Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 20.pdf/309

 FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON

293

Oregon was in a deplorable condition would be criminal to adjourn before passing the bill. The provisional government, he went on, had reached a point where it could no longer handle the situation, and not only would there be war between Indians and whites but between whites and whites. Berrien begged his colleagues of the South tion; in the meantimle

and

it

not to let slip this opportunity for if the Senate amendment did not prevail the North would rule the South with a rod of iron. Calhoun spoke with bitterness of the defeat which the South

had experienced he denounced any southerner who supported North to turn the population of the whole South into slaves, for it had become not a question of terri;

this attempt of the

government but of the existence of the Union itself. made to induce Benton to withdraw his motion, which had precedence under the rule, but the Missouri Senator was adamant he was going to see that bill pass if it was a human possibility. All through the night and until nine o'clock on Sunday morning the ground was beaten over in the southern attempt to prevent action but finally the futility of the endeavor was seen. The amendments to which the House had refused its concurrence were taken up one by one and the Senate receded from its stand. The vote on the veto was 31 to 23 and that on the slavery section was 29 to 25. Four Senators did not vote; Clayton and Sturgeon were absent and Atherton paired with King of Alabama, who had left the Capitol exhausted. Those who voted to recede were all from the free States except Benton of Missouri and Houston of Texas. Party lines were forgotten twelve Whigs and seventeen Democrats voted to recede, and eight Whigs and seventeen Democrats voted not torial

Several attempts were





to recede.

Only one recourse was now left and to the President went Senators to urge him to refuse to sign the measure. Turney of Tennessee protested that the President must not sign; Calhoun said the bill must be vetoed on constitutional grounds 48 Hannegan said he would sustain a veto. Polk, however, had

~# Diary,

IV,

71-3.