05/21/1860
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu...
"Surely the present is the most unpropitious moment which could have been selected for the passage of this bill."
"The representatives of the States and of the people, feeling a more immediate interest in obtaining money to lighten the burdens of their constituents than for the promotion of the more distant object..."
"When this fails it can proceed no further."
"It would have no authority to enter the territories of Nicaragua even to prevent the destruction of the transit and protect the lives and property of our own citizens on their passage."