Protesting
that the protective system would strike at the root of their
prosperity, by enhancing the cost of the clothing of their slaves
and the bagging used to cover their cotton-bales, while at the same
time it put to hazard the sale of their great staple in the English
market, he yet declared that, if the bill should pass, "even with a
majority of a single vote, I shall, as bound by my allegiance,
submit to it as one of the laws of my country."
But if this South Carolina leader represented the attitude of his
state in showing moderation at this time, [Footnote: See Ames, State
Docs, on Federal Relations, No. 4, p. 6.] not so did the free-lance
John Randolph, of Virginia. "I do not stop here, sir," said he, "to
argue about the constitutionality of this bill; I consider the
Constitution a dead letter; I consider it to consist, at this time,
of the power of the General Government and the power of the States--
that is the Constitution." "I have no faith in parchment, sir; ... I
have faith in the power of the commonwealth of which I am an
unworthy son.
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