SPEECH OF MIR. COURTS,
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OF ROCKINGHAM,


Delivered in the House OF Commons of the Gen


rraI Assembly of North Carolina, January 7th,


1S47-On the Preamble and Resolution appro-


priating $4,000 10 the Volunteers from this


State, and pending his motion TO strike out the
Preamble and all aEer the word "RcSolred,"
and insert in lieu thereof, the following: "Thnt
'lhe sum of 81 900 be, and the same is hereby
appropriated, out of any moneys in the treasury
mot Otherwise appropriated, TO dpfray the ex-
sppnsrs of the Volunteers now called for from
slhis State by the President of the U. States"


MR. SPEAKER: Having just occupied the at
,ention of the House upon another subject, my
anoIoey, if any be necessary, for throwing N.Y.
self again so soon upon its indulgence, is TO be
found in the importance which attach 10 the one
now under consideration.


The resolution proposing to appropriate the
.um of ten thousand dollars in aid Of the volun-
teers now called for from this State, with no
opposition from any quarter indeed many of US
would prefer the appropriation Of a larger sum.
Bu, 10 the preamble prefxcd 10 the resolution, and
which declares that this war has been brought on
g BY the action of the Executive" am unquali-
fedIy opposed; though know, Sir, from what
has already taken place here, that it is the purpose
Of the dominant party in this House, not to agree
to divide the question-to separate the preamble
from the resolution and allow US to separate
II
MICH express their dissent from the one and their
approbation of the other-but that we shall be re-
unired to vote upon them as whole Sir, the
Introduction of party politics upon this subject
at all is certainly to be deprecated


Hence the amendmcnt which | offer as a sub
stitute simply proposes an appropriation without
the slightest party caste about it, 1t does not call
on gentlemen TO compromIt any OF their political
opinions l consider the ground on which
are now trcading too sacred to be invaded by The
demon Of party spirit and invoke gentlemen TO
elevate themselves above lis contracted influence,
and to embrace within their aff; ctions the pres
ent occasion not their party only but their country,
and their whole country 10 leave for future
occasion the discussion and settlement of domestic
differences. II is high time that The whole coun-
try was united in one sentiment and in one action
upon the subject of this war; aud was presenting
undivided front in its vigorous prosecution. Mcxi
co has already been counting too long upon our di-
visions here And if we would put end to the
efuSion of human blood, and 10 the heavy drain
which is now going on from our Treasury, we
must address ourselves to her fears; we have
heretofore tried without effect: appeals 10 her sense
Of Justice, and to her feelings OF humanity. And
what is the reason given for connecting with this
resolution the expression contained in the pream-
bic that this war has been brought on " by the ac-
ton of the Executive"2 Us friends tell us that
thrv have presented il because the democratic par
iy in Congress, at The beginning of this war, in
roduccd q resolution declaring that it existed by
the act Of Mexico and that the whig party were
required to vote for contrary to The convictions
of some of them of its truth.


| shall attempt to show, before / gel through,
that the cases are by no means para Hell But ad-
nit, Sir, for moment tha, they are, then the whig
party here should be ashamed Of their gross ln-
consistency in introducing this, before their loud
tones of deuunciaion against the democrats for the
introduction of the ether have died away upon our
cars They must admit either that they have
been nsincere in these denunciations, or that they
are capable of doing themselves what they have
declared was criminal in others. One horn OF
this dilemma they are obliged to take.


But Sir the cases are not parallel. The whIg
party in Congress were asked TO vote thatthis war
was the act of foreign Government, the history
Of whose course towards US has been nooriousIy
one of insults to our flag, and OF ofaggressions upon
the rights of our Citizens and Mt whose hands,
even distinguished wings have admitted, that we
suffered more in the last fifteen years than from
all Christendom besides While we. the demo
cratic party in this House, called upon to vote
contrary to our honest convictions. that has been
brought on bY the head of our Oeon government
and 10 proclaim TO the world that the solemn
declarations of our o1cn Congress and that Of 0u'
Own President upon this subject are false.


Yes, Sir, adopt this preamble, and it will be pro
claimed from the house tops; it will be published
In the Gazettes throughout this Union-aye, Sir
and even in Mexico, that North Carolina, the
Southern Stale of steady habits is hurling back tho
assertions of our President and our Congress upor
this subject as untrue, and that she is taking GROUND
upon this war not for the country, but against 1t
Let me not be told that the appropriation of ter
thousand dollars forbids such a conclusion Who
Mr.. Speaker, that reads that preamble can AVOID
the conviction that the money is given most grudg
lngy and more designed to save appearances thar
to give hearty support to the war2 But it may
be said that we can avoid aiding in this by voting
against the preamble and the resolution too. Ye'
sIr. | am aware that we can escape the crnsurt
oil aiding in fixing this stain upon the State, b,
voting against the preamble, if we will consent
0y voting against the appropriation also, to have
our names held up in all future time by our enc
mics, not only as traitors to the administration
which we profess to support, but as traitors 10 ou
Country for having refused 10 vote dollar for th