University of South Carolina Libraries
gLL. The Camden Journal. PUBLISHED BY TIfO. J. WARREN & C. A. PRICE, EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. TERMS. For the Semi.Weekly, Three Dollars ami ^ifly Cents J * V ' iC-jftiJ in ml*uni:o, or Four Dollars if payment is de : three rnonllis. \ For llio Weekly, Two Dollars and FiHy (Tenia in | nilvnncc, or Throe Dollars after the expiration of three months. SPEECH OF 31R. C. G. ME31MTNGER, On the Question of Rcchnrtering the Bank of the S'a!e of South Carolina.?Delivered in the House of Representatives, Dec. 9, 1848. lite following Resolutions, offered by Mr. ' Mcmniitigcr, with sundry others offered by other members of the House of Representatives, on the same subject, were under discussion of Committee of the Whole, on Saturday, 9th DecertP ber, 18*18: 1 ThIt i? unwise and inexpedi 1 IICOUIITU. M. 1IUV 1? A cut for a State to engage in Banking, or to subject its resources to the casualties of Banking operations. 2. Resolved. That the Bank of the State is founded on this erroneous policy, and exposes the public Treasury and the public faith to the hazards incident to Banks. 3. Resolved, That it is inexpedient to reeharter the Bank of the State, and that measures ought now to be taken to wind up its concerns during the period of its present charter. 4. Resolved, That a Special Committee of each House be appointed, to devise and report at the next session, the proper measures for carrying into effect the last Resolution. When Mr. Memminger addressed the Committee to the purport of the Speech which follows : Mr. Chairm ax : I intend to discuss the question before the House, as one altogether of State Pnlirv: and that I may not be led aside hereof ter by personal issues, 1 shall dispose at once of all such considerations here4 at the ^omrnencemcnf of my remarks. The force of what I may say is sought to be broken in advance, either by imputing to the opponents of the Bank motives of interest, or m desire to injure those who conduct its affairs.? On the first point, I have only to say, that there is no action which the State can take in relation to any Bank, which can cause me to gain or lose to the extent of live hundred dollars.? The second imputation can in no way apply to me, inasmuch as a lifetime passed near each other, has been one of continued kindness and good feeling between myself and the President of thp Bank. These relations have been preserved through the shocks of party excitement and contention; and at this moment, the only pain which 1 feel in entering upon this discus sian, is, that it must produce trials ana aimcaity to a friend, whom in his present state of health, I would gladly have saved from this addition.? But events over which I have no control have forced this subject upon us. I have neither sought nor desired the unenviable task which is upon me. I find myself at a post which the State requires me to maintain, and I have no alternative but to discharge my duty. The great question which has been brought up for our consideration by the Message of the Governor, and by the various Resolutions sub nutted, is, whether it is lor the interest 01 ine people of South Carolina, that the Bank of the State should be brought to a close, or whether its Charter should be renewed ? Those who think with me, are of opinion that the union of Bank and State is an unsound and injurious connection, mutually corrupting and mutually productive of evil; and that as we have succeeded in dissolving this connection in the General Government, we ought equally to strive to procure its separation from the State Government In order to developc the subject more fully, it will be proper in the first place, to explain the connection which exists between the Bank of the State and the State of South Carolina, and to show how far the State is involved in the conterns of the Bank. The Capital of the Bank consists of two distinct parts. The first part amounts at present to $1,123,357 00; and is made up of various portions of Bank Stock and other funds which tie Stntp (ivinfirl -it 11 >*> tinm the li.-ink wA* niw. inally chartered. To this rnnst be added, what is called the Sinking Fund, amounting at present to $541,410 00; which is made up of the annual profits of the Hank, remaining after paying the public debt, and also of the sum of $200,000 received from the Surplus Revenue of the United States. These sums, amounting to $1,664,773, are entirely the property of the State, and constitute the real banking capital of the Bank But besides this, there is a second part, composed entirely of Borrowed Capital, which has nl iii thu im?su>cui<hi (if t!w Rnrilt and ? - ?i ?? is called part of its capital. This consists of about two millions of dollars, which was borrowed for the ostensible purpose of rebuilding the City of Charleston. Only about one million of this was ever needed to be lent out to the citizens of Charleston, and the remainder has been 1 1 J.. I? ? 1- !.. !i. 1 : 4! U8CU oy [lie I);hik 111 Its Musiness uprrouuiiB,? The money was all borrowed on the Bonds of the State, and consequently the State Is answer, able for the whole of it; and any loss whieh the Bank may make, must of course be made good by the State. The funds therefore whjoh the Bank is using, and which either belong to the State, or are borrowed on her credit, amount in round numbers to threo and a half millions of dollars. There is still a further connection between the Bank ami the State, which it is necessary to develojie. By the charter of the Bank the State has pledged Mer taitli ror us support, ana in consequence thereof, the State j's liable for the issues and depositee of the Hank. At present these amount to 81,7'28,(M52, and must bo add. ed to the previous sum of ' reo and a half mil. lions, or more accurately, 83,586,(532; making the total sum of 85,315,594, for which the fl. nances of the State are involved with the Bank ; and every dollar of which is at the nsfc oi toe State. An immense machine, involving nearly twenty times the annual tax income of the State! # Such a machine, I will proceed to showi is contrary to the spirit of our Government, anu to 1 the piinciples of constitutional liberty. 1. It is so complex in its nature, that few have timo or opportunity to understand it In a government like ours, which is to bo conducted by the people, all its arrangements should be made as sun {lie as possible. All experience proves, that the more completely any department is removed from popular scrutiny and inspection, the more certainly docs it become corrupt. Even a mode of collecting taxes which is complex and Fumnvort truni nKu>n->iti>in its Inline! to be OI1CT ous and repugnant to republican principles. But here is an institution vastly more extensive than the whole State Treasury, which has absorbed all the fuuds of the State, and involves her in a matter of five millions; which has drunk up the original State Capital, Sinking Fund. Fire Loan and Surplus Revenue, aiul must needs be managed by men exjiert in a particular science, and which makes out its annual accounts in statements which few ever read, because few only i t *i can spare the time to examine ana coinpreuuuu them. Whut a contrast to tlic simple machinery of die State Treasury, where a couple of Treasurers receive the taxes of the Upper and Lower country, and pay them out as directed by the Representatives of the people at the annual meeting of the Legislature. 2. The Constitution of South Carolina vests ' the Legislative authority of the State in the Sen-, ate and House of Representatives ; but the char j ter of the Bank vests a larger Legislative nu- J thority in a Board of Directors sitting in a Bank parlor ia Charleston, veiled in the mystery created by an oath of secrecy. If an appropriation were asked from the Legislature for any public work, the State Constitution will not permit a grant to be made until a bill shall have been read on three seperatedays in the Senate, and on three separate days in the House of Representatives. Of course upon each roading, public discussion of the measure may be had; and as each House is required by the Constitution to keep a Journal of its proceed ings, and by its rules to record the yeas and nays when required, the people may be kept fully advised of all that is done by their representatives?ami so jealously does the Constitution watch over this legislative authority, that its great right arm, the taxing power, is expressly retained in the House of Representatives, and the Senate is not permitted to originate a bill to raise taxes. But the power which is thus so jealously watched, as to be refused even to the Senate of the State, is given at large by the Bank charter to the Directors of the Bank. Nay, they even have power which the Legislature itself cannot j undo Thev have Dower to contract debts to | the extent of twice their capital, and can thus at j pleasure impose upon the State a debt of seven ; millions, which the people would be obliged to j meet, whether they approved it or not. And that too, not upon open discussion upon a bill to be read three times, but upon a mere order of a Board made in half an hour, without any dis- i cussion, or if upon discussion, the reasons veil- I ed by the impenetrable folds of an oath of se- : crecy. Here then is a clear surrender to an irrcspon- j sible oligarchy of the great constitutional pow- . en of Government - the power to borrow nion- ; ey on the faith of the public, and the power to apply it at pleasure. The only barrier which has ever been yet found against the invasions of tyranny?that with which Hampden and Pym, and their associates, combatted the first inroads of the tyrant Charles; that shield which John Hancock and our brave Revolutionary fathers ! retained at the expense of a death grapple with the mighty power of England?is surrendered to a small Board of Bunk Directors, in the hope, J forsooth, that we may make money hy the operation ; thus bargaining away the liberties of the people for a mess of pottage. But not only has the State surrendered to this Bank the power to borrow money, and thereby to tax the people at wili, but she has actually allowed them power to patronize schemes of enterprise, which the Legislature itself would searcely venture to exercise. 'Hie Bank may, without consulting the Legislature, or the people, engage in any scheme?commercial, manufacturing, or speculative?which it may see fit to foster. While we are gravely debating here ?...? _l?ii ?a wiituivr wu 9ii?u tui vii iiiu 11 itiiuiv** UVUU1.7 ] from the salary of tho Adjutant General, or whether we shall save for the State the salary of a Superintendent of Public Works, this other Legislature may be subscribing hundreds of thousands to a Georgia Railroad, or embarking in a Bank speculation of millions, or creating. amy number of Bank officers and salaries, to be paid from that large treasury which the State has olaued iu the kcenini? of the Bank. - I - ? - - - - J - c I Gentlemen mny suppose I am indulging in pictures of the imagination, or drawing ujmn far-fetched possibilities. Unfortunately, 1 speak the words of Sober truth and reason. Take up j the Bank Statement now on your table, and j voa will find that near half a million of the pub- [ lie money in the hands of the Bank, is now in- . voa#art in ttnilrnnit uocnritioa nml lt:ml< Sl<wt? | We luive been discussing here in the Legislature for more than two years, whether we shall aid the great public Railroads from Columbia to Greenville and Charlotte, and with a great effort we have at last agreed to subscribe to them a half million of dollars. The Bank could I ?lil .J A1 * A L Al ' 1 1 J* 1 - 1 nave seiueu una maucrjor uivui in linn nn nuur, by doing as tliey have done for two of the (Jeorgia Railroads which figure in their statement. Very probably it was wise atid proper for the Bank to aid these enterprises. I am not now canvassing that point But I think I may veil- I ture to say, that many years must have elapsed, before any effort could have succeeded in per- 1 suading this Legislature, so to apply the moneys of South Carolina. My design is accomplished tuLun I cKnw tl?r? fiinf Tlmf f*w?t iu'MV'mi nwiuf ! strikingly how much greater is the power, and ' how much smaller the responsibility, of our j Bank than of our Legislature, But this is not all. The Representatives of j the people would hesitate much before they ventured to embark the public moneys in subscribing to a Bank speculation, or in building up Manufacturing Companies. But when the Bank of Charleston was established, this other Legis- ; latere did not hesitate to subscribe one million ! eight hundred thousand dollars to its stock, oil ft mere speculation; nor has the Hunk hesitated ; I to assist various manufacturing companies by loans, all of which may have been made upon juit views of expediency; but certainly are much bolder nicugitres than could have been carried through the Constitutional Legislature of the State'. , All these transactions were made by the Board of Directors; and as far as that is a check, had the bcnclit of it. But there are other transactions of the Bank, in which the State may be involved to the extent of thousands, without even the intervention of the Board of Directors. The whole issues of the Bank are under the control of the President and Cashier, and by any com; bination l>etween them, or even at the will of the Cashier alone, the circulation of the Bank may he increased to any extent he may please. 01V in.il uiiiii me uaimsiuui uavt- ijetrii nuunuup. 3. In the third place, it will appear that the Bank of the State is the real Treasury of the State, and as such, it violates the spirit of all those guards which the Constitution in its wii dom places around the people's Treasury. From what has been already Baid, it is apparent that much the larger portion of the funds ol the State is in the keeping of the Bank. Hie Capital of the Bank, the Sinking Fund, the Surplus Revenue, the Dividends from the Railroad ?*"? ? nmniirul tiToe tKamoalUDQ all fall in. It is nnfortunatoly too true, that both Presidents and Cashiers huve been found who have l>etraved their trust; and although I have no doubt but that the present officers of the Bank are perfectly honest, yet in establishing a great national institution, we must take it for granted that it will bo managed by men of like imperfection with those who have managed other institutions. It is within the knowledge of many who hear mo, that two of the private Banks have suffered considerably by notes surreptitiously issued through the built or negligence of the Cashier. The same thing may hapj>en with the Bank of the State to any extent, and the people are thus exjiosed to a danger which few people are aware of, and which unfortunately cannot be discovered until many years afterwards?possi1 t x x!l xl I) 1. _l II I I f > *JIi Uiu ^viivi n? vuavo UIVKI0V1TV0) cm- icmc iu" to the hands of the Bank, and are administered bv men who hold office indefinitely, frequently for life. When we consider the jealousy which the Constitution exhibits on this score, it renden the Bank still more anomalous. By the 1st Section, Oth Article of Constitution, the Treasurers of the State are to hold their offices only for four years, and then they are ineligible for a term. The Constitution evidently thought i( unsafe to place the public moneys in any haudi for more than four years. But in the Bank where ten times as much public money passes the officers remain for life. The President and Cashier are re-elected as a matter of course: and when a Director is changed, it is merely because either some more urgent competitor hat jostled hint front his place, or because he is tirec of the continued struggle to keep himself befort a nominating Committee. So too the State Constitution, Article 1, Sec tion 17, enacts that no money shall be drawr ?1*./* fPMAneiiwtr Imf Ktf tkr* nutliAfnttr aT fllf I rum UIU l um UJ ?uo au4.uviivj. v? ?u? Legislature. But from this other Treasury money is drawn at the will of the Directors, k buy houses and stocks, and to pay salaries a their pleasure. And wliatis infinitely mdredan gerous, money is borrowed on the public faith to be loaned out to themselves or their friends at their own absolute discretion, without checl or accountability. w A ?i i.1.: l I: 1 cannoi exiuuii una iwiruuiiiiiiui j ivaiuiv u our Suite Institutions in a more striking ligb than as it is depicted by one of the warmest sup porters of the Bank, the late Comptroller Gen eral Elmore, the brother of the present Presi dent. " The State (he says) presents the anom aly in finance of placing not only a large Bank | ing Capital, but the whole of its Treasury, ii the hands of a few individuals, with no other se j curity for their faithful and honest managemen I than their individual character. Character ii I ' ~r *i.? ... I curtailIIJ UliU U1 lilt" UUOl SIUUI'IICD nuii/11 VOI ; be obtained for the discharge of public duties I but I can see no reason why others should no , be added. It is in vain to say, until the humai 1 character undergoes a thorough change, tha you can till the direction of your Bank with in dividuals who will serve the State from disinter mnlii'os nlium mwl if ia n ruination vet ti be settled, whether you are not paying your Di rectors the highest price for their services, with out possessing a corresponding security for thei fidelity and honesty. It is known to be the prac tice of the Hank, to extend to each Director i credit to a considerable amount As the Stat gives no compensation tor the discharge of tin very important trust, this cannot be considcre< I unreasonable. But it is to Imj feared that mair bad debts may be coutraeted thereby, and tin State become a loser to an amount which woul< have exceeded a proper direct compensation t( the Directors," dec. 4. Should then an Institution having suel powers, and governed in tins manner, be con nected with the State ? Surely it must be ob vious to every one, that if the Bank of the Uni ted States was dangerous to the whole Union a Bank of the State must he doubly dangeroui to the people of a single State. The whole pub lie Treasury is equally involved jn all the casu of the State now holds a million of dollars ii this way. Can anything he more obvious, thai that every dollar of this money is at the risk o the people; and that the people are in fact thi endorsers of those to whom the money is loan ed? Take for instance a single transaction.? One thousand dollars are borrowed in the nanit alties o! Hanking. The provision made for pay ing the public debt, exists in what is called th< Sinking Fund, and the whole of this Fund i: lent out by the Hank Directors in common witl the general funds of the Hank, Of course witl a view to make more money, this fund is len out to the very latest hour, and if in that las hour any commercial revulsion should tak< place, it would be impossible to call in the fund and so the public faith would have to stand upoi the chance of a Hanking oj>eration. I think i may be demonstrated, that such u state of thing: had actually occurred when the public debt bo came uavable in 18-10; and that most disastroui consequences might have ensued, if the Ban! had nut received aid from the new public deb which was then created. Neither does it need a labored argument t< prove, that borrowing money upon the public fajth, to lend the same out to individuals, iB f most unsound and vicious system. The Ban! mi m w?mmm?am?mamma?mm of the State, and the Bank lends the money to a Bank Director, If the Director should fail, the people must be taxed to pay the money to the public creditor from whom it was burrowed; and the people thus become virtually endorse: r .1 n L rv* * r\ oi mis DunK uirecior. v,an anyming oe more unsoutul in priuciple, or corrupting in practice ? And yet this is the legitimate result of the union of Bank and State. I think, then, I may fairly take it as demonstratedj tliat the Bank of the State is an institution at Variance with the spirit of our Constitution?founded on erroneous principles,and contrary to those Republican maxims which lie at the basis of all constitutional liberty. 5. The next proposition which I will endeavor to establish, i* that the Bank of the Shite,- from , its very nature, operates to mislead and influ- , ence in a wrono- direction. President. Directors. J , j ^ and the Legislature itself; and that, if the President of the Bank be a politician, the Bank virtually gives a master to the State. T if Iwi /tlianm'/wl !n flw? fir*of nlu/ia fKnf fkn i?v? w uu.7i;j icu 111 uic in Ci n?av uiv Directors are appointed by the Legislature; and I when once in office, there is nothing to check | them in making returns to those who have helj> : I ed them into place. In a private Bank, the iu terest of the Director in the Stock, or the inter- | I est of the Stockholders themselves, would far- | uish BOine check. But on neither side do these influences oj>erate iu the Bank of the State.? The member of the Legislature is tempted to favor as a Director the man who is likely to favor him with accommodation ; and ou the other hand, the Director is much more likely to favor a mm ^ I 2?^3-- 2? A! ? - ?"-1 ? I a uiuu vi lmiucncf in ui? i-H'jjibiniuic, I than on$ of mere pecnniary credit The tenrlrtttjftir aT ?muU . .....A L _ il. a! A I \4Wiavj v? ??U^1I tt ?) &U_*111 Oil DUU1 panil'B IIIIIBi l*T most unfortunate; and the experience of onr Bank baa most thoroughly verified it. Tor evv ery one admits that the scramble for a seat at r the Board of Directors, and the scenes of eleci tioneering which are exhibited alxiut this Hall, are anything but edifying to the fi iends of morals t and good order, and must even shock the sensibilities of the friends of the Batik itself. 1 But the most baneful influence is that which - is produced upon the councils of the connify, by i the secrecy which is wrapped around the coni cerns of the Bank. Members of the Legislature ; become the subject of its influence through both hope and fear. A inan may have procured a ' large loan which it may ruin liitn to ho called i on to pay. A measure vitally interesting to the t Bank may come up for discussion, and this very I man mnv h#> * mwnlier of the I.oirislntnrp which f is to net. Were it known that he was in the , power of the Bank, his intlucnco would be lost, I and his words would be unheeded. But shroud; ed in darkness, he is allowed to stand up here, ' and commend himself to his Bank supporters, J or he may even be constrained or urged by I them to take their part, and assist in sustaining : their power. Again. The natural tendency of nil power and influence is to seek its own increase. The i President and Directors are ever on the alert to i increase the lunds ol the Hunk, and thus to ex, tend their own power and influence. Every oc? casion is seized to stave off the payment of pubt lie debt, or other demnuds which may diminish their resource*; and the result is that Uovem, ment Banks are ever the active fosterers of all ,' schemes of extravagance and wasteful expent diture. We shall see in another jiart of this arI gument whether our Bank has escaj>ed this evil 11 tendency. t The last consideration which I shall urge on . this head, is that a State Bank, which ought in . fact to regulate the currency and keep it sound, - ; operates the direct contrary, and furnishes an . ' unfortunate and evil example to otlier Banks.? . This consequence results from the impunity ati1 tending their delinquences. They know that . ! the State will exact no |>uuishmcnt from the t,I-Hank fur Irvine to make inonev. Instead there 'v?o j- / s fbre of keeping on hand a large supply of specie i to redeem their paper, they increase their issues i, on the one liand, because that is profitable. mid t diminish their specie on tlie other because they i lose interest by keeping a large amount ofcoin; t and liaving thus increased the disproportion to . | the greatest degree, they furnish an example, behind which the private hanks gladly shelter ) themselves. The Legislature itself is prevented . i from d*ing its duty, because of the inHuence of . j the bank itself upon their deliberations; and ber | cause of the just application of the adiige, that \ aA. . 1 .1 I J aS?A I I l_! * 'in.~ . uio jniysicimi biiouiu nrsi iihii uiiusei. nu\ ' State is obliged to sit down, and see the l>est e interests of its people endangered by an unsound s i and fluctuating currency. I { 6. Having thu? established the radical unf | soundness of principle upon which the Bank of p i the State is founded, I proceed in the next place II to show, that the experience of other States ) unites in condemning all similar institutions, as baneful to the welfare of society. i The Bank of the United States has furnished - a striking history on this subject, that our peo - pie (who lost three millions in its catastrophe) . need not be reminded of its details. Its con, damnation is written in those deeply traced * characters of national suffering and abhorrence, . which I trust will never be erased from the mom. ory of our people. The Pet Banks (as they were familiarly tenn3 cd) furnish another example of the disastrous s union between Bank and State. Our State 11 from the earliest moment, wrote her condemnsi j tion of that system; and as far back as 183(?, t: her Legislature solemnly recorded her judgment t1 that the public moneys should not be subjected 31 to the casualties of Banking operations, in thjs ?| opinion South Carolina has persevered up to the ?I present time, repeating her solemn declaration t at various periods, and satisfied that truth js on s her side. Since thy connection between Bunk and State has been severed, we have the testjs inony of the Presjdont of the United States, that t the Government experienced not the slightest t embarrassment throughout all the money trials of the Mexican war; and that not a single dol> larof public money has been lost to the Trea: J?ury. i To be concluded. i ''"I II/iu>anl mi nlll Jllld lliirldv PI1. J I VU|? UUIAIIi AKU?TUI\?| u ? ""0"V - 11 spected citizen, and for many years Naval Oftif| cor of the Port of Charleston, died yesterday j | after a protracted illness. In respect to his . j memory, the Hags on the Custom House, and -1 011 many of the vessels in the harbor, were > j placed at half mast.? Char. Mercury 22 d ult. TMM TOTOHAILo CAMDEN, S. C. FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH I, 1850. V Wp call the attention of the community at arge, and especially of our representatives, to thfe joinmunication from the Lancaster Senator and Representatives. ILancaster is now, as she ever tasbeen, "close by" when called upon to defend Iter rights. ABANDONMENT OF THE WILMOT PRO. viso. It is now given out firoin all quarters tint the North will abandon the VViiinot Proviso?that Ate will, rather than push a dissolution, content herself with the admission of California as a State, with her present Constitution, and provide Territorial Governments for the Territories. She may wetl be content, when the has all she has ever asked. She will have California a free State by the vote of its own citizens, it is true; but its citizens are made up from the Abolition ranks, for the very reason that the eternal agitation of the Have* ry question by the North, prevented Southern ineB from emigrating there, and made the voting com* plexiou what it now is. They will make uxmdeiful concession*, no doubt, until they can get us by the Nashville Convention, and then, wheu all help is gone, laughing at our tolly, will finish the w orfc our degradation. f-?T" For the letter of our Washington com* pendent, and other matters of interest, see firit Pagf \3T A writer in the Courier nominates lion. William DuDose as a delegate to the Nashville Convention. A correspondent of the Mercury also nominates CoL James Gadsden. Tha Carbli man mentions the name ot noiL joet K. rommi as one of the nominees. With pleasure we notice that Richird M. Dyson, Esq., has taken charge of the editorial department of the Sumter Banner. TWO ROBBERIES. Some weeks since, a man calling himself Zacba* rv Washington, robbed the "United States of Mr. " / -w Hannegan as-Minister to Berlin, and the hitter was, on his arrival in Washington, robbed of $80. Mr. Hudson, the true delineator of Irish Character, we are pleased to state, is now in our . town, and will give an entertainment to-morrow Evening. From the reputation which he bears, this gentleman is well worth hearing. We bespeak for him a crowded House. The Columbia Te|# graph of the 28th, says: Mr. Hudsou's entertainment last evening 1 was even superior to his former effort The " Random Shots from Rory's Rifle" were evip idcntly aimed by no random liand, and the load and enthnsiastic applause with which he wu greeted testified the appreciation of tlie intelligent audience. Mr. Hudson on the boards is certainly a true representative of the Irish character, and hit merits go beyond this?for, if we are not mistaken, lie displays the best points of that character wherever be goes?on tlie stage or off. Mrs. Hudson presided at the Piano with much at-Sit and t??tp *nd her accomoaniment was a valuable addition to the entertainment IX) THE CITIZENS OF LANCASTER DISTRICT. At a meeting informally held by the member* of both Branches of the Legislature, of South Carolina, in the Chamber of die House of Representatives, on the night of the 10th of Decernher bust, for the purpose of responding to the proposition of the people of Mississippi, to hold a So utbern Convention at Nashville, Tennessee, 011 the first Monday in June next, the following Resolutions were unanimously adopted: 1. KeteJtrd, 'Hint we regurd with feelings of ' ? ? l-*~ !n Miaaiu irvi'iv IMIUSiBClluii uir wu; uiuicureiu ? ! .??sippi in defence of the rights and interests of the South, and hail it with joy as the first step towards that firm, united, and concerted actiou among the Southern States, which a sense of their common danger imperiously demands. 2. Resolved, That the recommendation of the State of Mississippi of a Southern Convention to be held at Nashville, Tennessee, on the first Mondav in Jane next, should be cordially em ^ ' ? braced by the whole South, that by common counsels we may avert the common calamities impending over us through the! action of the General Government, driven on by the lust of power and the fell spirit of fanaticism. 3. Resolved, That for the purpose of carrying out the recommendations of the people of MJuissippi it is expedient that in Legislative caucus, we should nominate four Delegates to represent the State at large in the Couvention proposed to be hed at Nashville. 4. Resolved, That still further to carry out the recommendations of the |>cople of Mississippi we respectfully recommend to the people oltiie State, to meet together, on the first Monday in April next, In the various Parishes and Districts of the State, to nominate as many Delegates as they have members of the Legislature, to meet en the first Monday in May succeeding at Borne central and convenient point in their respective Congressional Districts, then and there to nominate two Delegates to represent such Congressional District in the State in the proposed Con* vention. 5. Resolved, That entertaiuing a sincere desire to co-operate with our sister States of th? South in any movements which they may deem necessarv for the common good, and havint entire confidence in the wisdom, integrity, an firmness of the Southern people, when assemble in said Convention, we feel and express an ui doubting confidence that the people of the Stat of South Carolina, will yield a faithful and unflinching support to any measure which sai<: Convention may recommend. You are therefore requested to meet at Lan. castor Court House on the firgt Monday in April. next, for the purpose of carrying out the recommendations set forth in the fourth resolution. DIXON BARNES, OEO. McC. WITHERSPOON, S, B. MASSEV.