Thursday, January 7.
Mr. Bleecker.—Mr. Chairman: I have a very few, very desultory, and I fear very unimportant observations to make on the subject now before the committee. They will be few, not because the subject does not abound with various fruitful and interesting topics, but because an indisposition of some days has unfitted me for any considerable effort of memory.
I was opposed to the war when it was declared, because I was confidently persuaded that the evils of which we complained were of a nature not to be remedied by war. I thought, too, sir, that by entering into war, we were plunging ourselves into evils a million fold greater than those from which we sought to be relieved. I was opposed to the war, because I thought that, notwithstanding all the decrees and orders of the belligerents affecting our neutral rights, we might enjoy a commerce more extensive and profitable than we could have in a time of European peace. The war in Europe was, in fact, a blessing to this country. I was opposed to the war, because I knew that the whole of one of the great political parties in the Northern and Eastern, the most commercial section of the country, which was most interested in the avowed objects of the war, openly condemned it; and I believed that a great portion of the other party was secretly opposed to it. This objection was to my mind perfectly conclusive. If there had been no other reason against the war, this was enough. What, sir, go to war when that part of the country which has most of its wealth, strength, and resources, is decidedly opposed to it! go to war for commercial and maritime rights, when the people of that part of the country which is principally interested in its commerce and navigation, openly execrate war!
It seemed to me that it became legislators who were disposed to exercise a paternal regard over the interests of the nation, to give up their own opinions, their prejudices and partialities, rather than go to war with a people thus divided. And permit me to say, sir, without any disparagement to the members of this House, that thousands and tens of thousands of the inhabitants of that part of the country of which I have been speaking, are as competent to understand the true interest and honor of the nation, as gentlemen who happen to be members of Congress.
I was opposed to the war, because I thought it might expose our happy form of Government—our excellent political institutions—to a dangerous trial. I was afraid, sir, that the war might produce a pressure upon the Government which it would not be able to sustain. I was opposed to the war, and this was the bitter draught, because it brought us into concert and co-operation with the great destroyer, the grand enemy of freedom and humanity throughout the world. I was opposed to the war, because I believed the state of things in Europe, out of which our difficulties arose—a state of things which the United States had no power to control—was in its nature transient. Rather than plunge ourselves into the vortex of European politics; rather than encounter the evils and dangers of war, I thought it would be wise and prudent to wait until "the troubled waters should subside, and the ancient landmarks of the world reappear above the flood;" with a living statesman, I thought I saw in the very cloud which blackened all our horizon, the bow which was set for a token, that the tempest would not be forever.
But, sir, war was declared, and the doctrine has since been promulgated, that it is now the duty of every man to support it; that all inquiry must be hushed, and all examination of its expediency and propriety cease. So far as this doctrine inculcates obedience to the laws, it has my cordial approbation; but inasmuch as it denies the right of the citizen to examine into the causes of the war, to express and publish his opinions respecting its policy, it is an insult to the understanding of an intelligent people, and inconsistent with the character and spirit of the constitution. War is declared by law. How shall the law be repealed? How can we get rid of the war, if we may not say that it is inexpedient, impolitic, and ruinous? How abominable the doctrine is, that the declaration of war shuts the door against all inquiry, is manifest from the consideration, that it would enable a wicked Administration to perpetuate its power by declaring war. Again, sir, I would ask the advocates of the doctrine I am reprobating, when will it be proper to show the folly and ruinous consequences of the war? Suppose the war to have continued five or ten years, and the country to be impoverished, its commerce annihilated, its resources exhausted, its best blood expended in wild and fruitless projects of conquest, the people oppressed by debts and taxes, will it then be deemed improper to expose the absurdity and mischief of continuing the war? Surely, sir, it will be patriotic and laudable to alarm the people, to entreat them to put an end to that which is the cause of their calamities. And if such conduct will then be proper, it must be laudable and patriotic now to show them their evils and dangers, and to point them to the means of escape.
But, sir, what has been the state of the country since the declaration of war? I speak again in reference to public opinion. The people of the North and East have poured out their feelings and opinions, their complaints and groans, in addresses, petitions, resolutions, and remonstrances against the war. Look, sir, at the Presidential election, and you see all the Northern and Eastern States; with the exception of Vermont, arrayed against the Administration. You see the people disregarding the old line of party division and distinction. Yes, sir, in spite of such division and distinction, "burying their mutual animosities," their ancient prejudices, "in their common detestation" of the policy of the Government, rising up in their might and strength to manifest their hostility to the course of measures it has pursued. This, Mr. Chairman, is a state of things which ought to arrest the attention, and engage the reflection of the National Legislature, for without that section of country our strength is weakness. I know how ungracious and invidious topics of this kind are to some gentlemen. But, sir, we cannot help it that the country is made up of sections. We are legislating for such a country, and it is our business and duty to regard the circumstances, the interests, and feelings of the people of different parts of the Union. We declared war for commerce; the people most interested in commerce were opposed to it. We continue the war for sailors' rights, and three-fourths of our native American seamen belong to New York and the Eastern States, the people of which are sighing for peace. It ought to be remembered, too, sir, that the war itself must have the effect of driving a vast portion of our sailors out of the country into foreign service.
But, Mr. Chairman, whatever may have been the reasons for declaring war, the question is not now what it was when war was declared. Our relations with the belligerents have materially and essentially changed. So much have they changed, that I declare, without fear of contradiction, that had they been on the 17th of June last what they now are, we should not have gone to war. I hope no gentleman of this committee will deny this. But if any gentleman should deny it, the nation will not believe him. Sir, we have received new, important, and interesting evidence of the true state of our foreign relations since the declaration of war. Facts which were then unknown, and which have shed a flood of light upon the situation and policy of the United States, have since been published to the world. The repeal of the Orders in Council itself, by removing the principal cause of the war, has produced a most material change; for had they been repealed before the war was declared, there would have been no war; and let it be remembered, that they were repealed before the war was known in England. But this is not all to which I refer. I mean to speak of the evidence we have received respecting our relations with France; and I hope gentlemen will not be startled or offended by what I am about to say. I declare confidently and boldly that Napoleon has inveigled us into the war. He has cajoled and deceived us. But for his arts, intrigues, and duplicity, the United States would not now have been at war with Great Britain. Yes, sir, he has led us on step by step, until he brought us to the edge of the precipice, and plunged us into the abyss. We have been humbled and mortified. He has triumphed over our character, our honor, our rights, our independence. I do not say these things hastily, carelessly, or lightly. And I will add, that after the discovery of the deceit and duplicity which the Emperor of France has practised upon us, it became the duty of this Government to go back to the ground it occupied before the President's proclamation of November, 1810, or to declare immediate war against France. A proper regard to the honor, the character, and independence of the country, demanded this of its Government.
Sir, the proof of what I have said is plain; and it is time that it be stated here, and spread before the nation. I beg the attention of the committee to the facts on which it rests. I need not go back farther than to the law of May, 1810, which provided that the non-intercourse act should cease, as to that belligerent which should first repeal its decrees violating our neutral rights, and that it should operate on the other, which should fail so to do, within three months after the President's proclamation of the fact of such repeal. This law, and the conduct of the President under it, are the immediate cause of the war, and the present unhappy state of the country. On the 5th of August, 1810, the Duke de Cadore wrote his famous letter to General Armstrong, the American Minister in Paris, stating that the Berlin and Milan decrees would, upon certain conditions, cease on the first of November then next. On the authority of this letter, the President of the United States issued his proclamation, declaring the fact, that the French decrees were repealed. But the British Government, not considering the letter of the Duke de Cadore sufficient evidence of their repeal, did not revoke their Orders in Council, and, in consequence, our non-intercourse act went into operation against Great Britain the February following. Notwithstanding the proclamation of the President, great doubts existed in this country, whether the French decrees were in fact repealed. To remove these doubts, to confirm the proclamation, to prevent inquiry and investigation in the judicial tribunals of the country, the act of March, 1811, was passed. Yet, sir, it has ever since been denied that the decrees of Berlin and Milan were repealed. The public prints have teemed, and the tables of this House have been loaded with the proofs of their existence and execution. You remember, sir, an impressive argument, in many respects original, an unanswered and unanswerable argument of the honorable gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Randolph) on this subject in this House, towards the close of the last session. But, sir, notwithstanding all this, this Government persisted in declaring that the French decrees were repealed. I do not mean to discuss that stale matter. The statement I make is necessary to my present purpose. The question of their repeal was the subject of a very voluminous and long-continued correspondence between Mr. Foster, the British Minister, and our Secretary of State. The discussion, I believe, was protracted to the last moment of peace. War was declared on the 18th of June. Some weeks afterwards, appeared in this country a decree of Napoleon, issued in May last, and bearing date the 28th of April, 1811. This is an extraordinary paper, and deserves some attention. I will read it:
"April 28, 1813.