Mr. Mason, of Virginia, had no objection to meet the question at the present moment, but he thought it of such importance, both to the Senate and the citizens of the United States, that it should be taken up and discussed in a solemn and serious manner; not hastily and lightly, as some gentlemen seemed to think who were opposed to the postponement for a few days; if, however, the opposition to the postponement was persisted in, he had no doubt but the subject would prove itself well worth a discussion of several days, and that the ultimate decision would not be made till a period more remote than that moved for by his friend from South Carolina. He therefore recommended to gentlemen to explore well the ground which the motion of the gentleman from Connecticut had taken, and consider seriously of the consequences to which they would be led in pursuing their object. What was to be the course of their proceeding? What were the embarrassments likely to arise therein? He called the House to view the delicacy of the situation in which they would be involved while defining their newly discovered privileges and subverting the old acknowledged privileges of the liberty of the press; he said the delicacy of their situation, because he considered it a delicate one, for he was far from believing that the privileges of the Senate were as unlimited as the gentleman from Connecticut contended they were; if so, and they proceed to touch the liberty of the press, which they may discover in the end to be secured against the invasion, they will be compelled to retrace every step they are now taking, which will neither redound to their honor nor discernment. They should be careful how they expose themselves to popular scrutiny in cases respecting their own power, for the public mind had been already considerably agitated, at what many conceived to be an unconstitutional exercise of power. If, session after session, attempts were made to fetter the freedom of the press, the people of the United States would watch with anxious regard every movement of this body. A measure which originated in the Senate, and was subsequently acceded to by the other branch of the Legislature, had been just ground of alarm. It is no wonder that they watch our bills as well as our laws, for it must be recollected by many of the gentlemen who hear me, that the bill called the Sedition Bill was first introduced here, and that, instead of being what it afterwards became, it was a bill more particularly to define treason and sedition. The good sense of the House, during the time it was upon the table and undergoing a political dissection, cut off from it many of those monstrous excrescences which at first disfigured it, and at last trimmed it into a shapely form; but after all it was removed below stairs in a condition not fit to meet the eye of our constituents—even obliged to undergo a decapitation; the head or the title of it was struck off, and instead of being a bill defining treason—which is a thing totally out of our power, the constitution having declared in what alone treason should consist—instead of being denominated a bill against sedition, it took the obnoxious head of being a bill to amend the law for punishing certain crimes against the United States.
Mr. Anderson, of Tennessee, did not rise with an intention of entering into the merits of the general question, as to the extent of the privileges of the Senate, which he conceived to be of great moment, but merely to remark, as gentlemen alleged that the public mind was already agitated on the subject, the postponement would tend to increase the degree of agitation, which he conceived it was the wish of gentlemen on both sides to have allayed as soon as possible. He therefore concluded that it would be better to go on with the business and come as soon as possible to a decision. One gentleman had said it ought to go to the judicial courts, and that the Attorney General should be directed to prosecute: well, then, that gentleman should give his consent to send the business to a committee, in order to inquire whether the case would warrant this interference.
Mr. Read, of South Carolina, would not oppose the motion of his honorable colleague for a postponement, if he had required it on his own account, or if its being negatived would prevent him from bringing forward the preamble and resolution he had read in his place, and at a proper time of having them discussed; but neither of these circumstances were urged; therefore, as his colleague neither required time for preparation nor would be prevented from offering and supporting the intended amendment, he should vote against the postponement.
Mr. Dayton had the highest confidence in the honor of the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. Pinckney,) and he never suffered himself to doubt of the truth of the declaration which had been made. He thought the resolutions might be varied so as to get rid of the idea which the gentleman objected to, in respect to the motion having been brought forward at his instance; and might be amended as suggested by the gentleman from Vermont, (Mr. Paine,) so as to reconcile it still more to the sentiments of the Senate. This being his view of the subject, he wished the business to proceed, and should therefore vote against the postponement.
The question on postponing till Tuesday next, was now put, and the yeas and nays being called, stood yeas 9, nays 19, as follows:
Yeas.—Messrs. Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.
Nays.—Messrs. Anderson, Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, Watson and Wells.
So the motion was lost.
Mr. Nicholas, of Virginia, wished to ask for information. Was it intended by this resolution to charge the committee with inquiring into a breach of privilege as it respected the majority of this body? For the resolution itself furnished no correct idea on this point. He wished also to know whether it was intended that the Senate should declare that the publication was a breach of privilege?
Mr. Tracy, of Connecticut, said that if the gentleman wished for information from him, he would endeavor to give it. He conceived it would be better to pursue the mode of inquiry in the first instance, through the intervention of a committee, and not make at once a decision whether the publication was or was not a breach of privilege; and further, that the committee should report to the Senate what other matters were the proper subjects for the Senate's inquiry. He would not undertake to say at this time whether there was a breach of privilege at all, or whether that breach was in respect to a majority of the House, or of the privilege of a single member.