Sir, I must
say that, in all the proceedings of the House upon that report, from the
previous question, moved and inflexibly persisted in by a member of
the committee itself which reported the resolutions, (Mr. Owens, of
Georgia,) to the refusal of the Speaker, sustained by the majority of
the House, to permit the other gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Glascock) to
record upon the journal his reasons for asking to be excused from voting
on that same resolution, the freedom of debate has been stifled in this
House to a degree far beyond any thing that ever happened since
the existence of the Constitution of the United States; nor is it a
consolatory reflection to me how intensely we have been made to feel,
in the process of that operation, that the Speaker of this House is a
slaveholder. And, sir, as I was not then permitted to assign my reasons
for voting against that resolution before I gave the vote, I rejoice
that the reason for which I shall vote for the resolution now before the
committee is identically the same with that for which I voted against
that.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131