injustice to the South, the meeting adopted the following resolu- tions :-
1. That we, as free citizens of Georgia, will not longer submit to this system of legislation, which is arbitrary, unequal, unconstitutional, and therefore unjust; that it be recommended to our fellow-citizens in the several counties to elect delegates to a State Convention to assemble at Milledgeville on the second Monday in November next, and to invest them with full power, in behalf of the good people of Georgia, to main- tain, preserve, and defend the rights and privileges of the free citizens of this State.
2. That John Macpherson Berrien, Augustin S. Clayton, Thomas Glas- cock, Joel Crawford, Samuel Rockwell, William H. Torrance, and William C. Dawson, be a committee of correspondence to confer with our fellow- citizens of other States on all matters connected with our common interests.
YEAS. NAYS. 80 43
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BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
Pursuant to this call, the people of sixty-one counties appointed delegates to meet in convention at Milledgeville. Accordingly, in the afternoon of Monday, November 12, 1832, these delegates as- sembled in the Representative-Chamber, and organized by electing the Hon. George R. Gilmer President, and William Y. Hansell, Benjamin T. Mosely, and Mansfield Torrance, Esqrs., Secretaries. The Hon. John Forsyth, Col. William Cumming, and Hon. John P. King were the delegates from Richmond county. A list of all the delegates may be seen elsewhere in this work .*
A resolution was offered by Mr. William H. Torrance, and agreed to, as follows :-
Resolved, That a committee of twenty-one be appointed, whose duty it shall be to report resolutions expressive of the sense of this Convention in relation to the protective system, and the best and most efficient means of obtaining relief from the evils of that system; and that the said com- mittee be further instructed to report what objects ought to engage the attention of this Convention, and what will be the most efficient means of accomplishing the same.
The President appointed the following gentlemen as that com- mittee :-
1 David Blackshear,
11 Samuel Rockwell,
2 John M. Berrien,
12 Robert A. Beall,
3 John Forsyth,
13 David Taylor,
4 William Cumming,
14 Samuel A. Bailey,
5 Augustin S. Clayton,
15 Hiram Warner,
6 Alfred Cuthbert,
16 William C. Dawson,
7 Roger L. Gamble,
17 Thomas Haynes,
8 David A. Reese,
18 Charles P. Gordon,
9 Thomas Spalding, 19 Gibson Clark,
10 James M. Tait,
20 Absalom Janes,
21 Thomas W. Harris.
On the second day of the Convention, Mr. Forsyth submitted the following resolutions :-
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President to examine and report to this body at its next meeting the authority of the persons assembled as delegates from the different counties of the State to represent the people of their respective counties ; the resolutions, if any, under which the election in each county was held, the manner of holding it, the number of votes given at the election, and the number of votes in the county.
* In the memoir of R. A. Beall, vol. i. p. 34.
31
JOHN FORSYTH.
Resolved, That the individuals who have been elected as a committee of what is known as the Athens meeting be, and they are hereby, requested to present to this body the correspondence they have held connected with the object of their appointment.
Mr. Torrance proposed a substitute for the first resolution, and Mr. Berrien an amendment.
The debate took a wide range. Mr. Forsyth had ingeniously presented such a demand that not a single delegate could have fur- nished the evidence unless himself and his colleagues had taken the precaution, knowing the ordeal to be instituted. It was a plausible ground, this call for authority. He opened the discussion calmly, in statesmanlike order, and gave specimens of eloquence never before heard in the Representative-Chamber. His inquiry was to ascertain if the people had really clothed the delegates, who pro- fessed to speak in their name, with power to bind them. Action of some kind was to be taken by the Convention ; and it was to be either binding or not binding. If the former, the delegates should produce their authority, showing that they were selected in good faith and in open day. He would not deliberate with men, how- ever respectable, on issues so grave, unless they exhibited their authority to speak in the name of the people. He would not go into an examination of the Tariff, whether or not the people of the South had just cause for resistance, until the preliminary investi- gation was had,-a measure demanded by the self-respect and dig- nity of the Convention.
Such was the scope of the argument and the bearing of the question. However imperfectly noted here, it was sufficient at the time to draw forth all the orator, the politician, and the patriot. Mr. Berrien was evidently surprised by this side-blow at the Con- vention. He was no doubt fully prepared, on the Tariff, to de- monstrate the grievances of the South; but his reply to Mr. For- syth was unequal : it lacked his usual cogency : it had the beauty of a picture, but not the strength and vitality of argument,-such an argument especially as Mr. Berrien always made on constitu- tional questions. The galleries applauded when he rose ; but he gently raised his hand in token of disapprobation, and set his elo- quence to work, producing the round, oily periods, the dulcet tones of voice, richer than the organ, which no man living can rival. Mr. Berrien delighted the vast audience. He always preferred time to reflect, to arrange his views, and to make his points to the best advantage. That opportunity was now denied him, and he had to grapple with the best off-hand debater in the world. Burke may
32
BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
have been more philosophical and ornate, Fox more logical and comprehensive, Sheridan more brilliant in illustration, more witty in repartee, and Pitt may have marched in more stately grandeur to elevate the British House of Commons; but not one of them was the polemic gladiator, the ready, ever-buoyant and dignified master of elocution, that Mr. Forsyth was, with look and gesture, inflection of voice, and all the qualities of a high-bred soul gushing for victory. Who ever had such a sarcastic expression of the lip, such a scornful jerk of the nose, to annihilate an adversary when the occasion called for such a catastrophe ? He was a perfect model of eloquence, without having copied any man or any rules. By some happy method, accidental or otherwise, he had accommo- dated his organs of speech to the capacity of the lungs for respira- tion. He was never out of breath : he always had a full supply, so that his voice was always clear and resonant, always pleasant to the ear in its high or low keys or in its grand or simple modu- lations. There were no hurry, no breaks, no discord or accidents, in that constant stream of pure vocalization. The listener had no dread of failure. He beheld glittering landscapes and a rich panorama of city refinement and rural simplicity, set off by the softest music, all teeming from the magic skill of the orator.
Such was Mr. Forsyth in the memorable Anti-Tariff Convention of 1832,-the only time, perhaps, when, he was heard by so many of his fellow-citizens of Georgia, opposed as he was by such an array of talent.
Other gentlemen of ability and influence addressed the Conven- tion. In a register of debates they would appear equal to Mr. Forsyth ; but on the floor his superiority was conceded by all, friend or foe.
The discussion occupied three afternoons : (the Convention sat only in the recess after each daily adjournment of the Legislature.) The vote was then taken on the amendment of Mr. Berrien, which was, in effect, a substitute for the first resolution of Mr. For- syth, and resulted-Yeas, 63; Nays, 56.
When the vote was announced, Mr. Forsyth rose, and stated that, in compliance with a promise he had made to the Convention when he proposed the inquiry which had just been denied, he would not longer remain in the Convention. He would, however, leave a statement of the reasons which had influenced him and those who concurred in the course adopted. After some remarks disclaiming all personal unkindness, he advanced to the clerk's table, deposit-
1
33 .
JOHN FORSYTH.
ing a paper* on it, and then retired from the Hall, followed by about fifty other delegates. The secession created quite a stir, witnessed by full galleries. Every thing was conducted in order by the withdrawing party, and the utmost decorum was observed by those who remained in the Convention.
When silence was restored, some gentleman moved that the paper on the clerk's table be taken up and read. Mr. Ber- rien objected, remarking that it might not be prudent to do so. The paper was not read. A copy of it appeared in the next issue of the Federal Union, and in other papers of the same politics, besides a large edition in letter-form for circulation among the people. The following is the
PROTEST.
The undersigned, who have been appointed delegates to a State Con- vention to be held at Milledgeville, hereby declare their secession from the body which is now sitting under that title, for the following reasons :-
First. More than twenty counties are unrepresented in the Conven- tion. The absence of so large a part of a perfect representation would in any case make it probable, and in the present instance renders it almost certain, that any important vote of a majority of the Convention will be, in effect, a vote of the minority of the people.
Second. Not only have more than twenty counties plainly indicated that they disapprove the Convention, by declining to send delegates, but many of those which are represented made appointments, not because they approved of the Convention, but that their delegates might endeavor to avert the evils which they anticipated from the meeting, and in the ex- pectation that those delegates would withdraw whenever a course should be adopted inconsistent with the rights of their constituents.
Third. We conceive that a course has been adopted inconsistent not only with the rights of our constituents, but with justice to the whole people. A very great proportion of those sitting as delegates have pro- duced no sufficient evidence that they are duly authorized to appear in behalf of those counties which they nominally represent; and the majority of the Convention has refused to institute and enforce such a scrutiny as is indispensable to the investigation of this essential fact.
Under these circumstances, we deem it an imperative duty to secede,- at the same time entering a solemn protest against any authority or in- fluence which may be claimed for the acts of the body which we have left, as acts of a convention representing the people of Georgia.
1 John Forsyth,
3 Tho. W. Harris,
2 Wm. Cumming,
4 T. Haynes,,
* The original protest, the identical sheet of paper thus left by Mr. Forsyth, is in possession of the author. It was kindly presented to him, in 1856, by Dr. Charles J. Paine, who found it among some old papers in his house, somewhat mutilated by the rats. The signatures, however, except two, are perfect, and are copied in the order in which they appear to the protest.
VOL. II .- 3
34
BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
5 Wm. H. Underwood,
28 Thomas Long,
6 A. Brown,
29 Barkley Martin,
7 H. Crowell,
30 John M. McAfee,
8 Hiram Warner,
31 H. T. Mosely,
9 N. B. Powell,
32 John G. Park,
10 Z. B. Hargrove,
33 Matthew Phillips,
11 Lewis J. Deupree,
34 William M. Morton,
12 Hugh Lawson,
35 Samuel Robinson,
13 Andrew R. Moore,
36 William Slone,
14 O. H. Kenan,
37 Orion Stroud,
15 D. A. Reese,
16 Burwell W. Bracewell,
39 R. Remson,
17 John G. Pittman,
40 Samuel Lockhart,
18 Walter L. Campbell,
41 Thomas Watson,
19 Gibson Clark,
42 John P. King,
20 James Coker,
43 David Kiddoo,
21 Alfred Cuthbert,
44 Oliver Clarke,
45 Theophilus J. Hill,
23 Hugh W. Ector,
46 N. Garrison,
24 Samuel Fariss,
47 Horace R. Ward,
25 Thomas Gibson,
48 Joseph Hull,
26 Benjamin Holland,
49 Thomas H. Key,
27 James G. Lewis,
[2 signatures destroyed.]
It is not necessary to notice here the proceedings of the Con- vention after the protest. For the legislative action on the subject the reader is referred to another memoir* in this volume. The pre- caution of Mr. Berrien not to have the protest read in the Con- vention kept it from the journal or minutes of that body, and therefore from obtaining a circulation of several thousand copies,- the antidote with the poison.
The course of Mr. Forsyth and his followers was censured or approved as parties happened to rule in different counties, in some of which meetings were held on the subject. The resolutions of a public meeting, over which Gen. L. L. Griffin presided, in Monroe county, in January, 1833, are here given as a specimen :-
Whereas, the prosperity, independence, and security of these United States can be effected and maintained only by the continuance of the Union and the preservation of the Constitution and forms of government established by the wisdom, patriotism, and firmness of our fathers, by whose noble exertions their descendants have reaped national prosperity, renown, and individual happiness ;
And whereas, the State of South Carolina, by its Convention, and the proceedings of its Legislature in obedience thereto, has rushed upon a rash, unconstitutional, and dangerous policy,-one calculated to destroy the fairest hopes of liberty and subvert the wisest, happiest Government ever devised by the wisdom of man;
* Memoir of Governor Towns.
22 John R. Daniell,
38 David Taylor, Jr.
35
JOHN FORSYTH.
1369483
And whereas, the President of the United States has issued his procla- mation declaring the unconstitutionality of such proceedings so far as they regard the assumed power of a State to nullify an act of Congress passed according to all the usual forms of national legislation, as required by the Constitution of the Union ;
And whereas, in all cases of danger to the Union or to our people it becomes the duty of our citizens to guard against both by all proper means :
Therefore, Resolved, That this meeting do entirely disapprove of the absurd and heretical doctrines advanced in a certain extraordinary ordi- nance passed and promulgated by the South Carolina Convention, it being calculated to dissolve the Union, retard the progress of liberty, and foster the seeds of anarchy and ruin.
Resolved, That we entirely approbate the proclamation of the President of the United States, as being entirely constitutional, timely, and necessary ; that in that able document we recognise the spirit of the patriot, statesman, and lover of the Union.
Resolved, That our sympathies and feelings are with the Union party of South Carolina; that we highly approve of their course in convention in maintaining their rights, and their career in general in contending for and supporting the supremacy of the laws of the United States against the revolutionary measures of unholy ambition.
Resolved, That we highly approve the course pursued by the Hon. John Forsyth, and those who acted with him, in seceding from the late body that convened in Milledgeville, the self-styled Georgia Convention.
While the State-Rights party of Georgia was preparing, the drama of nullification had been in rehearsal in a neighboring State and was ready for the public. Mr. Forsyth alluded to it in the Convention, and implored the majority not to throw obstacles in the way of President Jackson, who was doing all in his power to modify the protective system and meet the just expectations of the South. Chancellor Harper, representing the State-Rights party of South Carolina, and the Hon. David Johnson, sustaining the same relation to the Union party, were present in seats expressly provided for them in the Convention. By his second resolution Mr. Forsyth aimed to bring to light any concert of action between the leaders in Georgia and those in South Carolina, if any had taken place on the " constitutional remedy ;" but, after the first resolution was voted down, he withdrew the other.
As Mr. Forsyth opposed the South Carolina movement from its inception, it will be permitted here to notice its progress. "
On the 6th of October, 1832, Gov. Hamilton issued his procla- mation convening the Legislature of South Carolina on the 22d of the same month. His message to that body closed as follows :-
In conclusion, fellow-citizens, our cause is worthy of our highest, our most zealous, and our most inflexible efforts. It is for no object of ambi- tion, no lust of power or avarice, that we have assumed our present pos-
.
36
BENCHI AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
ture in relation to the usurpations of the Federal Government ; but it is to redeem the Constitution of our country from unhallowed violation,-to maintain its ascendency over the law-making authority,-to save this once- cherished Union from a corruption and misrule that doom it to irrever- sible disruption,-to bring the Government back to the salutary principles of a just and economical administration,-to restore to our own homes and the homes of our fathers their wonted prosperity, by the glorious effort of recovering for our country a privilege we have never surrendered, of ex- changing in profound peace the fruits of our labor, under a wise system of free intercourse, with the rest of the world,-a privilege which, it has been justly said, belongs to the Christian code among civilized nations. With these objects, and standing firmly on our right, I implore the bless- ings of Almighty God on your deliberations, that they may redound to the liberty, peace, and happiness of our common country, as well as of the people whom you especially represent.
On the 26th of October, 1832, the Legislature passed an act to provide for the calling of a convention of the people of South Carolina. In his address on taking his seat as President of the Convention, Gov. Hamilton observed :-
In conclusion, permit me to say that, in taking the matters under con- sideration submitted to us, my anxious prayer is that our deliberations in their results may tend to establish our own liberties, to maintain the rights and privileges of our own people, and with these to give stability to the Union, to restore harmony to our altars and our firesides,-that harmony and affection out of which the Union sprung, and which are its best refuge and defence.
These extracts show that no violence was intended; that the object rather was to restore harmony to the Union and do justice to all its members.
The Convention assembled at Columbia on the 19th November, 1832, and on the 26th the report of the Committee of Twenty-One was adopted, from which the following is an extract :-
It so happens that six of the Southern States, whose industry is almost exclusively agricultural, though embracing a population equal to only one- third part. of the whole Union, actually produce for exportation near $40,000,000 annually, being about two-thirds of the whole domestic ex- ports of the United States. As it is their interest, so it is unquestionably their right, to carry these fruits of their own honest industry to the best market, without any molestation, hinderance, or restraint whatsoever, and subject to no taxes or other charges but such as may be necessary for the payment of the reasonable expenses of the Government. But how does this system operate upon our industry? While imports to the amount of ten or twelve per cent. (if arranged on just and equal principles) must be admitted to be fully adequate to all the legitimate purposes of Govern- ment, duties are actually imposed (with a few inconsiderable exceptions) upon all the woollens, cottons, iron, and manufactures of iron, sugar, and salt, and almost every other article received in exchange for the cotton, rice, and tobacco of the South, equal on an average to about fifty per cent.,
37
JOHN FORSYTH.
whereby (in addition to the injurious effects of this system in prohibiting some articles and discouraging the introduction of others) a tax equal to one-half of the first cost is imposed upon the cottons, woollens, and iron which are the fruits of Southern industry, in order to secure an advantage in the home-market to their rivals, the American manufacturers of similar articles, equivalent to one-half of their value,-thereby stimulating the in- dustry of the North and discouraging that of the South, by granting bounties to the one and imposing taxes upon the other.
The report is a long and elaborate argument showing the un- constitutionality and injustice of the Tariff. The chairman of the committee was the Hon. Charles J. Colcock. Among its other members were the late William Harper, Robert Y. Hayne, Stephen D. Miller, George McDuffie, Robert J. Turnbull, and Pierce M. Butler. The closing paragraph is as follows :-
South Carolina will continue to cherish a sincere attachment to the UNION of the States, and will to the utmost of her power endeavor to pre- serve it, and believes that for this end it is her duty to watch over and oppose any infraction of those principles which constitute the very basis of that union, because a faithful observance of them can alone secure its existence. She venerates the CONSTITUTION, and will protect and defend it against every aggression, whether foreign or domestic; but above all she estimates as beyond all price her LIBERTY, which she is unalterably determined never to surrender while she has the power to maintain it. Influenced by these views, your committee report herewith for the adoption of the Convention a solemn DECLARATION and ORDINANCE.
The ordinance was adopted on the 24th day of November, 1832, by a vote of 136 yeas to 26 nays. It begins by a preamble, and then declares, in substance,-
1. That the acts of Congress imposing duties on imports are un- authorized by the Constitution of the United States, and are null and void, and no law, nor binding upon the State, its officers or citizens ; and all promises, contracts, or obligations entered into to secure duties imposed by said acts, and all judicial proceedings to enforce the same, shall be held utterly null and void.
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