id
partake frequently in the debate on the organization of the House.
I became involved in a contest with Mr. Dunn, of Indiana, who had
steadily refused to vote for Mr. Banks for speaker, to which I
deemed proper to refer. He said he was not to be deterred from
performing his duty, as he understood it, by the criticisms of the
"neophyte" from Ohio. I replied at considerable length and with
some feeling. In my reply I repeated my position in respect to
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, declaring: "If the repeal
was wrong all northern and southern men alike ought to help to
reinstate that restriction. Nothing less than that will satisfy
the country; and if it is not done, as it probably will not be, we
will maintain our position of resisting the admission of Kansas as
a slave state, under all possible circumstances."

Later on in the debate I declared:

"I am no Abolitionist in the sense in which the term is used; I
have always been a conservative Whig. I was willing to stand by
the compromises of 1820 and 1850; but, when our Whig brethren of
the south allow this administration to lead them off from their
principles, when they abandon the position which Henry Clay would
have taken, forget his name and achievements, and decline any longer
to carry his banner--they lose all their claims on me. And I say
now, that until this wrong is righted, until Kansas is admitted as
a free state, I cannot act in party association with them. Whenever
that question is settled rightly I will have no disposition to
disturb the harmony which ought to exist between the north and
south. I do not propose to continue agitation; I only appear here
to demand justice,--to demand compliance with compromises fully
agreed upon and declared by law. I ask no more, and I will submit
to no less."

This was a narrow platform, but it was the one supported by public
opinion. I believed that a majority of the Members called Americans,
especially those from the south, were quite willing that Kansas
should be admitted as a free state, but local pride prevented such
a declaration. It is easy to perceive now that if this had been
promptly done the slavery question would have been settled for many
years. But that opportunity was permitted to pass unused. The
people, both north and south, were thoroughly aroused. No compromise
was possible. The contest could only be settled by the force of
superior numbers. That was the logic of the Nebras