Page:Nullification Controversy in South Carolina.djvu/64

 of the tariff of 1828 without a relinquishment of the principles on which it was founded would not satisfy South Carolina; that they would not express any fears now that Congress would not do justice in that regard, but "relying on the firmness and energies of the state," they would simply "wait for the proceedings of Congress to show whether the constitutional confederacy had been overthrown by a combination of interested majorities against which there was no conservative power but that which resided in the states as sovereigns." They recommended that the governor open a correspondence with the South Carolina delegation in Congress and concert such measures with them, during the recess of the legislature, as the events of the present Congress might make necessary; they expressed high confidence in the zeal, firmness, and discretion of the governor and the delegation in Congress, but asked that such measures as they might decide upon as best be laid before the legislature or the people. Although they did nothing now, it seemed to be agreed in the debates that, if nothing had then been done by 1831 to redress southern grievances, the state should then take action.