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S  Sooj.  IS'J.  2    (a) 

A 


HARVARD 
COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 


'•■S-- 


<^ 


•r  t-  wrtiixx  i 


':V\ 


{ 


THK 


V  LIFE   AND    SPEECHES 


or 


HENRY    CLAY, 


VOLUME     II 


^»*^^^»^#MW^^^^^^^^^W^^^^  «ft 


KEW  YORK : 


GREELEY  &  M'ELRATH,  TRIBUNE  OFFICE. 


1843. 


?iX  S  5C'03.  ISS,  2.  (^^\ 


I^kH.-^'- 


/■ 


\Ac}. 


■.•\ 


f 


djnxuu)  according  to  an  act  of  CongreM,  in  the  year  1842,  by 

JAMES  B.  SWAIN, 
Ib  the  Clerk'a  Office  of  the  U.  8<  Court  for  the  Southern  Diatrict  of  New-York. 


/ 

0 


'      i 


« 
f 


r       9^ 


CONTENTS 


OP  ▼OLUHK  II. 


tfN#W«M«M«M««#W«*W«MMM««*V«««ito 


SPEXCHU. 

>nn  Defence  of  the  American  System, t 9 

a  National  Bank, 6B 

the  Bank  Charter, » 8t 

the  Veto  of  the  Bank 8i 

On  the  Public  Lands 104 

•^On  Introdacing  the  Compromise  Bil^, Mi 

"*In  support  of  the  Compromise  Act,..,, 187 

On  the  Removal  of  the  Deposites, 177 

On  the  State  of  the  Country 

On  the  State  of  the  Country, • 

^On  Our  Treatment  of  the  Cherokees, 

On  Surrendering  the  Cumberland  Road, 

On  Appointments  and  Removals,. I. ••• 

On  the  Land  Distribution, • • 

On  the  Expunging  Resolutions 

On  the  Sub-Treasury SIS 

On  the  Sub-Treasury 844 

Outline  of  a  National  Bank, • 

On  Abolition  Petitions, , 

On  the  Presidential' Election 490 

On  the  Pre-Emption  Bill. 44S 

On  the  Bank  Veto, 401 

^M)n  a  True  Public  Policy, 618 

^^On  Retiring  from  the  Senate,.*. .JSQjl 

Ob  Retnming  to  Kentucky, .MO 

In  Reply  to  Mr.  MendmhiM, 


f 


SPEECHES 


OF 


HENRY      CLAY- 


DEFENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  SYSTEM; 


In  THE  Senate  of  the  United  States,  February  2d,  3d,  and 

6th,  1832. 


[Mr.  Clat,  having  retired  from  CongresB  soon  after  the  ettablishment  of  tha 
American  System,  by  the  passage  of  the  Tariff  of  1S24,  did  not  return  to  it  till  l831-2» 
when  the  opponents  of  thid  system  had  covertly  acquired  the  ascendancy,  and  were 
bent  on  its  destniction.  An  act  redacing  the  duties  on  many  of  the  protected  articles, 
was  devised  and  passed.  The  bill  being  under  consideration  in  the  Senate,  Mr 
Clat  addressed  that  body  as  follows :] 

In  one  sMitiment,  Mr.  President,  expressed  by  the  honorable  gen- 
tleman from  South  Carolina,  (General  Hayne,)  though  perhaps  not 
in  the  sense  intended  by  him,  I  entirely  concur.  I  agree  with  himi 
that  the  decision  on  the  system  of  policy  embraced  in  this  debate,  in- 
volves the  future  destiny  of  this  growing  country.  fOne  way  I  verily 
believe,  it  would  lead  to  deep  and  general  distress,  general  bankrupt- 
cy and  national  ruin,  without  benefit  to  any  part  of  the  Union :  the 
other,  the  existing  prosperity  will  be  preserved  and  augmented,  and 
'  the  nation  will  continue  rapidly  to  advance  m  wealth,  power,  and 
;  greatness,  without  prejudice  to  any  section  of  the  confederacy! 


J 


13  tPBlCBBt  OF  HCKBT  CLAT« 

city  of  New  York,  from  1817  to  1831.  This  value  is  canvassed 
contested,  scrutinized  and  adjudged  by  the  proper  sworn  authorities. 
It  is,  therefore,  entitled  to  full  credence.  During  the  first  term,  com- 
mencing with  1817,  and  ending  in  the  year  of  the  passage  of  the 
tariff  of  1824,  the  amount  of  the  value  of  real  estate  was,  the  first 
year,  $57,799,435,  and,  after  various  fluctuations  in  the  intermediate 
period,  it  settled  down  at  52,019,730,  exhibiting  a  decrease,  in  seven 
years,  of  $5,779,705.  During  the  first  year  of  1825,  after  the  pas- 
sage of  the  tariff,  it  rose,  and,  gradually  ascending  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  latter  period  of  seven  years,  it  finally,  in  1S31,  reached 
the  astonishing  height  of  $95,716,485  !  Now,  if  it  be  said  that  this 
rapid  growth  of  the  city  of  New  York  was  the  effect  of  foreign  com- 
merccy  then  it  was  not  correctly  predicted,  in  1824,  that  the  tariff 
would  destroy  foreign  commerce,  and  desolate  our  commercial  cities. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  it  be  the  effect  of  internal  trade,  then  internal 
trade  cannot  be  justly  chargeable  with  the  evil  consequences  imputed 
to  it.  The  truth  is,  it  is  the  joint  effect  of  both  principles,  the  do- 
mestic industry  nourishing  the  foreign  trade,  and  the  foreign  com- 
merce in  turn  nourishing  the  domestic  industry.  Nowhere  more 
than  in  New  York  is  the  combination  of  both  principles  so  complete- 
ly developed.  In  the  progress  of  my  argument,  I  will  consider  the 
effect  upon  the  price  of  commodities  produced  by  the  American  Sys- 
tem, and  show  that  the  very  reverse  of  the  prediction  of  its  foes,  in 
1824,  actually  happened. 

Whilst  we  thus  behold  the  entire  failure  of  all  that  was  foretold 
against  the  system,  it  is  a  subject  of  just  felicitation  to  its  friends,  that 
all  their  anticipations  of  its  benefits  have  been  fulfilled,  or  are  in  pro- 
gress of  fulfillment.  The  honorable  gentleman  from  South  Carolina 
has  made  an  allusion  to  a  speech  made  by  me,  in  1824,  in  the  other 
House,  in  support  of  the  tariff,  and  to  which,  otherwise,  I  shouid  not 
have  particularly  referred.  But  I  would  ask  any  one,  who  can 
now  command  the  courage  to  peruse  that  long  production,  what 
principle  there  laid  down  is  not  true  ?  what  prediction  then  made  has 
been  falsified  by  practical  experience  ? 

It  is  now  proposed  to  abolish  the  system,  to  which  we  owe  so  much 
of  the  public  prosperity,  and  it  is  urged  that  the  arrival  of  the  period 
of  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt  has  been  confidently  looked  to 
as  preBenting  a  fuitable  opcaiioii  to  rid  the  coontrj  of  the  evils  with 


IN  DEFENCE   OF  THE   AMERICAN  SYSTEM.  13 

which  the  system  is  alledged  to  be  fraught.  Not  an  inattentive  ob- 
server of  passing  events,  I  hare  been  aware  that,  among  those  who 
were  most  early  prt^ssing  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  and,  upon  that 
ground,  were  opposing  appropriations  to  other  great  interests,  there 
were  some  who  cared  less  about  the  debt  than  the  accomplishment 
of  other  objects.  But  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  not  cou- 
pled the  payment  of  their  public  debt  with  the  destruction  of  the  pro- 
tection of  their  industry,  against  foreign  laws  and  foreign  industry. 
They  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  the  extinction  of  the  public 
debt  as  relief  from  a  burthen,  and  not  as  the  infliction  of  a  curse.  If 
it  is  to  be  attended  or  followed  by  the  subversion  of  the  American 
System,  and  an  exposure  of  our  establishments  and  our  productions  to 
the  unguarded  consequences  of  the  selfish  policy  of  foreign  powers, 
the  payment  of  the  public  debt  will  be  the  bitterest  of  curses.  Iti 
firuit  will  be  like  the  fruit 

**  Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whofe  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  thti  world,  and  all  our  woe, 
Withloi>sofEden.»' 

If  the  system  of  protection  be  founded  on  principles  erroneous  in 
theory,  pernicious  in  practice — above  all  if  it  be  unconstitutional,  as 
is  alledged,  it  ought  to  b^  forthwith  abolished,  and  not  a  vcstage  of 
it  suffered  to  remain.  |  But,  before  we  sanction  this  sweeping  de- 
nunciation, let  us  look  aTlittle  at  this  system,  its  magnitude,  its  rami- 
fications, its  duration,  and  the  high  authorities  which  have  sustained 
it.  We  shall  see  that  its  foes  will  have  accomplished  comparatively 
nothing,  after  having  achieved  their  present  aim  of  breaking  down 
our  iron-founderies,  our  woollen,  cotton,  and  hemp  manufactories,  and 
our  sugar  plantations.  The  destruction  of  these  would,  undoubtedly, 
lead  to  the  sacrifice  of  immense  capital,  the  ruin  of  many  thousands 
of  our  fellow  citizens,  and  incalculable  loss  to  the  whole  community. 
But  their  prostration  would  not  disfigure,  nor  produce  greater  eflfect 
npon  the  whole  system  of  protection,  in  all  its  branches,  than  the  de- 
struction of  the  beautiful  domes  upon  the  capitol  would  occasion  to 
the  magnificent  edifice  which  they  surmount.  ([Why,  sir,  there  is 
scarcely  an  interest,  scarcely  a  vocation  in  society,  which  is  not  em- 
braced by  the  beneficence  of  this  systemTV 

It  comprehends  our  coasting  tonnage  and  trade,  firom  which  all 
fereign  tonnage  is  abaolotely  excluded. 


14  fPKBCHn  OF  HSHRT  OLAT. 

It  includes  all  our  foreign  tonnagCi  with  the  inconsiderable  excep- 
tion made  by  treaties  of  reciprocity  with  a  few  foreign  powers. 

It  embraces  our  fisheries,  and  all  our  hardy  and  enterprising  fish- 
ecmen. 

It  extends  to  almost  every  mechanic  art :  to  tanners,  cordwainers, 
tailors,  cabinet-makers,  hatters,  tinners,  brass-workers,  clock-makers, 
coach-makers,  tallow-chandlers,  trace-makers,  rope-makers,  cork-cut- 
ters, tobacconists,  whip-makers,  paper-makers,  umbrella-makers, 
glass-blowers,  stocking-weavers,  butter-makers,  saddle  and  harness- 
makers,  cutlers,  brush-makers,  book-binders,  dairy-men,  milk-farm- 
ers, black-smiths,  type-founders,  musical  instrument-makers,  basket- 
makers,  milliners,  potters,  chocolate-makers,  fioor-cloth-makers,  bon- 
net-makers, hair-cloih-makers,  copper-smiths,  pencil-makers,  bellows- 
makers,  pocket  book-makers,  card-makers,  glue-makers,  mustard- 
makers,  lumber-sawyers,  saw-makers,  scale-beam-makers,  scythe- 
makers,  wood-saw-makers,  and  many  others.  The  mechanics  enu- 
merated, enjoy  a  measure  of  protection  adapted  to  their  several  con- 
ditions, varying  from  twenty  to  fifty  per  cent.  The  extent  and  im- 
portance of  some  of  these  artizans  may  be  estimated  by  a  few  par- 
ticulars. The  tanners,  curriers,  boot  and  shoe-makers,  and  other 
workers  in  hides,  skins  and  leather,  produce  an  ultimate  value  per 
annum  of  forty  millions  of  dollars  ;  the  manufacturers  of  hats  and 
caps  produce  an  annual  value  of  fifteen  millions  ;  the  cabinet-makers 
twelve  millions;  the  manufacturers  of  bonnets  and  hats  for  the  fe- 
male sex,  lace,  artificial  flowers,  combs,  &c.  seven  millions ;  and  the 
manu&cturers  of  glass,  five  millions. 

It  extends  to  all  lower  Louisiana,  the  Delta  of  which  might  as  well 
be  submerged  again  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  which  it  has  been  a 
gtadual  conquest,  as  now  to  be  deprived  of  the  protecting  duty  upon 
its  great  staple. 

It  eflfects  the  cotton  planter*  himself,  and  the  tobacco  planter,  both 
of  whom  enjoy  protection. 

*  To  say  nothing  of  cotton  produced  in  other  foreign  countries,  the  cnltivation  of 
dkis  article,  of  a  very  superior  quality,  is  constantly  extending  in  the  adjacent  Mexi- 
eaa  Provinces,  and,  hot  for  the  duty  probably  a  laige  amount  would  be  introduced 
iato  dM  United  States,  down  Red  liver  and  aioiw  the  coast  of  die  Onlf  of  Mexico. 


IK   DEPJUfCS   OP  THB   ASfBAICAK  ITSTUff.  U 

The  total  amount  of  the  capital  vested  in  sheep,  the  land  to  sastain 
them,  wool,  woollen  manufactures,  and  woollen  fabrics,  and  the  sub- 
sistence of  the  various  persons  directly  or  indirectly  employed  in  the 
growth  and  manufacture  of  the  article  of  wool,  is  estimated  at  one 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  number  of  per- 
sons at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

The  value  of  iron,  considered  as  a  raw  material,  and  of  its  manu* 
fiustures,  is  estimated  at  twenty-six  millions  of  dollars  per  annum. 
Cotton  goods,  exclusive  of  the  capital  vested  in  the  manufacture,  and 
of  the  cost  of  the  raw  material,  are  believed  to  amount  annually,  to 
about  twenty  millions  of  dollars. 

These  estimates  have  been  carefully  made,  by  practical  men  of  un- 
doubted character^  who  have  brought  together  and  embodied  their 
information.  Anxious  to  avoid  the  charge  of  exaggeration,  thej 
have  sometimes  placed  their  estimates  below  what  was  believed  to 
be  the  actual  amount  of  these  interests.  With  regard  to  the  quantity 
of  bar  and  other  iron  annually  produced,  it  is  derived  fitim  the  known 
works  themselves ;  and  I  know  some  in  western  States  which  they 
have  omitted  in  their  calculations. 

Such  are  some  of  the  items  of  this  vast  system  of  protection,  which 
it  is  now  proposed  to  abatidon.  We  might  well  pause  and  contem- 
plate, if  human  imagination  could  conceive  the  extent  of  mischief  and 
rain  from  its  total  overthrow,  before  we  proceed  to  the  work  of  de- 
struction. Its  duration  is  worthy  also  of  serious  consideration.  Not 
to  go  behind  the  constitution,  its  date  is  coeval  with  that  instrument. 
It  began  on  the  ever  memorable  fourth  day  (^  July — ^the  fourth  day  of 
July,  1789.  The  second  act  which  stands  recorded  in  the  statute 
book,  bearing  the  illustrious  signature  of  George  Washington,  laid  the 
comer  stone  of  the  whole  system.  That  there  might  be  no  mistake 
•bout  the  matter,  it  was  then  solemnly  proclaimed  to  the  American 
people  and. to  the  world,  that  it  was  necessary  for  ^'  the  encourage- 
ment and  proiecHon  of  manufactures,'^  that  duties  should  be  laid.  It 
is  hi  vain  to  urge  the  small  amount  of  the  measure  of  the  protection 
then  extended.  The  great  principle  was  then  established  by  the  fa- 
thers of  the  constitution,  with  the  fiither  of  his  country  at  their  hesid. 
And  it  cannot  now  be  questioned,  that,  if  the  government  had  not 
then  been  new  and  the  subject  untried,  a  greater  measure  of'  protee^ ': 


I 
i  *  r 


':x    ■r^.\"-^"\ 


V. 


•• 


I 


16 


•PIKCHE8  OF   HENRT   CLAT. 


tion  would  have  been  applied,  if  it  had  been  supposed  necessary. 
fslK)rtly  after,  the  master  minds  of  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  were 
brought  to  act  on  this  inteiesting  subject.  {Taking  views  of  it  apper- 
taining to  the  departments  of  foreign  affairs  and  of  the  treasury,  which 
they  respectively  filled,  they  presented,  severally,  reports  which  yet 
remain  monuments  of  their  profound  wisdom,  and  came  to  the  same 
conclusion  of  protection  to  American  industry.  ^Mr.  Jeflerson  argued 
that  foreign  restrictions,  foreign  prohibitions,  and  foreign  high  dnties, 
ought  to  be  met  at  home  by  American  restrictions,  American  prohi- 
bitions, and  American  high  duties.  Mr.  Hamilton,  surveying  the 
entire  ground,  and  looking  at  the  inherent  nature  of  the  subject,  treat- 
ed it  with  an  ability,  which,  if  ever  equalled,  has  not  been  surpassed, 
and  earnestly  recommended  protection^ 

The  wars  of  the  French  revolution  commenced  about  this  period, 
and  streams  of  gold  poured  into  the  United  States  through  a  thousand 
channels,  opened  or  enlarged  by  the  successful  commerce  which  our 
neutrality  enabled  us  to  prosecute.  We  forgot  or  overlooked,  in  the 
general  prosperity,  the  necessity  of  encouraging  our  domestic  manu- 
factures. Then  came  the  edicts  of  Napoleon,  and  the  British  orders 
in  council ;  and  our  embargo,  non-intercourse,  non-importation,  and 
war,  followed  in  rapi J  succession.  These  national  measures,  amount- 
ing to  a  total  suspension,  for  the  period  of  their  duration,  of  our  for- 
eign commerce,  afforded  the  most  efficacious  encouragement  to  Amer- 
ican manufactures;  and  accordingly  they  everywhere  sprung  up. 
While  these  measures  of  restriction,  and  this  state  of  war  continuedli 
the  manufacturers  were  stimulated  in  their  enterprise  by  every  a^u- 
rance  of  support,  by  public  sentiment,  and  by  legislative  resolves.  It 
was  about  that  period  (1808)  that  South  Carolina  bore  her  high  tes- 
timony to  the  wisdom  of  the  policy,  in  an  act  of  her  legislature,  the 
preamble  of  which,  now  before  me,  reads : 


**  Whereas,  the  estabhshment  and  eneourai^^ement  of  domestic  mRnufactiires,  is 
conducive  to  the  interestii  of  a  State,  by  adding  new  inemtivet  io  induttry,  and  as 
beiof  the  means  of  disposing  to  advantage  the  8uri>lu8  productions  of  the  agrtcultU' 
rtiC ;  and  whereas,  in  the  present  unexampled  state  of  the  world,  their  estabTi^hment 
in  our  country  is  not  only  txptdieiU,  but  poUtic  in  rendering  ua  indtpeneUfU  of  foreign 
nations." 

The  legialafeure,  not  being  competent  to  afford  the  most  efficacious 
•id,  by  imposing  duties  on  foreign  rival  articlesi  proceeded  to  iucor* 
ponle  a  company. 


IN  DEnClfCE  Of  THE  AMERICAK  BT8TKM.  17 

Peace,  under  the  treaty  of  Ghenti  returned  in  1815,  but  there  did 
not  return  with  it  the  golden  days  which  preceded  the  edicts  levelled 
at  our  commerce  by  Great  Britain  and  France.  It  found  all  Europe 
tranquilly  resuming  the  arts  and  the  business  of  civil  life.  It  found 
Europe  no  longer  the  consumer  of  our  surplus,  and  the  employer  of 
our  navigation,  but  excluding,  or  heavily  burthening,  almpst  all  the 
productions  of  our  agriculture,  and  our  rivals  in  manufactures,  in 
navigation,  and  in  conunerce.  It  found  our  country,  in  short,  in  a 
aituation  totally  di&rent  from  all  the  past — new  and  untried.  It  be- 
came necessary  to  adapt  our  laws,  and  especially  our  laws  of  impost, 
to  the  new  circumstances  in  which  we  found  ourselves.  Accordingly, 
that  eminent  and  lamented  citizen,  then  at  the  head  of  the  treasury, 
(Mr.  Dallas,)  was  required,  by  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, under  date  the  twenty-third  day  of  February,  1815,  to 
prepare  and  report  to  the  succeeding  session  of  Congress,  a  system  of 
of  revenue  conformable  with  the  actual  condition  of  the  country.  He 
had  the  circle  of  a  whole  year  to  perform  the  work,  consulted  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  and  other  practical  men,  and  opened  an  ex- 
tensive correspondence.  The  report  which  he  made  at  the  session  of 
1816,  was  the  result  of  his  inquiries  and  reflections,  and  embodies  the 
principles  which  he  thought  applicable  to  the  ^abject.  It  has  been 
aaid,  that  the  tariff  of  1616  was  a  measure  of  mere  revenue,  and  that 
it  only  reduced  the  war  duties  to  a  peace  standard.  It  is  true  that 
the  question  then  was,  how  much  and  in  what  way  should  the  double 
duties  of  the  war  be  reduced  ?  Now,  also,  the  question  is,  on  what 
articles  shall  the  duties  be  reduced  so  as  to  subject  the  amounts  of 
the  future  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  government  ?  Then  it  was 
deemed  an  inquiry  of  the  first  importance,  as  it  should  be  now,  how, 
the  reduction  should  be  made,  so  as  to  secure  proper  encouragement 
to  our  domestic  industry.  That  this  was  a  leading  object  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  tariff  of  1816, 1  well  remember,  and  it  is  demon- 
strated by  the  language  of  Mr.  Dallas.    He  says  in  his  report : 

'*  There  are  few,  if  any  goyernmenta,  which  do  not  regard  the  esCabliahment  of  do- 
mestic manufactorea  as  a  chief  object  of  public  policy.  The  United  States  have  al- 
loayf  BO  regarded  ic.  *  *  *  *  The  demands  of  the  country,  while  the 
acquintions  of  supplies  from  foreign  nations  was  either  prohibited  or  impracticable, 
may  have  afforded  a  sufficient  inducement  for  this  investment  of  capital,  and  this 
application  of  labor :  but  the  inducement,  in  its  necessary  extent,  muBi  fail  when 
the  day  of  competition  returns.  Upon  that  change  in  the  condition  of  the  conntiy, 
the  preservation  of  the  manufactures,  which  private  citizens  under  favorable  auspioea 
have  constituted  the  property  of  the  nation,  becomes  a  consideration  of  general  poli- 
cy^ to  be  resolved  by  a  recollection  of  past  embarrassments ;  by  the  certainty  of  an 
increased  difficulty  of  reinstating,  upon  any  emergency,  tho  manufactures  which 
iiiaU  b«  aUow^  to  peri^t  •»d  paas  ftway ,**«€. 


16  IPIBCHIS  OF  HBMRT  CLAT. 

The  measure  of  protection  which  he  proposed  was  not  adopted,  in 
regard  to  some  leading  articleS|  and  there  was  great  difficulty  in  as- 
certaining what  it  ought  to  have  been.  But  the  pnnciple  was  thett 
distinctly  asserted  and  fully  sanctioned. 

Hie  subject  of  the  American  system  was  again  brought  up  in  IS20^ 
by  the  bill  reported  by  the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  manufac^ 
tures,  now  a  member  of  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  the  principle  was  successfully  maintained  by  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people ;  but  the  bill  which  they  passed  was  de- 
feated in  the  Senate.  It  was  revived  in  1824 ;  the  whole  groiind 
carefully  and  deliberately  explored,  and  the  bill  then  introduced,  re- 
ceivii^  all  the  sanctions  of  the  constitution,  became  the  law  of  the 
land.  An  amendment  of  the  system  was  proposed  in  182S,  to  the 
history  of  which  I  refer  with  no  agreeable  recollections.  The  bill  of 
that  year,  in  some  of  its  provbions,  was  framed  on  principles  directly 
adverse  to  the  declared  wishes  of  the  friends  of  the  policy  of  protec- 
tion. I  have  heard,  without  vouching  for  the  fact,  that  it  was  so 
framed,  upon  the  advice  of  a  prominent  citizen,  now  abroad,  with  the 
view  of  ultimately  defeating  the  bill,  and  with  assurances  that,  being 
altogether  unacceptable  to  the  friends  of  the  American  system,  the 
bill  would  be  lost.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  most  exceptionable  fea- 
tures of  the  bill  were  stamped  upon  it,  against  the  earnest  remon- 
strances of  the  friends  of  the  system,  by  the  votes  of  southern  mem- 
bers, upon  a  principle,  I  think,  as  unsound  in  legislation  as  it  is  repre- 
hensible in  ethics.  The  bill  was  passed,  notwithstanding  this, 
it  having  been  deemed  better  to  take  the  bad  along  with  the  good 
which  it  contained,  than  reject  it  altogether.  Subsequent  legislation 
has  corrected  the  error  then  perpetrated,  but  still  that  measure  is  ve- 
hemently denounced  by  gentlemen  who  contributed  to  noake  it  what 
it  was. 

*  Thus,  sir,  has  this  great  system  of  protection  been  gradually  built, 
alone  upon  stone,  and  step  by  step,  from  the  fourth  of  July,  1789| 
down  to  the  present  period.  In  every  stage  of  its  progress  it  has  re- 
ceived the  deliberate  sanction  of  Congress.  A  vast  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  has  approved  and  continue  to  approve  it. 
Every  chief  magistrate  of  the  United  States,  from  Washington  to  the 
present,  in  some  form  or  other,  has  given  to  it  the  authority  of  his 
same ;  and  however  the  opinions  of  the  existing  President  are  inter- 


19  SBFBRCE  OF  THE  ▲MEBICAN  STfTBIf.  M 

preted  South  of  Mason's  and  Dixon's  line,  on  the  north  they  are  at 
least  understood  to  fiivor  the  establishment  of  a  ju^ciaui  tariff. 

The  questioni  therefore,  which  we  are  now  called  upon  to  deter^ 
mine,  is  not  whether  we  shall  establish  a  new  and  doubtful  system  of 
policy,  just  proposed,  and  for  the  first  time  presented  to  our  consider* 
ation,  but  whether  we  shall  break  down  and  destroy  a  long  establish- 
ed system,  patiently  and  carefully  bailt  up  and  sanctioned,  during  a 
series  ol^  years,  again  and  again,  by  the  nation  and  its  highest  and 
most  revered  authorities.  And  are  we  not  bound  deliberately  to  con- 
sider whether  we  can  proceed  to  this  work  of  destruction  without  a 
violation  of  the  public  faith  ?  The  people  of  the  United  States  have 
justly  supposed  that  the  policy  of  protecting  their  industry  against 
foreign  legislation  and  foreign  industry  was  fully  settled,  not  by  a 
single  act,  but  by  repeated  and  deliberate  acts  of  government,  per- 
formed at  distant  and  frequent  intervals.  In  full  confidence  that  the 
policy  was  firmly  and  unchangeably  fixed,  thousands  upon  thousands 
have  invested  their  capital,  purchased  a  vast  amount  of  real  and  other 
estate,  made  permanent  establishments,  and  accommodated  their  in- 
dustry. Can  we  expose  to  utter  and  irretrievable  ruin  this  countless 
multitude,  without  justly  incurring  the  reproach  of  violating  the  na- 
tional faith  ? 

I  shall  not  discuss  the  constitutional  question.  Without  meanmg 
any  disrespect  to  those  who  raise  it,  if  it  be  debateable,  it  has  been 
sufficiently  debated.  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  suffered  it 
to  fall  unnoticed  from  his  budget ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  he  had 
closed  his  speech  and  resumed  his  seat,  that  it  occurred  to  him  that 
he  had  forgotten  it,  when  he  again  addressed  the  Senate,  and,  by  a 
sort  of  protestation  against  any  conclusion  from  his  silence,  put  for^ 
ward  the  objection.  The  recent  free  trade  convention  at  Philadelphia, 
it  is  well  known,  were  divided  on  the  question ;  and  although  the 
toj^c  is  noticed  in  their  address  to  the  public,  they  do  not  avow  their 
own  belief  that  the  American  system  is  unconstitutional,  but  repre 
sent  that  such  is  the  opinion  of  respectable  portions  of  the  American 
people.  Another  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  from  a 
high  souice,  during  the  past  year,  treating  this  subject,  does  not  as- 
sert the  opinion  of  the  distinguished  author,  but  states  that  of  others 
to  be  that  it  is  unconstitutional.  From  which  I  infer  that  he  did  not 
hioMelf  believe  it 


90  8PKBCHES   OF  HENRT   CLAT. 

[Here  the  Vice-President  interposed  and  remarked  that,  if  the  Senator  from  Kty- 
tucky  alluded  to  him,  he  must  say  that  his  opinion  was,  that  the  measure  was  on- 
constitmional.] 

When,  sir,  I  contended  with  yoa,  side  by  side,  and  with  perhaps 
less  zeal  than  you  exhibited,  in  1816, 1  did  not  understand  you  then 
to  consider  the  policy  forbidden  by  the  constitution. 

[The  Vice-President  again  interposed,  and  said  that  the  constitutional  question 
was  not  debated  at  that  time,  and  (hat  he  bad  never  expressed  an  opinion  contrary 
to  that  now  intimated.] 

I  give  way  with  pleasure  to  these  explanations,  which  I  hope  will 
always  be  made  when  1  say  any  thing  bearing  on  the  individual 
opinions  of  the  Chair.  1  know  the  delicacy  of  the  position,  and 
sympathise  with  the  imcumbcnt,  whoever  he  may  be.  It  is  true, 
the  question  was  not  debated  in  1816;  and  why  not?  Because  H 
was  not  debatable ;  it  was  then  believed  not  fairly  to  arbe.  It  never 
has  been  made  as  a  distinct,  substantial  and  leading  point  of  objec- 
tion. It  never  was  made  until  the  discussion  of  the  tarifi*of  1824,* 
when  it  was  rather  hinted  at  as  against  the  spirit  of  the  constitution, 
than  formally  announced  as  being  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  that 
mstrument.  What  was  not  dreamt  of  before,  or  in  1816,  and  scarce 
ly  thought  of  in  1824,  is  now  made,  by  excited  imaginations,  to  as- 
sume the  imposing  form  of  a  serious  constitutional  barrier. 

Such  are  the  origin,  duration,  extent  and  sanctions  of  the  polkj 
which  we  are  now  called  upon  to  subvert.  Its  beneficial  e&cts,  al- 
though they  may  vary  in  degree,  have  been  felt  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union.  To  none,  I  verily  believe,  has  it  been  prejudicial.  In  the 
North,  every  where,  testimonials  are  borne  to  the  high  prosperity 
which  it  has  diffused.  There,  all  branches  of  industry  are  animated 
and  flourishing.  Commerce,  foreign  and  domestic,  active ;  cities  and 
towns  springing  np,  enlarging  and  beautifying ;  navigation  fully  and 
profitably,  employed,  and  the  whole  &ce  of  the  country  smiling  with 
improvement,  cheerfulness  and  abundance.  Tba-gentleman  frpm 
\  South  Carolina  has  supposed  that  we,  in  the  West  derive  no  advan- 
tages from  this  system.  He  is  mistaken.  Let  him  visit  us,  and  he 
will  find,  fipom  the  head  of  La  Belle  Riviere,  at  Pittsburgh,  to  Ameri- 
;  ca,  at  its  mouth,  the  most  rs^d  and  gratifying  advances.  He  will 
behold  Pittsburg  itself,  Wheeling,  Portsmouth,  Maysville,  Cincinnati 


\  \ ..  f.  ^' 


■< 


^   hi^1>e)qince  or  the  ahiricam  system.  21 

f  LouisYilH)  and  namerous  other  towns,  lining  and  ornamenting  the 
banks  of  the  noble  river,  daily  entending  their  limits,  and  prosecutingi 
with  the  greatest  spirit  and  profit,  numerous  branches  of  the  manu- 
facturing and  mechanic  arts.     If  he  will  go  into  the  interior,  in  the 
State  of  Ohio,  he  will  there  perceive  the  most  astonishing  progress  in 
agriculture,  in  the  useful  arls,  and  in  all  the  improvements  to  which 
they  both  directly  conduce.     Then  let  him  cross  over  into  my  own, 
my  favorite  State,  and  contemplate  the  spectacle  which  is  there  ex- 
hibited.    He  will  perceive  numPTous  villages,  not  large,  but  neat 
thriving,  and  some  of  them  highly  ornamented ;  many  manufactories 
'    of  hemp, '.cotton,  wool,  and  other  articles.     In  various  parts  of  the 
I  country,  atid  especially  in  the  Elkhorn  region,  an  endless  succession 
^  ^  o(  natur^  parks  ;  the  forests  thinned ;  fallen  trees  and  undergrowth 
^--elearcdaway  ;  large  herds  and  flocks  feeding  on  luxuriant  grasses  ; 
and  interspersed  with  comfortable,  sometimes  elegant  mansions,  sur- 
rounded by  extensive  lawns.     The  honorable  gentleman  from  South  a 
Carolina  says,  that  a  profitable  trade  was  carried  on  from  the  West,  T       • 
through  the  Seleuda  gap,  in  mules,  horses  and  other  live  stock,  which  I       ^ 
has  been  checked  by  the  operation  of  the  tariff.     It  is  true  that  such         * 
a  trade  was  carried  on  between  Kentucky  and  South  Carolina,  mu- 
tually beneficial  to  both  parties  ;  but,  several  years  ago,  resolutions, 
at  popular  meetings,  in  Carolina,  were  adopted,  not  to  purchase  the 
produce  of  Kentucky  byway  of  punishment  for  her  attachment  to  the 
tariff*.     They  must  have  supposed  us  as  stupid  as  the  sires  of  one  of 
the  descriptions  of  the  stock  of  which  that  trade  consisted,  if  they 
Imagined  that  their  resolutions  would  affect  our  principles.     Our  dro- 
vers cracked  their  whips,  blew  their  horns,  and  passed  the  Seleuda 
gap,  to  other  markets,  where  belter  humors  existed,  and  equal  or 
greater  profits  were  made.     I  have  heard  of  your  successor  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  President,  this  anecdote :  that  he 
joined  in  the  adoption  of  those  resolutions,  but  when,  about  Christ- 
nms,  he  applied  to  one  of  his  South  Carolina  neighbors,  to  purchase 
the  regular  supply  of  pork  for  the  ensuing  year,  he  found  that  he  had 
to' pay  two  prices  for  it ;  and  he  declared  if  that  were  tne  patriotism 
on  which  the  resohitions  were  based,  he  would  not  conform  to  them, 
and,  in  point  of  fact,  laid  in  his  annual  stock  of  pork  by  purchase  from 
the  first  passing  Kentucky  drover.     The  trade,  now  partially  resum- 
ed, was  maintained  by  the  sale  of  western  productions,  on  the  one 
side,  and  Carolina  money  on  the  other.     From  that  condition  of  it 
the  gentleman  firom^Sbuth  Carolina  might  have  drawn  this  conclosioii) 


I 


22  SPEECHES  OF   AENRT   CLAT. 

that  an  advantageous  trade  may  exist,  although  one  of  the  parties  to 
it  pays  in  specie  for  the  production  which  he  purchases  from  the 
other ;  and  consequently  that  it  does  not  follow,  if  we  did  not  pur- 
chase British  fabrics,  that  it  might  not  be  the  interest  of  England  to 
purchase  our  raw  material  of  cotton.  The  Kentucky  drover  receiv- 
ed the  South  Carolina  specie,  or,  taking  bills,  or  the  evidences  of  de- 
posite  in  the  banks,  carried  these  home,  and,  disposing  of  them  to  the 
merch^t,  he  brought  out  goods,  of  foreign  or  domestic  manufacture, 
in  return.  Such  is  the  circuitous  nature  of  trade  and  remittance, 
which  no  nation  understands  better  than  Great  Britain. 

Nor  has  the  system  which  has  been  the  parent  source  of  so  mueh 
benefit  to  other  parts  of  the  Union,  proved  injurious  to  the  cotton 
growing  country.     I  cannot  speak  of  South  Carolina  itself,  where  1 
have  never  been,  with  so  much  certainty ;  but  of  other  portions  of 
the  Union  in  which  cotton  is  grown,  especially  those  bordering  on 
'the  Mississippi,  I  can  confidently  speak.     If  cotton  planting  is  less 
profitable  than  it  was,  that  is  the  result  of  increased  production  ;  but 
*I  believe  it  to  be  still  the  most  profitable  investment  of  capital  of  any 
branch  of  business  in  the  United  States.     And  if  a  committee  were 
raised,  with  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  I  take  it  upon  my- 
self to  say,  that  such  would  be  the  result  of  the  inquiry.     In  Ken- 
tucky, I  know  many  individuals  who  have  their  cotton  plantations 
below,  and  retain  their  residence  in  that  state,  where  they  remain 
during  the  sickly  season  ;  and  they  are  all,  I  believe,  without  excep- 
tion, doing  well.     Others,  tempted  by  their  success,  are  constantly 
engaging  in  the  business,  while  scarcely  any  comes  from  the  cotton 
region  to  engage  in  western  agriculture.     A  friend,  now  in  my  eye, 
a  member  of  this  body,  upon  a  capital  of  less  than  seventy  thousand 
dollars,  invested  in  a  plantation  and  slaves  made,  the  year  before  last, 
sixteen  thousand  dollars.     A  member  of  the  other  House,  I  under- 
stand, who,  without  removing  himself,  sent  some-  of  his  slaves  to 
Mississippi,  made  last  year,  about  twenty  per  cent.     Two  friends  of 
mine,  in  the  latter  State,  whose  annual  income  is  from  thirty  to  sixty 
thousand  dollars,  being  desirous  to  curtail  their  business,  have  offered 
estates  for  sale  which  they  are  willing  to  show,  by  regular  vouchers 
Jbf  receipt  and  disbursement,  yield  eighteen  percent,  per  annum.  One 
(of  my  most  opulent  acquaintances,  in  a  county  adjoining  that  in  which 
U  reside,  having  married  in  Georgia,  has  derived  a  large  portion  of  hit 
wealth  from  a  cotton  estate  there  situated. 


I 


IN  DBFSNCS   OF  THE  AMERICAN  8T8TEM.  23 

The  loss  of  the  tdnnage  of  Charleston,  which  has  hecn  dwelt  on, 
does  not  proceed  from  the  tariff;  it  never  had  a  very  large  amount, 
and  it  has  not  heen  able  to  retain  what  it  had,  iji  consequence  of  the 
opejation  of  the  principle  of  free  trade  on  its  navigation.  Its  tonnage  ; 
has  gone  to  the  more  enterprizing  and  adventurous  tars  of  the  north-  ▼ 
cm  States,  with  whom  those  of  the  city  of  Charleston  could  not  main- 
tain a  successful  competition  in  the  freedom  of  the  coasting  trade,  ex- 
isting between  the  different  parts  of  the  Union.  That  this  must  be 
the  true  cause,  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact,  that  however  it  may  be 
with  the  port  of  Charleston,  our  coasting  tonnage,  generally,  is  con- 
stantly increasing.  As  to  the  foreign  tonnage,  about  one-half  of  that 
which  is  engaged  in  the  direct  trade  between  Charleston  and  Great 
Britain,  is  English  ;  proving  that  the  tonnage  of  South  Carolina  can- 
not maintain  itself  in  a  competition,  under  the  free  and  equal  naviga- 
tion secured  by  our  treaty  with  that  power. 

« 

When  gentlemen  have  succeeded  in  their  design  of  an  immediate 

or  gradual  destruction  of  the  American  System,  what  is  their  substi- 
tute ?  Free  trade  .^(Free  trade  !  The  call  for  free  trade  is  as  una- 
vailing as  the  cry  of  a  spoiled  child,  in  its  nurse's  arms,  for  the  moon, 
or  the  stars  that  glitter  in  the  firmament  of  heaven.  It  never  has 
existed,  it  never  will  exist.  Trade  implies,  at  least  two  parties.  To 
be  free,  it  should  be  fair,  equal  and  reciprocal.  But  if  we  throw 
our  ports  wide  open  to  the  admission  of  foreign  productions,  free  of 
all  duty,  what  ports  of  any  other  foreign  nation  shall  we  find  open  to 
the  free  admission  of  our  surplus  produce  ?  We  may  break  down  aU 
barriers  to  free  trade  on  our  part,  but  the  work  will  not  be  complete 
until  foreign  powers  snail  have  removed  theirs.  There  would  be 
freedom  on  one  side,  and  restrictions,  prohibitions  and  exclusions  on 
the  otherTl  The  bolts,  and  the  bars,  and  the  chains  of  all  other  na- 
tions will  remain  undisturbed.  It  is,  indeed,  possible,  that  our  in- 
dustry and  commerce  would  accommodate  themselves  to  this  unequal 
and  unjust,  state  of  things;  for,  such  is  the  flexibility  of  our  nature, 
that  it  bends  itself  to  all  circumstances.  The  wretched  prisoner  in- 
carcerated in  a  jail,  afler  a  long  time  becomes  reconciled  to  his  soli- 
tude, and  regularly  notches  down  the  passing  days  of  his  confinement. 

■ 

Grentlemen  deceive  themselves.  It  is  not  free  trade  that  they  are 
fecommending  to  our  acceptance.  It  is  in  effect,  the  British  colonial 
«yBtem  that  we  are  invited  to  adopt ;  and,  if  their  policy  prevail,  it 


24  SPEECHES  OF  HENBT  CLAT. 

will  lead  substantially  to  the  re-colonization  of  these  States,  mni.*^  k- 
the  commercial  dominion  of  Great  Britain.  And  whom  do  we  fin  x  a. 
some  of  the  principal  supporters,  out  of  Congress,  of  this  foreign  sys- 
tem ?  Mr.  President,  there  are  some  foreigners  who  always  remain 
i  exotics,  and  never  become  naturalized  in  our  country ;  whilst,  happi^ 
]y,  there  are  many  others  who  readily  attach  themselves  to  our  prin- 
ciples and  our  institutions.  The  honest,  patient  and  industrious  Ger- 
man readily  unites  with  our  people,  establishes  himself  upon  some  of 
our  fat  land,  fills  his  capacious  barn,  and  enjoys  in  tranquility,  the 
abundant  fruits  which  his  diligence  gathers  around  him,  always  rea- 
dy to  fly  to  the  standard  of  his  adopted  country,  or  of  its  laws,  when 
called  by  the  duties  of  patriotism.  The  gay,  the  versatile,  the  philo- 
sophic Frenchman,  accommodating  himself  cheerfully  to  all  the  vicis- 
situdes of  life,  incorporates  himself  without  difficulty  in  our  society. 
But,  of  all  foreigners,  none  amalgamate  themselves  so  quickly  with 
our  people  as  the  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle.  In  some  of  the  vis- 
ions which  have  passed  through  my  imagination,  I  have  supposed 
that  Ireland  was  originally,  part  and  parcel  of  this  continent,  and 
that,  by  some  extraordinary  convulsion  of  nature,  it  was  torn  from 
America,  and  drifting  across  the  oce^n,  was  placed  in  the  unfortunate 
vicinity  of  Great  Britain.  The  same  open-heartedness  ;  the  same 
generous  hospitality ;  the  same  careless  and  uncalculaling  indiffer- 
ence about  human  life,  characterize  the  inhabitants  of  both  countries. 
Kentucky  has  been  sometimes  called  the  Ireland  of  America.  And  I 
have  no  doubt,  that  if  the  current  of  emigration  were  reversed,  and 
set  from  America  upon  the  shores  of  Europe,  instead  of  bearing  from 
Europe  to  America,  every  American  emigrant  to  Ireland  would  there 
find,  as  every  Irish  emigrant  here  finds,  a  hearty  welcome  and  a  hap- 
py home ! 

But  sir,  the  gentleman  to  whom  I  am  about  to  allude,  although 
long  a  resident  of  this  country,  has  no  feelings,  no  attachments,  no 
sympathies,  no  principles,  in  common  with  oUr  people.  Near  fifty 
years  ago,  Pennsylvania  took  him  to  her  bosom,  and  warmed,  and 
cherished,  and  honored  him ;  and  how  does  he  manifest  his  gratitude  ? 
By  aiming  a  vital  blow  at  a  system  endeared  to  her  by  a  thoiough 
conviction  that  it  is  indispensable  to  her  prosperity.  He  has  filled  at 
home  and  abroad  some  of  the  highest  offices  undes  this  government^ 
during  thirty  years,  and  he  is  still  at  heart  an  alien.  The  authori^ 
of  his  name  has  been  invoked^  and  the  labon  o[  his  pen,  in  the  form 


IN  DBftHOI  OV  TR«  AMEBICAK  8TSTKM.  95 

I  of  a  memorial  to  Congress  have  been  engaged  to  overthrow  the 
I  American  System,  and  to  substitute  the  foreign.  Go  home  to  your 
native  Europe,  and  there  inculcate  upon  her  sovereigns  your  Utopian 
doctrines  of  free  trade,  and  when  you  have  prevailed  upon  them  to 
unseal  their  ports,  and  freely  admit  the  produce  of  Pennsylvania  and  ^ 
other  States,  come  back,  and  we  shall  be  prepared  to  become  con- 
verts, and  to  adopt  your  faith. 

A  Mr.  Sarchet  also  makes  no  inconsiderable  figure  in  the  c(mmion 
attack  upon  our  system.  I  do  not  know  the  man,  but  I  understand 
he  is  an  unnaturalized  emigrant  from  the  island  of  Guernsey,  situated 
in  the  channel  which  divides  France  and  England.  The  principal 
business  of  the  inhabitants  is  that  of  driving  a  contraband  trade  with 
the  opposite  shores,  and  Mr.  Sarchet,  educated  in  that  school,  is,  I 
have  been  told,  chiefly  engaged  in  employing  his  wits  to  elude  the 
{^ration  of  our  revenue  laws,  by  introducing  articles  at  less  rates  of 
duty  than  they  are  justly  chargeable  with,  which  he  effects  by  vary- 
ing the  denominations,  or  slightly  changing  their  forms.  This  man, 
at  a  former  session  of  the  scSnate,  caused  to  be  presented  a  memorial 
signed  by  some  150  pretended  workers  in  iron.  Of  these  a  gentle- 
man made  a  careful  inquiry  and  examination,  and  he  ascertained  that 
there  were  only  about  ten  of  the  denomination  represented ;  the  rest 
were  tavern  keepers,  porters,  merchants'  clerks,  hackney  coachmen, 
&c.  I  have  the  most  respectable  authority,  in  black  and  white,  for 
this  statement. 

fHere  General  Hayne  asked,  who  1  and  was  lie  a  manufacturer  1  Mr.  Clay  replied, 
CoL  Murray,  of  New  York,  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  standing  for  honor,  probity, 
and  Teracity  ;  that  he  did  not  know  whether  he  was  a  manufacturer  or  not,  but  the 
gentleman  might  take  him  as  one.*] 

Whether  Mr.  Sarchet  got  up  the  late  petition  presented  to  the 
Senate  from  the  journeyman  tailors  of  Philadelphia,  or  not,  I  do  not 
know.  But  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  it  were  a  movement  of  his, 
and  if  we  should  find  that  he  has  cabbaged  from  other  classes  of  so- 
ciety to  swell  odt  the  number  of  signatures. 

To  the  facts  manufactured  by  Mr.  Sarchet,  and  the  theories  by 
Mr.  Grallatin  there  was  yet  wanting  one  circumstance  to  recommend 

*  Bfr.  Clay  inbseqtiently  nndentood  that  Col.  Murray  was  a  merchant. 


26  VPKBCHEfl  OF   HRHRt   CLAT. 

them  to  fayorable  consideration,  and  that  was  the  authority  of  some  | 
high  name.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  one  from  a  British  4 
Repository.  The  honorable  gentleman  has  cited  a  speech  of  my  lord 
Groderich,  addressed  to  the  British  Parliament,  in  favor  of  free  trade, 
'  and  full  of  deep  regret  that  old  England  could  not  possibly  conform 
her  practice  of  rigorous  restriction  and  exclusion  to  her  liberal  doO' 
trincs  of  unfettered  commerce,  so  earnestly  recommended  to  foreign 
powers.  Sir,  I  know  my  lord  Goderich  very  well,  although  my 
acquaintance  with  him  was  prior  to  his  being  summoned  to  the 
British  House  of  Peers.  We  both  sign^.'d  the  convention  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  ol^  1815.  He  is  an  honors 
able  man,  frank,  possessing  business,  but  ordinary,  talents,  about  the 
ftature  and  complexion  of  tho  honorable  gentleman  from  South  Caro- 
Kna,  a  few  years  older  than  he,  and  every  drop  of  blood  running  in 
his  veins  being  pure  and  unadulterated  Anglo-Saxon  blood.  If  he 
were  to  live  to  the  age  of  Methuselah,  he  could  not  make  a  speech 
of  such  ability  and  eloquence  as  that  which  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  recently  delivered  to  the  Senate ;  and  there  would  be  much 
more  fitness  in  my  lord  Goderich  making  quotations  from  the  speech 
of  the  honorable  gentleman,  than  his  quoting,  as  authority,  the  theo- 
retical doctrines  of  my  lord  Goderich.  We  are  too  much  in  the  habit 
of  looking  abroad,  not  merely  for  manufactured  articles,  but  for  the 
sanction  of  high  names,  to  support  favorite  theories.  I  have  seen 
and  closely  observed  the  British  Parliament,  and,  without  derogating 
from  its  justly  elevated  character,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that 
in  all  the  attributes  of  order,  dignity,  patriotism  and  eloquence,  the 
American  Congress  would  not  suffer,  in  the  smallest  degree,  by  a 
comparison  with  it. 

I  dislike  this  resort  to  authority,  and  especially /orei^n  and  interest' 
td  authority,  for  the  support  of  principles  of  public  policy.  I  would 
greatly  prefer  to  meet  gentlemen  upon  the  broad  ground  of  fact,  of 
experience,  and  of  reason ;  but,  since  they  will  appeal  to  British 
names  and  authority,  I  feel  myself  compelled  to  imitate  their  bad  ex- 
ample. Allow  me  to  quote  from  the  speech  of  a  member  of  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament,  bearing  the  same  family  name  with  my  lord  Goderich, 
(Hit  whether  or  not  a  relation  of  his,  I  do  not  know.  The  member 
alluded  to  was  arguing  against  the  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Methuen 
— that  treaty,  not  less  &tal  to  the  interests  of  Portugid  than  would 


IN   DSFKMCK  OF  THB  AMSRICAN  SYSTEM.  27 

be  the  s^tem  of  gentlemen  to  the  best  interests  of  America — and  ht 
went  on  to  say  : 

"  Jt  tmn  idle  for  tu  to  endeavor  to  persuade  other  nations  to  join  with  us  in  adopting 
Hu  principles  of  what  was  eaUed  '''free  trade.**  Other  nations  knew,  as  ttell  as  the  no- 
ble lord  (jjiposite^  and  those  who  acted  with  him,  what  we  meant  by  **free  trhde**  was 
nothinfr  more  nor  less  than,  by  means  of  the  f^eat  advantages  we  enjoyed,  to  get  a  mO' 
nopoly  of  all  their  market 8  for  our  manufactures^  and  to  prevent  them,  one  andailjram 
ever  becoming  manufacturing  nations.    When  the  8>'8tem  of  reciprocity  and  Tree 


trade  had  been  proposed  to  a  French  embaendor,  bw  remark  wan,  tnat  the  plan 

excellent  in  theory^  but,  to  make  it  fair  in  practice,  it  would  be  necefr^ary  to  defer 
the  attempt  to  put  it  in  execution  for  half  a  century,  until  France  should  oe  on  th« 
tame  footing  with  (ireat  iiritain,  in  tnitrine,  in  m'unufactures,  in  capital,  and  the 
many  other  peculiar  advanta^<>s  which  it  now  enjoyed.  The  policy  that  France  act- 
ed on,  was  taht  of  encouraging  its  ^lative  manulactures,  and  it  was  a  tritf  policy ; 
because  if  it  were  freely  to  ndmitourmanul'nctures,  it  would  Fpeedily  be  n'duced  to 
the  rank  of  an  agrindtwal  nation  ;  and  thertfore,  a  poor  nation,  as  all  must  be  that 
depend  exclusively  upon  ngnculture.  America  acted  too  upon  the  same  principle 
with  France.  America  legislated  for  futurity— legislated  for  an  increasing  popula- 
tion. America  too^  was  prospering  under  this  pystcm.  In  twenty  years,  America 
Would  be  independent  of  England  for  manufacturesi  altogether.  •  •  ♦  •  ♦  But 
■ioce  the  peace,  France,  Grerm any,  America,  and  nil  the  other  countries  of  the 
world,  had  proceeded  upon  the  principle  oi  encouraging  and  protecting  native  man- 
factures.** 


1 


But  I  have  said  that  the  system  nominally  called  '^  free  trade, '*  so 
earnestly  and  eloquently  recommended  to  our  adoption,  is  a  mere  re- 
vival of  the  British  colonial  System,  forced  upon  us  by  Great  Britain 
during  the  existence  of  our  colonial  vassalage.     The  whole  system  ii 
fully  explained  and  illustrated  in  a  work  published  as  far  back  as  the 
year  1750,  entitled  "  The  Trade  and  Navigation  of  Great  Britain 
considered,  by  Joshua  Gee,"  with  extracts  from  which  I  have  been 
furnished  by  the  diligent  researches  of  a  friend.     It  will  be  seen  from  i 
these,  that  the  South  Carolina  policy  now,  is  identical  with  the  long  | 
cherished  policy  of  Great  Britain,  which  remains  the  same  as  it  was  \ 
when  the  thirteen  colonies  were  part  of  the  British  empire.     In  that/ 
work  the  author  contends — 

"1.  That  mannfactures,  in  American  coionieb,  should  be  discouraged  or  prohi- 
bited. 

"  Great  Britain,  with  its  dependencies,  is  doubtless  as  well  able  to  subsist  within 
itself  as  any  nation  in  Europe.  We  have  an  enterprising  people,  fiiMbr  all  the  arts 
of  peace  and  war.  We  have  provisions  in  abundance^  and  those  of  the  best  sort,  and 
are  able  to  raise  sufficient  for  double  the  number  of  inhabitants.  We  have  the  very 
best  materials  for  clothing,  and  want  nothing  either  for  use  or  even  for  luxury,  but 
what  we  have  at  home,  or  might  have  from  our  colonies :  so  that  we  might  make 
such  ail  intercourse  of  trade  among  ourselves,  or  between  us  and  them,  as  would 
maintain  a  vast  navigation.  But  we  ought  always  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  over  onr 
colonies,  to  restrain  them  from  settinl^  up  any  ot  the  manufactures  which  are  car- 
ried on  in  Great  Britain  ;  and  any  such  attempts  should  be  crushed  in  the  beginning ; 
for  if  they  are  sutfered  to  grow  up  to  maturity,  it  will  be  dilRcultto  suppress  them." 
Pages  177,  8,9. 

**  Our  colonies  are  much  in  th6  same  sute  Ireland  was  in,  when  they  benn  thf 
woollen  manufactory,  and  as  their  numbers  increase,  will  tall  upon  manufactures 
for  clothing  themselvef,  if  due  caxe  be  not  tdicn  to  find  employment  for  them  ia 


I 


as  BPEECHEa  OF  HENRT   CIAT. 

nifling  such  prodactiooB  as  may  enable  them  to  famish  themseWes  with  all  thetr 
necessaries  from  us.*' 

Then  it  was  the  object  of  this  British  economists  to  adapt  the 
means  or  wealth  of  the  colonists  to  the  supply  required  by  their  ne- 
cessities, and  to  make  the  mother  country  the  source  of  that  supply. 
Now  it  seems  the  policy  is  only  so  far  to  be  reversed  that  we  must 
continue  to  import  necessaries  from  Great  Britain,  in  order  to  enable 
her  to  purchase  raw  cotton  from  us. 

**  I  should,  therefore,  think  it  wonhy  the  care  of  the  government  to  endeavor,  by 
all  possible  means,  to  encourage  (hem  in  raiKing  of  silk,  hemp,  flax,  iron,  [only  pig 
to  be  hammered  in  England]  pot  lu^h,  «\:c.,  by  giving  them  competent  bounties  in 
the  beginning,  and  sending  over  judicious  and  skilful  i)erBon8  at  the  public  charge,  to 
assist  and  instruct  them  in  the  mo^t  proper  methods  of  management,  which  in  mv 
apprehension  would  lay  a  foundation  for  establishing  the  most  profitable  trade  ol 
any  we  have.  And  considrring  the  t:ommanding  situation  of  our  colonies  along  thi 
sea  coast ;  the  great  convenience  of  navigable  tivcrs  in  all  of  them  :  the  cheapness  of 
land,  and  the  easiness  of  raising  provisions,  great  numbers  of  |)eoplc  would  transpor 
themselves  thither  to  settle  upon  such  improvement.^ .  Now,  as  people  have  been 
flUed  with  fears  that  the  colonie.s,  if  encouraged  to  raise  rough  materials,  would  set 
up  for  themselves,  a  little  rcf^vlation  would  remove  all  thot*e  jealousies  out  of  the 
way.  They  have  never  thrown  or  wove  any  silk  as  yet  that  we  have  heard  of. 
Therefore,  if  a  law  was  made  to  prohibit  tne  use  of  every  throwster's  mill,  of 
doubling  or  horsling  silk  with  any  machine  whatever,  they  would  then  ttnd  it  to  mt 
raw.  And  as  they  will  have  th<;  providing  rough  materiafl  to  themselves,  so  shall 
we  have  the  manufacturing  of  them.  If  encouragement  be  given  for  raising  hemp, 
flax,  &c.,  doubtless  they  will  soon  begin  to  manufacture,  if  not  prevented.  There* 
fore,  to  stop  the  progress  of  anv  such  manufacture,  it  is  proposed  that  no  weaver 
■hall  have  liberty  to  set  up  any  looms  without  first  registering  at  an  office  kept  for 
that  purpose,  and  the  name  and  place  of  abode  of  any  journeyman  that  shall  work 
for  him.  But  if  any  particular  inhabitant  shall  be  incUned  to  have  any  linen  or 
woollen  made  of  their  own  spinning,  they  should  not  be  abridged  of  the  same  liber- 
ty that  they  now  make  use  of,  namely,  to  carry  to  a  weaver,  (who  shall  be  lirennd 
,  by  the  governor,)  and  have  it  wrought  up  for  the  use  of  the  family,  but  not  to  be  sold 
'  to  any  person  in  a  private  manner,  nor  exposed  to  any  market  or  fair,  upon  pain  of 
forfeiture. 

**  And,  inasmuch  as  they  have  been  supplied  with  all  their  manufactures  from 
\  hence,  except  what  is  used  in  building  of  ships  and  other  countn-  work,  one  half  of 
our  exports  being  supi>osed  to  be  in  NAILIS^ — a  manufacture  which  they  allow  has 
never  hitherto  been  carried  on  among  them— it  is  proposed  they  shall,  for  time  to 
eonUy  never  erect  the  manufacture  of  any  under  the  size  of  a  two  shilling  nail,  horse 
nails  excepted ;  that  all  slitting  mills  and  engines,  for  drawing  wire,  or  weaving 
Iftockings,  be  mU  dotm,  and  that  every  smith  who  keeps  a  common  forge  or  shop, 
■hall  register  nis  name  and  place  of  abode,  and  the  name  of  every  servant  which  he 
•hall  employ,  which  license  shall  be  renewed  once  every  vear,  Rndpay  for  the  liberty 
of  working  at  such  trade.  That  all  negroes  shall  be  pronibited  from  weaving  either 
linen  or  woollen,  or  spinning  or  combing  of  wool,  or  working  at  any  manufacture  of 
iron,  further  than  making  it  into  pig  or  oar  iron.  That  they  also  be  prohibited  from 
manufacturing  hats,  stockings,  or  leather  of  any  kind.  This  limitation  will  not 
abridge  the  planters  of  any  pnvilege  they  now  enjoy.  On  the  contrary,  it  will  turn 
their  industry  to  promoting  and  raising  those  rough  materials.'* 

The  author  then  proposes  that  the  hoard  of  trade  and  plantations 
should  be  furnished  with  statistical  accounts  of  the  various  permitted 
mimu&ctures,  to  enable  them  to  encourage  or  depress  the  industry  of 
the  colonists,  and  prevent  the  danger  of  interference  with  British  in 
dnstry. 


IK  DB71X0E  Or-THS  AMERICAN  SYSTEM.  99 

**  It  is  hoped  that  this  method  would  allay  the  heat  that  iome  peifU  hare  riiows 
for  cieatroyio^  the  iroa  w  rks  on  the  plantations,  and  pullin|[  down  aU  their  foTge»— 
taking  away  in  a  violent  manner  their  estates  and  prop^^rties— preventinK  the  hu»> 
bandinen  from  getting  their  ploughshares,  carts,  and  other  utensils  mendea  :  destroy- 
ing* the  manufacture  of  ship  building,  by  depriving  them  of  the  liberty  of  making 
bolt?,  spikes,  and  other  thin^  proper  for  carrying  on  that  work,  by  which  articte 
returns  are  made  for  purchasing  our  woollen  manufactures.*'— Pages  87, 88, 89. 

Such  is  the  picture  of  colonists  dependent  upon  the  mother  coun- 
try for  their  necessary  supplies,  drawn  by  a  writer  who  was  not  among 
the  number  of  those  who  desired  to  debar  them  the  means  of  building 
a  vessel,  erecting  a  forge,  or  mending  a  ploughshare,  but  who  was 
willing  to  promote  their  growth  and  prosperity  as  ^  as  was  consist- 
ent with  the  paramount  interests  of  the  manu&cturing  or  parent 
State. 

"  2.  The  advantages  to  Great  Britain  from  keeping  the  colonists  dependent  on  her 
for  their  essential  supplies. 

"  If  we  examine  into  the  circumstances  of  the  inhabitants  of  our  plantations,  and 
our  own,  it  will  appear  that  not  one  fourth  part  of  their  product  redounds  to  their 
tfum  profit,  for,  out  of  all  that  comes  here,  tney  only  carry  back  clothipg  and  other 
accommodations  for  their  families,  all  of  which  is  of  the  merchandise  and  manufac- 
ture of  this  kingdom." 

After  showing  how  this  system  tends  to  concentrate  all  the  surplus 
of  acquisition  over  absolute  expenditure  in  England,  he  says : 

'*  All  these  advantages  we  receive  by  the  plantations,  bendes  the  mortgages  on 
the  planter's  estates,  and  the  high  interest  they  pay  us,  which  is  very  considerable ; 
and  therefore  very  great  care  ought  to  be  taken  in  regulating  all  the  affairs  of  the 
colonists,  that  the  pUnteri  be  not  put  under  too  man^  aificuUitt,  but  encouraged  to 
go  on  cheerfully. 

*'  New  England,  and  the  northern  colonies,  have  not  commodities  and  productr 
eoongh  to  send  us  in  return  for  purchasing  their  necessarv  clothing,  but  are  under 
very  great  ditficulties ;  and  therefore  any  ordinary  sort  sell  with  them.  And  when 
they  have  grown  out  otfoihUm  with  us,  they  are  new-fashioned  enough  there.'* 

Sir,  I  cannot  go  on  with  this  disgusting  detail.  Their  refuse  goods, 
their  old  shop  keepers, their  cast-off  clothes  good  enough  for  us! 
Was  there  ever  a  scheme  more  artfully  devised  by  which  the  ener- 
gies and  fisusulties  of  one  people  should  be  kept  down  and  rendered 
irabservient  to  the  pride,  and  the  pomp,  and  the  power  of  another ! 
The  system  then  proposed  differs  only  from  that  which  is  now  recom- 
mended, in  one  particular ;  that  was  intended  to  be  enforced  by  pow- 
er, this  would  not  be  less  effectually  executed  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances. A  gentleman  in  Boston,  (Mr.  Lee,)  the  agent  of  the  free 
trade  convention,  from  whose  exhaustless  mint  there  is  a  constant 
usue  of  reports,  seems  to  envy  the  blessed  condition  of  dependent 
Canada,  when  compared  to  the  oppressed  state  of  this  Union ;  and  it 


30  tPSECHSS   OF   HSNRT   CLAT. 

is  a  fiiir  inference  from  the  view  which  he  presents,  that  he  would 
have  us  hasten  back  to  the  golden  days  of  that  colonial  bondage, 
which  is  so  well  depicted  in  the  work  from  which  I  have  been  quo- 
ting. Mr.  Lee  exhibits  two  tabular  statements,  in  one  of  which  ha 
presents  the  high  duties  which  he  represents  to  be  paid  in  the  ports 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  other,  those  which  are  paid  in  Can- 
ada, generally  about  two  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  But  did  it  not  occur 
to  him  that  the  duties  levied  in  Canada  are  paid  chiefly  in  Britidi 
manufactures,  or  on  articles  passing  from  one  part  to  another  of  a 
common  empire ;  and  that  to  present  a  parallel  case  in  the  United 
States,  he  ought  to  have  shown  that  importations  made  into  one  State 
from  another,  which  are  now  free,  are  subject  to  the  same  or  higher 
duties  than  are  paid  in  Canada  ? 

I  will  now,  Mr.  President,  proceed  to  a  more  particular  considera- 
tion of  the  arguments  urged  against  the  Protective  System,  and  an  in- 
quiry into  its  practical  operation,  especially  on  the  cotton  growing 
country.  And  as  I  wish  to  state  and  meet  the  argument  fairly,  I  in- 
vite the  correction  of  my  statement  of  it,  if  necessary.  It  is  alleged 
that  the  system  operates  prejudicially  to  the  cotton  planter,  by  dimin- 
ishing the  foreign  demand  for  his  staple ;  that  we  cannot  sell  to  Great 
Britain  unless  we  buy  from  her ;  that  the  import  duty  is  equivalent 
to  an  export  duty,  aud  falls  upon  the  cotton  grower ;  that  South  Ca- 
rolina pays  a  disproportionate  quota  of  the  public  revenue ;  that  an 
abandonment  of  the  protective  |)olicy  would  lead  to  an  augmentation 
of  our  exports  of  an  amount  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  mill* 
ions  of  dollars ;  and  finally,  that  the  South  cannot  partake  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  manufacturing,  if  there  be  any.  Let  us  examine  these 
various  propositions  in  detail.  1.  That  the  foreign  demand  for  cot- 
ton is  diminished ;  aud  that  we  cannot  sell  to  Great  Britain  unless  wa 
buy  from  her.  The  demand  of  t)oth  our  great  foreign  customers  is 
constantly  and  annually  increasing.  It  is  true,  that  the  ratio  of  the 
increase  may  not  be  equal  to  that  of  production  ;  but  this  is  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  power  of  producing  the  raw  material  is  much  great- 
er, and  is,  therefore,  constantly  in  advance  of  the  power  of  consump- 
tion. A  single  fact  will  illustrate.  The  average  produce  of  laboren 
engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  may  be  estimated  at  five  bales,  or 
fifteen  hundred  weight  to  the  hand.  Supposing  the  annual  average 
oonsumption  of  each  individual  who  uses  cotton  cloth  to  be  five 


nr   DBFKMCE  OF  THS  AMSRICAlf  ST8TM.  31 

]Kmiid8,  one  band  can  produce  enough  of  the  raw  material  to  clothe 
three  hundred. 

The  argument  comprehends  two  errors,  one  of  fact  and  the  other 
of  principle.  It  assumes  that  we  do  not  in  fact  purchase  of  Great 
Britain.  What  is  the  true  state  of  the  case  ?  There  are  certain, 
but  Yerj  few  articles  which  it  is  thought  sound  policy  requires  that 
we  should  manu£Eu;ture  at  home,  and  on  these  the  tariff  operates. 
But,  with  respect  to  all  the  rest,  and  much  the  larger  number  of  ar- 
ticles of  taste,  fashion,  and  utility,  they  are  subject  to  no  other  than 
revenue  duties,  and  are  freely  introduced.  1  have  before  n\e  from  the 
treasury  a  statement  of  our  imports  from  England,  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land, including  ten  years,  preceding  the  last,  and  three  quarters  of 
th^  last  year,  from  which  it  will  appear  that,  although  there  are  some 
fluctuations  in  the  amount  of  the  different  years,  the  largest  amount 
imported  in  any  one  year  has  been  since  the  tariff  of  1824,  and  that 
the  last  year's  importation,  when  the  returns  of  the  fourth  quarter 
shall  be  received,  will  probably  be  the  greatest  in  the  whole  term  of 
eleven  years. 

Now,  if  it  be  admitted  that  there  is  a  less  amount  of  the  protected 
articles  imported  from  Great  Britain,  she  may  be,  and  probably  is, 
compensated  for  the  deficiency,  by  the  increased  consumption  in 
America  of  the  articles  of  her  industry  not  falling  within  the  scope  of 
the  policy  of  our  protection.  The  establishment  of  manu&ctures 
among  us  excites  the  creation  of  wealth,  and  this  gives  new  powen 
of  consumption,  which  are  gratified  by  the  purchase  of  foreign  objects 
A  poor  nation  can  never  be  a  great  consuming  nation.  Its  poverty 
will  limit  its  consumption  to  bare-subsistence. 

The  erroneous  principle  which  the  argument  includes,  is,  that  it 
devdives  on  us  the  duty  of  taking  care  that  Great  Britain  shall  be  en- 
abled to  purchase  from  us  without  exacting  from  Great  Britain  the 
corresponding  duty.  If  it  be  true,  on  one  side,  that  nations  are  bound 
to  shape  their  policy  in  reference  to  the  ability  of  foreign  powers,  it 
most  be  true  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  And  this  reciprocal  obli- 
gation ought  to  be  emphatically  regarded  towards  the  nation  supply* 
ing  the  raw  material,  by  the  manufacturing  nation,  because  the  in- 
dustry of  the  latter  gives  four  or  five  values  to  what  had  been  pro- 
dooed  by  the  industry  of  the  former. 


^  SPKICRU  OF  HKNRT  CLAT. 

But,  doei  Great  Britain  practice  towards  us  upon  the  principlei 
which  we  are  now  required  to  observe  in  regard  to  her  ?  The  ex- 
ports to  the  United  Kingdom,  as  appears  from  the  same  treasury 
statement  just  adverted  to,  during  eleven  years,  from^  1S21  to  1881, 
and  exclusive  of  the  fourth  quarter  of  the  last  year,  fiill  short  of  the 
amount  of  imports  by  upwards  of  forty-six  millions  of  dollars,  and  the 
total  amount,  when  the  returns  of  that  quarter  are  repeived,  will  ex- 
ceed fifty  millions  of  dollars !  It  is  surprising  how  we  have  been 
able  to  sustain,  for  so  long  a  time,  a  trade  so  very  unequal.  We 
must  have  been  absolutely  ruined  by  it,  if  the  un&vorable  balance 
had  not  hpen  neutralized  by  more  profitable  commerce  with  other 
parts  of  the  world.  Of  all  nations,  Great  Britain  has  the  least  cause 
to  complain  of  the  trade  between  the  two  <;oun tries.  Our  imports 
from  that  single  power  are  nearly  one-third  of  the  entire  amount  of 
our  importations  from  all  foreign  countries  together.  Great  Britain 
constantly  acts  on  the  maxim  of  buying  only  what  she  wants  and 
cannot  produce,  and  selling  to  foreign  nations  the  utmost  amount  she 
can.  In  conformity  with  this  maxim,  she  excludes  articles  of  prime 
necessity  produced  by  us — equally,  if  not  more  necessary  than  any  of 
her  industry  which  we  tax,  although  the  admission  of  those  articles 
would  increase  our  ability  to  purchase  from  her,  according  to  the  ar- 
"niment  of  gentlemen. 

If  we  purchased  still  less  from  Great  Britain  than  we  do,  and  our 
conditions  were  reversed,  so  that  the  value  of  her  imports  from  this 
country  exceeded  that  of  her  exports  to  it,  she  would  only  then  be 
compelled  to  do  what  we  have  so  long  done,  and  what  South  Caro- 
lina does,  in  her  trade  with  Kentucky,  make  up  for  the  unfavorable 
balance  by  trade  with  other  places  and  countries.  How  does  she 
now  dispose  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars  worth 
of  cotton  fabrics,  which  she  annually  sells  ?  Of  that  amount  the 
United  States  do  not  purchase  five  per  cent.  What  becomes  pf  the 
other  ninety-five  per  cent  ?  Is  it  not  sold  to  other  powers,  and  would 
not  their  markets  remain,  if  ours  were  totally  shut  ?  Would  she  not 
continue,  as  she  now  finds  it  her  interest,  to  purchase  the  raw  mate- 
rial firom  us,  to  supply  those  markets  ?  Would  she  be  guilty  of  the 
folly  of  depriving  herself  of  markets  to  the  amount  of  upwards  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  because  we  refused  her  a 
market  for  some  eight  or  ten  millions  ? 


IN   DEFENCE   OF  THE   AMERICAN  STSTEM.  33 

But  if  there  were  a  diminution  of  the  British  demand  for  cotton 
equal  to  the  loss  of  a  market  for  the  few  British  fabrics  which  are 
within  the  scope  of  our  protective  policy,  the  question  would  still 
remain,  whether  the  cotton  planter  is  not  amply  indemnified  by  the 
creation  of  additional  demand  elsewhere  ?  With  respect  to  the  cot- 
ton-grower, it  is  the  totality  of  the  demand,  and  not  its  fUitributionj 
which  efiects  his  interests.  If  any  system  of  policy  will  augment  the 
aggregate  of  the  demand,  that  system  is  fevorable  to  his  interests, 
although  its  tendency  may  be  to  vary  the  theatre  of  the  demand.  It 
could  not,  for  example,  be  injurious  to  him,  if,  instead  of  Great  Brit- 
ain continuing  to  rebeive  the  entire  quantity  of  cotton  which  she  now 
does,  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  bales  of  it  were  taken  to  the 
other  side  of  the  channel,  and  increased  to  that  extent,  the  French 
demand.  It  would  be  better  for  him,  because  it  is  always  better  to 
have  several  markets  than  one.  Now,  if,  instead  of  a  transfer  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  channel,  of  those  two  or  three  hundred  thousand 
bales,  they  are  transported  to  the  northern  States,  can  that  be  injuri- 
ous to  the  cotton  grower  ?  Is  it  not  better  for  him  ?  Is  it  not  better 
to  have  a  niarket  at  home,  unafiected  by  war  or  other  foreign  causes, 
lor  that  amoimt  of  his  staple  ? 

If  the  establishment  of  American  manufactures,  therefore,  had  the 
sole  effect  of  creating  a  new  and  an  American  demand  for  cotton,  ex- 
actly  to  the  same  extent  in  which  it  lessened  the  British  demand,  there 
would  be  no  just  cause  of  complaint  against  the  tariff.  The  gain  in 
one  place  would  precisely  equal  the  loss  in  the  other.  But  the  true 
state  of  the  matter  is  much  more  favorable  to  the  cotton  grower.  It 
is  calculated  that  the  cotton  manufactories  of  the  United  States  absorb 
at  least  two  hundred  thousand  bales  of  cotton  annually.  I  believe  it  to 
be  more.  The  two  ports  of  Boston  and  Providence  alone  received  dur- 
ii^  the  last  year,  near  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  bales.  The  amount 
it  annually  increasing.  The  raw  material  of  that  two  hundred  thousand 
bales  is  worth  six  millions,  and  there  is  an  additional  value  conferred 
by  the  manu&cturer  of  eighteen  millions ;  it  being  generally  calculated 
that,  m  such  cotton  fabrics  as  we  are  in  the  habit  of  making,  the  manu  < 
&cture  constitutes  three-fourths  of  the  value  of  the  article.  If,  there- 
fore, these  twenty-four  millions  worth  of  cotton  fabrics  were  not  made 
in  the  United  States,  but  were  manufactured  in  Great  Britain,  in  or- 
der to  obtain  them,  we  should  have  to  add  to  the  already  enormous 
disproportion  between  the  amount  of  our  imports  and  exports^  in  the 


34  SPKKCHB8  OF   HElfRT   CLAT. 

trade  with  Great  Britain,  the  further  sum  of  twenty-four  millions,  or 
deducting  the  price  of  the  raw  material,  eighteen  millions  !    And  will 
gentlemen  tell  me  how  it  would  be  possible  for  this  country  to  sustain 
such  a  ruinous  trade  ?    From  all  that  portion  of  the  United  States 
lying  North  and  East  of  James  River,  and  West  of  the  mountains, 
Grreat  Britain  receives  comparatively  nothing.     How  would  it  be 
possible  for  the  inhabitants  of  that  largest  portion  of  our  territory,  to 
supply  themselves  with  cotton  fabrics,  if  they  were  brought  from 
England  exclusively  ?    They  could  not  do  it.     But  for  the  existence 
of  the  American  manufacture,  they  would  be  compelled  greatly  to 
curtail  their  supplies,  if  not  absolutely  to  suffer  in  their  comforts. 
By  its  existence  at  home,  the  circle  of  those  exchanges  is  created 
which  reciprocally  diffuses  among  all  who  arc  embraced  within  it  the 
productions  of  their  respective  industry.     The  cotton-grower  sells 
the  raw  material  to  the  manufacturer ;  he  buys  the  iron,  the  bread, 
the  meal,  the  coal,  and  the  countless  number  of  objects  of  his  con- 
sumption from  his  fellow-citizens,  and  they  in  turn  purchase  his 
fabrics.     Putting  it  upon  the  ground  merely  of  supplying  those  with 
necessary  articles  who  could  not  otherwise  obtain  them,  ought  there 
to  be  from  any  quarter,  an  objection  to  the  only  system  by  which  that 
object  can  be  accomplished  ?    But  can  there  be  any  doubt,  with  those 
who  will  reflect,  that  the  actual  amount  of  cotton  consumed  is  in- 
creased by  the  home  manufacture  ?     The  main  argument  of  gentle- 
men is  founded  upon  the  idea  of  mutual  ability  resulting  from  mutual 
exchanges.     They  would  furnish  an  ability  to  foreign  nations  by  pur- 
chasing from  them,  and  I  to  our  own  people,  by  exchanges  at  home. 
If  the  American  mauufacture  were  discontinued,  and  that  of  England 
were  to  take  it^j  place,  how  would  she  sell  the  additional  quantity  of 
twenty-four  millions  of  cotton  goods,  which  we  now  make  ?    To  us  ? 
That  has  been  shown  to  be  impracticable.     To  other  foreign  nations  ? 
She  has  already  pushed  her  supplies  to  them  to  the  utmost  extent 
The  ultimate  consequence  would  then  be,  to  diminish  the  total  con- 
sumption of  cotton,  to  say  nothing  now  of  the  reductio;)  of  price  that 
would  take  place  by  throwing  into  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  the  two 
hundred  thousand  bales,  which  no  longer  being  manufactured  in  the 
United  States  would  go  thither. 

That  the  import  duty  is  equiyalent  to  an  export  duty,  and  falls  on 
the  producer  of  cotton. 


4N  DEFSNCE  Of  TRS  AMERICAN  SYSTEM.  35 

[Here  General  Hajne  explained,  and  said  that  he  never  contended  that  an  import 
doty  was  equivalent  to  an  export  duty,  under  all  circumstances ;  he  had  explained 
in  tiis  speech  his  ideas  of  the  precise  operation  of  (he  existing  syslvm.  To  which 
Mr.  Clay  replied,  that  he  had  seen  the  argument  so  stated  in  some  of  the  ingenious 
essays  from  the  South  Carolina  press,  and  would  therefore  answer  it.] 

The  framers  of  our  Constitution,  by  granting  the  power  to  Con- 
gress to  lay  imports,  and  prohibiting  that  of  laying  an  export  duty, 
manifested  that  they  did  not  regard  them  as  equivalent.  Nor  does 
the  common  sense  of  mankind.  An  export  duty  fastens  upon,  and 
incorporates  itself  with,  the  article  on  which  it  is  laid.  The  article 
cannot  escape  from  it — it  pursues  and  follows  it,  wherever  the  article 
goes  ;  and  if,  in  the  foreign  market,  the  supply  is  above  or  just  equal 
to  the  demand,  the  amount  of  the  export  duty  will  be  a  clear  deduc- 
tion to  the  exporter  from  the  price  of  the  article.  But  an  import  du- 
ty on  a  foreign  article  leaves  the  exporter  of  the  domestic  article  free, 
1st,  to,  import  specie  ;  2dly,  goods  which  are  free  from  the  protect- 
ing duty  ;  or,  3dly,  such  goods  as  being  chargeable  with  the  protect- 
ing duty,  he  can  sell  at  home,  and  throw  the  duty  on  the  consumer. 

But,  it  is  confidently  argued  that  the  import  duty  falls  upon  the  grow- 
er of  cotton ;  and  the  case  has  been  put  in  debate,  and  again  and  again 
in  conversation,  of  the  South  Carolina  planter,  who  exports  one  hun- 
dred bales  of  cotton  to  Liverpool,  exchanges  them  for  one  hundred 
bales  of  merchandise,  and,  when  he  brings  them  home,  l)eing  compelled 
to  leave,  at  the  custom-house,  forty  bales  in  the  form  of  duties.  The 
argument  is  founded  on  the  assumption  that  a  duty  of  forty  per  cent, 
amounts  to  a  subtraction  of  forty  from  the  one  hundred  bales  of  mer- 
chandise. The  first  objection  to  it  is,  that  it  supposes  a  case  of  barter, 
which  never  occurs.  If  it  be  replied,  that  it  nevertheless  oc-curs  in  the 
operations  of  commerce,  the  answer  would  be  that,  since  the  export 
of  Carolina  cotton  is  chiefly  made  by  New  York  or  foreign  merchants, 
the  loss  stated,  if  it  really  accrued,  would  fall  upon  them,  and  not  upon 
the  planter.  But,  to  test  the  correctness  of  the  hypothetical  case,  let  us 
suppose  that  the  duty,  instead  of  forty  per  cent.,  should  be  one  hundred 
and  fifly,  which  is  asserted  to  be  the  duty  in  some  cases.  Then,  the 
planter  would  not  only  lose  the  whole  hundred  bales  of  merchandise, 
which  he  had  gotten  for  his  hundred  bales  of  cotton,  but  he  would 
have  to  purchase,  with  other  means,  an  additional  fifty  bales,  in  order 
to  enable  him  to  pay  the  duties  accruing  on  the  proceeds  of  the  cot- 
ton.   Another  answer  iS|  that  if  the  producer  of  cotton  in  Americai 


86  tPSXCHSS  OF  HENRT   CLAT. 

exchanged  against  English  fabrics  pays  the  duty,  the  producer  of 
those  fiaibrics  also  pays  it,  and  then  it  is  twice  paid.  Such  must  be 
the  consequence,  unless  the  principle  is  true  on  one  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic, and  false  on  the  other.  The  true  answer  is,  that  the  exporter  of 
an  article,  if  he  invests  its  proceeds  in  a  foreign  market,  takes  care  to 
make  the  investment  in  such  merchandise,  as  when  brought  home, 
he  can  sell  with  a  fair  profit ;  and,  consequently,  the  consumer  would 
pay  the  original  cost,  and  charges  and  profit. 

3.  The  next  objection  to  the  American  System  is,  that  it  subjects 
South  Carolina  to  the  payment  of  an  undue  proportion  of  the  public 
revenue.  The  basis  of  this  objection  is  the  assumption,  shown  to 
have  been  erroneous,  that  the  producer  of  the  exports  from  this  coun- 
try pays  the  duty  on  its  imports,  instead  of  the  consumer  of  those 
imports.  The  amount  which  South  Carolina  really  contributes  to 
the  public  revenue,  no  more  than  that  of  any  other  State,  can  be  pre- 
cisely ascertained.  It  depends  upon  her  consumption  of  articles  pay- 
ing duties,  and  we  may  make  an  approximation  sufficient  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes.  The  cotton  planters  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
with  whom  I  am  acquainted,  generally  expend  about  one-third  of 
their  income  in  the  support  of  their  families  and  plantations.  On  this 
subject  I  hold  in  my  hands  a  statement  from  a  friend  of  mine,  of  great 
accuracy,  and  a  member  of  the  Senate.  According  to  this  statement, 
in  a  crop  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  the  expenses  may  fluctuate  between 
two  thousand  eight  hundred  dollars  and  three  thousand  two  hundred 
dollars.  Of  this  sum,  about  one-fourth,  from  seven  to  eight  hundred 
dollars,  may  be  laid  out  in  articles  paying  the  protecting  duty ;  the 
residue  is  disbursed  for  provisions,  mules,  horses,  oxen,  wages  of 
overseer,  kjz.  Estimating  the  exports  of  South  Carolina  at  eight 
millions,  one-third  is  two  millions  six  hundred  and  sixty>six  thousand 
six  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars ;  of  which  one-fourth  will  be  six 
hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  and  two- 
thirds  dollars.  Now  supposing  the  protecting  duty  to  be  fifty  per 
cent.,  and  that  it  all  enters  into  the  price  of  the  article,  the  amount 
paid  by  South  Carolina  would  only  be  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  and  one  third  dollars.  But 
the  total  revenue  of  the  United  States  may  be  stated  at  twenty-five 
millions,  of  which  the  proportion  of  South  Carolina,  whatever  stand- 
ard, whether  of  wealth  or  population,  be  adopted,  would  be  about 
one  milKon.    Of  oourse,  on  this  view  of  the  subject,  she  actually 


IN  DEFENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  SYSTEM.  87 

pays  only  about  one-third  of  her  fair  and  legitimate  share.  I  repeat, 
that  I  have  no  jx^rsonal  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  actual  expenditure 
in  South  Carolina ;  they  may  be  greater  than  I  have  slated,  in  re^ 
spect  to  other  parts  of  the  cotton  country  ;  but  if  they  are,  that  fact 
does  not  arise  from  any  defect  in  the  system  of  public  policy. 

4.  An  abandonment  of  the  American  System,  it  is  urged,  would 
Iciidto  an  addition  to  our  exports  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of 
dollars.  The  amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  cotton  in 
the  raw  state,  would  produce  four  hundred  and  fifty  millions  in  the 
manufactured  state,  supposing  no  greater  measure  of  value  to  be  com* 
municated,  in  the  manufactured  form,  thau  that  which  our  industry 
imparts.  Now  sir,  where  would  markets  be  found  for  this  vast  ad« 
dition  to  the  supply  ?  Not  in  the  United  States,  certainly,  nor  in 
any  other  quarter  of  the  globe,  England  having  already  everywhere 
pressed  her  cotton  manufactures  to  the  utmost  point  of  repletion.  We 
must  look  out  for  new  worlds ;  bcek  for  new  and  unknown  races  of 
mortals  to  consume  this  immense  increase  of  cotton  fabrics. 

(General  Hayne  said  (hat  he  did  not  mean  that  the  incroa.^c  of  one  hundred  and 
flfly  millioDs  to  the  amoant  of  our  exports  would  be  of  cotton  alone,  but  of  other 
uticies.] 

What  other  articles  ?  Agricultural  produce — bread  studs,  beef  and 
pork  ?  &c.  Where  shall  we  find  markets  for  them  r  Wiither  shall  we 
go  ?  To  what  country  whose  ports  are^not  hermetically  sealed  against 
their  admission  ?  Break  down  the  home  market  and  you  are  without 
resource  ?  Destroy  all  other  interests  in  the  country  for  the  imagina- 
ry  purpose  of  advancing  the  cotton  planting  interest,  and  you  inflict  a 
positive  injury,  without  the  smallest  practical  benefit  to  the  cotton 
planter.  Could  Charleston^  or  the  whole  South,  when  all  other  mur« 
kets  are  prostrated,  or  shut  against  the  reception  of  the  surplus  of  our 
iiurmers,  receive  that  surplus  r  W^ould  they  buy  more  than  they 
might  want  for  their  own  consumption  ?  Could  they  find  markets 
which  other  parts  of  the  Union  could  not  r  Would  gentlemen /orce 
the  freemen  of  all  north  of  James  river,  east  and  west,  like  the  mia* 
erable  slave,  on  the  Sabbath  day,  to  repair  to  Charleston,  with  a  tur* 
key  under  his  arm,  or  a  pack  upon  his  back,  and  beg  the  clerk  of 
some  English  or  Scotch  merchant,  living  in  his  gorgeous  palace,  or 
rolling  in  his  splendid  coach  in  the  streets,  to  exchange  his  "  truck** 
fcii(  a  hit  of  fltt^el  tjo  cover  his  naked  wife  and  children!    No!   lam 

•C 


M  tPKKCHES  or  HEHBT  CLAT. 

tore  that  I  do  no  more  than  justice  to  their  hearts,  when  I  belierr 
that  they  would  reject,  what  I  believe  to  be  the  inevitable  effecti 
of  their  policy. 

5.  But  it  is  contended,  in  the  last  place,  that  the  South  cannot, 
from  physical  and  other  causes,  engage  in  the  manufacturing  arts.  1 
deny  the  premises,  and  I  deny  the  conclusion.  I  deny  the  fact  of  in- 
ability, and,  if  it  existed,  I  deny  the  conclusion,  that  we  must,  there- 
fore, break  down  our  manufactures,  and  nourish  those  of  foreign  coun 
tries.  The  South  possesses,  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  two  of  th# 
most  important  elements  of  manufacturing  industry — water-power 
and  labor.  The  former  gives  to  our  whole  country  a  most  decided 
advantage  over  Great  Britain.  But  a  single  experiment,  stated  by 
the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  in  wich  a  faithless  slave  put  th<» 
torch  to  a  manufncturing  establishment,  has  discouraged  similar  en- 
terprises. We  have  in  Kentucky  the  same  description  of  population, 
and  we  employ  them,  and  almost  exclusively  them,  in  many  of  our' 
hemp  manufactories.  A  neighbor  of  mine,  one  of  our  most  opulent 
and  respectable  citizens,  has  had  one,  two,  if  not  three,  manufactories 
burnt  by  incendiaries  ;  but  he  persevered,  and  his  perseverance  haa 
been  rewarded  with  wealth.  We  found  that  it  was  less  expensive  to 
keep  night  watches  than  to  pay  premiums  for  insurance,  and  we  em 
ployed  them. 

Let  it  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  South  cannot  manufacture , 
must  those  parts  of  the  Union  which  can,  be,  therefore,  prevented  ? 
Must  we  support  those  of  foreign  countries  .'  I  am  sure  that  injustice 
would  be  done  to  the  generous  and  patriotic  nature  of  South  Caroli- 
na, if  it  were  believed  that  she  envied  or  repined  at  the  success  of 
other  poitions  of  the  Union  in  branches  of  industry  to  which  she 
might  happen  not  to  be  adapted.  Throughout  her  whole  career  she 
has  been  liberal,  national,  high-minded. 

The  friends  of  the  American  System  have  been  reminded  by  the 
honorable  gentleman  from  Maryland,  (General  Smith,)  that  they  are 
the  majority,  and  he  has  admonished  them  to  exercise  their  power  in 
moderation.  The  majority  ought  never  to  trample  npon  the  feelings, 
or  violate  the  just  rights  of  the  minority.  They  ought  never  to  tri* 
iUnpo  over  the  fidien,  nor  to  make  any  but  a  temperate  and  equitable 
liie  of  their  power.    Bat  these  connsds  come  with  an  ill  grace  from 


IN   DSnorCE  OF  TBK  AJUUUCAH  8Y8TM.  '% 

the  gentlemftn  firom  Maryland.  He,  too,  is  a  member  of  a  majority-— 
«  political  majority.  And  how  has  the  administration  of  that  major- 
ity exercised  their  power  in  this  country  ?  Recall  to  your  recollee- 
tiou  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  when  the  lank,  lean,  famished  forms, 
from  fen  and  forest,  and  the  firar  quarters  of  the  Union,  gathered  to- 
gether in  the  halls  of  patronage ;  or  stealing  by  evening's  twi  light 
into  the  apartments  of  the  President's  mansion,  cried  out,  with  ghMt- 
ly  faces,  and  in  sepulchral  tones,  ^^  Give  us  bread !  give  us  treasury 
pap !  give  us  our  reward  !"  England^  bard  was  mistaken  ;  ghosts 
will  fiometiincs  come,  called  or  uncalled.  Go  to  the  families  who 
were  driven  from  the  employments  on  which  they  were  dependcmt 
ibr  subsistence,  in  consequence  of  their  exercise  of  the  dearest  right 
of  freemen.  Go  to  mothers,  while  hogging  to  their  bosoms  their 
starving  children.  Go  to  fathers,  who,  after  being  disqualified  by 
long  public  service  for  any  other  business,  were  stripped  of  their  hnm- 
ble  places, and  then  sought,  by  the  minions  of  authority,  to  be  stripped 
of 'all  that  was  left  them — their  good  names — and  ask,  what  mercy 
was  shown  to  them !  As  for  myself,  born  in  the  midst  of  the  revolu- 
tion, the  first  air  that  I  ever  breathed  on  my  native  soil  of  Virginia, 
having  been  that  of  liberty  and  independence,  I  never  expected  jus- 
tice, nor  desired  mercy  at  their  hands ;  and  scorn  the  wrath  and  dvfy 
the  oppression  of  power. 

1  regret,  Mr.  President,  tnat  one  topic  has,  I  think,  unnecessarily 
been  introduced'  into  this  debate.  I  allude  to  the  charge  brought 
against  the  manufacturing  system,  as  favoring  the  growth  of  aristoc- 
racy. If  it  were  true,  would  gentlemen  prefer  supporting  foreign 
aecumulations  of  wealth,  by  that  description  of  industry,  rather  than 
in  their  own  country  ?  But  is  it  correct  ?  The  joint  stock  companies 
of  the  north,  as  i  understand  them,  are  nothing  more  than  associa- 
tions, sometimes  of  hundreds,  by  means  of  which  the  small  earnings 
of  many  are  brought  into  a  common  stock,  and-  the  associates,  ob- 
taining corporate  privileges,  are  enabled  to  prosecute,  under  one  su- 
perintending bead,  their  business  to  better  udvantage.  Nothing  can 
be  more  essentially  democratic  or  better  devised  to  counterpoise  the 
influence  of  individual  wealth.  In  Kentucky,  almost  every  manufac* 
toiy  kBOwn  to  me,  is  in  the  hands  of  enterprising  and  self-made  men, 
who  have  acquired  whatever  wealth  they  possess  by  patient  and  dil- 
%aDt  labor.  Comparisons  are  odious,  and  but  in  defence,  would  not 
beauide  bfie^    Qui  is  there  more  tendency  to  aristocracy  in  a  miu^ 


I 


40  tPKECHES  OF  HENRY   CLAY. 

xdactOTY  supporting  hundreds  of  freemen,  or  in  a  cotton  plantation, 
with  its  not  less  numerous  slaves,  sustaining  perhaps  only  two  white 
fiunilies — that  of  the  master  and  the  overseer  ? 

I  pass,  with  pleasure,  from  this  disagreeable  topic,  to  two  general 
propositions  which  cover  the  entire  ground  of  debate.  The  first  is, 
that  under  the  operation  of  the  American  System,  the  objects  which 
it  protects  and  fosters  are  brought  to  the  consumer  at  cheaper  prices 
than  they  commanded  prior  to  its  introduction,  or,  than  they  would 
command  if  it  did  not  exist.  If  that  be  true,  ought  not  the  countr> 
to  be  contented  and  satisfied  with  the  system,  unless  the  second  pro- 
position, which  I  mean  presently  also  to  consider,  is  unfounded  ?  And 
that  is,  that  the  tendency  of-  the  system  is  to  sustain,  and  that  it  ha5 
upheld  the  prices  of  all  our  agricultural  and  other  produce,  including 
cotton. 

And  is  the  fact  not  indisputable,  that  all  essential  objects  of  con- 
sumption affected  by  the  tariff,  are  cheaper  and  better  since  the  act  of 
1S24,  than  they  were  for  several  years  prior  to  that  law  ?  I  appeal 
for  its  truth  to  common  observation  and  to  all  practical  men.  I  appeal 
to  the  farmer  of  the  country,  whether  he  does  not  purchase  on  belter 
terms  his  iron,  salt,  brown  sugar,  cotton*  goods,  and  woollens,  for  his 
laboring  people  ?  And  I  ask  the  cotton  planter  if  he  has  not  been 
better  and  more  cheaply  supplied  with  his  cotton  bagging  ?  In  re- 
gard to  this  latter  article,  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  was 
mistaken  in  supposing  that  I  complained  that,  under  the  existing  duty 
the  Kentucky  manufacturer  could  not  compete  with  the  Scotch.  The 
Kentuckian  furnishes  a  more  substantial  and  a  cheaper  article,  and  at 
a  more  uniform  and  regular  price.  But  it  wa.s  the  frauds,  the  viola- 
tions of  law  of  which  I  did  complain ;  not  smuggling,  in  the  common 
sense  of  that  practice,  which  has  something  bold,  daring,  and  enter- 
prising in  it,  but  mean,  barefaced  cheating,  by  fraudulent  invoices  and 
fidse  denomination. 

I  plant  myself  upon  this  fact,  of  cheapness  and  superiority,  as  upon 
impregnable  ground,  txentlemen  may  tax  their  ingenuity  and  pro- 
duce a  thousand  speculatire  solutions  of  the  fact,  but  the  fact  itself 
will  remain  undisturbed.  Let  us  look  into  some  particulars.  The 
total  consumption  of  bar  iron  in  the  United  States  is  supposed  to  be 
about  146,000  tons,  of  which  1 12,866  tons  are  made  within  the  oonn- 
trjf  and  the  reridoe  imported.    The  nomber  of  men  employed  in  the 


IN   DKFUrci   or  TBS  AHERICAir  ITSTIM.  41 

Bumfacture  is  estimated  at  29^254,  and  the  total  number  of  persona 
•ubsisted  by  it,  at  146,273.  The  measure  of  protection  extended  to 
this  necessary  article,  was  never  fully  adequate  until  the  passage  of 
the  act  of  1828 ;  and  what  has  been  the  consequence  ?  The  annual 
increase  of  quantity,  since  that  period,  has  been  in  a  ratio  of  near 
twenty-five  per  cent.,  and  the  wholesale  price  of  bar  iron  in  the 
northern  cities  was,  in  1828,  $105  per  ton,  in  1829,  $100,  in  1830 
$90,  and  in  1831,  from  $85  to  $75— constantly  diminishing.  We 
import  very  little  English  iron,  and  that  which  we  do,  is  very  inferior, 
and  only  adapted  to  a  few  purposes.  In  instituting  a  comparison  be« 
tween  that  inferior  article  and  our  superior  iron,  subjects  entirely  dif- 
ferent are  compared.  They  ar6  nuule  by  different  processes.  The 
English  cannot  make  iron  of  equal  quality  to  ours,  at  a  less  price  than 
we  do.  They  have  three  classes,  best-best,  and  best  and  ordinary. 
It  is  the  latter  which  is  imported.  Of  the  whole  amount  imported, 
there  is  only  about  4,000  tons  of  foreign  iron  that  pays  the  high  duty, 
the  residue  paying  only  a  duty  of  about  thirty  per  cent.,  estimated  oq 
the  pricey  of  the  importation  of  1829.  Our  iron  ore  is  superior  to 
that  of  Great  Britain,  yielding  often  from  sixty  to  eighty  per  cent., 
while  theirs  produces  only  about  twenty-five.  This  fact  is  so  well 
known,  that  I  have  heard  of  recent  exportations  of  iron  ore  to  Eng- 
land. 

It  has  been  alleged,  that  bar  iron,  being  a  raw  material,  ought  to  be 
admitted  free,  or  with  low  duties,  for  the  sake  of  the  jnanufacturers 
themselves.  But  I  take  this  to  be  the  true  principle,  that  if  our  coun- 
try is  producing  a  raw  material  of  prime  necessity,  and  with  reason- 
able protection,  can  produce  it  in  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  our 
wants,  that  raw  material  ought  to  be  protected,  although  it  may  be 
proper  to  protect  the  article  also  out  of  which  it  is  manufactured. 
The  tailor  will  ask  protection  for  himself,  but  wishes  it  denied  to  the 
grower  of  wool  and' the  manufacturer  of  broadcloth.  The  cotton 
planter  enjoys  protection  for  the  raw  material,  but  does  not  desire  it 
to  be  extended  to  the  cotton  manufacturer.  The  ship  builder  will 
mik  protection  for  navigation,  but  does  not  wish  it  extended  to  the 
essential  articles  which  enter  into  the  construction  of  his  ship.  Each 
in  his  proper  vocation  solicits  protection,  but  would  have  it  denied  to 
all  other  interests  which  are  supposed  to  come  into  collision  with  his. 

Mow  the  duty  of  the  statesman  is,  to  elevate  himself  above  these 


43  tPBCHU  OF  HElfBT  CLAT. 

petty  conflicts ;  calmly  to  survey  all  the  tbtioos  interests,  and  delib- 
erately to  proportion  the  measures  of  protection  to  each,  according  to 
its  nature  and  to  the  general  wants  of  society.  It  is  quite  possible 
that,  in  the  degree  of  protection  which  has  been  afibrdod  to  the  va- 
rious workers  in  iron,  there  maybe  some  error  committed,  although  I 
have  lately  read  an  argument  of  much  ability,  proving  that  no  injustice 
has  really  been  done  to  them.     If  there  be,  it  ought  to  be  remedied. 

The  next  article  to  which  I  would  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate, 
is  that  of  cotton  fabrics.  The  success  of  our  manufacture  of  coarse 
cottons  is  generally  admitted.  It  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that 
they  meet  the  cotton  fabrics  of  other  countries,  in  foreign  markets, 
and  maintain  a  successful  competition  with  them.  There  has  been 
a  gradual  increase  of  the  exports  of  this  article,  which  is  sei)t  to 
Mexico  and  the  South  American  Republics,  to  the  Mediterranean,  and 
even  to  Asia.  The  remarkable  feet  was  lately  communicated  to'me, 
that  the  same  individual,  who  twenty-five  years  ajro  was  engaged  fn 
the  importation  of  cotton  cloth  from  Asia  for  American  consumption, 
is  now  engaged  in  the  exportation  of  coarse  American  cottons  to  As^a, 
for  Asiatic  consumption  !  And  my  honorable  friend  from  Massachu- 
setts, now  in  my  eye,  (Mr.  Silsbee,)  informed  mc  that  on  his  depart- 
ure from  home,  among  the  last  orders  which  he  gave,  one  was  for  the 
exportation  of  coarse  cottons  to  Sumatra,  in  the  vicinity  of  Calcutta ! 
I  hold  in  my  hfind  a  statement,  derived  from  the  most  authentic  source, 
showing  that  the  identical  description  of  cotton  cloth,  which  sold  in 
1817,  at  twenty-nine  cents  per  yard,  was  sold  in  ISIO  at  twent^'-one 
cents,  in  1821  at  nineteen  and  a  half  cents,  in  1^23  at  seventeen  cents, 
in  1S25  at  fourteejfi  and  a  half  cents,  in  1827  at  thirteen  cents,  in  1829 
at  nine  cents,  in  1830  at  nine  and  a  half  cents,  and  in  1831  at  from 
ten  and  a  half  to  eleven.  Such  is  the  wonderful  effect  of  protection^ 
competition,  and  improvement  in  skill,  combined !  The  year  1S29  was 
one  of  some  suffering  to  this  branch  of  industry,  probably  owing  to  the 
principle  of  competition  being  pushed  too  for.  Hence  we  observe  a 
small  rise  in  the  article  of  the  next  two  years.  The  introduction  of 
calico  printing  into  the  United  States,  constitutes  an  important  era  in 
oar  manufacturing  industr}^  It  commenced  about  the  year  1S25,  and 
has  since  made  such  astonishing  advances,  that  the  whole  quantity 
now  annually  printed  is  but  little  short  of  forty  millions  of  j-ards  — 
about  two-thirds  of  our  whole  consumption.  It  is  a  beautiful  manu- 
ftctnre,  combining  great  mechanical  skill  with  scientific  discovcrict 


^ 


IV  DKnmcs  OF  the  amkeican  system.  43 

in  chemistry.  The  engraved  cyliDders  for  making  the  impression 
require  much  taste,  and  put  in  requisition  the  genius  of  the  fine  arte 
of  design  and  engraving.  Are  the  fine  graceful  forms  of  our  fair 
countrywomen  less  lovely  vrhen  enveloped  in  the  chintses  and  cali- 
coes produced  hy  native  industry,  than  when  clothed  in  the  tinsel  of 
of  foreign  drapery  ? 

Gentlemen  are  no  doubt  surprised  at  these  fiBicts.  They  should 
not  underrate  the  energies,  the  enterprise,  and  the  skill  of  our  fellow- 
citizens.  I  have  no  doubt  they  are  every  way  competent  to  accom- 
plish whatever  can  be  efiected  by  any  other  people,  if  encouraged 
and  protected  by  the  fostering  care  of  our  own  government.  Will 
gentlemen  believe  the  fact,  which  I  am  authorised  now  to  state,  that 
the  United  States,  at  this  time,  manufacture  one-half  the  quantity  of 
cotton  which  Great  Britain  did  in  1816  !  We  possess  three  great 
advantages;  1st.  The  raw  material.  2d.  Water  power  instead  of 
that  of  steam,  generally  used  in  England.  And  3d.  The  cheaper 
labor  of  females.  In  England,  males  spin  with  the  mule  and  weave ; 
in  this  country  women  and  girls  spin  with  the  throstle,  and  superin- 
tend the  power  loom.  And  can  there  be  any  employment  more  ap- 
IHTopriate  ?  AVho  has  not  been  delighted  with  contemplating  the 
clock-work  regularity  of  a  large  cotton  manufactory  ?  I  have  often 
visited  them  at  Cincinnati  and  other  places,  and  always  with  increas- 
ed admiration.  The  women,  separated  firom  the  other  sex,  work  in 
apartments,  large,  airy,  well  warmed  and  spacious.  Neatly  dressed, 
with  rudy  complexions,  and  happy  countenances,  they  watch  the 
work  before  them,  mend  the  broken  threads,  and  replace  the  exhaust- 
ed balls  or  broaches.  At  stated  hours  they  are  called  to  their  meals, 
and  go  and  return  with  light  and  cheerful  step.  At  night  they  sepa- 
rate, and  repair  to  their  respective  houses,  under  the  care  of  a  mother, 
guardian  cr  friend.  '^  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  that  thou 
hast  to  do,  but  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Ix>rd  thy  God.'' 
Accordingly,  we  behold  them,  on  that  sacred  day,  assembled  together 
in  His  Temples,  and  in  devotional  attitudes  and  with  pious  counte* 
nances  ofiering  their  prayers  to  Heaven  for  all  its  blessings,  of  which 
it  is  not  the  least  that  a  system  rf  policy  has  been  adopted  by  their 
country,  which  admits  of  their  obtaining  a  comfortable  subsistence. 
Manufactures  have  brought  into  profitable  employment  a  vast 
amount  of  female  labor,  which,  without  them,  would  be  lost  to  the 
eountry. 


44  tPEECHEB  or  HEKRT   CLAT. 

In  respect  to  woollens,  every  gentleman's  own  observation  and  ex* 
perience  will  enable  him  to  judge  of  the  great  reduction  of  price 
which  has  taken  place  in,  most  of  these  articles,  since  the  tariff  of 
1824.  It  would  have  been  still  greater,  but  for  the  high  duty  on  the 
raw  material,  imposed  for  the  particular  benefit  of  the  farming  interest. 
But,  without  going  into  particular  details,  I  shall  limit  myself  to  in^ 
viting  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  a  single  article  of  general  and 
necessary  use.  The  protection  given  to  flannels  in  1828  was  folly 
adequate.  It  has  enabled  the  American  manufacturer  to  obtain  com- 
plete possession  of  the  American  market ;  and  now,  let  us  look  at  the 
effect.  I  have  before  me  a  statement  from  a  highly  respectable  mer^ 
cantile  house,  showing  the  price  of  four  descriptions  of  flannel,  during 
six  years.  The  average  price  of  them,  in  1826,  was  thirty-eight  and 
three  quarter  cents  ;  in  1827,  thirty-eight ;  in  1828,  (the  year  of  the 
tariff,)  forty-six  ;  in  1829,  thirty-six  ;  in  1830,  (notwithstanding  the 
advance  in  the  price  of  wool)  thirty-two;  and  in  1831,  thirty-two 
and  one-quarter.  These  facts  require  no  comments.  I  have  be- 
fore mc  another  statement  of  a  practical  and  respectable  man,  well 
versed  in  the  flannel  manufacture  in  America  and  England,  demon- 
strating that  the  cost  of  manufacture  is  precisely  the  same  in  both 
countries  ;  and  that,  although  a  yard  of  flannel  which  woul  dsell  in 
England  at  15  cents,  would  command  here  twenty-two,  the  difier- 
ence  of  seven  cents  is  the  exact  difference  between  the  duties  in  the 
two  countries,  which  are  paid  on  the  six  ounces  of  wool  contained  in 
a  yard  of  flannel. 

Brown  sugar,  during  ten  years,  from  1792  to  1802,  with  a  duty  of 
one  and  a  half  cents  per  pound,  averaged  fourteen  cents  per  pound. 
The  same  article,  during  ten  years,  from  1820  to  1830,  with  a  duty 
of  three  cents,  has  averaged  only  eight  cents  per  pound.  Nails,  with 
a  duty  of  five  cents  per  pound,  are  selling  at  six  cents.  Window 
glass,  eight  by  ten,  prior  to  the  tariff  of  1824,  sold  at  twelve  or  thir- 
teen dollars  per  hundred  feet ;  it  now  sells  for  three  dollars  seventy- 
five  cents. 

The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  sensible  of  the  incontestible 
fact  of  the  very  great  reduction  in  the  price  of  the  necessaries  of  life^ 
protected  by  the  American  System  has  felt  the  full  force  of  it,  and 
has  presented  various  explanations  of  the  causes  to  which  he  ascribes 
it.    The  first  is  the  diminished  production  of  the  precious  metals,  in 


IN   DKFCNCI  or  THS   AMERICAN  SYSTEM.  45 

^xnupequence  of  the  distreflsed  state  of  the  coontries  in  which  they  are 
extracted,  and  the  coi^pequent  increase  of  their  value  relative  to  that 
of  the  commodities  for  which  they  are  exchanged.  But,  if  thb  be 
the  true  cause  of  the  reduction  of  price,  its  operation  ought  to  have 
been  general,  on  all  objects,  and  of  course  upon  cotton  among  the 
rest.  And,  in  point  of  fact,  the  diminished  price  of  that  staple  is  not 
greater  than  the  diminution  of  the  value  of  other  staples  of  our  agri- 
culture. Flour,  which  commanded  some  years  ago,  ten  or  twelve 
dollars  per  barrel,  is  now  sold  for  five.  The  fall  of  tobacco  has  been 
still  more.  The  kite-foot  of  Maryland,  which  sold  at  from  sixteen 
to  twenty  dollars  per  hundred,  now  produces  only  four  or  five.  That 
of  Virginia  has  sustained  an  equal  decline.  Beef,  pork,  every  article 
almost,  produced  by  the  farmer,  has  decreased  in  value.  Ought  not 
South  Carolina  then  to  submit  quietly  to  a  state  of  things,  which  is 
general,  and  proceeds  from  an  uncontrolabie  cause  ?  Ought  she  to 
ascribe  to  the  ^^  accursed''  tariff  what  results  from  the  calamities  of 
civil  and  foreign  war,  raging  in  many  countries  ? 

Bat,  sir,  I  do  not  subscribe  to  this  doctrine  implicitly.  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  diminished  production  of  the  precious  metals,  if  that 
be  the  factj  satisficustorily  accounts  for  the  fall  in  prices  :  For  I  think 
that  the  augmentation  of  the  currency  of  the  world,  by  means  of 
banks,  public  stocks  and  other  facilities  arising  out  of  exchange  and 
credit,  has  more  than  supplied  any  deficiency  in  the  amount  of  the 
precious  metals. 

It  is  fiirther  urged  that  the  restoration  of  peace  in  Europe,  after  the 
battle  of  Waterloo,  and  the  consequent  return  to  peaceful  pursuits  of 
large  masses  of  its  population,  by  greatly  increasing  the  aggregate 
amount  of  effective  labor,  had  a  tendency  to  lower  prices ;  and  un- 
doubtedly such  ought  to  have  been  its  natural  tendency.  The  same 
cause,  however,  must  also  have  operated  to  reduce  the  price  of  our 
agricultural  produce,  for  which  there  was  no  longer  the  same  demand 
in  peace  as  in  war — and  it  did  so  operate.  But  its  influence  on  the 
price  of  manufactured  articles,  between  the  general  peace  of  Europe 
in  1815,  and  the  adoption  of  our  tariff  in  1824,  was  less  sensibly  felt, 
because,  perhaps,  a  much  larger  portion  of  the  labor,  liberated  by  the 
dtsbandment  of  armies,  was  absorbed  by  manufactures  than  by  agri* 
culture.  It  is  also  contended  that  the  invention  and  improvement  of 
labor  isving  machinery  have  tended  to  lessen  the  prices. of  manufiic* 


46  tPEICHU  OF  HEICBT  CLAJ- 

tared  objects  of  consumption ;  and  onqoubtedly  this  cause  has  bad 
some  eflfect.  Ought  not  America  to  contribute  her  quota  of  tiiis  cause, 
and  has  she  not,  by  her  skill  and  extraordinary  adaptation  to  the  arts, 
in  truth,  largely  contributed  to  it  ? 

This  brings  me  to  consider  what  I  apprehend  to  iiave  been  the 
most  efficient  of  all  the  causes  in  the  reduction  of  the  prices  of  manu« 
factured  articles — and  that  is  competition.  By  competition,  the  to- 
tal amount  of  the  supply  is  increased,  and  by  increase  of  the  supply, 
a  competition  in  the  sale  ensues,  and  this  enables  the  consumer  to 
buy  at  lower  rates.  Of  all  human  powers  operating  on  the  afiairs 
of  mankind,  none  is  greater  than  that  of  competition.  It  is  action 
and  re-action.  It  operates  between  individuals  in  the  same  nation, 
and  between  different  nations.  It  resembles  the  meeting  of  the  moun- 
tain torrent,  grooving  by  its  pvficipitous  motion,  its  own  channel,  and 
ocean ^s  tide.  Unopposed,  it  sweeps  every  thing  before  it ;  but,  coun- 
terpoised, the  waters  become  calm,  safe  and  regular.  It  is  like  the 
segments  of  a  circle  or  an  arch  ;  taken  separately,  each  is  nothing  ; 
but  in  their  combination  they  produce  efficiency,  symmetry,  and  per- 
fection. By  the  American  System  this  vast  power  has  been  excited 
in  America,  and  brought  into  being  to  act  in  co-operation  or  collision 
with  European  industry.  Europe  acts  within  itself,  and  with  Ame- 
rica ;  and  America  acts  within  itself,  and  with  Europe.  The  conse- 
quence is,  the  reduction  of  prices  in  both  hemispheres.  Nor  is  it  fair 
to  argue  from  the  reduction  of  prices  in  Europe,  to  her  own  presum- 
ed skill  and  labor,  exclusively.  We  aflbct  her  prices,  and  she  affects 
ours.  This  must  always  be  the  case,  at  least  in  reference  to  any  ar- 
ticles as  to  which  there  is  not  a  total  non-intercourse  ;  and  if  our  in- 
dustry, by  diminishing  the  demand  for  her  supplies,  should  produce 
a  diminution  in  the  price  of  those  supplies,  it  would  be  very  unfair  to 
ascribe  that  deduction  to  her  ingenuity,  instead  of  placing  it  to  the 
credit  of  our  own  skill  and  excited  industry. 

Practical  men  understand  very  well  this  state  of  the  case,  whether 
they  do  or  do  not  comprehend  the  causes  which  produce  it.  I  have 
in  my  possession  a  letter  from  a  respectable  merchant,  well  known  to 
me,  in  which  he  says,  after  complaining  of  the  operation  of  the  tariff 
of  1828,  on  the  articles  to  which  it  applies,  some  of  which  he  had 
imported,  and  that  his  purchases  having  been  made  in  England,  be- 
fore the  passage  of  that  tariff  was  known,  it  produced  such  an  effect 


IN  DEFBKCI  or  THS  AlCfiRICAIT  f TflTUC.  47 

vpon  the  EDglUh  tnaiket,  that  the  articles  could  not  be  re-«old  with- 
out loss,  he  adds :  ^*  for  it  really  appears  that,  when  additional  duties 
are  laid  upon  an  article^  it  then  becomes  htcer  instead  of  higher. ^^ 
This  would  not  probably  happen^  where  the  supply  of  the  foreign 
article  did  not  exceed  the  hoine  demand,  unless  upon  the  supposition 
of  the  increased  duty  having  excited  or  ttimulated  the  measure  of  the 
home  production. 

The  great  law  o^ price  is  determined  by  supply  and  demand.  What- 
ever  affects  either,  a^cts  the  price.  If  the  supply  is  increased,  the 
demand  remaining  the  same,  the  price  declines ;  if  the  demand  is  in- 
creased, the  supply  remainiog  the  same,  the  price  advances ;  if  both 
supply  and  demand  are  undiminished,  the  price  is  stationary,  and  the 
price  is  influenced  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  disturbance 
to  the  demand  or  supply.  It  is  therefore  a  great  error  to  suppo.<ie 
that  an  existing  or  new  duty  necessarily,  becomes  a  component  ele- 
ment to  its  exact  amount  of  price.  If  the  proportions  of  demand 
and  supply  are  varied  by  the  duty,  either  in  augmenting  the  supply, 
or  diminishing  the  demand,  or  vice  versa,  price  is  aflected  to  the  ex* 
tent  of  that  variation.  But  the  duty  never  becomes  an  integral  part 
of  the  price,  except  in  the  instances  where  the  demand  and  the  sup- 
ply remain  after  the  duty  is  imposed,  precisely  what  they  were  before, 
or  the  demand  is  increased,  and  the  supply  remains  stationary. 

Competition,  therefore,  wherever  existing,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad,  is  the  parent  cause  of  cheapness.  If  a  high  duty  excites  pro- 
duction at  home,  and  the  quantity  of  the  domestic  article  exceeds 
the  amount  which  had  been  previously  imported  the  price  will  fall. 
This  accounts  for  an  extraordinary  feict  stated  by  a  Senator  from 
Missouri.  Three  conts  were  laid  as  a  duty  upon  a  pound  of  lead, 
by  the  act  of  18;^8.  The  price  at  Galena,  and  the  other  lead  mines, 
afterwards  fell  to  one  and  a  half  cents  per  pound.  Now  it  is  obvious 
that  the  duty  did  not,  in  this  case,  enter  into  the  price  :  for  it  was 
twiee  the  amount  of  the  price.  What  produced  the  fall  ?  It  was 
#ftmii/a/e(i  production  at  home,  excited  by  the  temptation  of  the  ex- 
clusive possession  of  the  home  market.  This  state  of  things  could 
aot  last.  Men  would  not  continue  an  unprofitable  pursuit ;  some 
abandoned  the  business,  or  the  total  quantity  produced  was  diminish- 
ed, and  living  prices  have  been  the  consequence.  But,  break  down 
the  domestic  supply,  fdaoe  us  again  in  a  state  of  dependence  on  the 


48  SPEKCHtS   OF  RXNRT   CLAT. 

fiyreign  source,  and  can  it  be  doabted  that  we  should  ultimately  have 
to  supply  ourselves  at  dearer  rates  ?  It  is  not  iair  to  credit  the  for* 
eign  market  with  the  depression  of  prices  produced  there  by  the  io- 
flaence  of  our  competition.  Let  the  competition  be  withdrawn,  and 
their  prices  would  instantly  rise.  On  this  subject,  great  mistakes  are 
committed.  I  have  seen  some  most  erroneous  reasoning  in  a  late 
report  of  Mr.  Lee,  of  the  Free  Trade  Convention  in  regard  to  the  ar- 
ticle of  sugar.  He  calculates  the  total  amount  of  brown  sugar  pro- 
duced in  the  world,  and  tlien  states,  that  what  is  made  in  Louisiana 
is  not  more  than  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  that  total.  Althoi^h 
his  data  may  be  questioned,  let  us  assume  their  truth,  and  what  might 
be  the  result  ?  Price  being  determined  by  the  proportions  of  sup- 
ply and  demand,  it  is  evident  that  when  the  supply  exceeds  the  de- 
mand, the  price  will  fall.  And  the  fall  is  not  always  regulated  by 
the  amount  of  that  excess.  If  the  market  at  a  given  price,  required 
five  or  fifty  millions  of  hogsheads  of  sugar,  a  surplus  of  only  a  few 
hundred*  might  materially  influence  the  price,  and  diffuse  itself 
throughout  the  whole  mass.  Add,  therefore,  the  eighty  or  one  huiH 
dred  thousand  hoghsheads  of  Louisiana  sugar  to  the  entire  mass 
produced  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
a  material  reduction  of  the  price  of  the  article  throughout  Europe 
and  America,  would  take  place.  The  Louisiana  sugar  substituting 
foreign  sugar  in  the  home  market,  to  the  amount  of  its  annual  pro- 
duce, would  force  an  equal  amount  of  foreign  sugar  into  other  mar- 
kets, which  being  glutted,  the  price  would  necessarily  decline,  and 
this  decline  of  price  would  press  portions  of  the  foreign  sugar  into 
competition  in  the  United  States,  with  Louisiana  sugar,  the  price  of 
which  would  also  be  brought  down.  The  fact  has  been  in  exact  con- 
formity with  this  theory.  But  now  let  us  suppose  the  Louisiana  su- 
gar to  be  entirely  withdrawn  from  the  general  consumption — what 
then  would  happen  }  A  new  demand  would  be  created  in  America 
for  foreign  sugar,  to  the  extent  of  the  eighty  or  one  hundred  thoQ- 
■and  hogsheads  made  in  Louisiana ;  a  less  amount  by  that  quantity^ 
would  be  sent  to  the  European  markets,  and  the  price  would  conse- 
quently everywhere  rise.  It  is  not,  therefore,  those  who,  by  keep- 
ing on  duties,  keep  down  prices,  that  tax  the  people,  but  those  who, 
by  repealing  duties,  would  raise  prices,  that  really  impose  burthena 
upon  the  people. 

But,  it  if  argued  that  if,  by  the  fkill,  experience,  and  p^feetion 


IN  DEFBNCB  OF  THE  AMERICAN  8T8TEM.  49 

which  we  have  acquired  in  certain  branches  of  manufacture,  they 
can  be  made  as  cheap  as  similar  articles  abroad,  and  enter  fairly  into 
competition  with  them,  why  not  repeal  the  duties  as  to  those  articles? 
And  why  should  we  ?  Assuming  the  truth  of  the  supposition  the 
foreign  article  would  not  be  introduced  in  the  regular  course  of  trade, 
but  would  remain  excluded  by  the  possession  of  the  home  market, 
which  the  domestic  article  had  obtained.  The  repeal,  therefore, 
would  have  no  legitimate  effect.  But  might  not  the  foreign  article 
be  imported  in  vast  quantities,  to  glut  our  markets,  break  down  our 
establishments,  and  ultimately  to  enable  the  foreigner  to  monopolize 
^l|e  supply  of  our  consumption?  America  is  the  greatest  foreign 
market  for  European  manufactures.  It  is  that  to  which  European 
attention  is  constantly  directed.  If  a  great  house  becomes  bankruj;^ 
there,  its  store-houses  are  emptied,  and  the  goods  are  shipped  to 
America,  where,  in  consequence  of  our  auctions,  and  our  custom* 
house  credits,  the  greatest  facilities  are  afforded  in  the  sale  of  them. 
Combinations  among  manufacturers  might  take  place,  or  even  the 
operations  of  foreign  governments  might  be  directed  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  our  establishments.  A  repeal,  therefore,  of  one  protecting 
duty,  from  some  one  or  all  of  these  causes,  would  be  followed  by 
flooding  the  country  with  the  foreign  fabric,  surcharging  the  market, 
reducing  the  price,  and  a  complete  prostration  of  our  manufactories ; 
after  which  the  foreigner  would  leisurely  look  about  to  indemnify  him- 
self in  the  increased  prices  which  he  would  be  enabled  to  command 
by  his  monopoly  of  the  supply  of  our  consumption.  What  American 
citizen,  afier  the  government  had  displayed  this  vascillating  policy, 
would  be  again  tempted  to  place  the  smallest  confidence  in  the  public 
fiuthi  and  adventure  once  more  in  this  branch  of  industry  ? 

Gentlemen  have  allowed  to  the  manufacturing  portions  of  the 
community  no  peace  ;  they  have  been  constantly  threatened  with  the 
overthrow  of  the  American  System.  From  the  year  1820,  if  not  from 
1816,  down  to  this  time,  they  have  been  held  in  a  condition  of  con- 
stant alarm  and  insecurity.  Nothing  is  more  prejudicial  to  the  great 
interests  of  a  nation  than  imsettled  and  varying  policy.  Although 
every  appeal  to  the  national  legislature  has  been  responded  to  in  con* 
formity  with  the  wishes  and  sentiments  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
people,  measures  of  protection  have  only  been  carried  by  such  small 
majorities  as  to  excite  hopes  on  the  one  hand,  and  fears  on  the  other. 
Let  the  country  breathe,  let  its  vast  resources  be  developed,  let  its 


60  tPECCHIf  OF   RENRY    CLAT. 

energies  be  fully  put  forth,  let  it  have  tranquillity,  and  my  word  for 
it,  (he  degree  of  perfection  in  the  arts  which  it  will  exhibit,  wUl  be 
greater  than  that  which  has  been  presented,  astonishing  as  our  pro- 
gress has  been.  Although  some  branches  of  our  manufactures  might, 
and  in  foreign  markets  now  do,  fearlessly  contend  with  similar  foreign 
fabrics,  there  are  many  others  yet  in  their  infancy,  struggling  with 
the  difficulties  which  encompass  them.  We  should  look  at  the  whole 
system,  and  recollect  that  time,  when  we  contemplate  the  great 
movements  of  a  nation,  is  very  ditferent  from  the  short  period  which 
is  allotted  for  the  duration  of  individual  life.  The  honorable  gentle- 
man from  South  Carolina  well  and  eloquently  said,  in  1S24,  **  No 
great  interest  of  any  country  ever  yet  grew  up  in  a  day ;  no  new 
branch  of  industry  can  become  firmly  and  profitably  established  but 
in  a  long  course  of  years  ;  every  thing,  indeed,  great  or  good,  is  ma- 
tured by  slow  degrees :  that  which  attains  a  speedy  maturity  is  of 
small  value,  and  is  destined  to  a  brief  existence.  It  is  the  order  of 
Providence,  that  powers  gradually  developed,  shall  alone  attain  per- 
manency and  perfection.  Thus  must  it  be  with  our  national  institu- 
tions, and  national  character  itself. '' 

I  feel  roost  sensibly,  Mr.  President,  how  much  I  have  trespassed 
upon  the  Senate.  My  apology  is  a  deep  and  deliberate  conviction, 
that  the  great  cause  under  debate  involves  the  prosperity  and  the 
destiny  of  the  Union.  But  the  best  requital  I  can  make,  for  the 
friendly  indulgence  which  has  been  extended  to  me  by  the  Senate, 
and  for  which  I  shall  ever  retain  sentiments  of  lasting  gratitude,  is 
to  proceed  with  as  little  delay  as  practicable,  to  the  conclusion  of  a 
discourse  which  has  not  been  more  tedious  to  the  Senate  than  ex- 
hausting to  me.  I  have  now  to  consider  the  remaining  of  the  two 
propositions  which  I  have  already  announced.     That  is : 

Secondly.  That  under  the  operation  of  the  American  System,  the 
products  of  our  agriculture  command  a  higher  price  than  they  would 
do.  without  it,  by  the  creation  of  a  home  market ;  and  by  the  aug- 
mentation of  wealth  produced  by  manufacturing  industry,  which  en- 
larges our  powers  of  consumption  both  of  domestic  and  foreign  arti- 
cles. The  importance  of  the  home  market  is  among  the  establidied 
maxims  which  are  universally  recognised  by  all  writers  and  all  men. 
However  some  may  difier  as  to  the  relative  advantages  of  the  foreigi. 
ttid  the  bome  market,  ndnd  deny  to  the  latter  great  value  and  Ul|^ 


IN   DEFSNCt  or  THE  AUBRICASf  ITSTKlf.  51 

oonaideration.  It  is  nearer  to  us ;  beyond  the  control  of  foreign  legis- 
lation ;  and  undisturbed  by  those  vicissitudes  to  which  all  internation- 
al intercourse  is  more  or  less  exposed.  The  most  stupid  are  sensible 
of  the  benefit  of  a  residence  in  the  vicinity  of  a  large  manufactory,  or 
of  a  market  town,  of  a  good  road,  or  of  a  navigable  stream,  which 
connects  their  farms  with  some  great  capital.  If  the  pursuits  of  all 
men  were  perfectly  the  same,  although  they  would  be  in  possession 
of  the  greatest  abundance  of  the  particular  produce  of  their  industry, 
they  might,  at  the  same  time,  be  in  extreme  want  of  other  necessary 
articles  of  human  subsistence.  The  uniformity  of  the  general  occu- 
pation would  preclude  all  exchanges,  all  commerce.  It  is  only  in  the 
diversity  of  the  vocations  of  the  members  of  a  community  that  the 
means  can  be  found  for  those  salutary  exchanges  which  conduce  to 
the  general  prosperity .  Anc^the  greater  that  diversity,  the  more  ex- 
tensive and  the  more  animating  is  the  circle  of  exchange.  Even  if 
foreign  markets  were  freely  and  widely  open  to  the  reception  of  our 
agricultural  produce,  from  its  bulky  nature,  and  the  distance  of  the 
interior,  and  the  dangers  of  the  ocean,  large  portions  of  it  could  never 
profitably  reach  the  foreign  market.  But  let  us  quit  this  field  of  the- 
ory, clear  as  it  is,  and  look  at  the  practical  operation  of  the  system  of 
protection,  beginning  with  the  most  valuable  staple  of  our  agriculture. 

In  considering  this  staple,  the  first  circumstance  that  excites  our 
surprise,  is  the  rapidity  with  which  the  amount  of  it  has  annually  in- 
creased. Does  not  this  fact,  however,  demonstrate  that  the  cultiva- 
tion of  it  could  not  haye  been  so  very  unprofitable  !  If  the  business 
were  ruinous,  would  more  and  more  have  annually  engaged  in  it  ? 
The  quantity  in  1816,  was  eighty-one  millions  of  pounds  ;  in  1826, 
two  hundred  and  four  millions ;  and  in  1S30,  near  three  hundred 
millions !  The  ground  of  greatest  surprise  is,  that  it  has  been  able  to 
sustain  even  its  present  price  with  such  an  enormous  augmentation  of 
quantity.  It  could  not  have  been  done  but  for  the  combined  opera- 
tion of  three  causes,  by  which  the  consumption  of  cotton  fabrics  has 
been  greatly  extended,  in  consequence  of  their  reduced  prices  :  1st. 
competition ;  2d.,  the  improvement  of  labor-saving  machinery  ;  and 
3dJy.9  the  low  price  of  the  raw  material.  The  crop  of  1619,  amount- 
ing to  eighty-eight  millions  of  pounds,  produced  twenty-one  millions 
of  dollars ;  the  crop  of  1823,  when  the  amount  was  swelled  to  one 
himdred  and  seveniy-^ar  millions  (almost  double  that  of  1819,)  pro 
d«oad  a  kas  Sam  Iqf  iDoie  tfan  half  a  million  of  dollars ;  andthecrop 


52  8PEBCHKS   OF  HENRY   CI.AT. 

of  1824,  amounting  to  thirty  millions  of  pounds  less  than  that  of  the 
preceding  year,  produced  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars  more. 

If  there  he  any  foundation  for  the  established  law  of  price,  suppiy, 
and  demand,  ought  not  the  fact  of  this  great  increase  of  the  supply  to 
account  satisfactorily  for  the  alleged  low  price  of  cotton  ?  Is  it  neces- 
sary to  look  beyond  that  single  fact  to  the  tariiF— to  the  diminished 
prod uc!boitlie  mines  furnishing  the  precious  metals,  or  to  any  other 
cause,  for  the  solution  ?  This  subject  is  well  understood  in  the  South, 
and  allliough  I  cannot  approve  the  practice  which  has  been  intro* 
duced  of  quoting  authority,  and  still  less  the  authority  of  newspapers, 
for  favorite  theories,  I  must  ask  permission  of  the  Senate  to  read  an 
article  from  a  southern  newspaper. 

[Here  General  Hayne  requested  Mr.  Clay  to  give  the  name  of  the  anthority,  that 
it  might  ap()eur  whether  it  was  not  some  other  than  a  southern  iwper  expressina 
southern  sentiments,  ^{r.  Clay  stated  that  it  was  from  the  Charlei^ton  City  Gazette, 
one,  he  believed,  of  the  oldest  and  most  respectable  prints  in  that  city,  although  he 
was  not  sure  what  might  be  its  sentiments  on  the  question  which  at  present  dividei 
the  people  of  South  Carolina.  The  article  comprises  a  full  explanatioa  of  the  low 
price  of  cotton,  and  assigns  to  it  its  true  cause— increased  production.] 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  home  demand  for  cotton,  which  has  been 
created  by  the  American  System,  were  to  cease,  and  that  the  two 
hundred  thousand*  bales,  which  the  home  market  now  absorbs,  were 
thrown  into  the  glutted  markets  of  foreign  countries — would  not  the 
eflect  inevitably  be  to  produce  a  further  and  great  reduction  in  the 
price  of  the  article  }  If  there  be  any  truth  in  the  facts  and  principles 
which  1  have  before  stated  and  endeavored  to  illustrate,  it  cannot  be- 
doubted  that  the  existence  of  American  manufactures  has  tended  to 
increase  the  demand,  and  extend  the  consumption  of  the  raw  mate- 
rial ;  and  that,  but  for  this  increased  demand,  the  price  of  the  article 
would  have  fallen,  possibly  one-half  lower  than  it  now  is.     The  error 

*  Mr.  Clay  stated  that  he  assumed  the  quantity  which  was  generally  computed, 
but  he  believed  it  moch  greater,  and  subsequent  iuformation  justifies  his  belief.  It 
aiipears  from  the  report  of  the  cotton  Committee  appointed  by  the  New  York  Con- 
vention, that  partial  returns  show  a  consumption  of  upwards  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thoosand  bales ;  that  the  cotton  manufaetnre  employs  nearly  forty  thonaand 
females,  and  about  five  thousand  children ;  that  the  total  dependents  on  it  are  one 
hundred  and  thirty  one  thousand  four  hundred  eighty-nine  ;  that  the  annual  wagea 
paid  are  912,155723 ;  the  annual  value  of  its  products  832,906,(176 ;  the  capital 
944,914,984 ;  the  number  of  milb  796;  of  spindlee,  1,246,606 ;  and  of  doth  made, 
960,46^90  yards.    This  statement  does  not  oompnhend  the  wctfani  Binuiaetanik 


IM   DBTXHCt  or  TRt  AMKRICAll  8T8TBK.  53 

of  the  opposite  argnment  is,  in  aMiiining  one  thing,  which  being  de- 
nied, the  whole  fails;  that  is,  it  assumes  that  the  vfhok  labor  of  the 
United  States  would  be  profitably  employed  without  manu&ctures. 
Now,  the  truth  is,  that  the  Sjrstem  excites  and  createe  labor,  and  this 
labor  creates  'vij^alth,  and  this  new  wealth  communicates  additional 
ability  to  consume,  which  acts  on  all  the  objects  CKontributing  to  hu- 
man oomfiirt  and  enjoyment  The  amount  of  cotton  imported  into 
the  two  ports  of  Boston  and  ProTidence  alone  during  the  last  year, 
(and  it  was  imported  exclusively  for  the  home  manufacture,)  was 
one  hundred  and  nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  seyenteen  bales. 

On  passing  from  that  article  to  others  of  our  agricultural  produc- 
tions, we  shall  find  not  less  gratifying  fects.  The  total  quantity  oi 
flour  imported  into  Boston,  during  the  same  year,  was  two  hundred 
eighty-four  thousand  five  hundred  and  four  barrels,  and  three  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  fifty-five  half  barrels ;  of  which,  there  were 
from  Virginia,  Georgetown  and  Alexandria,  one  hundred  fourteen 
thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  barrels;  of  Indian  corn,  six 
hundred  eighty-ene  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  bushels  ;  of 
oats,  two  hundred  thirty-nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and  nine  bush- 
els ;  of  rye,  about  fifty  thousand  bushels ;  and  of  shorts,  thirty-three 
thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-nine  bushels.  Into  the  port  of  Pro- 
vidence, seventy-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-nine  barrels 
of  Hour ;  two  hundred  sixteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-two 
bushels  of  Indian  com,  and  seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seven- 
ty-two bushels  of.  rye.  And  there  were  discharged  at  the  port  of 
Philadelphia,  four  hundred  twenty  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  bushels  of  Indian  com ;  two  hundred  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy  eight  bushels  of  wheat,  and  one  hundred  ten  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  bushels  of  rye  and  barley.  There 
were  slaughtered  in  Boston,  during  the  same  year,  1831,  (the  only 
northern  city  firom  which  I  have  obtained  returns,)  thirty-three  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  twenty-two  beef  cattle ;  fifteen  thousand  and 
four  hundred  calves ;  eighty-four  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  sheep,  and  twenty-six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one 
swine.  It  is  confidently  believed  that  there  is  not  a  less  quantity  of 
Southern  flour  consumed  at  the  N<»th  than  eight  hundred  thousand 
barrels — a  greater  amount,  probably,  than  is  shipped  to  all  the  foreign 
maiketo  of  the  woild  together. 


M  •PXICHKt  OP  HBURT  CfcAT. 


What  would  be  the  condition  of  the  ftming  countiyof  the  United 
Statee— of  all  that  p(^on  which  liea  North,  East  and  West  of  JaoMe 
riyeri  including  a  large  part  cS  North  Carolina,  if  a  home  market  did 
not  exist  for  this  immense  amount  of  agricultural  produce  ?  Without 
t|iat  market,  where  could  it  be  sold  ?  In  foreign  markets  ?  If  their 
restrictiTe  laws  did  not  exist,  their  capacity  would  not  enable  them 
to  purchase  and  consume  this  vast  addition  to  their  present  suppliMi 
which  must  be  thrown  in,  or  thrown  away,  but  for  the  home  maiket. 
Qut  their  laws  exclude  us  from  their  markets.  I  shall  content  my- 
self by  calling  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  Great  Britain  only.  The 
duties  in  the  ports  of  the  United  Kingdom,  on  bread-stuffii  are  pro- 
hibitory, except  in  times  of  dearth.  On  rice,  the  duty  is  fifteen  shill- 
ings sterling  per  hundred  weight,  bein^  more  than  one  hundred  per 
cent.  On  manufactured  tobacco  it  is  nine  shillings  staling  per  pound, 
or  about  two  thousand  per  cent.  On  leaf  tobacco  three  shillings  per 
pound,  or  one  thousand  two  hundred  per  cent  On  lumber,  and  some 
other  articles,  they  are  from  four  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  per  cent, 
more  than  on  similar  articles  imported  firom  British  colonies.  In  the 
British  West  Indies  the  duty  on  beef,  pork,  hanw  and  bacon  is  twelve 
shillings  sterling  per  hundred,  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent,  on 
the  first  cost  of  beef  and  pork  in  the  western  States.  And  yet  Gremt 
Britain  is  the  power  in  whose  b^ialf  we  are  called  upon  to  legislate, 
so  that  VDS  may  enable  her  to  purchase  our  cotton !  Great  Britain 
that  thinks  only  of  herself  in  her  own  legislation !  When  hare  we 
experienced  justice,  much  less  faror,  at  her  hands  ?  When  did  she 
shape  her  legislation  in  reference  to  the  interests  dfimy  foreign  pow- 
er ?  She  is  a  great,  opulent  and  powerful  nation ;  but  haughty,  ar- 
rogant, and  supercilious — not  more  separated  firom  the  rest  of  the 
world  by  the  sea  that  girts  her  island,  than  she  is  separated  in  feeling, 
sympathy,  or  friendly  consideration  of  their  welfiue.  Gentlemen,  in 
supposing  it  im{Mracticable  that  we  should  successfully  compete  with 
her  in  manufactures,  do  injustice  to  the  skill  and  enterprise  of  their 
own  country.  Gallant,  as  Great  Britain  undoubtedly  is,  we  hara 
gloriously  contended  with  her,  man  to  man,  gun  to  gun,  ship  to  ship, 
fleet  to  fleet,  and  army  to  army.  And  I  have  no  doubt  we  are  des- 
tined to  achieTe  equal  success  in  the  more  useful,  if  not  nobler  contest 
for  raperioriiy  in  the  arts  of  civil  life. 

I  could  extend  and  dwell  on  the  long  list  of  articles— the  hemp, 
iron,  lead,  coal  and  other  items,  m  which  a  demand  is  created  in  the 


Ol  DXmiOB  07  THB  AMIMCAIT  tTtTBK.  U 

home  market  bj  tho  operetioii  of  the  Amencan  SjBtem  ;  but  I  should 
exhaust  the  patieiice  cdT  the  Senate.  Wherey  where  should  we  find  a 
matket  for  aU  these  articles,  if  it  did  not  exist  at  home  ?  What  wooM 
be  the  condition  of  the  largest  {Airtion  of  our  people,  and  of  the  terri- 
tory, if  this  home  market  were  annihilated  ?  How  could  they  be  sup- 
plied with  objects  of  prime  necessity?  What  would  not  be  the  certahi 
and  ineritable  dedine  in  the  price  of  all  these  articles,  but  for  the 
home  market  ?  And  allow  me,  Mr.  President,  to  say,  that  of  all  the 
agricultural  parts  of  the  United  States  which  are  benefited  by  the 
operation  of  thufsystem,  none  are  equally  so  with  those  which  bor- 
der the  CSiesapeake  Bay,  the  lower  parts  of  North  Carolina,  Virginia, 
and  the  two  shores'  of  Maryland.  Their  fiicilities  of  transportation, 
and  proximity  to  the  North,  give  them  decided  advantages. 

But  if  all  this  reasodng  were  totally  fallacious — ^if  the  price  of 
manufikctured  articles  were  really  higher,  under  the  American  Sys- 
tem, than  without  it,  I  should  still  argue  that  high  or  low  prices  were 
themselves  relative-Hrelative  to  the  ability  to  pay  them.  It  is  in  vahi 
to  tempt,  to  tantalize  us  with  the  lower  prices  of  European  Mnee 
than  our  own,  if  we  have  nothing  wherewith  to  purchase  them.  If, 
by  the  home  exchanges,  we  can  be  supplied  with  nedbssaiy,  even  if 
th^  are  dearer  and  worse,  articles  of  American  production  than  the 
fi>reign,  it  is  better  than  not  to  be  supplied  at  all.  And  how  would 
the  bffge  portion  of  our  country  which  I  have  described  be  supplied, 
but  fbr  die  home  exchanges  ?  A  poor  people,  destitute  of  wealth  or 
of  exchangeable  commodities,.has  nothing  to  purchase  foreign  fabrics. 
To  them  they  are  equally  beyond  their  reach,  whether  their  cost  be 
a  ddlar  or  a  guinea.  It  Is  in  this  view  of  the  matter  that  Greet 
Britain,  by  her  vast  wealth — ^her  ereiied  and  protected  industry — is 
enabled  to  bear  a  burden  of  taxation  vrhich,  when  compared  to  that 
of  others  nations,  i^ppears  enormous ;  but  which,  when  her  immense 
riches  are  compared  to  theirs,  is  light  and  trivial.  The  gentleman 
firom  South  Carolina  has  drawn  a  lively  and  flattering  picture  of  our 
coasts,  bays,  rivers  and  harbors ;  and  he  argues  that  these  proclaimed 
the  design  of  Providence,  that  we  should  be  a  conmiercial  people. 
I  agree  with  him.  We  diflfaronlyas  to  the  means.  He  would  cher- 
ish the  fordgn,  and  neglect  the  internal  trade.  I  would  foster  both. 
What  is  navigafion  without  ships,  or  ships  without  cargoes  ?  By  pen- 
eMttng  the  boioui  of  our  mountains,  and  extracting  from  them  thefar 
precious  treasoiea';  by  cdtivitiBg  tte  eartt^  and  tsevriiN^  a  homr 


56  ■PXECHfit  or   HRNRT   CLAT. 

market  for  its  rich  and  abundant  products ;  by  employing  the  water 
power  with  which  we  are  blessed ;  by  stimulating  and  protecting  our 
native  industry,  in  all  its  forms ;  we  shall  but  nourish  and  promote 
the  prosperity  of  conunerce,  foreign  and  domestic. 

I  have  hitherto  considered  the  question  in  reference  only  to  a  state 
of  peace ;  but  a  season  of  war  ought  not  to  be  entirely  overlooked. 
We  have  enjoyed  near  twenty  years  of  peace ;  but  who  can  tell  when 
the  storm  of  war  shall  again  break  forth  ?  Have  we  forgotten,  bo 
soon,  the  privations  to  which,  not  merely  our  brave  soldiers  and  our 
gallant  tars  were  subjected,  but  the  whole  community,  during  the  last 
war,  for  the  want  of  absolute  necessaries  ?  To  what  an  enormous 
price  they  rose !  And  how  inadequate  the  supply  was,  at  any  price ! 
The  statesman  who  jusly  elevates  his  views,  will  look  behind,  as  well 
as  forward,  and  at  the  existing  state  of  things ;  and  he  will  graduate 
the  policy,  which  he  recommends,  to  all  the  probable  exigencies 
which  may  arise  in  the  Republic.  Taking  this  comprehensive  range, 
it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  the  higher  prices  of  peace,  if  prices 
were  higher  in  peace,  were  more  than  compensated  by  the  lower 
prices  of  war,  during  which  supplies  of  all  essential  articles  are  india- 
pensable  to  its  vigorous,  effectual  and  glCirious  prosecution.  I  conr 
elude  this  part  of  the  argument  with  the  hope  that  my  humble  exer 
tions  haye  not  been  altogether  unsuccessful  in  showing — 

1.  That  the  policy  which  we  have  been  considering  ought  to  con- 
tinue to  be  regarded  as  the  genuine  American  System. 

2.  That  the  Free  Trade  System,  which  is  proposed  as  its  substi- 
tute, ought  really  to  be  considered  as  the  British  Colonial  System. 

3.  That  the  American  System  is  beneficial  to  all  parts  of  the  UnioUi 
and  absolutely  necessary  to  much  the  larger  portion. 

*  4.  That  the  price  of  the  great  staple  of  cotton,  and  of  all  our  chief 
productions  of  agriculture,  has  been  sustained  and  upheld,  and  a  de- 
cline averted  by  the  Protective  System. 

5.  That  if  the  foreign  demand  for  cotton  has  been  at  all  diminish*' 
ed  by  the  operation  of  that  system,  the  diminution  has  been  more 
than  ffftmiwnsatiid  in  tlu*  oAlitinnMl  AtantunA  created  at  1^^*"^- 


IN   DKFKirCE   or  THK  AMlRlCAir  8T8TIK.  87 

6.  That  the  constant  tendency  of  the  system,  by  creating  competi- 
tion among  onrselyes,  and  bet'ween  American  and  European  industry, 
reciprocally  acting  upon  each  other,  is  to  reduce  prices  of  manufac- 
tured objects. 

7.  That  in  point  of  fact,  objects  within  the  scope  of  the  policy  of 
protection  have  greatly  jfiftllen  in  price. 

8.  That  if,  in  a  season  of  peace,  these  benefits  are  experienced,  in 
a  season  of  war,  when  the  foreign  supply  might  be  cut  off,  they  would 
be  much  more  extensirely  felt. 

9.  And  finally,  that  the  substitution  of  the  British  Colonial  System 
for  the  American  System,  without  benefiting  any  section'  of  the  Union, 
by  subjecting  us  to  a  foreign  legislation,  regulated  by  foreign  interests, 
would  lead  to  the  prostration  of  our  manufactures,  general  impover- 
ishment^ and  ultimate  ruin. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  I  have  to  make  a  few  observations  on  a 
delicate  subject,  which  I  approach  with  all  the  respect  that  is  due  to 
its  serious  and  grave  nature.  They  have  not,  indeed,  been  rendered 
necessary  by  the  speech  from  the  gentleman  firom  South  Carolina, 
whoee  forbearance  to  notice  the  topic  was  commendable,  as  his  argu- 
ment throughout,  was  characterized  by  an  ability  and  dignity  worthy 
of  him,  and  of  the  Senate.  The  gentleman  made  one  declaration, 
which  might  possibly  be  misinterpreted,  and  I  submit  to  him  whether 
an  explanation  of  it  be  not  proper.  The  declaration,  as  reported  in 
his  printed  speech,  is  ^^  the  instinct  of  self-interest  might  have  taught 
us  an  easier  way  of  relieving  ourselveil  from  this  oppression.  It 
wanted  but  the  will  to  have  supplied  ourselves  with  every  article 
embraced  in  the  protective  system,  free  of  duty,  without  any  other 
participation  on  our  part  than  a  simple  consent  to  receive  them.'' 

tHen  General  Hayne  rose  and  remarked,  that  the  panage  which  immediately 
preceded  and  followed  the  paragraph  cited,  he  thought  plainly  indicated  his  mean- 
ing, which  nlated  to  evasiona  of  the  system,  by  illicit  introduction  of  goods,  which 
they  were  not  disposed  to  countenance  in  South  Carolina.] 

'  I  am  happy  to  hear  this  explanation.  But,  sir,  it  is  impossible  to 
conceal  firom  oar  view  the  facts  that  there  is  a  great  excitement  in 
South  Caitriina ;  thiit  the  proactive  system  is  openly  and  vidoitly 


66  IPJBBCHXft  07  HBKBT  CULT. 

denounced  in  popular  meetings ;  and  that  the  Legialature  itself  has 
declared  its  purpose  of  resorting  to  counteracting  measures — a  sus- 
pension of  which  has  only  been  submitted  to,  for  the  purpose  of  al- 
lowing Ck>ngraM  time  to  retrace  its  steps.  With  respect  to  this 
Union,  Mr.  President,  the  truth  cannot  be  too  generally  proclaimed, 
nor  too  strongly  inculcated,  that  it  is  necessary  to  the  whole  and  to  all 
the  porta — necessary  to  those  parts,  indeed,  in  different  degrees,  but 
yitally  necessary  to  each—r^md  that  threats  to  disturb  or  dissolve  it, 
eonuDig  from  any  of  the  parts,  would  be  quite  as  indiscreet  and  im- 
proper as  would  be  threats  from  the  residue  to  exclude  those  parts 
from  the  pale  of  its  benefits.  The  great  principle,  which  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  all  free  governments,  is,  that  the  majority  must  govern ; 
from  which  there  is  or  can  be  no  appeal  but  to  the  sword.  That  ma- 
jority ought  to  govern  wisely,  equitably,  moderately  and  constitu- 
tionally, but  govern  ii  irksI ,  subject  only  to  that  terrible  appeal.  If 
ever  one,  or  several  States,  being  a  minority,  can,  by  menacing  a  dis- 
solution of  the  Union,  succeed  in  forcing  an  abandonment  of  great 
measures  deemed  essential  to  the  interests  and  prosperity  of  the 
whole,  the  Union,  from  that  moment,  is  practically  gone.  It  may 
linger  on,  in  form  and  name,  but  its  vital  spirit  has  fled  for  ever !  En- 
tertaining these  deliberate  opinions,  I  would  entreat  the  patriotic  pecH 
pie  of  South  Carolina — ^the  land  of  Marion,  Sumpter  and  Pickens ; 
of  Rutledge,  Laurens,  the  Pinkneys  and  Lowndes — of  living  and 
present  names,  which  I  would  mention  if  they  were  not  living  or 
present — to  pause,  solemnly  pause !  and  contemplate  the  frigbtfol 
piecipice  which  lies  directly  before  them.  To  retreat  may  be  pain- 
ful and  mortifying  to  their  gallantry  and  pride,  but  it  is  to  retreat  to 
die  Union,  to  safety,  and  to  those  brethren  with  whom,  or  with 
whose  ancestors,  they,  or  their  ancestors,  have  won,  on  fields  of 
glory,  imperidiable  renown.  To  advance,  is  to  rush  on  certain  and 
inevitable  disgrace  and  destruction. 

We  have  been  told  of  deserted  castles,  of  uninhabited  halls,  and  of 
mansions,  once  the  seats  of  opulence  and  hospitality,  now  abandoned 
and  mouldering  in  ruins.  I  never  had  the  honor  ai  being  in  South 
Carolina ;  but  I  have  heard  and  read  of  the  stories  of  its  chivalry, 
and  of  its  generous  and  open-hearte<l  liberality.  I  have  heard,  too, 
of  the  struggles  for  power  between  the  lower  and  upper  country. 
The  same  causes  which  existed  in  Virginia,  with  which  I  have  been 
^u»intedj  I  presome,  hnv^  bad  tbav  ii^noe  in  Oaiolina.    in 


ui  jotnac^  09  rat  amibicak  trsTBic. 

wbom  httidt  BOW  an  the  once  pnmd  leats  of  Westo¥«r  Curly  Ma]^ 
cox,  Shirley/  and  others,  on  James  River,  and  in  loww  Virginia  ? 
Under  the  operation  of  laws,  aboliahing  the  principle  df  primogeni* 
tnre,  and  providing  the  equitable  mle  of  an  equal  distribution  of 
estates  among  those  in  equal  degree  of  consanguinity,  they  haye  pass« 
ed  into  other  and  stranger  hands.  Some  of  the  descendants  of  iUus* 
trious  fiunilies  have  gone  to  die  £tf  West,  while  others,  lingering 
behind,  have  contrasted  their  present  condition  with  that  of 
yenerated  anceston.  They  behold  themselTcSi  excluded  from 
ftther's  bouses,  now  in  the  hands  of  those  who  were  once  their  tk* 
ther's  overseers,  or  sinking  into  decay ;  their  imaginations^paint  an* 
cient  renown,  the  fiiding  honors  of  their  name — giories  gone  by ;  too 
poor  to  live,  too  proud  to  work,  too  high-minded  and  honorable  to 
resort  to  ignoble  meant  of  acquisition,  brave,  daring,  chivalrous ; 
tt^  can  be  the  cause  of  their  present  unhappy  state  ?  The  ^'  ac» 
cursed^'  tariff  presents  itself  to  their  excited  imaginations,  and  they 
biiidly  rush  into  the  ranks  of  those  who,  unfurling  the  banner  of  nul- 
liCeUion,  would  place  a  State  upon  its  sovereignty ! 

The  danger  to  our  Union  does  not  lie  on  the  side  of  persistence  in 
the  American  System,  but  on  that  of  its  abandonment.  If,  as  I  hav^a 
supposed  and  believe,  the  inhabitants  of  all  north  and  east  <tf  James 
river,  and  all  west  of  the  moimtains,  including  Louisiana,  are  deeply 
interested  in  the  preservation  of  thai  system,  would  ihi&y  be  recon* 
eiled  to  its  overthrow  ?  Can  it  be  expected  that  two«thirds,  if  not 
three-fimrths,  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  would  consent  to 
the  destruction  of  a  policy,  believed  to  be  indiiqpeBsably  necessary  to 
their  prosperity  ?  When,  too,  the  sacrifice  is  made  at  the  instance  of  ■ 
a  single  interest,  whicfa  they  verily  believe  will  not  be  promoted  by 
it  ?  In  estimating  the  degree  of  peril  which  may  be  incident  to  two 
opposite  courses  of  human  policy,  the  statesman  would  be  short- 
sighted who  should  content  himself  with  viewing  only  the  evils,  real 
or  imaginary,  which  belong  to  that  course  which  is  in  practical  ope- 
ration. He  should  lift  himself  up  to  the  contemplation  of  those 
greatsr  and  more  certilin  dangers  which  might  inevitably  attend  the 
adoption  of  the  alternative  course.  What  would  be  the  condition  of 
this  Union,  if  Pennsy^^uuA  and  New  York,  those  mammoth  memben 

•  Ai  to  flhiilBy.lfr.  Clay  udoiowltdsM  Us misUke, midt  la  the  wurmth  <if  do- 
bats.    ItJsyettfcaiJHKkofthaieysotibkindhoipitaMsdasoiisdiBttofilifonn^ 
\  ofekat  profifietor. 


60  tPUCHKS  or  BSNRT   CLAT. 

of  our  confederacy,  were  firmly  persaaded  that  their  industry 
paralysed,  and  their  prosperity  blighted,  by  the  enforcement  of  the 
British  colonial  system,  under  the  delusive  name  of  free  trade  ?  They 
are  now  tranquil  and  happy,  and  contented,  conscious  of  their  wd- 
fiure,  and  feeling  a  salutary  and  rapid  circulation  of  the  products  of 
home  manufactures  and  home  industry  throughout  all  their  great  ar- 
teries. But  let  that  be  checked,  let  them  feel  that  a  foreign  system 
is  to  predominate,  and  the  sources  of  their  subsistence  and  comfort 
dried  up ;  let  New  England  and  the  west,  and  the  middle  States,  all 
feel  that  they  too  are  the  victims  of  a  mistaken  policy,  and  let  these 
vast  portions  of  our  country  despair  of  any  &vorable  change,  and 
then  indeed  might  we  tremble  for  the  continuance  and  safety  of  this 
Union!  » 

And  need  I  remind  you,  sir,  that  this  dereliction  of  the  duty  of  prtH 
teeting  our  domestic  industry,  and  abandonment  of  it  to  the  fete  of 
foreign  legislation,  would  be  directly  at  war  with  leading  considera- 
tions which  prompted  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution  ?  The 
States  respectively,  surrendered  to  the  general  government  the  whole 
power  of  laying  imposts  on  foreign  goods.  They  stripped  themselves 
of  all  power  to  protect  their  own  manufactures,  by  the  most  effica* 
cious  means  of  encouragement — the  imposition  of  duties  on  rival  for- 
eign febrics.  Did  they  create  that  great  trust  ?  Did  they  voluntarily 
suhject  themselves  to  this  self-restriction,  that  the  power  should  re- 
main in  the  Federal  government  inactive,  unexecuted,  and  lifeless  ? 
Mr.  Madison,  at  the  commencement  of  the  government,  told  you 
otherwise.  In  discussing  at  that  early  period  this  very  subject,  he 
declared  that  a  failure  to  exercise  this  power  would  be  a  ^^yroaif ' 
upon  the  northern  States,  to  which  may  now  be  added  the  middle  and 
western  States. 

[Governor  Miller  asked  to  what  ezpreauon  of  Mr.  Madison's  opinion  Mr.  Clay  re- 
ferred ;  and  Mr.  Clay  replied,  his  opinion,  expressed  in  the  House  of  Representativett 
la  n8d»  as  reported  in  Lloyd's  Congreasional  Debates.] 

Gentlemen  are  greatly  deceived  as  to  the  hold  which  this  system 
has  in  the  affections  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  They  repre- 
sent that  it  is  the  policy  of  New  England^  &ud  that  she  is  most  bene- 
fitted by  it.  If  there  be  any  part  of  thb  Union  which  has  been  most 
steady,  most  unanimous,  and  most  determined  in  its  support,  it  is 
Pennsylvania.  Why  is  not  that  powerful  State  attacked  ?   Why  pass 


W   DBVnGB  or  THE  AMKBXCAB  ITBTBM.  61 

her  over,  and  aim  the  blow  at  New  England  ?  New  England  came 
reluctantly  into  the  policy.  In  1824  a  majority  of  her  delegation  was 
ojqpoaed  to  it.  From  the  largeit  State  of  New  England  there  was 
bat  a  solitary  TOte  in  &yor  of  the  bill.  That  enterprising  people  can 
readily  accommodate  their  industry  to  any  pdicy,  provided  it  be  sef- 
tkd.  They  suj^Med  this  was  fixed,  and  they  submitted  to  the  de- 
crees of  government.  And  the  progress  of  public  opinion  has  kept 
pace  with  the  developments  of  the  benefits  of  the  system.  Now,  all 
New  England,  at  least  in  this  house  (with  the  exception  of  one  small 
still  voice)  is  in  fitvor  of  the  system.  In  1824  all  Maryland  was 
against  it ;  now  the  majority  is  for  it.  Then,  Louisiana,  with  one 
exception,  was  opposed  to  it ;  now,  without  any  exception,  she  is  in 
fiivor  of  it.  The  march  of  public  sentiment  is  to  the  South.  Virginia 
will  be  the  nexiconvert ;  and  in  less  than  sev^i  years,  if  there  be  no 
obstacles  from  political  causes,  or  prejudices  industriously  instilled, 
the  majority  of  eastern  Virginia  will  be,  as  the  mi^rity  of  western 
Virginia  now  is,  in  frtvor  of  the  American  System.  North  Carolina 
will  follow  later,  but  not  less  certainly.  Eastern  Tennessee  is  now 
in  fiivor  of  the  system.  And  finally,  its  doctrines  will  pervade  the 
whole  Union,  and  the  wonder  will  be,  that  they  ever  should  have 
been  imposed. 

r 

I  have  now  to  proceed  to  notice  some  objections  which  have  been 
urged  against  the  resolution  under  consideration.  With  respect  to  the 
amendment  which  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  has  offered,  as 
he  has  intimated  his  purpose  to  modify  it,  I  shall  forbear  for  the  pre* 
sent  to  comment  upon  it.  It  is  contended  that  the  resolution  [MPopo- 
ses  the  repeal  of  duties  on  luxuries,  leaving  t&ose  on  necessaries  to 
remain,  and  that  it  will,  therefore,  relieve  the  rich  without  lessening 
the  burdens  of  the  poor.  And  the  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina 
has  carefully  selected,  for  ludicrous  effect,  a  number  of  the  unprotect- 
ed articles,  cosmetics,  perfumes,  oranges,  to.  I  must  say,  that  this 
exhilntion  of  the  gentleman  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  candor  which 
he  has  generally  diq>layed ;  that  he  knows  very  well  that  the  duties 
upon  these  articles  are  trifling,  and  that  it  is  of  little  consequence 
whether  they  are  repealed  or  retained.  Both  systems,  the  American 
and  the  foreign,  comprehend  some  articles  which  may  be  deemed 
luxuries.  The  Senate  knows  that  the  unprotected  articles  which 
yield  the  principal  ipai  of  ike  revenue,  with  which  this  measure  would 
diqwise,  are  ooOmftnij  ipioaa>  win—,  and  sUki.  Of  all  theae  artides, 


•pnam  or  hbtbt  glat. 


wiMS  and  tilki  alone  can  be  proiiouiioed  to  be  luxnriei ;  and  aa  to 
winei,  we  have  already  ratified  a  treaty,  not  yet  promulgated,  by 
whidi  the  dutka  on  them  are  to  be  oonaideraUy  reduced.  If  the 
univeraality  of  the  uae  of  objecta  of  consumption  detenninea  ihdt 
claaaififation,  cofibei  tea,  and  ipioea,  in  present  condition  of  ciTiliaed 
aociefyy  may  be  considered  neoeasaries.  Even  if  th^  were  llwruriaa, 
-why  should  not  the  poor,  by  cheapening  their  prices,  if  that  can  te 
efiboted,  be  allowed  to  use  ttiem  ?  Why  should  not  a  poor  man  be 
allowed  to  tie  a  silk  handkerchief  on  his  neck,  occasionally  regale 
himself  witti  a  glass  of  cheap  Erench  wine,  or  present  his  wife  as 
danghter  with  a  ailk  gown,  to  be  worn  on  Sabbath  or  gala  days  ?  I 
am  quite  sure  diat  I  do  not  misconstrue  the  feelings  of  the  gentle* 
Bian^  heart,  in  supposii^  that  he  would  be  happy  to  see  the  poor  aa 
well  as  the  rich  nooderately  indulging  themselves  in  those  innocmt 
gratifications.  For  one,  I  am  delighted  to  see  the  condition  of  the 
poor  attracting  the  consideration  of  the  opponents  of  the  tariff.  It  is 
far  the  great  body  of  the  people,  and  especially  for  the  poor,  that  I 
have  ever  scqpported  the  American  System.  It  afibrds  &em  profits* 
Ue  employment,  and  supplies  the  means  of  comfortable  subsistence. 
k  sacttret  to  tbem,certainhf,  necessaries  of  life,  manufactured  at  hoaae 
and  places  within  their  reach,  and  enables  them  to  acquire  a  reason** 
ble  share  of  foreign  luxuries ;  while  the  system  of  gentlemen  prami$€$ 
thans  necessaries  auide  in  fi^eign  countries,  and  which  are  beyond 
their  power,  and  dMst  to  them  luxuries,  which  they  would  possess 
no  means  to  purchaae. 

The  constant  complaint  of  South  Carolina  against  the  tariff,  ia, 
tiiat  it  checks  importations,  and  disables  foreign  powers  from  pnr^ 
ehiaing  the  agricultural  productions  of  the  United  States.  The  e^ 
feel  of  the  resolution  will  be  to  intrease  importations,^  not  so  mneh^ 
it  is  tme  firom  Great  Britain,  as  from  the  other  powers,  but  not  the 
Imi  aoceptaUe  on  that  account.  It  is  a  misfortune  that  so  large* 
portion  of  our  fooreign  commecte  conceaftrates  in  one  nation ;  it  sab* 
jectsustoomnchtothelegislatioBand  thepoUqyof  that  natioui  and 
ssposes  us  to  the  influence  of  her  numerous  agents,  fectors,  and  mer^ 
chants.  And  it  is  not  among  the  smallest  recommendations  of  the 
maaenre  befece  the  Senate,  that  its  tetidency  will  be  to  expand  (mr 
eesmncice  with  France,  our  great  revelntionary  ally — the  land  <^ 
our  Lafeyette*  Ther^  fe  muoh  greater  pnAability  also,  of  an  enlai|ge- 
UMttl  of  te  iMMnt  imbmk  for  eetton  in  SVanoe^  than  in  Great 


oiiiiniiGB^«HBAMiBiOAii«rsraf.  €3 

Bntiuii.  Fnnoe  engaged  bier  in  the  manufiM^tureof  cottoni.andbM 
madei  therefov^  kn  progreae.  She  haa,  in<nreaTer,  no  coloniea  pro- 
dnckig  the  article  in  abundance,  whoae  induatiy  she  might  be  iesopt" 
^  toenconn^ 

The  honoiable  yntleinan  from  Maiyland,  (General  Smith,)  by  his 
reply  to  a  ipeech  which,  on  the  opening  of  the  aubject  of  thia  reaola- 
taon,  I  had  occaaion  to  make,  has  rendered  it  ncceaaary  that  I  abonid 
tidse  aome  notice  of  bia  obaeryationa.  The  honorable  gentleman 
atated  that  he  had  been  uteuied  of  partiality  to  the  manufacturing  in- 
tereat.  Never  waa  there  a  moie  groundleaa  and  malioioua  charge 
preferred  against  a  calumniated  man.  Since  this  question  haa  been 
ilgilaled  in  the  public  councils,  although  I  hnTe  often  beard  Irom  him 
pcofesskms  of  attachment  to  thia  branch  of  industry,  J  have  never 
known  any  member  amore  uniform,  determined  and  unoompromiaia|^ 
opponent  of  them,  than  the  honoiable  Senator  haa  invariably  been. 
And  iCf  hereafter,  the  calumny  ahould  be  r^^^eated,  of  his  friendship 
to  the  American  System,  I  shall  be  ready  to  ftimish  to  him,  in  the 
most  solemn  mannor,  my  teatimony  to  his  innocence.  The  honor- 
able gentltfnan  aupposed  that  I  had  advanced  the  idea  that  the  jpenaa- 
iMfil  vsvenueof  this  country  should  be  fixed  at  eighteen  millions  of  dol- 
lars. Certainly  1  had  no  intention  to  announce  such  an  opinion,  nor 
do  my  eaqpsessions,  ihirly  interpreted,  imply  it.  I  ptated,  on  the  oo- 
caaioo  referred  to,  that,  estimating  the  ordinary  revenue  of  the  coun- 
liy  at  twenty-five  millions,  and  the  amount  of  the  duties  on  the  ua- 
piotecled  articles  proposed  to  be  repealed  by  the  reaolution,  at  seven 
maUions,  thrtsttor  sum  taken  fiKwi  the  former  would  leave  eighteen. 
But  I  did  got  intimate  any  belief  that  the  revenue,  of  the  country 
ought,  for  the  future,  to  be  permanently  fixed  at  that  oi  any  other 
precise  sum.  I  stated  that,  after  having  eftcted  ao  great  a  reduo* 
lioii,  we  mig^t  pause,  cautiously  survey  the  whole  ground,  and  de- 
libttately  detenniae  upon  other  measures  of  reduction,  some  of  which 
I  indicated.  And  I  now  aay,  preserve  the  Protective  S^tem  in  full 
vigor )  give  us  the  prooeeds  of  the  public  domain  tot  internal  mi- 
pnnrementa,  or  if  you  please,  partly  for  that  object,  and  partly  for  the 
removal  of  the  fit^e  Uaeks,  with  their  own  consent,  from  the  United 
fltntes ;  and  for  one,  I  hsve  no  objection  to  the  reduction  of  the  put^ 
lie  reveime  to  fifteen,  to  ttiirteen,  or  even  to  nine  millions  of  dollars. 


la  ngard  to  Urn  Mhema  of  the  Seoratary  of  the  Trtaaury  for  pay- 


04  tPSEOntai  OP   RENRT  CLAT. 

ing  off  the  whole  of  the  remaining  pablic  debt,  by  the  4th  day  of 
March  1833,  including  the  three  per  cent.,  and  forthat  purpose,  sell- 
ing the  bank  stock,  1  had  remarked  that,  with  the  exception  c^  Ae 
three  per  cent.,  there  was  not  more  than  about  four  millions  of  dol- 
lars of  the  debt  due  and  payable  within  this  year,  that,  to  meet  this, 
the  Secretary  had  stated  in  his  annual  report,  that  the  treasury  would 
have,  from  the  receipts  of  this  year,  fourteen  millions  of  doUais,  iq>- 
plicable  to  the  principal  of  the  debt ;  that  I  did  not  perceive  any  ur- 
gency for  paying  off  the  three  per  cent,  by  the  precise  day  suggested : 
and  that  there  was  no  necessity,  according  to  the  plans  of  the  treasu- 
ry, assuming  them  to  be  expedient  and  proper,  to  postpone  the  repeal 
of  the  duties  on  unprotected  articles.  The  gentleman  from  Mary- 
land imputed  to  me  ignorance  of  the  act  of  the  24th  April  1830,  ac- 
cording to  which  in  his  opinion  the  Secretary  was  obliged  to  pur- 
chase the  three  per  cent.  On  what  ground  the  Senator  supposed  I 
was  ignorant  of  that  act  he  has  not  stated.  Although  when  it  passed 
1  was  at  Ashland,  I  assure  him  that  I  was  not  there  altogether  unin- 
formed of  what  was  passing  in  the  world.  I  regularly  received  the 
Register  of  my  excellent  friend  (Mr.  Niles,)  published  in  Baltimove, 
the  National  Intelligencer,  and  other  papers.  There  are  two  emnrs 
to  which  gentlemen  are  sometimes  liable ;  one  is  to  magnify  the 
amount  of  knowledge  which  they  possess  themselves,  and  the  second 
is  to  depreciate  that  which  others  have  acquired.  And  will  the  gen- 
tleman from  Maryland  excuse  me  for  thinking  that  no  man  is  more 
prone  to  commit  both  errors  than  himself?  I  will  not  say  that  he  k 
ignorant  of  the  true  meaning  of  the  act  of  1830,  but  I  certainly  place 
a  different  construction  upon  it  from  what  he  does.  It  dies  not  oblige 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  or  rather  the  Commissioners  of  tbe 
Sinking  Fund,  to  apply  the  surplus  of  any  year  to  the  purchase  of 
the  ^ree  per  cent,  stock  particularly,  but  leaves  them  at  liberty  ^  to 
apply  such  surplus  to  the  purchase  of  any  portion  of  the  public  debt, 
at  such  rates  as,  in  their  opinion  may  be  advantageous  to  the  United 
States."  This  vests  a  discretionary  authority,  to  be  exercised  under 
official  responsibility.  And  if  any  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  when 
he  had  the  option  of  purchasing  a  portion  of  the  debt,  bearing  a  high- 
er rate  of  interest  at  par  or  about  'par,  were  to  execute  the  act  by 
purchasing  the  three  per  cents.,  at  its  present  price,  he  would  merit 
impeachment.  Undoubtedly  a  state  of  foct  may  exist,  such  as  there 
being  no  public  debt  remaining  to  be  paid,  but  the  three  per  cent 
stock,  with  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  idle  and  unproductive,  in  which 


IN  BSrEKGB  07  THE  AMUOCAV  ATOTSM.  65 

it  might  |be  expedient  to  vppLj  that  ■aq>ln8  to  the  reimbunemeDt  of 
the  three  per  cents.  But  whilst  the  interest  of  money  is  at  a  greater 
rate  than  three  per  cent.,  it  would  not,  I  think,  be  wise  to  produce 
an  accumulation  of  public  treasure  for  such  a  purposes  The  post- 
ponement of  any  reduction  of  the  amount  of  the  revenue,  at  this  ses- 
sion, must  however  give  rise  to  that  very  aocummulation ;  and  it  is, 
therefore,  thai  I  cannot  perceive  the  utility  of  the  postponement 

We  are  told  by  the  gentleman  from  Maryland,  that  offers  have 
been  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  lYeasury  to  exchange  three  per 
cents,  at  their  market  j^oe  of  ninety-dx  per  cent,  for  the  bank  stock 
of  the  government  at  its  market  price,  which  is  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six,  and  he  thinks  it  would  be  wise  to  accept  them.  If 
the  charter  of  the  Bank  is  renewed,  that  stock  will  be  probably  worth 
much  more  than  its  present  price ;  if  not  renewed,  much  less.  Would 
it  be  hxt  in  government,  while  the  question  is  pending  and  undecided, 
to  make  such  an  exdumge  ?  The  difference  in  value  between  a  stock 
bearing  three  per  cent,  and  one  bearing  seven  per  cent,  must  be  really 
much  greater  than  the  difference  between  ninety-six  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  per  cent.  Supposing  them  to  be  perpetual  annuities, 
the  one  would  be  worth  more  than  twice  the  value  of  the  other.  But 
myobjection  to  the  treasury  plan  is,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  execute 
itT-4o  continue  these  duties  as  the  Secretary  proposes.  The  Secre- 
taiy  has  a  debt  of  twenty-fofur  millions  to  pay ;  he  has  from  the  ac- 
cruing receipts  of  this  year  fourteen  millions,  and  we  are  now  told  by 
the  Senator  from  Maryland,  that  this  sum  of  fourteen  millions  is  ex- 
clusive of  any  of  the  duties  accruii^  this  year.  He  proposes  to  raise 
eight  millions  by  sale  of  the  Bank  stock,  and  to  anticipate  from  the 
revenue  receivable  next  year,  two  millions  mdre.  These  three  items 
theli  of  .fourteen  milHons,  eight  millions,  and  two  millions,  make  up 
the  sum  required,  of  twenty-four  millions,  without  the  aid  of  the  du- 
ties to  which  the  resolution  relates. 

The  gentleman  from  Maryland  insists  that  the  general  government 
has  been  liberal  toward  the  West  in  its  appropriations  of  public  lands 
for  internal  improvements ;  and,  as  to  fortifications,  he  contends  that 
the  expenditures  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  are  for  its  especial 
benefit.  The  appropriations  of  land  to  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  and  Alabaiaa,  have  been  liberal ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  overlocA- 
edy  that  the  genand. government  is  itself  the  greatest  proprietor  of 

6 


•PnCHXt^  OP  KOIET  CULT. 

land)  and  that  a  tendency  of  the  imprcnrementSy  which  theK  appfopri- 
atkma  were  to  effect,  is  to  increase  the  Talne  of  the  unsold  puUie  do* 
main.  The  erection  of  the  fortifications  for  the  defence  of  Louisiaoft, 
was  highly  proper ;  but  the  gentleman  might  as  well  place  to  the  ao 
count  of  the  West,  the  disbursement  kat  the  fortifieations  intended  to 
defend  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York,  to  all  which  capitab 
western  produce  is  sent,  and  in  the  security  of  all  of  which  the  west* 
em  people  feel  a  lively  interest.  They  do  not  object  to  expenditures 
for  the  army,  for  the  navy,  for  fortifications,  or  for  any  odier  ofiensiTe 
or  commercial  object  on  the  Atlantic,  but  they  do  think  that  thnr 
condition  ought  also  to  receive  friendly  attentiim  from  the  general  go- 
vernment. With  respect  to  the  State  of  Kentucky,  not  one  cent  of 
money,  or  one  acre  of  land,  has  been  applied  to  any  object  of  internal 
improvement  within  her  limits.  The  subscription  to  the  stock  of  the 
canal  at  Louisville  was  for  an  object  in  which  many  States  were  in- 
terested. The  Senator  firom  Maryland  complains  that  he  has  been 
unable  to  obtain  any  aid  for  the  railroad  which  the  enterprise  of  Bal-* 
timore  has  projected,  and  in  part  executed.  That  was  a  great  work, 
the  conception  of  which  was  bold,  and  highly  honorable,  and  it  de- 
serves national  encouragement.  But  how  has  the  committee  of  roads 
and  canais,  at  this  session  been  constituted  ?  The  Senator  firom  Mar 
ryland  possessed  a  brief  authority  to  organize  it,  and,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
informed, a  majority  of  the  monbers  composing  it,  i4[ipoinied  by  him, 
are  opposed  both  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  power,  and  the  ezpe- 
difm^  of  exercising  it. 

And  now,  sir,  I  would  address  a  few  words  to  the  firiends  of  the 
American  System  in  the  Senate.  The  revenue  musi— ought  to  be 
reduced.  The  country  will  not,  after,  by  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt,  ten  or  twelve  millions  of  dollars  become  unnecessary,  bear  such 
an  annual  surplus.  Its  distribution  would  form  a  subject  of  perpetual 
contention.  Some  of  the  opponents  of  the  system  understand  the 
stratagem  by  which  to  attack  it,  and  are  shaping  their  course  accord- 
ingly. It  is  to  crush  the  system  by  the  accumulation  of  revenue,  and 
by  die  effikrt  to  persuade  the  people  that  they  are  unnecessarily  taxed, 
while  those  would  really  tax  them  who  would  break  up  the  native 
souroei  of  suj^ply,  and  render  them  dependent  upon  the  foreign.  But 
the  revenue  ought  to  be  reduced,  so  as  to  accommodate  it  to  the  bek 
of  die  pqrment  of  the  public  debt.  And  the  alternative  is  or  may  be, 
to  preseiyi  the  protecting  system,  and  repeal  the  duties  on  the  unpro- 


IM  DimCB  OP  THS  AMXBICAir  STSTIM.  07 

tected  articles,  or  to  pre$erve  the  duties  on  miproiteied  articleS|  and 
endanger  if  not  destroy,  the  system.  Let  us  then  adopt  the  measure 
before  us,  which  will  benefit  all  classes ;  the  farmer,  the  professional 
man,  the  merdiant,  the  manufactoxcor,  the  mechanic ;  and  the  cotton  " 
planter  more  than  all.  A  few  months  ago  there  was  no  diversity  of 
opinion  as  to  the  expediency  oi  this  measure.  AU,  then,  seemed  to 
unite  in  the  selection  of  these  objects  for  a  repeal  of  duties  which 
were  not  produced  within  the  country.  Such  a  repeal  did  not  touch 
our  domestic  industry,  violated  no  principle,  ofiended  no  prejudice. 

Can  we  not  all|  whatever  may  be  our  &vorite  theories,  cordially 
unite  on  this  neutral  ground  ?  When  that  is  occupied,  let  us  look  be* 
yond  it,  and  see  if  any  thing  can  be  done  in  the  field  of  protection,  to 
modify,  to  improve  it,  or  to  satisfy  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  sys« 
tern.  Our  southern  brethren  believe  thai  it  is  injurious  to  them,  and 
ask  its  repeal.  We  believe  that  its  abaadonmentwill  be  prejudicial  to 
them,  and  ruinous  to  every  other  section  of  the  Union.  However 
strong  their  convictions  may  be,  they  are  not  stronger  than  ours.  Be- 
tween the  points  of  the  preservation  of  the  system  and  its  absolttte 
repeal,  there  is  no  principle  of  union.  If  it  can  be  shown  to  operate 
immoderately  on  any  quarter-*-if  the  measure  of  protection  to  any 
article  can  be  demonstrated  to  be  undue  and  inordinate,  it  would  be 
the  duty  of  Congress  to  interpose  and  apply  a  remedy.  And  none 
will  co-operate  more  heartily  than  I  shall  in  the  performance  of  that 
duty.  It  is  quite  probable  that  beneficial  modifications  of  the  system 
may  be  made  without  impairing  its  efficacy  But  to  make  it  fulfill 
the  purposes  of  its  institution,  the  measure  of  protection  ought  to  be 
adequate.  If  it  be  not,  all  interests  will  be  injuriously  afifected.  The 
manufacturer,  crippled  in  his  exertions,  will  produce  less  perfect  and 
dearer  &brics,  and  the  consumer  will  feel  the  consequence.  This  is 
the  spirit,  and  these  are  the  principles  only,  on  which,  it  seems  to 
me,  that  a  settlement  of  the  great  question  can  be  made,  satis&ctorily 
to  all  parts  of  our  Unicm. 


ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK. 


In  the  Sritate  6f  the  United  States — 1811. 


[The  course  of  Mr.  Clat,  in  regard  to  a  National  Bank  has  been  a  subject  of 
eztenmtc  comment  throughout  the  last  ten  years.  All  know  that  he  opposed  the 
Rediarter  of  the  first  United  States  Bank  in  1811 ;  that  he  favored  the  ereatioit  of 
the  tecond  in  1816,  and  that  he  has  ever  since  been  an  ardent  and  prominent  cham- 
pion of  such  an  institution.  As  this  is  the  only  topic  of  any  moment  on  which  Mr. 
Clay,  has  seen  occasion  to  change  his  opinions  in  the  course  of  a  long  and  active 
public  life,  we  have  chosen  to  present  at  one  view  his  sentiments  at  each  different 
period  on  this  much  controverted  question.  We  give,  therefore,  in  snoceasion,  his 
speech  of  1811,  the*  substance  of  his  remariu  in  1816,  and  his  speech  of  18391— m 
foUows  I] 

Mr.  President,  when  the  subject  inyolved  in  the  motion  now  un- 
der consideration  was  depending  before  the  other  branch  of  the  Legis- 
lature, a  disposition  to  acquiesce  in  their  decision  was  evinced.  For 
although  the  committee  who  reported  this  bill  had  been  raised  many 
weeks  prior  to  the  determination  of  that  House  on  the  proposition  to 
re-charter  the  Bank,  except  the  occasional  reference  to  it  of  memo- 
rials and  petitions,  we  scarcely  ever  heard  of  it.  The  rejection,  it  is 
true,  of  a  measure  brought  before  either  branch  of  Congress  does  not 
absolutely  preclude  the  otber  from  taking  up  the  same  proposition ; 
but  the  economy  of  our  time,  and  a  just  deference  for  the  opinion  of 
others,  would  seem  to  recommend  a  delicate  and  cautious  exercise  of 
this  power.  As  this  subject,  at  the  memorable  period  when  the 
charter  was  granted,  called  forth  the  best  talents  of  the  nation — as  it 
has,  on  rarious  occasions,  undergone  the  most  thorough  investigation^ 
and  as  we  can  hardly  expect  that  it  is  susceptible  of  receiving  any 
further  elucidation,  it  was  to  be  hoped  that  we  should  have  been  spared 
useless  debate.  This  was  the  more  desirable  because  there  are,  I 
conceive,  much  superior  claims  upon  us  for  every  hour  of  the  small 
portion  of  the  session  yet  remaining  to  us.  Under  the  operation  of 
these  motives,  I  had  resolved  to  give  a  silent  vote,  until  I  felt  myself 
bound,  by  the  defying  manner  of  the  arguments  advanced  in  support 


ON   ▲  NATIONAL  BANK.  09 

of  the  renewal,  to  obey  the  paramount  duties  I  owe  my  country  and  ita 
constitution ;  to  make  one  effort,  however  feeble,  to  avert  the  pas- 
aage  of  what  appears  to  me  a  most  unjustifiable  law.  After  my  hon- 
orable friend  from  Virginia  (Wr.  Giles). had  instructed  and  amused  ua 
with  the  very  able  and  ingenious  argument  which  he  delivered  on 
yesterday,  I  should  have  still  forborne  to  tresspass  on  the  Senate,  but 
for  the  extraordinary  character  of  )iis  speech.  He  discussed  both 
aides  of  the  question  with  great  ability  and  eloquence,  and  certainly 
demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  who  heard  him,  both  that  it 
was  constitutional  and  unconstitutional,  highly  proper  and  improper 
to  prolong  the  charter  of  the  bank.  The  honorable  gentleman  ap- 
peared to  me  in  the  predicament  in  which  the  celebrated  orator  of 
Virginia,  Patrick  Henry,  is  said  to  have  been  once  placed.  Engaged 
in  a  most  extensive  and  lucrative  practice  of  the  law,  he  mistook  in 
one  instance  the  side  of  the  cause  in  which  he  was  retained,  and  ad- 
dressed the  court  and  jury  in  a  very  masterly  and  convincing  speech 
in  behalf  of  his  antagonist.  His  distracted  client  came  up  to  him 
whilst  he  was  thus  employed,  and  interrupting  him,  bitterly  exclaim- 
ed|  *^  you  have  undone  me !  You  have  ruined  me !" — *^  Never  mind, 
give  yourself  no  concern,'*  said  the  adroit  advocate ;  and  turning  to 
the  court  and  jury  continued  his  argument  by  observing,  may  it 
l^ease  your  honors  and  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  have  been  stat-' 
ting  to  you  what  I  presume  my  adversary  may  urge  on  his  side.  I 
will  now  show  you  how  fallacious  his  reasoning  and  groundless  his 
pretensions  are."  The  skilful  orator  proceeded,  satisfactorily  refuted 
every  argument  he  had  advanced,  and  gained  his  cause !  A  success 
with  which  I  trust  the  exertion  of  my  honorable  friend  will  on  this 
occasion  be  crowned. 

it  has  been  said  by  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Geoigia,  (Mr. 
Crawford)  that  this  has  been  made  a  party  question,  although  the 
law  incorporating  the  Bank  was  passed  prior  to  the  formation  of  par- 
tiesi  and  when  Congress  was  not  biased  by  party  prejudices. 

[Mr.  Crawford  explained.  He  didaot  mean  that  it  had  been  made  a  party  qnefc 
lion  in  the  Seaats.    Hia  allunon  was  elsewhere.]  H 

I  do  not  think  it  altogether  &ir  to  refer  to  the  discussions  in  the  Houm 
sf  Representatives,  as  gentlemen  belonging  to  that  body  have  no  oppoiw 
to^ofdefending  themselves  here.  It  is  true  that  this  UwwmmHI^ 

•E 


70  SPUCHES    OF   HK2TRT   CLAT. 

the  effi^et,  but  it  is  no  less  true  that  it  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  po^ 
litical  divisions  in  this  countiy.  And,  if,  during  the  agitation  of  the 
present  question,  the  renewal  has,  on  one  side,  been  opposed  on  party 
principles,  let  me  ask  if,  on  the  other,  it  has  not  been  advocated  on 
similar  principles  ?  Where  is  the  Macedonian  phalanx,  the  opposi- 
tion in  Congress  ?  I  believe,  sir,  I  shall  not  incur  the  charge  of  pre- 
sumptuous prophecy,  when  I  predict  we  sliall  not  pick  up  from  its 
ranks  one  single  straggler !  And  if,  on  this  occasion,  my  worthy  friend 
from  Georgia  has  gone  over  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  is  it  kind  in 
him  to  look  back  ujion  his  former  friends,  and  rebuke  them  for  the 
fidelity  with  which  they  adhere  to  their  old  principles  ? 

I  shall  not  stop  to  examine  how  far  a  representative  is  bound  by 
the  instructions  of  his  constituents.  That  is  a  question  between  the 
giver  and  receiver  of  the  instructions.  But  I  must  be  permitted  to 
express  my  surprise  at  the  pointed  difTorence  which  has  been  made 
between  the  opinions  and  instructions  of  State  Legislatures,  and  the 
opinions  and  details  of  the  deputations  with  which  we  have  been  sur- 
rounded from  Philadelphia.  Whilst  the  resolutions  of  those  legisla- 
tures— known  legitimate, constitutional  and  deliberative  bodies — ^have 
been  thrown  into  the  back  ground,  and  their  interference  regarded  as 
officious,  these  delegations  from  self-created  societies,  composed  of' 
uobody  knows  whom,  have  been  received  by  the  committee  with  the 
utmost  complaisance.  Their  communications  have  been  treasured 
up  with  the  greatest  diligence.  Never  did  the  Delphic  priests  col- 
lect with  more  holy  care  the  frantic  expressions  of  the  agitated  Py- 
thia,  or  expound  them  with  more  solemnity  to  the  astonished  Gre- 
cians, than  has  the  committee  gathered  the  opinions  and  testimoniet ' 
of  these  deputies,  and  through  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts, 
pompously  detailed  them  to  the  Senate !  Philadelphia  has  her  im- 
mediate representatives,  capable  of  expressing  her  wishes  npon  the' 
floor  of  the  other  house.  If  it  be  improper  for  States  to  obtrude  upon 
Congress  their  sentiments,  it  is  much  more  highly  so  for  the  un&u- ' 
thorizcd  deputies  of  fortuitous  congregations. 

« 

The  first  ^gular  feature  that  attracts  attention  in  this  bill  is  the 
new  and  unconstitutional  veto  which  it  establishes.    The  constitution 
has  required  only,  that  after  bills  have  passed  the  House  of  Repre^  . 
seatttUves  and  the  Senate,  they  shall  be  presented  to  the  President . 
fe  hii  appAfnl  or  rejection,  and  his  determination  is  to  be  mad« 


OV   A   IIATIO!fJlL  BANK.  71 

known  in  ten  days.  But  this  bill  provides,  that  when  all  the  cod- 
stitational  sanctions  are  obtained,  and  when  according  to  the  usual 
routine  of  legislation  it  ought  to  be  considered  as  a  law,  it  is  to  be 
submitted  to  a  new  branch  of  the  legislature,  consisting  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  twenty-four  Directors  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
holding  their  sessions  in  Philadelphia,  and  if  they  please  to  approve 
it,  why  thcn^^  is  to  become  a  law  !  And  three  months  (the  term 
allowed  by  our  law  of  May  last,  to  one  of  the  great  belligerents  Sot 
revoking  his  edicts,  after  the  other  shall  have  repealed  his)  are  grant- 
ed them  to  decide  whether  an  act  of  Congress  shall  be  the  law  of  the 
land  or  not !  An  jact  which  is  said  to  be  indispensably  necessary  to 
our  salvation,  and  without  the  passage  of  which  universal  distress 
and  bankruptcy  are  to  pervade  the  countzy.  Remember,  sir,  that 
the  honorable  gentleman  from  Greorgia  has  contended  that  this  char- 
ter is  no  contract.  Does  it  then  become  the  representatives  of  the 
nation  to  leave  the  nation  at  the  mercy  of  a  corporation  ?  Ought  the 
impending  calamities  to  be  left  to  the  hazard  of  a  contingent  remedy  ? 

This  vagrant  power  to  erect  a  Bai)k,  afler  having  wandered 
throughout  the  whole  constitution  in  quest  of  some  congenial  spot  to 
fasten  upon,  hvts  been  at  length  located  by  the  gentleman  from  Geor- 
gia  on  that  provision  which  authorizes  Congress  to  lay  and  collect 
taxes,  &c.  In  1791,  the  power  is  referred  to  one  part  of  the  instru- 
ment ;  in  1811,  to  another.  Sometimes  it  is  alleged  to  be  deducible 
firom  the  power  to  regulate  conomerce.  Hard  pressed  here,  it  disap- 
pears and  shows  itself  under  the  grant  to  coin  money.  The  sagacious 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  1791  pursued  the  wisest  course— he  has 
taken  shelter  behind  general,  high-sounding  and  imposing  terms.  He 
has  declared,  in  the  preamble  establishing  the  Bank,  that  it  will  be 
very  conducive  to  the  successful  conducting  of  the  national  finances ; 
will  tend  to  give  Jacility  to  the  obtaining  of  loans,  and  will  be  produc- 
tive of  considerable  advantage  io  irctde  and  industry  in  general.  No 
allusion  is  made  to  the  collection  of  ta^i^es.  What  is  the  nature  of  this 
government  ?  It  is  emphatically  federal,  vested  with  an  aggregate  of 
specified  powers  for  general  purposes,  conceded  by  existing  sovereign- 
ties, who  have  themselves  retained  what  is  not  so  conceded.  It  is 
said  that  there  are  cases  in  which  it  must  act  on  implied  powers. 
This  is  not  controverted,  but  the  implication  must  be  necessary,  and 
<^mously  jflow  fipom  the  enumerate4. power  with  which  it  is  allied. 
libe  power  ta  charier  compttiiief  it  not  specified  in  the  grant,  tad  I 


73  fPBBCHfiS  or  HSXVBT   CLAT. 

contend  is  of  a  nature  not  transferable  by  mere  implication.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  exalted  attributes  of  sovereignty.  In  the  exercise  of  this 
gigantic  power,  we  have  seen  an  East  India  Company  created,  which 

tias  carried  dismay,  desolation,  and  death,  throughout  one  of  the 
largest  portions  of  the  habitable  world.    A  company  which  is  in  itself 
a  sovereignty — whijh  has  subverted  empires,  and  set  up  new  dynas- 
ties, and  has  not  only  made  war,  but  war  against  its  legitimate  sove- 
reign !  Under  the  influence  of  this  power,  we  have  seenarise  a  South 
Sea  Company,  and  a  Mississippi  Company,  that  distracted  and  con- 
vulsed all  Europe,  and  menaced  a  total  overthrow  of  all  credit  and 
confidence,  and  universal  bankruptcy.     Is  it  to  be  imagined  that  a 
power  so  vast  would  have  been  left  by  the  wisdom  of  the  constitu- 
tion to  doubtful  inference  ?    It  has  been  alleged  that  there  are  many 
instances  in  the  constitution,  where  powers  in  their  nature  incidental, 
and  which  would  have  necessarily  been  vested  along  with  the  princi- 
pal, are  nevertheless  expressly  enumerated  ;  and  the  power  "  to  make 
rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  land  and  naval  forces,'' 
which  it  is  said  is  incidental  to  the  power  to  raise  armies  and  provide 
a  navy,  is  given  as  an  example.    What  does  this  prove  1      How  ex- 
tremely cautious  the  convention  were  to  leave  as  little  as  possible  to 
implication.     In  all  cases  where  incidental  powers  are  acted  upoDi 
the  principal  and  incidental  ought  to  be  congenial  with  each  other, 
and  partake  of  a  common  nature.    The  incidental  power  ought  to  be 
strictly  subordinate  and  limited  to  the  end  proposed  to  be  attained 
by  the  specified  power.     In  other  y;ords,  under  the  name  of  accom- 
plishing one  object  which  is  specified,  the  power  implied  ought  not  to 
be  made  to  embrace  other  objects,  which  are  not  specified  in  the  con- 
stitution.    If  then  you  could  establish  a  bank  to  collect  and  distribute 
the  revenue,  it  ought  to  be  expressly  restricted  to  the  purpose  of  such 
collection  or  distribution.    It  is  mockery,  worse  than  usurpation,  to 
establish  it  for  a  lawful  object,  and  then  to  extend  it  to  other  objects 
which  are  not  lawful.    In  deducing  the  power  to  create' corporations, 
such  as  I  have  described  it,  from  the  power  to  collect  taxes,  the  rel»» 
tion  and  condition  of  principal  and  incident  are  prostrated  and  destroy- 
ed.   The  accessory  is  exalted  above  the  principal.    As  well  might  it 
be  said  that  the  great  luminary  of  to-day  is  an  accessory,  a  satelite  to 
the  humblest  star  that  twinkles  forth  its  feeble  light  in  the  firmameal 
of  heaven ! 

Suppose  the  cosftitation  had  been  silent  m  to  an  individaal  deport- 


OH  A  NATIONAL  3AKK  7S 

0ient  of  thb  c^ovemmeiit,  could  yon,  under  the  power  to  lay  and  cd« 
kct  taxes,  establish  a  judiciary  ?  I  presume  not ;  but  if  you  could 
derive  the  power  by  mere  implication,  could  you  vest  it  with  any 
other  authority  than  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  revenue  ?  A  bank 
18  made  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  collection  of  the 
revenue,  and  while  it  is  engaged  in  this,  the  most  inferior  and  subordi- 
nate of  all  its  functions,  it  is  made  to  diffuse  itself  throughout  society^ 
and  to  influence  all  the  great  operations  of  credit,  circulation,  and 
commerce.  Like  the  Virginia  justice,  you  tell  the  man  whose  turkey 
had  been  stolen,  that  your  books  of  precedents  furnish  no  form  for  his 
case,  but  then  you  will  grant  him  a  precept  to  search  for  a  cow,  and 
when  looking  for  that  he  may  possibly  find  his  turkey  !  You  say  to 
this  corporation — we  cannot  authorize  you  to  discount,  to  emit  paper^ 
to  regulate  commerce,  &c.  No !  Our  book  has  no  precedents  of  that 
kind.  But  then  we  can  authorize  you  to  collect  the  revenue,  and 
while  occupied  with  that,  you  may  do  whatever  else  you  please  ! 

What  is  a  corporation,  such  as  the  bill  contemplates  ?  It  is  a  8{^n- 
did  association  of  favored  individuals,  taken  from  the  mass  of  society, 
and  invested  with  exemptions,  and  surrounded  by  immunities  and 
privileges.  The  honoiable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr. 
Lloyd,)  has  said  that  the  original  law,  establishing  the  Bank,  was 
justly  liable  to  the  objection  of  vesting  in  that  ihstitution  an  exclusive 
privilege,  the  faith  of  the  government  being  pledged  that  no  other 
bank  should  be  authorized  during  its  existence.  This  objection  he 
supposes  is  obviated  by  the  bill  under  consideration ;  but  all  corpora- 
tions enjoy  exclusive  privileges — that  is,  the  corporators  have  privi- 
leges which  no  others  possess :  if  you  create  fifty  corporfitions  instead 
of  one,  you  have  only  fifty  privileged  bodies  instead  of  one.  I  con- 
tend that  the  States  have  the  exclusive  power  to  regulate  contracts, 
to  declare  the  capacities  and  incapacities  to  contract,  and  to  provide 
aa  to  the  extent  of  responsibUity  of  debtors  to  their  creditors.  If  Con- 
gress have  the  power  to  erect  an  artificial  body,  and  say  it  shall  be 
endowed  with  the  attributes  of  an  individual — ^if  you  can  bestow  on 
this  object  of  your  own  creation  the  ability  to  contract,  may  you  not, 
in  contravention  of  State  rights,  confer  upon  your  slaves,  infants,  and 
femmes  covert  the  ability  to  contract  ^  And  if  you  have  the  power 
to  say  that  an  association  of  individuals  shall  be  responsible  for  their 
debts  only  in  a  certain  limited  degree,  what  is  to  prevent  an  exten- 
sion of  a  similar  exemption  to  individuals  ?    Where  is  the  limitation 


74  8PEKCHIS  or   aSITRT   CLAT. 

upon  this  power  to  set  up  corporations  ?  You  establish  one  in  the 
heart  of  a  State,  the  basis  of  whose  capital  is  money.  You  may  erect 
others  whose  capital  shall  consist  of  land,  slaves,  and  personal  estates, 
and  thus  the  whole  property  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  State  might 
be  absorbed  by  these  political  bodies.  The  existing  Bank  contends 
that  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  a  State  to  tax  it,  and  if  this  pretension 
be  well  founded,  it  is  in  the  power  of  Congress,  by  chartering  compa- 
nies, to  dry  up  all  the  sources  of  State  revenue.  Georgia  has  under- 
taken, it  is  true,  to  levy  a  tax  on  the  branch  within  her  jurisdiction  ^ 
but  this  law^now  under  a  course  of  litigation,  is  considered  as  invalid. 
The  United  States  own  a  great  deal  of  laud  iu  the  State  of  Ohio. 
Can  this  government,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  an  ability  to  pur- 
chase it,  charter  a  company  ?  Aliens  are  forbidden,  I  believe,  in  that 
State,  to  hold  real  estate— could  you,  in  order  to  multiply  purchasers^ 
confer  upon  them  the  capacity  to  hold  land,  in  derogation  of  the  local 
law  }  I  imagine  this  will  hardly  be  insisted  upon ;  and  yet  there  ex- 
ists a  more  obvious  connexion  between  the  undoubted  power  which 
is  possessed  by  this  government,  to  sell  its  land,  and  the  means  of 
executing  that  power,  by  increasing  the  demand  in  the  nuirket,  thaa 
there  is  between  this  Bank  and  the  collection  of  a  tax.  This  govern- 
ment has  the  power  to  levy  taxes,  to  raise  armies,  provide  a  navy^ 
make  war,  regulate  commerce,  coin  money,  &c.,  &c.  It  would  not 
be  difficult  to  show  as  intimate  a  connexion  between  a  corporation, 
established  for  any  purpose  whatever,  and  some  one  or  other  of  those 
great  powers,  as  there  is  between  the  revenue  and  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States. 

Let  us  inquire  into  the  actual  participation  of  this  bank  in  the  col-- 
lection  of  the  revenue.  Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1800,  re- 
quiring the  collectors  of  those  ports  of  entry  at  which  the  principal 
bank,  or  any  of  its  offices  are  situated,  to  deposit  with  them  the  cus- 
tom-house bonds,  it  had  not  the  slightest  agency  in  the  collection  of 
the  duties.  During  almost  one  moiety  of  the  period  to  which  the 
existence  of  this  institution  was  limited,  it  was  nowise  instrumental 
in  the  collection  of  that  revenue,  to  which  it  is  now  become  indis- 
pensable !  The  collection  previous  to  1800,  was  made  entirely  by 
the  collectors ;  and  even  at  present,  where  there  is  one  port  of  entry, 
at  which  thb  bank  is  employed,  there  are  eight  or  ten  at  which  the 
•(Section  is  made  as  it  was  before  1800.  And,  sir,  what  does  thi» 
bank  or  its  branches^  where  resort  is  had .  to  it  ?    It  does  not  adjust 


OH   A  ITATIONAL  BANK-  75 

With  the  merchaiit  the  amount  of  duty,  nor  take  his  bond,  nor,  if  the 
bond  is  not  paid,  coerce  the  payment,  by  distress  or  otherwise.  In 
fact,  it  has  no  active, agency  whatever  in  the  collection.  Its  opera- 
tion is  merely  passive  ;  that  is,  if  the  obligor,  after  his  bond  is  placed 
in  the  bank,  discharges  it,  all  is  very  well.  Such  is  the  mighty  aid 
afforded  by  this  tax-gatherer,  without  which  the  government  cannot 
get  along !  Again,  it  is  not  pretended  that  the  very  limited  assis- 
tance which  this  institution  docs  in  truth  render,  extends  to  any  other 
than  a  single  species  of  tax,  that  is,  duties.  In  the  collection  of  the 
excise,  the  direct  and  other  internal  tixcs,  no  aid  was  dtTived  from 
any  bank.  It  is  true,  in  the  collection  of  those  taxes,  the  farmer  did 
not  obtain  the  same  indulgence  which  the  merchant  receives  in  pay- 
ing duties.  But  what  obliges  Congress  to  give  credit  at  all  ?  Could 
it  not  demand  prompt  paymont  of  the  duties  ?  And,  in  fact,  does  it 
not  so  demand,  in  many  instances  ?  Whether  credit  is  given  or  not, 
is  a  matter  merely  of  discretion.  If  it  be  a  facility  to  mercantile  ope- 
rations, (as  I  presume  it  is)  it  ought  to  be  granted.  But  I  deny  the 
right  to  engrail  upon  it  a  bank,  which  you  would  not  otherwise  have 
the  power  to  erect.  You  cannot  create  the  necessily  of  a  bank,  and 
then  plead  that  necessity  for  its  establishment.  In  the  administration 
of  the  finances,  the  bank  acts  simply  as  a  payer  and  receiver.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  money  in  New  York  and  wants  it  in 
Charleston — the  bank  will  furnish  him  with  a  check,  or  bill,  to  make 
the  remittance,  which  any  merchant  would  do  just  as  well. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  show  by  fact,  actual  experience,  not  theo- 
retic reasoning,  but  by  the  records  themselves  of  the  treasury,  that 
the  operations  of  thsULdepartment  may  be  as  well  conducted  without 
as  with  this  bank.  ,[|^he  delusion  has  consisted  in  the  use  of  certain 
high-sounding  phrases,  dexterously  used  on  the  occasion — ''  the  col- 
lection of  the  revenue" — "  the  administration  of  the  finance" — "  the 
conducting  of  the  fiscal-affairs  of  the  government,"  the  usual. lan- 
guage of  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  extort  express  assent,  or  awe  into 
acquiescence,  without  inquiry  or  examination  into  its  necessity. 
About  the  commencement  of  this  year,  there  appears,  by  the  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  7th  of  January,  to  have  been 
a  little  upwards  of  two  millions  and  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
the  treasury  of  the  United  States  ;  and  more  than  one-third  of  this 
whole  sum  was  in  the  vaults  of  local  banks.  In  several  instances 
where  opportunities  existed  of  selecting  the  bank,  a  preference  has 


78  8PCBCBE8  OF  BENBT    CULT. 

been  given  to  the  State  bank,  or  at  least  a  portion  of  the  deposits  has 
been  made  with  it.  In  New  York,  for  example,  there  was  deposited 
with  the  Manhattan  Bank  $188,970,  although  a  branch  bank  is  in 
that  city.  In  this  district,  $115,080  were  deposited  with  the  Bank 
of  Columbia,  although  here  also  is  a  branch  bank,  and  yet  the  State 
banks  are  utterly  unsafe  to  be  trusted !  If  the  money,  after  the  bonds 
are  collected,  is  thus  placed  with  these  banks,  I  presume  there  can  be 
no  difficulty  in  placing  the  bonds  themselves  there,  if  they  must  be 
deposited  with  some  bank  for  collection,  which  I  deny. 

Again,  one  of  the  most  important  and  complicated  branches  of  the 
treasury  department,  is  the  management  of  our  landed  system.  Tho 
sales  have,  in  some  years,  amounted  to  upwards  of  half  a  million  of 
dollars — are  genrally  made  upon  credit,  and  yet  no  bank  whatever  is 
made  use  of  to  fecilitate  the  collection.  Aflcr  it  is  made,  the  amount, 
in  some  instances,  has  been  deposited  with  banks,  and,  according  to 
the  Secretary's  report,  which  I  have  befcre  adverted  to,  the  amount 
80  deposited  was,  in  January,  upwards  of  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  not  one  cent  of  which  was  in  the  vaults  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  of  its  branches,  but  in  the  Bank  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, its  branch  at  Pittsburgh,  the  Marietta  Bank,  and  the  Kentucky 
Bank-  Upon  the  point  of  responsibility,  I  cannot  subscribe  to  the 
opinion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  if  it  is  meant  that  the  ability 
to  pay  the  amount  of  any  deposits  which  the  government  may  make, 
under  any  exigency,  is  greater  than  that  of  the  State  banks ;  that 
the  accountahxHty  of  a  ramified  institution,  whose  affairs  are  managed 
by  a  single  head,  responsible  for  all  its  members,  is  more  simple  than 
that  of  a  number  of  independent  and  unconnected  establishments,  I 
ahall  not  deny  ;  but,  with  regard  to  safety,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to 
think  it  is  on  the  side  of  the  local  banks.  The  corruption  or  miscon- 
duct  of  the  parent,  or  any  of  its  branches,  may  bankrupt  or  destroy  the 
whole  system,  and  the  loss  of  the  government,  in  that  event,  will 
be  of  the  deposits  made  with  each  ;  whereas,  in  the  failure  of  one 
State  bank,  the  loss  will  be  confined  to  the  deposit  in  the  vault  of 
that  bank.  It  is  said  to  have  been  a  part  of  Burr's  plan  to  seize  on 
the  branch  bank  at  New  Orleans.  At  that  period  large  sums,  im- 
ported from  La  Vera  Cruz,  are  alledged  to  have  been  deposited  with 
it,  and  if  the  traitor  had  accomplished  the  design,  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  if  not  actually  bankrupt,  might  have  been  constrained 
to  stop  payment. 


ON  ▲  NATIONAL  BANK.  77 

It  18  urged  by  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Lloydi) 
that  as  this  nation  advances  in  commerce,  wealth  and  population, 
new  energies  will  be  unfolded,  new  wants  and  exigences  will  arise, 
and  hence  he  infers  that  powers  must  be  implied  from  the  consti* 
tution.  But,  sir,  the  question  is,  shall  we  stretch  the  instrument  to 
embrace  cases  not  fairly  within  its  scope,  or  shall  we  resort  to  thai 
remedy,  by  amendment,  which  the  constitution  prescribes  ? 

Gentlemen  contend  that  the  construction  which  they  give  to  the 
constitution  has  been  acquiesced  in  by  all  parties,  and  under  all  admin* 
istrations ;  and  they  rely  particularly  on  an  act  which  passed  in  1804, 
for  extending  a  branch  to  New  Orleans  ;  and  another  act  of  1807,  for 
panishing  those  who  should  forge  or  utter  forged  paper  of  the  Bank. 
With  regard  to  the  first  law,  passed  no  doubt  upoiv  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  treasury  department,  I  would  remark,  that  it  was  the  ex- 
tension of  a  branch  to  a  territory  over  which  Congress  possesses  the 
power  of  legislation  almost  uncontrolled,  and  where,  without  any 
eonstitutional  impediment,  charters  of  corporation  may  be  granted. 
As  to  the  other  act,  it  was  passed  no  less  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity than  the  Bank — to  protect  the  ignorant  and  unwary  from 
eounterfeit  paper,  purporting  to  have  been  emitted  by  the  Bank. 
When  gentlemen  are  claiming  the  advantage  supposed  to  be  deduci- 
Ue  from  acquiescence,  let  me  inquire  what  they  would  have  had 
those  to  do  who  believed  the  establishment  of  a  Bank  an  encroach- 
ment upon  State  rights  ?     Were  they  to  have  resisted,  and  how  ?    By 
force  ?    Upon  the  change  of  parties  in  ISOO,  it  must  be  well  recol- 
lected that  the  greatest  calamities  were  predicted  as  a  consequence  of - 
that  event.    Intentions  were  ascribed  to  the  new  occupants  of  power, 
of  violating  the  public  faith,  and  prostrating  national  credit.     Under 
•och  circumstances,  that  they  should  act  with  great  circumspection, 
was  quite  natural.     They  saw  in  full  operation,  a  bank  chartered  by 
a  Congress  who  had  as  much  right  to  judge  of  their  constitutional 
powers  as  their  successors.     Had  they  revoked  the  law  which  gave 
it  existence,  the  institution  would,  in  all  probability,  continued  to 
transact  business  notwithstanding.     The  judiciary  would  have  been 
appealed  to,  and  from  the  known  opinions  and  predilections  of  the 
judges  then  composing  it,  they  would  have  pronounced  the  act  of 
faicorporation  as  in  the  nature  of  a  contract,  beyond  the  repealing 
power  of  any  succeeding  legislature.     And,  sir,  what  a  scene  of  con- 
Awpfi  would  foch  a  state  of  things  have  presented — an  act  of  Con- 

7 


78  SPKSCUE8  or  hsnrt  clat. 

gressy  which  was  law  in  the  statute  book,  and  a  nullity  on  the  judicial 
records !  was  it  not  the  wisest  to  wait  the  natural  dissolution  of  the 
corporation  rather  than  accelerate  that  event  by  a  repeaUng  law  in- 
Tolving  so  many  delicate  considerations  ? 

Wlien  gentlemen  attempt  to  carry  this  measure  upon  the  ground 
of  acquiescence  or  precedent,  do  they  forget  that  we  are  not  in  VVest^ 
minster  Hall  ?  In  courts  of  justice,  the  utility  of  uniform  decisiotti 
exacts  of  the  judge  a  conformity  to  the  adjudication  of  his  predeces* 
sor.  In  the  interpretation  and  administration  of  the  law,  this  practice 
is  wise  and  proper,  and  without  it,  every  thing  depending  upon  the 
caprice  of  the  judge,  we  should  have  no  security  for  our  dearest  rights. 
It  is  far  otherwise  when  applied  to  the  source  of  legislation.  Here 
no  rule  exists  but.  tlic  constitution,  and  to  legislate  upon  the  ground 
n(ierely  that  our  predecessors  thought  themselves  authorized,  und^ 
similar  circumstances,  to  legislate,  is  to  sanctify  error  and  to  perpetu* 
ate  usurpation.  But  if  we  are  to  be  subjected  to  the  trammels  of 
precedent,  I  claim  on  the  other  hand,  the  benefit  of  the  restrictions 
under  which  the  intelligent  judge  cautiously  receives  them.  It  is  an 
established  rule,  that  to  give  a  previous  adjudication  any  effect,  the 
mind  of  the  judge  who  pronounced  it,  must  have  been  awakened  to 
the  subject,  and  it  must  have  been  a  deliberate  opinion,  formed  after 
full  argument.  In  technical  language,  it  must  not  have  been  $nb 
Hlentio.  Now  the  acts  of  1804  and  1807,  relied  upon  as  pledges  for 
the  rechartering  this  company,  passed  not  only  without  any  discus- 
sion whatever  of  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  establish  a 
Bank,  but  I  venture  to  say,  without  a  single  member  having  had  hit 
attention  drawn  to  this  question.  I  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  in  the 
Senate,  when  the  latter  law  passed,  probably  voted  for  it,  and  I  de- 
clare with  the  utmost  sincerity,  that  I  never  once  thought  of  that 
point,  and  I  appeal  conBdcntly  to  every  honorable  member  who  was 
then  present,  to  say  if  that  was  not  his  situation. 

This  doctrine  of  precedents,  applied  to  the  legislature,  appears  to 
me  to  be  fraught  with  the  most  mischievous  consequences.  The 
great  advantage  of  our  system  of  government  over  all  others,  is,  that 
we  have  a  written  constitution,  defining  its  limits,  and  prescribing  its 
authorities ;  and,  that,  however,  for  a  time,  faction  may  convulse  the 
nation,  and  passion  and  party  prejudice  sway  its  functionaries,  the 
season  of  reflection,  will  recur,  when  calmly  retracing  their  deedS| 


ON  ▲  NATIOITAL    BANK.  79 

all  aberratioDB  from  fuDdamental  principle  will  be  corrected.  But 
oaee  substitute  fwacHce  for  principle — ^the  exposition  of  the  constitu- 
tion for  the  text  of  the  constitution,  and  in  vain  shall  vre  look  for  the 
iaatrument  in  the  instrument  itself !  It  will  be  as  diffused  and  intan- 
gible as  the  pretended  constitution  of  England  : — and  must  be  sought 
for  in  the  statute  book,  in  the  fugitive  journals  of  Congress,  and  in 
reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  !  What  would  be  our  con- 
dition .  if  we  were  to  take  the  interpretations  given  to  that  sacred 
book,  which  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  criterion  of  our  faith,  for  the  book 
itself?  We  should  find  the  Holy  Bible  buried  beneath  the  interpre* 
tations,  glosses,  and  comments  of  councils,  synods,  and  learned  di- 
vines, which  have  produced  swarms  of  intollerant  and  furious  sects, 
partaking  less  of  the  mildness  and  meekness  of  their  origin  than  of  a 
vindictive  spirit  of  hostility  towards  each  other !  They  ought  to  af- 
ford us  a  solemn  warning  to  make  thatconstiution  which  we  have 
sworn  to  support,  our  invariable  guide. 

I  conceive  then,  sir,  that  we  were  not  empowered  by  the  constitu- 
tion, nor  bound  by  any  practice  under  it,  to  renew  the  charter  of  this 
Bank,  and  I  might  here  rest  the  argument.  But  as  there  are  strong 
objections  to  the  renewal  on  the  score  of  expediency,  and  as  the  dis- 
tresses which  will  attend  the  dissolution  of  the  Bank,  have  been 
greatly  exaggerated,  I  will  ask  for  your  indulgence  for  a  few  mo- 
ments longer.  That  some  temporary  inconvenience  will  arise,  I  shall 
not  deny ;  but  most  groundlessly  have  the  recent  failures  in  New 
Tork  been  attributed  to  the  discontinuance  of  this  Bank.  As  well 
might  you  ascribe  to  that  cause  the  failures  of  Amsterdam  and  Ham- 
burgh of  London  and  Liverpool.  The  embarrassments  of  commerce 
— the  sequestrations  in  France — ^the  Danish  captures — in  fine,  the 
belligerent  edicts,  are  the  obvious  sources  of  these  failures.  Their 
iounediate  cause  in  the  return  of  bilb  upon  London,  drawn  upon  the 
hhh  of  unproductive  or  unprofitable  shipments.  Yes,  sir,  the  pro- 
tests of  the  notaries  of  London,  not  those  of  New  York,  have  occa- 
sioned these  bankruptcies. 

The  power  of  a  nation  is  said  to  consist  in  the  sword  and  the  purse. 
I^erhaps  at  last  all  power  is  resolvable  into  that  of  the  purse,  for  with 
it  you  may  command  almost  every  thing  else.  The  specie  circula- 
tion of  the  United  States  is  estimated  by  some  calculators  at  ten  mil- 
of  dollars,  and  if  it  be  no  more,  one  moiety  is  in  the  vaults  of 


80  fPBECHES  OF  BKirBT   CLAT. 

this  Bank.  May  oot  Ihe  time  arrive  when  the  concentration  of  such 
a  raat  portion  of  the  circulating  medium  bf  the  country  in  the  hands 
of  any  corporation,  will  be  dangerous  to  our  liberties  ?  By  whom  is 
this  immense  power  wielded  ?  By  a  body,  who,  in  derc^ation  of 
the  great  principle  of  all  our  institutions,  responsibility  to  the  people, 
is  amenable  only  to  a  few  stockholders,  and  they  chiefly  foreigners. 
Suppose  an  attempt  to  subvert  this  government — would  not  the  trai- 
tor first  aim  by  force  or  corruption  to  acquire  the  treasure  of  this 
company  ?  Look  at  it  in  another  aspect.  Seven-tenths  of  its  capital 
are  in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  and  these  foreigners  chiefly  English 
subjects.  We  are  possibly  on  the  eve  of  a  rupture  with  that  nation. 
Should  such  an  event  occur,  do  you  apprehend  that  the  English  pre- 
mier would  experience  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  entire  control 
of  this  institution  ?  Republics,  above  all  other  governments,  ought 
most  seriously  to  guard  against  foreign  influence.  All  history 
proves  that  the  internal  dissentions  excited  by  foreign  intrigue^ 
have  produced  the  downfall  of  almost  every  free  government  that  has 
hitherto  existed ;  and  yet,  gentlemen  contend  that  we  are  benefitted 
by  the  possession  of  this  foreign  capital !  If  we  could  have  its  use^ 
without  its  attending  abuse,  1  should  be  gratified  also.  But  it  is  in 
vain  to  expect  the  one  without  the  other.  Wealth  is  power,  and, 
under  whatsoever  form  it  exists,  its  proprietor,  whether  he  lives  on 
this  or  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  will  have  a  proportionate  influ- 
ence. It  is  argued  that  our  possession  of  this  English  capital  gives 
us  a  great  influence  over  the  British  government.  If  this  reasoning 
he  sound,  we  had  better  revoke  the  interdiction  as  to  aliens  holding 
land,  and  invite  foreigners  to  engross  the  whole  property,  real  and 
personal,  of  the  country.  We  had  better  at  once  exchange  the  con- 
dition of  independent  proprietors  for  that  of  stewards.  We  should 
then  be  able  to  govern  foreign  nations,  according  to  the  reasoning  of 
the  gentleman  on  the  other  side.  But  let  us  put  aside  this  theory, 
and  appeal  to  the  decisions  of  experience.  Go  to  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  and  see  what  has  been  achieved  for  us  there  by  Eng- 
lishmen holding  seven-tenths  of  the  capital  of  this  Bank.  Has  it  re- 
leased from  galling  and  ignominious  bondage  one  solitary  American 
seaman  bleeding  under  British  oppression  ?  Did  it  prevent  the  un. 
manly  attack  upon  the  Chesapeake  ?  Did  it  arrest  the  promulgation, 
or  has  it  abrogated  the  orders  of  council — those  orders  which  have 
given  birth  to  a  new  era  in  commerce  }  In  spite  of  all  its  boasted 
eiecty  are  not  the  two  nations  brought  to  the  very  brink  of  war? 


ON  ▲  ITATIOlfAL  BANK 


81 


Are  we  quite  sure,  that  on  this  side  of  the  water,  it  has  had  no  ef> 
feet  favorable  to  British  interests?  It  has  often  been  stated,  and 
although  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  susceptible  of  strict  proof,  I  believe 
it  to  be  a  fact  that  this  Bank  exercised  its  influence  in  support  of 
Jay's  treaty — and  may  it  not  have  contributed  to  blunt  the  public 
aentiment,  or  paralyze  the  efforts  of  this  nation  against  British  ag- 
gression. 


The  duke  of  Northumberland  is  said  to  be  the  most  considerable 
stockholder  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  A  late  lord  chancel- 
lor of  England  besides  other  noblemen,  was  a  large  stockholder. 
Suppose  the  prince  of  fissling,  the  duke  of  Cadore,  and  other  French 
dignitaries  owned  seven-eighths  of  the  capital  of  the  Bank,  should 
we  witness  the  same  exertions  (I  allude  not  to  any  made  in  the 
Senate)  to  re-charter  it  ?  So  far  from  it,  would  not  the  danger  of 
French  influence  be  resounded  throughout  the  nation  ? 


I  shall  therefore  give  my  most  hearty  aasent  to  the  motion  for  stri* 
king  out  the  first  section  of  the  bill. 


ON  THE  BANK  CHARTER. 


At  Lkxington,  KEicTucKY,  June  3,  1816. 


IMr.  Clay^i  5peoch  on  the  qoestioD  of  cbartorin?  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  in 
1S16  w<i8  not  reported ;  but  in  an  Addrew  to  bia  ConMituontp,  published  in  the  K«»- 
tncky  Gazette,  l^xin^ton,  June  3d,  1816,  he  givc  the  iab?tancc  of  it,  as  follows  s}  ' 

Ov  one  subject,  that  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  to  whieh, 
at  the  late  session  of  Congress,  I  gave  my  humble  support,  I  feel 
particularly  anxious  to  explain  the  grounds  on  which  I  acted.  This 
explanation,  if  not  due  to  my  own  character,  the  State  and  distiiot  to 
which  1  belong  have  a  right  to  demand.  It  would  have  been  unne- 
cessary, if  my  observations,  addressed  to  the  House  of  Reprcsentar 
tives,  pending  the  measure,  had  been  published  ;  but  they  were  not 
published,  and  why  they  were  not  published,  I  am  unadvised. 

When  I  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  I  was 
induced  to  oppose  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  old  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  by  three  general  considerations.  The  first  was,  that 
1  was  instructed  to  oppose  it  by  the  legislature  of  the  State.  What 
were  the  reasons  that  operated  with  the  Legi^^lature,  in  giving  the 
instruction,  I  do  not  know.  I  have  understood  from  members  of  that 
l>ody,  at  the  time  it  was  given,  that  a  clause,  declaring  that  Congrem 
had  no  power  to  grant  the  charter,  was  stricken  out ;  from  which  it 
might  be  inferred,  either  that  the  Legislature  did  not  believe  a  bank 
unconstitutional,  or  that  it  had  formed  no  opinion  on  that  point.  Thb 
inference  derives  additional  strength  from  the  fact,  that,  although  the 
two  late  Senators  from  this  State,  as  well  as  the  present  SenatcNns, 
voted  for  a  National  Bank,  the  Legislature,  which  must  have  been 
well  apprised  that  such  a  measure  was  in  contemplation,  did  not 
again  interpose,  either  to  protest  against  the  measure  itself,  or  to 
censure  the  conduct  of  those  Senators.  From  this  silence  on  the 
part  of  a  body  which  has  ever  fixed  a  watchful  eye  upon  the  pro*- 


•M   TBB  BANS   CHARTER.        "  83 

ceedings  of  the  general  government,  I  had  a  right  to  helieve  that  the 
Legislature  of  Kentucky  saw,  without  dissatisfaction,  the  proposal  to 
establish  a  National  Bank  ;  and  that  its  opposition  to  the  former  one 
was  upon  grounds  of  expediency,  applicable  to  that  corporation  alone, 
or  no  longer  existing.  But  when,  at  the  last  session,  the  que»tion 
came  up  as  to  the  establishment  of  a  National  Bank,  being  a  membrr 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  point  of  inquiry  with  me  was 
not  so  much  what  was  the  opinion  of  the  Legislature,  although  un- 
doubtedly the  opinion  of  a  body  so  respectable  would  have  great 
freight  with  me  under  any  circumstances,  as  what  were  the  senti- 
ments of  my  immediate  constituents.  These  I  believed  to  be  in  favor 
of  flucfa  an  institution,  from  the  following  circumstances :  In  the  first 
fdace,  my  predecessor,  (Mr.  Hawkins)  voted  for  a  National  Bank, 
without  the  slightest  murmur  of  discontent.  Secondly,  during  the 
last  fall,  when  I  was  in  my  district,  1  conversed  freely  with  many  of 
my  constituents  upon  that  subject,  then  the  most  common  topic  of 
conversation,  and  all,  without  a  single  exception  as  far  as  I  recollect, 
agreed  that  it  was  a  desirable,  if  not  the  dniy  efficient  remedy,  for  the 
alarming  evils  in  the  currency  of  the  country.  And  lastly,  during  the 
session  I  received  many  letters  from  my  constituents,  prior  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  bill,  all  of  which  concurred,  I  believe  without  a  solitary 
exception,  in  advising  the  measure.  So  far,  then,  firom  being  instruct- 
ed by  my  district  to  oppose  the  bank,  1  had  what  was  perhaps  tanta- 
mount to  an  instruction  to  support  it — the  acquiescence  of  my  con- 
stituents in  the  vote  of  their  former  representative,  and  the  communi- 
cations, oral  and  written,  of  the  .opinions  of  many  of  them  in  favor  of 
a  bank. 

.The  next  consideration  which  induoed  me  to  oppose  the  renewal 
of  the  M  charter,  was,  that  I  believed  the  corporation  had,  during  a 
portion  of  the  period  of  its  existence,  abused  its  powers,  and  had 
sought  to  subserve  the  views  of  a  political  party.  Instances  of  its 
oppression  for  that  purpose  were  asserted  to  have  occurred  at  Phila^ 
delphia  and  at  Charleston ;  and,  although  denied  in  Congress  by  the 
firiendfl  of  the  institution  during  the  discussions  on  the  application  for 
the  renewal  of  the  charter,  they  were,  in  my  judgment,  satisfactorily 
made  out.  This  oppression,,  indeed,  was  admitted  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  in  the  debate  on  the  present  bank,  by  a  distinguished 
faanaber  of  that  party  which  had  to  warmly  espoused  tlie  renewal  of 
Old  charter.    li  may  ba  iaid,/«hal  aecuhiy  is  there  that  the  90W 


s 


84  8PCECHEI  OP  HENRT  CLAT. 

bank  will  not  imitate  this  example  of  oppression  ?  I  answer,  the 
fate  of  the  old  bank  warning  all  similar  institutions' to  sbun  politic9| 
with  which  they  ought  not  to  have  any  concern  ;  the  existence  of 
abundant  competi^.ion,  arising  from  the  mulliplication  of  banks,  and 
the  precautions  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  details  of  the  present  bilL 

• 

A  thhd  consideration,  under  which  1  acted  in  IS  11,  was  that,  m 
the  power  to  create  a  corporation,  such  as  was  proposed  to  be  con- 
tinued, was  not  specifically  granted  in  the  constitution,  and  did  not 
then  appear  to  me  to  be  necessary  to  carry  into  efiect  any  of  the 
powers  which  were  specifically  granted,  Congress  was  not  authorised 
to  continue  the  bank.  The  constitution  contains  powers  delegated 
and  prohibitory,  powers  expressed  and  constructive.  It  vests  it 
Congress  all  powers  necessary  to  give  efiect  to  enumerated  powere— 
all  that  may  be  necessary  to  put  into  motion  and  activity  the  machine 
of  government  which  it  constructs.  The  powers  that  may  be  so  ne> 
cessary  are  deducible  by  construction.  They  are  not  defined  in  the 
constitution.  They  are,  fft>m  their  nature,  indefinable.  When  the 
question  is  in  relation  to  one  of  these  powers,  the  point  of  inquirj 
should  be,  is  its  exertion  necessary  to  carry  into  efiect  any  of  the 
enumerated  powers  an<l  objects  of  the  general  government  ?  Witk 
regard  to  the  degree  of  necessity,  various  rules  have  been,  at  difierent 
tiroes,  laid  down  ;  but,  perhaps,  at  last,  there  is  no  other  than  a  sound 
and  honest  judgment  exercised,  under  the  checks  and  control  whick 
belong  to  the  constitution  and  to  the  people. 

The  constructive  powers,  being  auxiliary  to  the  specifically  granted 
powers,  and  depending,  for  their  sanction  and  existence,  upon  a  neces- 
aity  to  give  eSSect  to  the  latter,  which  necessity  is  to  be  sou^t  for 
and  ascertained  by  a  sound  and  honest  discretion,  it  is  manifest  that 
this  necessity  may  not  be  perceived,  at  one  time,  under  one  state  of 
things,  when  it  is  perceived  at  another  time,  under  a  difierent  state 
of  things.  The  constitution,  it  is  true,  never  changes ;  it  is  alwaja 
the  same ;  but  the  force  of  circumstances  and  the  lights  of  experience 
may  evolve  to  the  fallible  persons,  charged  with  its  administration, 
the  fitness  and  necessity  of  a  particular  exercise  of  a  constnictiTe 
power  to-day,  which  they  did  not  see  at  a  former  period. 

When  the  application  was  made  to  renew  the  old  charter  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  iuch  an  institotion  did  not  qipear  iowm 


•N   TBS  BANK  CHARTBR.  86 

to  be  80  necessarj  to  the  jfalfiilroent  of  any  of  the  objects  specifically 
enumerated  in  the  comtitution  as  to  justify  Congress  in  assuming,  by 
emistruction,  power  to  establish  it.  It  was  supported  tpainly  upon 
the  ground  that  it  was  indispensable  to  the  treasury  operations.  But 
the  local  institutions  in  the  several  States  were  at  that  time  in  pros- 
perous existence,  confided  in  by  the  community,  having  a  confidence 
in  each  other,  and  maintaining  an  intercourse  and  connexion  the  most 
intimate.  Many  of  them  were  acti^dly  employed  by  the  treasury 
to  aid  that  department,  in  a  part  of  its  fiscal  arrangements ,  and  they 
appeared  to  me  to  be  fiilly  capable  of  afibrding  to  it  all  the  facility 
that  it  ought  to  desire  in  all  of  them.  They  superseded,  in  my  judg^ 
ment,  the  necessity  of  a  national  institution.  But  how  stands  the 
case  in  1816,  when  I  am  called  upon  again  to  examine  the  power  of 
the  general  government 'to  incorporate  a  National  Bank?  A  total 
change  of  circumstances  is  presented.  £vents  of  the  utmost  magni- 
tude have  intervened. 

A  general  suspension  of  specie  payments  has  taken  place,  and  this 
has  led  to  a  train  of  consequences  of  the  most  alarming  nature.  I 
behold,  dispersed  over  the  immense  extent  of  the  United  States, 
about  three  hundred  banking  institutions,  enjoying,  in  difl^nt  de- 
grees, the  confidence  of  the  public,  shaken  as  to  them  all,  under  no 
direct  control  of  the  general  government,  and  subject  to  no  actual  re- 
sponsibility to  the  State  authorities.  These  institutions  are  emitting 
the  actual  currency  of  the  United  States  ;  a  currency  consisting  of  a 
paper,  on  which  they  neither  pay  interest  nor  principal,  while  it  is 
exchanged  for  the  paper  of  the  community,  on  which  both  arc  paid. 
I  see  these  institutions,  in  fact,  exercising  what  has  been  considered, 
•t  all  times  and  in  all  countries,  tme  of  the  highest  attributes  of  sov- 
ereignty, the  regulation  of  the  current  medium  of  the  country.  Th^ 
are  no  longer  competent  to  assist  the  treasury  in  either  of  the  great 
operations  of  collection,  deposit,  or  distribution  of  the  public  revenues. 
In  fact,  the  paper  which  they  emit,  and  which  the  treasury,  from  the 
force  of  events,  finds  itself  constrained  to  receive,  is  constantly  ob- 
structing the  operations  of  that  department.  For  it  will  accumulate 
where  it  is  not  wanted,  and  cannot  be  used  where  it  is  wanted  for 
the  purposes  of  government,  without  a  ruinous  and  arbitrary  broker- 
age. Every  man  who  pays  or  receives  from  the  government,  pays  or 
leoeives  as  much  less  than  he  ought,  as  is  the  difierence  between  the 
medium  in  which  the  payment  is  efiacted,  and  specie.    Taxes  are  no 

•F 


116  IVBICRBB  or  HtlOtT  CLAT. 

iOBger  QoifonB.  In  New  England^  where  specie  payments  have  net 
bten  suspended,  the  people  are  called  upon  to  pay  larger  oontribii- 
tions  than  where  they  are  suspended.  In  Kentucky,  as  much  move 
is  paid  by  the  people  in  their  taxes  than  is  paid,  for  example,  in  the 
State  of  Ohio,  as  Kentucky  paper  is  wwth  more  than  Ohio  paper. 

It  appears  to  me  that,  in  this  condition  of  things,  the  general  gov- 
emment  can  no  longer  depend  upon  these  local  institutions,  multiplied 
•and  multiplying  daily— <;oming  into  existence  by  the  breath  of  eighteen 
State  sovereignties,  some  of  which,  by  a  single  act  of  volition,  haipc 
created  twenty  or  thirty  at  a  time.  Even  if  the  resumption  of  specie 
psyments  could  be  anticipated,  the  general  government  remaining 
passive,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  the  general  government  ought 
longer  to  depend  upon  these  local  institutions  exclusively  for  aid  in 
its  opemtions.  But  I  do  not  believe  it  can  be  justly  so  anticipated. 
It  is  not  the  interest  of  all  of  them  that  the  renewal  shall  take  plaee 
of  specie  payments,  and  yet,  without  concert  between  all  or  most  of 
them,  it  cannot  be  effected.  With  regard  to  those  disposed  to  relam 
to  a  regular  state  of  things,  great  difficulties  may  arise,  as  to  the  timi 
of  its  commencement. 

Considering,  then,  that  the  state  of  the  currency  is  such  that  na 
thinking  man  can  contemplate  it  without  the  most  serious  alarm,  that 
it  threatens  general  distress,  if  it  does  not  ultimately  lead  to  convul- 
sion and  subversion  of  the  government,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
duty  of  Congress  to  apply  a  remedy,  if  a  remedy  can  be  devised.  A 
National  Bank,  with  other  auxiliary  measures,  is  proposed  as  that 
remedy.  I  determined  to  examine  the  question,  with  as  little  preju- 
dice as  possible  arising  from  my  TOrmer  opinion.  I  kiiow  that  the 
aafest  course  for  me,  if  I  were  to  pursue  a  cold,  calculating  policy,  is 
to  adhere  to  that  opinion,  right  or  wrong.  I  am  perfectly  aware  that 
if  I  change  or  seem  to  change  it,  I  shall  expose  myself  to  some  cul- 
ture. But,  looking  at  the  subjct  with  the  light  shed  upon  it  by  events 
which  have  happened  since  the  commencement  of  the  war,  I  can  n* 
longer  doubt.  A  Bank  appears  to  me  not  only  necessary,  but  indis 
pensably  necessary,  in  connexion  with  another  measure,  to  remedy 
the  evils  of  which  all  are  but  too  sensible.  I  prefer,  to  the  suggea- 
tions  of  the  pride  of  consistency,  the  evident  interests  of  the  commii- 
nity«  and  am  determined  to  throw  myself  upon  their  candor  and  ju»* 
tice.    That  which  appeared  to  me  in  1811,  under  the  state  of  tfiiagi 


Off   THK  BAffK   CHARTER.  87 

then  existing,  noit  to  be  necessary  to  the  general  government,  seems 
SQiw  to  be  necessary,  under  the  present  state  of  things.  Had  I  then 
foreseen  what  now  exists,  and  no  objection  had  laid  against  the  re- 
newal of  the  charter,  I  should  have  TOted  for  the  renewal. 

Other  provisions  of  the  constitution,  but  little  noticed,  if  noticed  at 
-ail,  on  the  discussions  in  Congress  in  1811,  would  seem  to  urge  that 
body  to  exert  all  its  powers  to  restore  to  asound  state  the  money  of 
the  country.  That  instrument  confers  upon  Congress  the  power  to 
coin  money,  and  to  regulate  the  value  of  foreign  coins ;  and  the  States 
are  prohibited  to  coin  money,  to  emit  bills  of  credit,  or  to  make  any 
thing  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts.  The 
pfaun  inference  is,  that  the  subject  of  the  general  currency  is  in- 
tended to  be  submitted  exclusively  to  the  general  government.  In 
lioint  of  fact,  however,  the  regulation  of  the  general  currency  is  in 
the  hands  <tf  the  State  governments,  or,  which  is  the  same  thii^,  of 
the  banks  created  by  them.  Their  paper  has  every  quality  of  money 
except  that  of  being  a  tender,  and  even  this  is  imparted  to  it  by  some 
iitates,  in  the  law  by  which  a  creditor  must  receive  it,  or  submit  lo  a 
ruinous  suspension  of  the  payment  of  his  debt.  It  is  incumbent  upon 
Congress  to  recover  the  control  which  it  has  lost  over  the  general 
currency-  The  remedy  called  for  is  one  of  caution  and  moderation, 
but  of  firmness.  Whether  a  remedy,  directly  acting  upon  the  banks 
and  their  paper  thrown  into  circulation,  is  in  the  power  of  the  gen- 
eral government  or  not,  neither  Congress  nor  the  community  are  pre- 
pared for  the  application  of  such  a  remedy.  An  indirect  remedy,  of 
%  milder  character,  seems  to  be  furnished  by  a  National  Bank.  Going 
into  operation  with  the  powerful  aid  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States,  I  believe  it  will  be  highly  instrumental  in  the  renewal  of  specie 
payments.  Coupled  with  the  other  measure  adopted  by  Congress  for 
that  object,  I  believe  the  remedy  efiectual.  The  local  banks  must 
follow  the  example,  which  the  National  Bank  will  set  them,  of  re- 
deeming their  notes  by  the  papment  of  specie,  or  their  notes  will  be 
discredited  and  put  down. 

If  the  constitution,  then,  warrants  the  establishment  of  a  Bank, 
other  considerations,  besides  those  already  mentioned,  strongly  urge 
it.  The  want  of  a  general  medium  is  everywhere  felt.  Exchange 
varies  continually,  not  only  between  different  parts  of  the  Union,  but 
betweeen  difierent  parts  of  the  same  city.     If  the  paper  of  a  National 


SPEECHES   OP  HSNRT  CLAT. 

Bank  is  not  redeemed  in  specie,  it  will  be  much  better  than  the  cur- 
rent paper,  since,  although  its  value,  in  comparison  with  specie,  maj 
fluctuate,  it  will  afford  an  uniform  standard. 

If  political  power  be  incidental  to  banking  corporations,  there  ought 
perhaps  to  be  in  the  general  government  some  counterpoise  to  that 
which  is  exerted  by  the  States.  Such  a  counterpoise  might  not  in- 
deed be  so  necessary,  if  the  States  exercised  the  power  to  incorporate 
banks  equally,  or  in  proportion  to  their  respective  populations.  But 
this  is  not  the  case.  A  single  State  has  a  banking  capital  equivalent, 
or  nearly  so,  to  one-fifth  of  the  whole  banking  capital  of  the  United 
States.  In  the  event  of  any  convulsion,  in  which  the  distribution  of 
banking  institutions  might  be  important,  it  may  be  urged  that  the 
mischief  would  not  be  alleviated  by  the  creation  of  a  National  Bank, 
since  its  location  must  be  within  one  of  the  States.  But  in  this  re- 
spect the  location  of  the  Bank  is  extremelv  favorable,  being  in  one  of 
the  middle  States,  not  likely,  from  its  position  as  well  as  its  loyalty, 
to  concur  in  any  scheme  for  subverting  the  government.  And  a  suf- 
ficient security  against  such  contingency  is  to  be  found  in  the  distri- 
bution of  branches  in  different  States,  acting  and  reacting  upon  tha 
parent  institution,  and  upon  each  other 


ON  THE  VETO  OF  THE  BANK, 


In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  July  12,  1832. 


I  HAVE  soine  obserTatioos  to  submit  on  tliis  question,  which  I  would 
not  trespass  on  the  Senate  in  ofiering,  but  that  it  has  some  ccHnmand 
of  leisure,  in  consequence  of  the  conference  which  has  been  agreed 
upon  in  respect  to  Uie  tariff. 

A  bill  to  recharter  the  bank  has  recently  passed  Congress,  after 
much  deliberation.  In  this  body,  we  know  that  there  are  members 
enough  who  entertain  no  constitutional  scruples,  to  make,  with  the 
▼ote  by  which  the  bill  was  passed,  a  majority  of  two-thirds.  In  the 
House  of  Representatives,  also,  it  ia  betieved,  there  is  a  like  majority 
in  favor  of  the  bill.  Notwithstanding  this  state  of  things,  the  Presi- 
dent has  rejected  the  bill,  and  transmitted  to  the  Senate  an  elaborate 
message,  communicating  at  large  his  objections.  The  constitution 
requires  that  we  should  reconsider  the  bUl,  and  that  the  question  of 
its  passage,  the  President's  objections  notwithstanding,  shall  be  taken 
by  ayes  and  noes.  Respect  to  him,  as  well  as  tiro  injunctions  of  the 
constitution,  require  that  we  should  deliberately  examine  his  reasons, 
and  reconsider  the  question. 

The  veto  is  an  extraordinary  power,  which,  though  tolerated  by 
the  constitution,  was  not  expected,  by  the  convention,  to  be  used  in 
ordinary  cases.  It  was  designed  for  instances  of  precipitate  legisla- 
tion, in  unguarded  moments.  Thus  restricted,  and  it  has  been  thus 
restricted  by  all  former  Presidents,  it  might  not  be  mischievous.  Dur- 
ing Mr.  Madison's  administration  of  eight  years,  there  occurred  but 
two  or  three  cases  of  its  exercise.  During  the  last  administration  I 
do  not  now  recollect  that  it  was  once.  In  a  period  little  upwards  of 
three  years,  the  present  Chief  Magistrate  has  employed  the  veto  four 
times.    We  now  hear  quite  frequently,  in  the  progress  of  measures 


90  SPEECHES   OF  HENRT    CLAT. 

through  Congress,  the  statement  that  the  President  will  veto  them, 
urged  as  an  objection  to  their  passage. 

The  veto  is  hardly  reconcileable  with  the  genius  of  representative 
government.  It  is  totally  irreconcileable  with  it,  if  it  is  to  be  fre» 
quently  employed  in  respect  to  the  expediency  of  measures,  as  well 
as  their  constitutionality.  It  is  a  feature  of  our  government  borrowed 
from  a  prerogative  of  the  British  king.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  in 
England  it  has  grown  obsolete,  not  having  been  used  for  upwards  of 
a  century.  At  the  commencement  of  the  French  revolution,  in  dis- 
cusssing  the  principles  of  their  constitution,  in  national  convention, 
the  veto  held  a  conspicuous  figure.  The  gay,  laughing  population 
€i  Paris  bestowed  on  the  king  the  appellation  of  Monsieur  Veto,  and 
on  the  queen,  that  of  Madame  Veto.  The  convention  finally  decreed 
that  if  a  measure  rejected  by  the  king  should  obtain  the  sanction  of 
two  concurring  legislatures,  it  should  be  a  law,  notwithstanding  the 
veto.  In  the  constitution  of  Kentucky,  and  perhaps  in  some  other 
of  the  State  constitutions,  it  is  provided  that  if,  after  the  rejection  of 
a  bill  by  the  Governor,  it  shall  be  passed  by  a  majority  of  all  the 
members  elected  to  both  Houses,  it  shall  become  a  law,  notwithstand- 
ing the  Governor's  objections.  As  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  gov- 
ernment, the  chief  magistrate  has  great  weight.  If,  af^er  a  respect- 
ful consideration  of  his  objections  urged  against  a  bill,  a  majority  of 
all  the  members  elected  to  the  legislature  shall  still  pass  it,  notwith- 
standing his  official  influence  and  the  force  of  his  reasons,  ought  it 
not  to  become  a  ^w }  Ought  the  opinion  of  one  man  to  overrule 
that  of  a  legislative  body  twice  deliberately  expressed  ? 

It  cannot  be  imagined  that  the  convention  contemplated  the  appli- 
cation of  the  veto  to  a  question  which  has  been  so  long,  so  often,  and 
so  thoroughly  scrutinized,  as  that  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
by  every  department  of  the  government,  in  almost  every  stage  of  its 
existence,  and  by  the  people,  and  by  the  State  legislatures.  Of  all 
the  controverted  questions  which  have  sprung  up  under  our  govern- 
ment, not  one  has  been  so  fully  investigated  as  that  of  its  power  to 
establish  a  Bank  of  the  United  States.  More  than  seventeen  yean 
ago,  in  January,  1815,  Mr.  Madison  then  said,  in  a  message  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  : 

**  WiiTiaff  the  qoestioo  of  the  conecitntional  authority  of  the  LegiibtttTe  to  cAah 


ON   TBI  TRO   or  THB  BAHK.  91 

Dih  tt  ittcofpoxated  Bnk,  m  being  pindndedy  in  my  jodcmeDt,  by  r^ated  reccf - 
liidpii^  under  yaiied  circniiistanceB^  of  the  yaliditv  of  sncn  an  institution,  in  acts  of 
l&e  legialatiTe,  ezecutiTe,  and  judicial  branehet  of  the  govermnent.  acooiniNuiied  faw 
i^^pcations,  in  difiereat  modes,  of  a  concurrence  of  the  general  will  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  MadiaoD,  himself  oppofled  to  the  first  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  yielded  his  own  convictions  to  those  of  the  nation,  and  all 
th^  departments  of  the  government  thus  often  expressed.  Subse- 
«quent  to  this  true  but  strong  statement  of  the  case,  the  present  Bank 
of  the  United  States  was  established,  and  numero«s  other  acts,  of  all 
the  departments  of  government,  manifesting  their  settled  sense  of  the 
power,  have  been  added  to  those  which  existed  prior  to  the  date  of 
Mr.  Madison's  message. 

No  question  has  been  more  generally  discussed,  within  the  last  two 
years,  by  the  people  9i  large,  and  in  State  Legislatures,  than  that  of 
the  Bank.  And  this  consideration  of  it  has  been  prompted  by  the 
President  himself.  In  his  first  message  to  Ck)ngress,  (in  December, 
1829,)  he  brought  the  subject  to  the  view  of  that  body  and  the  nation, 
and  expressly  declared,  that  it  could  not,  for  the  interest  of  all  con- 
cerned, be  '^  too  soon"  settled.  In  each  of  his  subsequent  annual  mes- 
sages, in  1830  and  1831,  he  again  invited  the  attention  of  Congress  to 
the  subject.  Thus^  after  an  interval  of  two  years,  and  after  the  inter- 
vention of  the  election  of  a  new  Congress,  the  President  proposes  to 
renew  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  And  yet  his 
friends  now  declare  the  agitation  of  the  question  to  be  premature ! 
It  was. not  premature  in  1829  to  present  the  question,  but  it  is  pre- 
nv^ure  in  1832  to  consider  and  decide  it ! 

After  the  President  had  directed  public  attention  to  this  question, 
it  became  uot  only  a  topic  of  popular  conversation,  but  was  discussed 
ia  the  press  and  employed  as  a  theme  in  popular  elections.  I  was 
myself  interrogated,  on  more  occasions  than  one,  to  make  a  public 
eixpreasion  of  my  sentiments ;  and  a  friend  of  mine  in  Kentucky,  a 
candidate  for  the  State  Legislature,  told  me  near  two  years  ago,  that^ 
he  was  surprised,  in  an  obscure  part  of  his  county,  (the  hills  of  Ben- 
son) where  there  was  but  little  occasion  for  Banks,  to  find  himself 
qoefltiooed  on  the  stump,  as  to  the  recharter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  It  seemed  as  if  a  sort  of  general  order  ^  had  gone  out,  from 
heiad-quarters,  to  the  partizana  of  the  adnunistration  every  where,  to 
agitate  and  make  the  moat  of  the  question.    They  have  done  so :  and 


9d  BPKBCH18  OF  HKNET  CLAT. 

their  conditioii  now  remindg  me  of  the  fable  invented  by  Dr.  FVank- 
lin  of  the  eagle  and  the  cat,  to  demonstrate  that  Maop  had  not  ex- 
hausted invention,  in  the  construction  of  his  memorable  ftLbles.  The 
eagle,  you  know,  Mr.  President,  pounced  from  his  lofty  flight  in  the 
air  upon  a  cat,  taking  it  to  be  a  pig.  Having  borne  off  his  prize,  he 
quicldy  felt  most  painfully  the  paws  of  the  cat  thrust  deeply  into  hia 
sid^B  and  body.  Whilst  flying,  he  held  a  parley  with  the  supposed 
pig,  and  proposed  to  let  go  his  hold,  if  the  other  would  let  him  alone.  •* 
No  says  puss,  you  brought  me  from  yonder  earth  below,  and  I  will 
hold  fast  to  you  until  you  carry  me  back — a  condition  to  which  the 
eagle  readily  assented. 

The  friends  of  the  President,  who  have  been  for  near  three  year* 
agitating  this  question,  now  turn  round  upon  their  opponents,  who 
have  supposed  the  President  quite  serious  and  in  earnest  in  present- 
ing it  for  public  consideration,  and  charge  them  with  prematurely ' 
agitating  it.  And  that  for  electioneering  purposes !  The  other  side 
understands  perfectly  the  policy  of  preferring  an  unjust  charge  in  or- 
der to  avoid  a  well  founded  accusation. 

If  there  be  an  electioneering  motive  in  the  mattei*,  who  have 
been  actuated  by  it  ?  Those  who  have  taken  the  President  at  hn 
word,  and  deliberated  on  a  measure  which  he  has  repeatedly  recom- 
mended to  their  consideration ;  or  those  who  have  resorted  to  all  sorts 
of  means  to  elude  the  question  ?  By  alternately  coaxing  and  threat- 
ening the  Bank ;  by  an  extraordinary  investigation  into  the  admini- 
stration of  the  Bank ;  and  by  every  species  of  postponement  and  pro- 
crastination, during  the  progress  of  the  bill. 

Nothwithstanding  all  these  dilatory  expedients,  a  majority  of  Con- 
gress, prompted  by  the  will  and  the  best  interests  of  the  nation,  passed 
the  bill.  And  I  shall  now  proceed,  with  great  respect  and  deference, 
to  examine  some  of  the  objections  to  its  becoming  a  law,  contained 
%i  the  President's  message,  avoiding,  as  much  as  I  can,  a  repetition  of 
what  gentlemen  have  said  who  preceded  me. 

The  President  thinks  that  the  precedents,  drawn  from  the  proceed- 
ings of  Congress,  as  to  the  constitutional  power  to  establish  a  Bank, 
are  neutralized,  by  there  being  two  for  and  two  against  the  authori- 
ty.   He  supposes  that  one  Congress  in  1811,  and  another  in  1815, 


OH  TRS  TITO  or  THS  BANK.  93 

decided  agaiiiBt  tbe  power.  Let  us  examine  both  of  these  cases. 
the  House  of  Rejweseiitatiyes  in  181 1,  passed  the  bill  to  re-charter 
the  Bank,  and,  conseqnendy  affirmed  the  power.  'The  Senate  dming 
the  same  year  were  diyided,  17  and  17,  and  the  Vice-President  gare 
the  casting  vote.  Of  the  17  who  voted  against  the  Bank,  we  know 
from  the  declaration  of  the  senator  from  Maryland,  (General  Smith,) 
now  present,  that  he  entertained  no  doubt  whatever  of  the  constitu- 
tional power  of  Congress  to  e«tablish  a  Bank,  and  that  he  voted  on 
totally  distinct  ground.  Taking  away  his  vote  and  adding  it  to  the 
17  who  voted  for  the  Bank,  the  number  would  have  stood  18  for,  and 
16  against  the  power.  But  we  know  further,  that  Bfr.  Gaillard,  Mr. 
Anderson  and  Mr.  Robinson,  made  a  part  of  that  16 ;  and  that  in 
1815,  all  three  of  them  voted  for  the  Bank.  Take  those  three  votes 
from  the  16,  and  add  them  to  the  18,  and  the  vote  of  1811,  as  to  the 
question  of  constitutional  power,  would  have  been  21  and  13.  And  of 
these  thirteen  there  might  have  been  others  still  who  were  not  go- 
verned in  their  votes  by  any  doubts  of  the  power. 

In  regard  to  the  Congress  of  1815,  so  far  from  their  having  enter- 
tained any  scruples  in  respect  to  the  power  to  establish  a  Bank,  they 
actually  passed  a  Bank  bill,  and  thereby  affirmed  the  power.  It  is 
true  that,  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, (Mr.  Cheves,)  they  rejected  another  bank  bill,  not  on 
grounds  of  want  of  power,  but  upon  considerations  of  expediency  in 
the  particular  structure  of  that  Bank. 

Both  the  adverse  precedents  therefore,  relied  upon  in  the  message, 
operate  directly  against  the  argument  which  they  were  brought  for- 
ward to  maintain.  Congress,  by  various  othw  acts,  in  relation  to  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  has  again  and  again  sanctioned  the  power. 
And  I  believe  it  may  be  truly  affirmed  that  from  the  commencement 
of  the  government  to  this  day,  there  has  not  been  a  Congress  opposed 
to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  upon  the  distinct  ground  of  a  want 
of  power  to  establish  it. 

And  here,  Mr.  President,  I  pust  request  the  indulgence  of  the 
Senate,  whilst  I  express  a  few  words  in  relation  of  myself. 

I  voted,  in  1811,  against  the  old  Bank  of  the  United  Stetes,  and  I 
delivered  on  the  occasion,  a  speech,  in  which,  among  other  reaaonS| 


i 


94  IPUECHBS  or  HKiniT  CLAT. 

I  assigned  that  of  its  beiQg  uDConstitutioDal.  My  speech  has  heea 
I9ad  to  the  Senate,  during  the  progress  of  this  hill,  but  the  readiii^ 
qf  iC  excited  no  other  regret  than  that  it  was  read  in  such  a  wretch^ 
boQglingi  mangling  manner.*  During  a  long  public  life,  (I  mentiom 
the  &ct,  not  as  claiming  any  merit  for  it|  the  only  great  question  in 
vhich  1  have  ever  changed  my  opinion,  is  that  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  If  the  researches  of  the  Senator  had  carried  bim  a 
little  further,  he  would,  by  turning  over  a  few  more  leaves  of  the 
same  book  from  which  he  read  my  speech,  have  found  that  which  I 
made  in  1816,  in  support  of  the  present  Bank.  By  the  reasons  ap* 
sigaed  in  it  for  the  change  of  my  opinion,  I  am  ready  to  Htude  in  tba 
judgment  of  the  present  generation  and  of  posterity.  In  1816,  bei^g 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  it  was  perfectly  in  my  pow- 
er to  have  said  nothing  and  done  nothing,  and  thus  have  concealed 
the  change  of  opinion  which  my  mind  had  undergone.  But  I  did  not 
choose  to  remain  silent  and  escape  responsibility.  I  chose  publidj 
to  avow  my  actual  conversion.  The  war  and  the  fatal  experieooe 
of  its  disastrous  events,  had  changed  me.  Mr.  Madison,  Governor 
Pleasants,  and  almost  all  the  public  men  around  me,  my  political 
Qrifioads^  had  changed  their  opinions  from  the  same  causes. 

The  power  to  establish  a  Bank  is  deduced  from  that  clause  of  the 
QQUstituti^  which  confers  on  Congress  all  powers  necessary  and 
pit^per  to  carry  into  effect  the  enumerated  powers.  In  1811, 1  he* 
lieved  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  not  necessary,  and  that  a  safe  le^ 
liance  might  be  placed  on  the  local  banks,  in  the  administration  of 
the  fiscal  a&irs  of  the*  government.  The  war  taught  us  naany  les- 
sens, and  among  others  demtonstrated  the  necessity  of  the  Bank  of  tUa 
United  States,  to  the  successful  operations  of  the  government.  I  -wSX 
not  trouble  the  Senate  with  a  perusal  of  my  speech  in  1816,  but  ade 
its  permission  to  read  a  few  extracts : 

"  But  how  stood  the  ctae  \n  181^  when  he  was  called  upon  to  examine  the  pow- 
ers of  the  general  government  to  incorporate  a  National  Bank  1  A  total  change  of 
circunutances  was  presented— eTcnts  of  the  ntmoet  magnitude  bad  intervened. 

"^  gjncnil  suspension  of  specie  payments  had  taken  place,  and  this  had  led  to  a 
tftip  of  cireqrostanoes  of  the  mosc  alarming  nature.  He  beheld,  dispersed  over  the 
immense  ex||pnt  of  the  United  States,  about  three  hundred  bankmg  institutions,  en- 
joying, m  difierent  degrees,  the  eonfidenee  of  the  public,  shaken  as  to  them  aB- 
njMer  no  direct  control  of  the  general  government,  and  subject  to  no  actual  respon, 
wnlity  to  the  state  authorities.    These  institutions  were  emitting  the  actual  our* 

*  It  >  aadeiatood  tQ  havt  baea  wad  by  Mg.  HilL 


0«  THK  TBTO  OP  THK  BANK.  95 

mncf  of  the  United  Sutes— a  cairency  coosutinc  of  paper,  on  which  they  neiihar 
paid  interest  nor  principal,  whilst  it  was  exchanged  for  the  paper  of  the  community. 
mt  which  both  were  paid.  We  saw  theae  inatiiutiooa  in  fact,  ezercising  what  haa 
been  coosidercd,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  countries,  one  of  the  highest  attributes  of 
•vvereignty— >the  regulation  of  the  carrent  medium  of  the  country.  They  ware  na 
knf  er  competent  to  assist  the  Trcasuir.  in  either  of  the  great  operations  of  colleen 
don,  deposite  or  distribution  of  the  pnouc  reTenuen.  In  fact,  the  paper  which  they 
•mitted,  and  which  the  Treasury,  from  the  force  of  eventa,  found  itself  ooostraiacd 
to  receive,  was  constantly  obstructing  the  o|>eration8  of  that  department ;  for  it 
wonld  accarniUate  where  it  waa  not  wanted,  and  could  not  be  ased  where  it  waa 
wanted,  for  the  purposes  of  government,  without  a  ruinous  and  arbitrary  brokerage. 
Every  man  who  Paid  to  or  received  from  the  goTemment,  naid  or  received  as  much 
leas  than  he  ought  to  have  done,  as  waa  the  diO'erence  between  the  medium  in 
which  the  pavment  was  effected  and  specie.  Taxes  were  no  longer  uniform.  In 
New  England,  whete  specie  payments  had  not  been  suspended,  the  people  were 
called  upon  to  pay  larger  contributions  than  where  they  were  suspended.  In  Ken- 
tneky  aa  nraeh  more  was  paid  by  the  people,  in  their  taxes,  than  was  pnid,  for  eK*> 
•miple;  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  as  KTeniucky  paper  waa  worth  more  than  Ohio  paper. 

**  Conaidering,  then,  that  the  state  of  the  currency  was  such  that  no  thinking  man 
eottld  comenrolate  it  without  the  most  serious  alarm ;  that  it  threatened  genetil 
distress,  if  it  did  not  ultimately  lead  to  convulsion  and  subversion  of  the  government 
•—it  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to  ai)p!y  a  remedy,  if  a  remedy 
oould  be  devised*  A  National  Bank,  with  other  auxiliary  measures  was  proposed  aa 
that  remedy.  Mr.  Clay  said  he  determined  lo  examine  the  qui'stion  with  aa  little 
prejudice  as  possible,  arising  from  his  former  opinion  ;  he  knew  that  the  safeM  course 
to  nim,  if  he  pursued  a  coul  calculating  prudence,  was  to  adhere  to  that  opinion 
right  or  wrong.  He  was  perfectly  aware  that  if  he  changed,  or  seemed  to  change 
it,  he  should  expose  himself  to  some  censure ;  b«it,  looking  at  the  aubject  with  tiif 
light  shed  upon  it,  by  events  happening  since  the  commencement  ot  the  war,  he 
oonid  no  longer  doubt  *  *  *  *  He  preferred  to  the  aaggeationa  of  the  pride  of 
oonsisteacy,  the  evident  interests  of  the  community,  and  determined  to  throw  hiro- 
«lf  npon  their  justice  and  candor.** 

The  interest  which  fbreigaers  hold  in  the  exiiting  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  ia  dwelt  upon  in  the  message  as  a  serious  objection  to 
the  recharter.  But  this  interest  is  the  result  of  the  assignable  nature 
oC  the  stock ;  and  if  the  objection  be  well  founded,  it  applies  to  gov-* 
eminent  stock,  to  the  stock  in  local  banks,  in  canal  and  other  compa* 
nics,  created  for  internal  improvements,  and  every  species  of  money 
or  moveables  in  which  foreigners  may  acquire  an  interest.  The  as- 
signable character  of  the  stock  is  a  quality  conferred  not  for  the  bene- 
fit of  foreigners,  but  for  that  of  our  own  citizens.  And  the  fact  of  its 
being  tran^srred  to  them  is  the  effect  of  the  balance  of  trade  being 
against  us — an  evil,  if  it  be  one,  which  the  American  system  will 
correct.  All  governments  wanting  capital,  resort  to  foreign  nations 
possessing  it  in  superabimdance,  to  obtain  it.  Sometimes  the  resort 
is  even  made  by  one  to  another  belligerent  nation.  During  our  revo* 
lutionary  war  we  obtained  foreign  capital  (Dutch  and  French)  to  aid 
us.  Durii^  the  late  war  American  stock  was  sent  to  Europe  to  sell ; 
•ad  if  f  am  not  misinformed,  to  Liverpool.  The  question  does  not 
depend  npon  the  place  whence  the  capital  is  obtained,  but  the  advan- 
tageous use  of  it    The  confidence  of  foreigners  in  our  stocks,  is  a  proof 


96  BPEBCHKS  OF  HKHET  CLAT. 

3f  the  solidity  of  our  credit.  Foreigners  have  no  yoice  in  the  admin- 
istration of  this  Bank ;  and  if  they  buy  its  stock,  they  are  obliged  to 
submit  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  manage  it.  The  senator 
from  Tennessee,  (Mr.  White,)  asks  what  would  have  been  the  condi- 
tion of  this  country,  if,  during  the  late  war,  this  Bank  had  existed, 
with  such  an  interest  in  it  as  foreigners  now  hold  ?  I  will  tell  him. 
We  should  have  avoided  many  of  the  disasters  of  that  war,  perhaps 
those  of  Detroit  and  at  this  place.  The  government  would  have  po0- 
aessed  ample  means  for  its  vigorous  prosecution ;  and  the  interest  of 
foreigners,  British  subjects  especially,  would  have  operated  Upon 
them,  not  upon  us.  Will  it  not  be  a  serious  evil  to  be  obliged  to  remit 
in  specie  to  foreigners  the  eight  millions  which  they  now  have  in  this 
bank,  instead  of  retaining  that  capital  within  the  country  to  stimulate 
its  industry  and  enterprise  ? 

The  President  assigns  in  his  message  a  conspicuous  place  to  the 
alleged  injurious  operation  of  the  Bank  on  the  interests  of  the  western 
people.  They  ought  to  be  much  indebted  to  him  for  his  kindness 
manifested  towards  them ;  although,  I  think,  they  have  much  reason 
to  deprecate  it.  The  people  of  all  the  west  owe  to  this  Bank  aboot 
thirty  millions,  which  have  been  borrowed  from  it ;  and  the  President 
thinks  that  the  payments  for  the  interest,  and  other  fitcilities  which 
they  derive  from  the  operation  of  the  Bank,  are  so  onerous  as  to  pro* 
duce  <<  a  drain  of  their  currency,  which  no  country  can  bear  without 
inconvenience  and  occasional  distress.'*  His  remedy  is  to  compel 
them  to  pay  the  whole  of  the  debt  which  they  have  contracted  in  a 
period  short  of  four  years.  Now,  Mr.  President,  if  they  cannot  pay 
the  interest  without  distress,  how  are  they  to  pay  the  principal  ?  If 
they  cannot  pay  a  part  how  are  they  to  pay  the  whole  ?  Whether  die 
payment  of  the  interest  be  or  be  not  a  burthen  to  them,  is  a  question 
for  themselves  to  decide,  respecting  which  they  might  be  disposed  to 
dispense  with  the  kindness  of  the  President,  if,  instead  of  borrowiqg 
thirty  millions  from  the  Bank,  they  had  borrowed  a  like  sum  from  a 
Qirard,  John  Jacob  Astor,  or  any  other  banker,  what  would  they 
think  of  one  who  should  come  to  them  and  say — <'  Grentlemen  of  the 
west,  it  will  ruin  you  to  pay  the  interest  on  that  debt,  and  therefcnre  I 
wUl  oblige  you  to  pay  the  whole  of  the  principal  in  less  than  four 
years.*'  Would  they  not  reply — "  We  know  what  we  are  about ; 
mind  your  own  business ;  we  are  satisfied  that  in  ours  we  can  make 
not  only  the  interest  on  what  we  loan,  but  a  &ir  profit  besides." 


ON  THI  TITO  OP  THX  9AVX,  07 

A  great  mistake  exists  about  the  western  operation  of  the  Bank.  It 
is  not  the  Bank,  but  the  business,  the  commerce  of  the  west,  and  the 
operations  of  gOTemment,  that  occasions  the  transfer,  annually,  of 
money  from  the  west  to  the  Atlantic  States.  What  is  the  actual 
course  of  things  ?  The  business  and  commerce  of  the  west  are  car^ 
ried  on  with  New  Orleans,  with  the  southern  and  southwestern  States 
and  with  the  Atlantic  cities.  We  transport  our  dead  or  inanimate 
produce  to  New  Orleans,  and  receiire  in  return  checks  or  drafis  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  at  a  premium  of  a  half  per  cent.  We  send 
by  our  drovers  our  live  stock  to  the  south  and  southwest,  and  receive 
similar  checks  in  return.  With  these  drafts  or  checks  our  merchants 
proceed  to  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  purchase  domestic  or  foreign  goods 
ibr  western  consumption.  The  lead  and  fur  trade  of  Missouri  and 
Illinois  is  also  carried  on  principally  through  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  The  government  also  transfers  to  places  where  it  is  wanted, 
through  that  Bank,  the  sums  accumulated  at  the  different  land  offices, 
for  purchases  of  the  puWc  lands.  ' 

Now  all  these  varied  operations  must  go  on ;  all  these  remittances 
must  be  made— Bank  of*  the  United  States  or  no  Bank.  The  Bank 
does  not  create,  but  facilitates  them.  The  Bank  is  a  mere  vehicle ; 
just  as  much  so  as  the  steamboat  is  the  vehicle  which  transports  our 
produce  to  the  great  mart  of  New  Orleans,  and  not  the  grower  of  that 
produce.  It  is  to  confound  <Sause  and  effect,  to  attribute  to  the  Bank 
Atd  transfer  of  money  from  the  west  to  the  east.  Annihilate  the 
Bank  tomorrow,  and  similar  transfers  of  capital,  the  same  description 
of  pecuniary  operations,  must  be  continued  ;  not  so  well,  it  is  true, 
but  performed  they  must  be,  ill  or  well,  under  any  state  of  circum- 
stances. 

The  true  questions  are — how  are  they  now  performed ;  how  were 
ibty  conducted  prior  to  the  existence  of  the  Bank ;  how  would  they 
be  alter  it  ceased  ?  I  can  tell  you  what  was  our  condition  before  the 
Bank  was  established ;  and,  as  I  reason  from  the  past  to  future  expe- 
rience, und^  analogous  circumstances,  I  can  venture  to  predict  what 
it  will  probably  be  without  the  Bank. 

Before  the  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the 
exchange  business  of  the  west  was  carried  on  by  a  premium,  which 
was  generally  paid  on  all  remtttanees  to  the  east  of  two  and  a  half 


96  SPBBCHBt  or  HCNET  CLAT. 

per  cent.  The  a^;regate  amount  of  all  remittances,  throughout  the 
whole  circle  of  the  year,  waa  very  great,  and  instead  of  t/be  sum  thaa 
paid,  we  now  pay  half  per  cent,  or  nothing,  if  notes  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  be  used.  Prior  to  the  Bank,  we  were  without  the 
capital  of  the  thirty  millions  which  that  institution  now  suppliea, 
stimulating  our  industry  and  invigorating  our  enterprise.  In  Ken- 
tucky we  have  no  specie  paying  Bank,  scarcely  any  currency  other 
than  that  of  paper  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches. 

How  is  the  west  to  pay  this  enormous  debt  of  thirty  nullions  of 
dollars?  It  is  impossible.  It  cannot  be  done.  General  distreia, 
certain,  wide-spread,  inevitable  ruin  must  be  the  consequences  of  ssi 
attempt  to  enforce  the  payment.  Depression  in  the  value  of  all  pro- 
perty, sheriff's  sales  and  sacrifices — bankruptcy,  must  neoessarly 
ensue ,  and,  with  them,  relief  laws,  paper  money,  a  prostration  of 
the  courts  of  justice,  evils  from  which  wa  have  just  emerged,  must 
again,  with  all  their  train  of  afflictions,  revisit  our  country.  But  it 
is  argued  by  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  White)  that  similar 
predictions  were  made,  without  being  realized,  from  the  downfall  of 
the  old  Bank  of  the  United  States.  It  is,  however,  to  be  recollected, 
that  the  old  Bank  did  not  possess  one-third  of  the  capital  of  the  pte- 
sent ;  that  it  had  but  one  office  west  of  the*  mountains,  whilst  Am 
present  has  nine ;  and  that  it  had  little  or  no  debt  due  to  it  in  thfti 
quarter,  whilst  the  present  Bank  has  thirty  millions.  The  war,  t4N»y 
which  shortly  followed  the  downfidl  of  the  old  Bank,  and  the  sai*> 
pension  of  specie  payments,  which  soon  followed  the  war,  prevented 
the  injury  apprehended  from  the  discontinuance  of  the  old  Bank. 

The  same  gentleman  further  argues  that  the  day  of  payment  mnrt 
come  ;  and  he  asks  when,  better  than  now  ?  It  is  to  be  indefinitely 
postponed ;  is  the  charter  of  the  present  Bank  to  be  perpetual  ?  Why, 
Mr.  President,  all  things — governments,  republics,  empires,  laws, 
human  life — doubtless  are  to  have  an  end ;  but  shall  we  therefoM 
accelerate  their  termination  ?  The  west  is  now  young,  wants  oapi^ 
tal,  and  its  vast  resources,  needing  nourishment,  ace  daily  developing. 
By  and  by,  it  will  accumulate  wealth  from  its  industry  and  enterprise, 
and  possess  its  surplus  capital.  The  charter  is  not  made  perpetual, 
because  it  is  wrong  to  bind  posterity  perpetually.  At  the  end  of  the 
term  limited  for  its  renewal,  posterity  will  have  the  power  of  deter* 
mining  for  itself  whether  the  Bank  shall  then  be  wound  up,  cc  pro* 


on  TBI  TBTO  OF  TRS  BAKK.  .  99 

longed  another  term.  And  that  question  may  be  decided,  as  it  now 
o^^t  to  be,  by  a  consideration  of  the  interests  of  all  parts  of  the  Union, 
the  west  among  the  rest     SuflBoieDt  fix*  the  day  is  the  e?  il  thereof. 

The  President  teUs  us,  that,  that  if  the  executive  had  been  called 
apon  to  fumirii  the  project  of  a  Bank,  the  duty  would  have  been 
cheerfully  performed ;  and  he  states  that  a  Bank,  competent  to  i^  the 
duties  which  may  be  required  by  the  government,  might  be  so  oiga- 
Dised,  as  not  to  infiringe  on  our  own  delegated  powers,  or  the  reserv- 
ed rights  d  the  States.  The  President  is  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the 
k|p'slative  department.  As  such,  bills  which  have  passed  both  houses 
of  Congress,  are  presented  to  him  for  bis  approval  or  rejection.  The 
Mea  of  going  to  the  President  for  the  project  oi  a  law,  is  totaUy  new 
in  the  practice,  and  utterly  contrary  to  the  theory  <]€  the  government. 
What  should  we  think  oi  the  Senate  calling  upon  the  house,  or  the 
House  upon  the  Senate,  for  the  prajeet  of  a  law.  ? 

In  France,  the  king  possessed  the  initiative  of  all  kws,  and  none 
could  pass  without  its  having  been  previously  presented  to  one  of  the 
chambers  by  the  crown,  through  the  ministers.  Does  the  President 
wish  to  introduce  the  initiative  here  ?  Are  the  powers  of  recommen- 
dation, and  that  of  veto,  not  sufficient?  Must  all  legislation,  in  its 
commencement  and  in  its  termination  concentrate  in  the  President  ? 
When  we  shall  have  reached,  that  state  of  things,  the  election  and 
SBBual  sessions  of  Congress  will  be  a  useless  charge  upon  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  whole  business  of  government  may  be  economically  con- 
dncted  by  ukases  and  decrees. 

Congress  'tloes  sometimes  receive  the  suggestions  and  opinions  of 
the  heads  of  departaoent,  as  to  new  laws.  And,  at  the  commenee- 
ment  of  this  session,  in  his  annual  report,  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
svry  stated  his  reasons  at  large,  not  merely  m  fiivor  of  a  Bank,  but  in 
support  of  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  existing  Bank.  Who 
could  have  believed  that  that  responsible  officer  was  communicating 
to  Congress  opinions  directly  adverse  to  those  entertained  by  the 
President  himself  ?  When  before  has  it  happened,  that  the  head  of  a 
department  recommended  the  passage  of  a  law  which,  being  accord- 
ingly passed  and  presented  to  the  President,  is  subjected  to  his  veto  ? 
What  sort  of  a  Bank  it  %  with  a  project  of  which  the  President 
wooUL  have  de  igned  to  ftmdsh  Congressi  if  they  had  applied  to  hhn, 


i 


100       •  8P1E0HB8  OP  HmRT  CLAY. 

he  has  not  stated.  In  the  absence  oi  such  statement^  we  can  only 
coiyecture  that  it  is  his  famous  Treasury  Bank,  formerly  recommended 
by  him,  from  which  the  people  hare  recoiled  with  the  instinctiTe 
horror,  excited  by  the  approach  of  the  cholera. 

The  message  states,  that  ^^  an  investigation  vnwilimgly  conceded, 
and  so  reairicted  in  time  as  necessarily  to  make  it  inccmpktt  and  «»- 
saiufactoryf  disclose  enough  to  excite  suspicion  and  -alarm."  Ab 
there  is  no  prospect  of  the  passage  of  this  bill,  the  President's  objee- 
tions  notwithstanding,  by  a  ronstitutional  majority  of  twQ-thirds,  it 
can  never  reach  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  members  of  that 
House,  and  especially  its  distinguished  chairman  of' the  committee  of 
ways  and  means,  who  reported  the  bill,  are  therefore  cut  off  from  all 
opportunity  of  defending  themselves.  Under  these  circumstances, 
allow  me  to  ask  how  the  President  has  ascertained  that  the  investi* 
gation  was  unwillingly  conceded?  I  have  understood  directly  the 
contrary ;  and  that  the  chairman,  already  referred  to,  as  well  as  other 
members  in  favor  of  the  renewal  of  the  charter,  promptly  consented 
to  and  voted  for  the  investigation.  And  we  all  know  that  those  in 
support  of  the  renewal  could  have  prevented  the  investigation,  and 
that  they  did  not.  But  suspicion  and  alarm  have  been  excited ! 
Suspicion  and  alarm  !  Against  whom  is  this  suspicion  ?  The 
House,  or  the  Bank,  or  both  ? 

Mr.  President,  I  protest  against  the  right  of  any  Chief  Magistrate 
to  come  into  either  house  of  Congress,  and  scrutinize  the  motives  of 
its  members  ;  to  examine  whether  a  measure  has  been  passed  with 
promptitude  or  repugnance ;  and  to  pronounce  npon  the  willingness 
or  unwillingness  with  which  it  has  been  adopted  or  rejected.  It  is  an 
interference  in  concerns  which  partake  of  a  domestic  nature.  The 
official  and  constitutional  relations  between  the  President  and  the 
two  houses  of  Congress  subsist  with  them  as  organized  bodies.  His 
action  is  confined  to  their  consununated  proceedings,  and  does  not 
extend  to  measuses  in  their  incipient  stages,  during  their  progress 
through  the  houses,  nor  to  the  nootives  by  which  they  are  actuated. 
There  are  some  parts  of  this  message  that  ought  to  excite  deep  alarm ; 
and  that  especially  in  which  the  President  announces  that  each  pub* 
lie  officer  may  interpret  the  constitution  as  he  pleases.  His  language 
is,  ^^  Each  public  officer,  who  takes  an  oath  to  support  the  constitu- 
tion, swears  that  he  will  support  it  as  he  understands  it,  and  not  as  it 


on  TUB  TETO  OF  THB  BANC.  101 

is  understood  by  others."    •      •      •    «  jhe  opinion  of  the  judges 
has  no  more  aathority  o^rer  Congress  than  the  opinion  of  Congress 
has  over  the  judges ;  and  on  thai  point  the  Prendent  is  independent  of 
hoth.'*^     Now,  Mr.  President,  i  conceive,  with  great  deference,  that 
the  President  has  mistaken  the  purport  of  the  oath  to  support  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States.     No  one  sweats  to  support  \i  €L$  he 
understands  tf,but  to  support  it  simply  as  it  is  in  truth.     All  men  are 
bound  to  obey  the  laws,  of  which  the  constitution  is  the  supreme  ; 
but  must  they  obey  them  as  they  are,  or  as  they  understand  them  1   If 
the  obligation  of  obedience  is  limited  and  controlled  by  the  measure 
of  information — in  other  words,  if  the  party  is  bound  to  obey  the  con- 
stitution only  as  he  understands  it,  what  would  be  the  consequence  ? 
The  judge  of  an  inferior  court  would  disobey  the  mandate  of  a  supe- 
rior tribunal,  because  it  was  not  in  conformity  to  the  constitution,  as 
he  understands  it ;  a  custom  house  oQicer  would  disobey  a  circular 
from  the  treasury  department,  because  contrary  to  the  constitution, 
as  he  understands  it ;  an  American  minister  would  disregard  an  in- 
struction from  the  President,  communicated  through  the  department 
of  Slate,  because  not  agreeable  to  the  constitution,  as  he  understands 
a  ;  and  a  subordinate  otiicer  in  the  army  or  navy,  would  violate  the 
orders  of  his  superior,  because  they  were  not  in  accordance  with  the 
constitution,  as  he  understands  it.     We  should  have  nothing  settled, 
nothing  stable,  nothing  fixed.     There  would  be  general  disorder  and 
confusion  throughout  every  branch  of  administration,  from  the  high- 
est to  the  lowest  officers — universal  nullification.     For  what  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  President  but  that  of  South  Carolina  applied  through- 
out the  Union?     The  President,  independent  both  of  Congress  and 
the  Supreme  Court !    Only  bound  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  one  and 
tlie  decisions  of  the  other,  as  far  as  they  conform  to  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  as  far  as  he  understands  it !    Then  it  should  be 
the  duty  of  every  President,  on  his  installation  into  office,  to  carefully 
examine  all  the  acts  in  the  statute  book,  approved  by  his  predeces- 
sors, and  mark  out  those  which  he  was  resolved  not  to  execute,  and 
to  which  he  meant  to  apply  this  new  species  of  veto,  because  they 
were  repugnant  to  the  constitution  as  he  understands  it.     And,  after 
the  expiration  of  every  term  of  the  supreme  Court,  he  should  send  for 
the  record  of  its  decisions,  and  discriminate  between  those  which  he 
would,  and  those  which  he  would  not,  execute,  because  they  were 
or  were  i^ot  agreeable  to  the  constitation^  as  he  ttnderstands  it. 

•Q 


lot  BFMMCntB  OP  HIirST  OLAT. 

• 

There  is  another  coDstiiutional  doctrine  contained  in  the  meatage, 
which  18  entir<)ly  new  to  me.  It  asserts  that  ^'  the  government  of  the 
United  States  have  no  constitutional  power  to  purchase  lands  within 
the  States,''  except  ^<  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals, 
dockyards,  and  other  needful  buildings  ;"  and  even  for  these  objects, 
only  ^^  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the 
same  shall  be."  Now  sir,  I  had  supposed  that  the  right  of  CongreM 
to  purchase  lands  in  any  State  was  incontestible :  and,  in  point  of 
fiM^t,  it  probably  at  this  moment,  owns  land  in  every  State  of  the 
(Jnion,  purchased  for  taxes,  or  as  a  judgment  or  mortgage  creditor. 
And  there  are  various  acts  of  Congress  which  regulate  the  purchase 
and  transfer  of  such  lands.  The  advisers  of  the  Pre.sident  have  con* 
founded  the  feculty  of  purchasing  lands  with  the  exercise  of  exclusiTe 
jurisdiction,  which  is  restricted  by  the  constitution  to  the  forts  aed 
other  buildings  described. 

The  message  presents  some  striking  instances  of  discrepancy.  1st. 
It  contests  the  right  to  establish  one  bank,  and  objects  to  the  bill  tbat*^ 
it  limits  and  restrains  the  power  of  Congress  to  establish  several,  dd. 
It  urges  that  the  bill  does  not  recognise  the  power  of  State  taxation 
generally ;  and  complains  that  facilities  are  afforded  to  the  exercise 
of  that  power  in  respect  to  the  stock  held  by  individuals.  3d.  It  ob- 
jects that  any  bonus  is  taken,  and  insists  that  not  enough  is  demand* 
"  ed.  And  4th.  It  complains  that  foreigners  have  too  much  influence, 
and  that  stock  transferred  loses  the  privilege  of  representation  in  the 
elections  of  the  Bank,  which,  if  it  were  retaitied,  would  give  theot 
more. 

Mr.  President,  we  are  about  to  close  one  of  the  longest  and  most 
arduous  sessions  of  Congress  under  the  present  constitution ;  and 
when  we  return  among  our  constituents,  what  account  of  the  opera- 
tions of  their  government  shall  we  be  bound  to  communicate }  We 
shall  be  compelled  to  say,  that  the  Supreme  Court  is  paralysed,  and 
the  missionaries  retained  in  prison  in  contempt  of  its  authority,  and  in 
defiance  of  numerous  treaties  and  laws  of  the  United  States ;  that 
the  Elxecutive  through  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  sent  to  Con* 
gress  a  tariff  bill  which  would  have  destroyed  numerous  branches  of 
our  domestic  industry,  and  led  to  the  destruction  of  all ;  that  the  veto 
has  been  applied  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  our  only  reliance 
for  a  sound  and  uniform  currency ;  that  the  Senate  has  been  violently 


\ 


OH  TBI  TBTO  OF  THE  BANK. 


103 


attacked  for  the  exercise  of  a  clear  constitutional  power ;  that  the 
House  of  Representatives  has  heen  unnecessarily  assailed ;  and  that 
the  President  has  promulgated  a  rule  of  action  for  those  who  hare 
taken  the  oath  to  support  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  that 
must,  if  there  be  practical  conformity  to  it,  introduce  general  nullifi- 
cation! and  end  in  the  absolute  subTersion  of  the  gOTcmment. 


'  ■    •• 


-ji  .    • 


ON  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 


Iw  THE  Senate  op  the  United  States,  1832. 


[The  proper  disposition  of  the  Public  Lands  o\  the  United  States,  afier  the  pay 
ment  of  the  Revolutionary  Debt  for  which  they  were  originally  pledged,  and  to  aid 
in  di^churxin^  which  was  a  principal  inducement  to  their  cession  by  the  States  to 
the  Union,  had  for  some  time  been  a  subject  of  increasing  solicitude  to  our  wisest 
statesmen.  President  Jekkkksox,  as  early  as  1S06,  suggested  the  appropriation  of 
their  proceeds  to  the  construction  of  works  oflnlernal  Improvement  and  to  the  support 
of  Education,  even  though  it  should  be  deemed  prerequisite  to  alter  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution.  General  Jack^ox,  as  early  as  1S90,  again  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to 
the  subject,  and  pro|K>sed  the  cession  of  the  remaining  Lands,  without  recompense,  to 
the  several  States  v/hich  contained  them,  thu.^  shutting  out  the  Old  Thirteen  States 
altogether  (with  a  good  part  of  the  New,)  from  any  participation  in  their  benefits. 
This  proposition  would  very  naturally  be  received  with  great  favor  in  the  States 
containing  Public  Lands,  while  the  others  might  very  safely  be  relied  on,  judging 
from  all  exinrrience,  lo  take  little  or  no  interest  in  the  subject.  Mr.  Clav  and  Gen- . 
eral  Jacksox  were  then  rival  candidates  for  President,  and  the  election  not  very 
distant ;  and  the  adversaries  of  Mr.  Clav,  composing  a  decided  majority  of  the 
Senate,  having  placed  iiim  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Manufactures,  now 
resolved  to  embarrass  and  prejudice  him  with  the  New  States  by  referring  to  that 
committee  this  proposition  to  give  away  to  those  States  the  Public  Lands.  Extrs- 
ordinary  as  this  resolution  may  well  seem,  it  was  carried  into  eflect,  and  Mr.  Clat 
required  to  n^port  directly  on  this  project  of  Cession.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  discharge 
manfully  the  duty  so  un£;raciously  thrust  upon  him,  and  after  eaniest  consid<-ratioii, 
devised  and  reported  a  bill  to  Distribute  to  all  the  Statks  the  Proceeds  of  thIi 
Public  Lands,  with  which  his  fame  and  fortunes  will  stand  identified  to  all  future 
time.    In  supi>ort  of  this  bill,  he  addressed  the  Senate  as  follows :] 

In  rising  to  address  the  Senate,  I  owe,  in  the  first  place,  th^  ex- 
pression of  my  hearty  thanks  to  the  majority,  hy  whose  vote,  just 
given,  I  am  indulged  in  occupying  the  floor  on  this  most  important 
question.  I  am  happy  to  see  that  the  days  when  the  sedition  acts 
and  gag  laws  were  in  force,  and  when  screws  were  applied  for  the 
suppression  of  the  freedom  of  speech  and  debate,  are  not  yet  to  return ; 
and  that,  when  the  consideration  of  a  great  question  has  been  special* 
ly  assigned  to  a  particular  day,  it  is  not  allowed  to  be  arrested  and 
thrust  aside  by  any  unexpected  and  unprecedented  parliamentary 
nuuKBuvre.    The  decision  of  the  majority  demonstrates  that  feelings 


Olf   THE  PUBLIC  LANDS.  .         105 

of  liberality,  and  courtesy,  and  kindness  still  prevail  in  the  Senate  ; 
and  that  they  will  be  extended  even  to  one  of  the  huniblest  members 
of  the  body ;  for  such,  I  assure  the  Senate,  I  feel  myself  to  be.* 

It  may  not  be  amiss  again  to  allude  to  the  extraordinary  reference 
of  the  subject  of  the  public  lands  to  the  committee  of  manufactures. 
I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  motives  of  honorable  Senators  who  com- 
posed the  majority  by  which  that  reference  was  ordered.  The  deco- 
rum proper  in  this  hall  obliges  me  to  consider  their  motives  to  have 
been  pore  and  patriotic.  But  still  I  must  be  permitted  to  regard  the 
proceeding  as  very  unusual.  The  Senate  has  a  standing  committee 
on  the  public  lands,  appointed  under  long  established  rules.  The 
members  of  that  committee  are  presumed  to  be  well  acquainted  with 
the  subject ;  they  have  some  of  them  occupied  the  same  station  for 
many  years,  are  well  versed  in  the  whole  legislation  on  the  public 
lands,  and  familiar  with  every  branch  of  it — and  four  out  of  five  of 
them  come  from  the  new  States.  Yet,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  all 
these  circumstances,  a  reference  was  ordered  by  a  majority  of  the 
Senate  to  the  committee  on  manufactures — ^a  committee  than  which 
there  is  not  another  standing  committee  of  the  Senate  whose  prescrib- 
ed duties  are  more  incongruous  with  the  public  domain.  It  happen- 
ed, in  the  constitution  of  the  committee  of  mannfieustures,  that  there 
was  not  a  solitary  Senator  from  the  new  States,  and  but  one  from  any 
western  State.  We  earnestly  protested  against  the  reference,  and 
insisted  upon  its  impropriety ;  but  we  were  overruled  by  the  majority, 
including  a  majority  of  Senators  from  the  new  States.  I  will  not  at- 
tempt an  expression  of  the  feelings  excited  in  my  mind  on  that  occa- 
sion. Whatever  may  have  been  the  intention  of  honorable  Senators, 
I  could  not  be  insensible  to  the  embarrassment  in  which  the  commit- 
tee of  manufactures  was  placed,  and  especially  myself.  Although 
any  other  other  member  of  that  committee  could  have  rendered  him- 
self, with  appropriate  researches  and  proper  time,  more  competent 
than  I  was  to  understand  the  subject  of  the  public  lands,  it  was  known 
that,  from  my  local  position,  I  alone  was  supposed  to  have  any  par- 

*  This  cmbject  had  been  aet  down  for  this  day.  It  was  generally  expected,  in  and 
out  of  the  Senate,  that  it  would  be  taken  np,  and  that  Mr.  Clay  would  address  the 
Senate.  The  members  were  generally  in  their  seat?,  and  the  gallery  and  lobbies 
crowded.  At  the  customary  hour,  he  moved  that  the  subject  pending  should  be  laid 
on  the  table,  to  take  up  the  Lemd  BiU.  It  was  ordered  accordingly.  At  this  point  of 
time  Mr.  Forsyth  made  a  motion,  eupported  by  Mr.  Taiwell,  that  the  Senate  pro- 
ceed to  executive  bnsineas.    The  motion  was  overruled 


106  SPKBCBIt  OV  HINBT   ChAY. 

iicular  knowledge  of  them.  Whatever  emanated  from  the  committee 
was  likely,  therefore,  to  be  ascribed  to  me.  If  the  committee  should 
propose  a  measure  of  great  liberality  towards  the  new  States,  the  old 
States  might  complain.  If  the  measure  should  seem  to  lean  towards 
the  old  States,  the  new  might  be  dissatisfied.  And,  if  it  inclined  to 
neither  class  of  States,  but  recommended  a  plan  according  to  which 
there  would  be  distributed  impartial  justice  among  all  the  States,  if 
was  far  from  certain  that  any  would  be  pleased. 

Without  venturing  to  attribute  to  honorable  Senators  the  purpose 
of  producing  this  personal  embarrassment,  I  felt  it  as  a  necessary  cos- 
sequence  of  their  act,  just  as  much  as  if  it  had  been  in  their  contemr 
plation.  Nevertheless,  the  committee  of  manufactures  cheerfully 
entered  upon  the  duty  which,  againi^  its  will,  was  thus  assigned  to  it 
by  the  Senate.  And,  for  the  causes  already  noticed,  that  of  prepar- 
ing a  report  and  suggesting  some  measure  embracing  the  whole  sul^ 
ject,  devolved  in  the  committee  upon  me.  The  general  features  of 
our  land  system  were  strongly  impressed  on  my  memory ;« but  I  found 
it  necessary  to  re-examine  some  of  the  treaties,  deeds  of  cession,  and 
laws  which  related  to  the  acquisition  and  administration  of  the 
public  lands ;  and  then  to  think  of,  and,  if  possible,  strike  out  some 
project,  which,  without  inflicting  injury  upon  any  of  the  States,  mi^ 
deal  equally  and  justly  with  all  of  them.  The  report  and  bill,  sub- 
mitted to  the  Senate,  after  having  been  previously  sanctioned  by  a 
majority  of  the  committee,  were  the  results  of  this  consideration.  The 
report,  with  the  exception  of  the  principle  of  distribution  which  con- 
cludes it,  obtained  the  unanimous  concurrence  of  the  committee  of 
manufactures. 

This  report  and  bill  were  hardly  read  in  the  Senate  before  they 
were  violently  denounce^*  And  they  were  not  considered  by  the 
Senate  before  a  proposition  was  made  to  refer  the  report  to  that  vcxy 
conunittee  of  the  public  lands  to  which,  in  the  first  instance,  I  con- 
tended the  subject  ought  to  have  been  assigned.  It  was  in  vain  that 
we  remonstrated  against  such  a  proceeding,  as  unprecedented,  as  im- 
plying unmerited  censure  on  the  conmiittee  of  manu&ctures  as  lead- 
ing to  interminable  references  ;  for  what  more  reason  could  there  be 
to  refer  the  report  of  the  committee  of  manufactures  to  the  land  com- 
mittee, than  would  exist  for  a  subsequent  reference  to  the  report  of 
this  eommittee,  when  made,  to  some  third  committee,  and  so  on  in 


ON  THE  PUBUC  LAMM.  107 

an  endless  circle  ?  In  spite  of  all  our  remonstrances,  the  same  ma- 
jority, with  but  little  if  any  variation,  which  had  originally  resolved 
to  refer  the  subject  to  the  committee  of  manufactures,  now  determin- 
ed to  commit  its  bill  to  the  land  committee.  And  this  not  only  with- 
out particular  examination  into  the  merits  of  that  bill,  but  without 
the  avowal  of  any  specific  amendment  which  was  deemed  necessary ! 
The  committee  of  public  lands  after  the  lapse  of  some  days,  presented 
a  report,  and  recommended  a  reduction  of  the  price  of  the  public 
lands  immediately  to  one  dollar  per  acre,  and  eventually  to  fifty  cents 
per  acre ;  and  the  grant  to  the  new  States  of  fifteen  per  cent,  on  the 
nett  proceeds  of  Ihe  sales,  instead  of  ten,  as  proposed  by  the  com- 
mittee of  manufactures,  and  nothing  to  the  old  States. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  I  desire,  at  this  time,  to  make  a  few  ob- 
eervations  in  illustration  of  the  original  report ;  to  supply  some  omis- 
aions  in  its  composition  *,  to  say  something  as  to  the  power  and  rights 
4>f  the  general  government  over  the  public  domain  to  submit  a  few 
jemarks  on  the  counter  report;  and  to  examine  the  assumptions 
which  it  contained,  and  the  principles  on  which  it  is  founded. 

No  subject  which  had  presented  itself  to  the  present,  or  perhaps 
any  preceding  Congress,  was  of  greater  magnitude  than  that  of  the 
public  lands.  There  was  another,  indeed,  which  possessed  a  more 
exciting  and  absorbing  interest — but  the  excitement  was  happily  but 
temporary  in  its  nature.  Long  after  we  shall  cease  te  be  agitated  by 
the  tariff,  ages  after  our  manufactures  shall  have  acquired  a  stability 
and  perfection  which  will  enable  them  successfully  to  cope  with  the 
manufactures  of  any  other  country,  the  public  lands  will  remain  a  4 
subject  of  deep  and  enduring  interest.  In  whatever  view  we  con- 
template them,  there  is  no  question  of  such  vast  importance.  As  to 
their  extent,  there  is  public  land  enough  to  found  an  empire ;  stretch- 
ing across  the  immense  continent,  £r6m  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  fix>m  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  northwestern  lakes,  the  quan- 
tity, according  to  official  surveys  and  estimates,  amounting  to  the 
prodigious  sum  of  one  billion  and  eighty  millions  of  acres  !  As  to 
the  duration  of  the  interest  regarded  as  a  source  of  comfort  to  our 
people,  and  of  public  income-— during  the  last  year,  when  the  great- 
est quantity  was  sold  that  ever  in  one  year,  had  been  previously  sold, 
it  amounted  to  less  than  three  millions  of  acres,  producing  three  mil- 
lioBS  and  a  half  of  dollars.  Assuming  that  year  as  afibrding  the  stand- 


108    '  SP£ICHB8  OF  HENRT   CLAT. 

ard  rate  at  which  the  lands  will  be  annually  sold,  it  would  peqaire 
three  hundred  years  to  dispose  of  them.  Bu^  the  sales  will  prohaUj 
be  accelerated  from  increased  population  and  other  causes.  We  mfty 
safely,  however,  anticipate  that  lon^,  if  not  centuries  after  the  pre- 
sent day,  the  representatives  of  our  children's  children  may  be  de- 
liberating in  the  halls  of  Congress,  on  laws  relating  to  the  public 
lands. 

The  subject  in  other  points  of  view,  challenged  the  fullest  atten 
tion  of  an  American  statesman.  If  there  were  any  one  circumstance 
more  than  all  others  which  distinguished  our  happy  condition  frofn 
that  of  the  nations  of  the  old  world,  it  was  the  possession  of  this 
vast  national  properly,  and  the  resources  which  it  afibrded  to  our 
people  and  our  government.  No  European  nation,  (possibly  with 
the  exception  of  Russia,)  commanded  such  an  ample  resource.  With 
respect  to  the  other  republics  of  this  continent,  we  have  no  inforniA- 
tion  that  any  of  them  have  yet  adopted  a  regular  system  of  previous 
survey  and  subsequent  sale  of  their  wild  lands,  in  convenient  tracts^ 
well  defined,  and  adapted  to  the  wants  of  all.  On  the  contrary,  the 
probability  is  that  ihey  adhere  to  the  ruinous  and  mad  system  of  old 
Spain,  according  to  which  large  unsurveyed  districts  are  granted  to 
fiivorite  individuals,  prejudicial  to  them,  who  often  sink  under  the 
incumbrance,  and  die  in  poverty,  whilst  the  regular  current  of  entii- 
gration  is  checked  and  diverted  from  its  legitimate  channels. 

And  if  there  be  in  the  operations  of  this  government,  one  which 
more  than  any  other  displays  comsummate  wisdom  and  statesmao- 
ship,  it  is  that  system  by  which  the  public  lands  have  been  so  suc^ 
cessfully  administered.  We  should  pause,  solemly  pause,  before  we 
subvert  it  We  should  touch  it  hesitatingly,  and  with  the  gentlest 
hand.  The  prudent  manaa[ement  of  the  public  lands,  in  the  hands  of 
the  general  government,  will  be  more  manifest  by  contrasting  it  with 
that  of  several  of  the  States,  which  had  the  disposal  of  large  bodies 
of  waste  lands.  Virginia  possessed  an  ample  domain  west  of  die 
mountains,  and  in  the  present  State  of  Kentucky,  over  and  above  her 
munificent  ^cession  to  the  general  government.  Pressed  for  pecuni- 
ary means,  by  the  revolutionary  war,  she  brought  her  wild  lands, 
during  its  progress,  into  market,  receiving  payment  in  paper  money. 
There  were  no  previous  surveys  of  the  waste  lands — no  townships, 
no  sections,  no  official  definition  or  descriDtioQ  of  tracts.     Each  por- 


r 


M  Tn  posuc  LAtnm.  lOS 

ehaaer  made  his  own  location,  describing  the  land  booght  as  he 
thooght  proper.  Tbe*e  locations  or  descriptions  were  often  vague 
ud  uncertain.  The  consequence  was,  that  the  same  tract  was  not 
nnfrequentlj  entered  Tirious  times  by  difierent  purchasers,  so  as  to 
be  literally  shingled  over  with  conflicting  claims.  The  state  perhaps 
■old  in  this  way,  much  more  land  than  it  was  entitled  to,  but  then  it 
received  nothing  in  return  that  was  valuable;  whilst  the  purchaser* 
in  consequence  of  the  clashing  snd  interference  between  their  lighta, 
were  exposed  to  tedious,  vexatious,  and  ruinous  litigation.  Ken- 
tucky long  and  severely  sufiered  from  this  cause  ;  and  is  just  emerg- 
ing from  tbe  troubles  brought  upon  her  by  improvident  land  Icgisla- 
klion.  Western  Virginia  hoa  also  suffered  greatly,  though  not  to 
the  same  extent. 

The  state  of  Georgia  had  large  bodies  of  waste  lands,  which  she 
dbposed  of  in  a  manner  satisfactory  no  doubt  to  herself,  but  aston- 
ishing to  every  one  out  of  that  commonwealth.  According  to  her 
system,  waste  lands  are  distributed  in  lotteries  among  the  people  of 
the  State,  in  conformity  with  the  enactments  of  the  legislature.  And 
when  one  district  of  country  is  disposed  of,  as  there  are  many  who  do 
not  draw  prizes,  the  unsuccessful  call  out  for  fresh  distributions. 
These  are  made  from  time  to  time,  as  lands  are  acquired  from  the 
liidians  ;  and  hence  one  of  the  causes  of  the  avidity  with  which  the 
Indian  lands  are  sought.  It  is  manifest  that  neither  the  present  gen- . 
eration  nor  posterity  can  derive  much  advantage  from  his  mode  <d 
alienating  public  lands.  On  the  contrary,  I  should  think,  it  cannot 
fail  to  engender  speculation  and  a  spirit  of  gambling.  ■ 

The  State  of  Kentucky,  in  virtue  of  a  compact  with  Virgiu'a,  ac- 
quired a  right  to  a  quantity  of  public  lands  south  of  Green  river. 
Neglecting  to  profit  by  the  unfortunate  example  of  the  parent  S(at4!, 
■be  did  not  order  the  country  to  be  surveyed  previous  tQ  its  being 
tiered  to  purchasers.  Seduced  by  some  of  those  wild  land  projects, 
of  which  at  oil  times  there  have  been  some  afloat,  and  which  hither- 
to the  general  government  alone  has  firmly  resisted,  she  was  tempted 
to  ot&T  her  waste  lands  to  settlers,  at  different  prices,  under  the  name 
(^  head-rights  or  pre-emptions.  As  the  laws,  like  most  lirgislation 
upon  euch  subjects,  were  somewhat  loosely  worded,  the  keen  eye  of 
the  speculator  soon  discerned  the  defects,  and  he  took  advantsge  of 
them.    Ingt«iic«  hod  oocnned  of  maiters  (ArtaiiuDg  cerificatea  of 


110  tPXBcaKs  or  uihet  clat. 

bead-rights  in  the  name  of  their  slaves,  and  thus  securing  the  land, 
in  contravention  of  the  intention  of  the  legislature.  Slaves  generally 
have  but  one  name,  being  called  Tom,  Jack,  Dick,  or  Harry  To 
conceal  the  fraud,  the  owner  would  add  Black,  or  some  other  cog- 
nomination,  so  that  the  certificate  would  read  Tom  Black,  Jack 
Black,  &c.  The  gentleman  from  Tennessee,  (Mr.  Grundy,)  will 
remember,  some  twenty-odd  years  ago,  when  we  were  both  mem- 
bers of  the  Kentucky  legislature,  that  I  took  occasion  to  animadvert 
upon  these  fraudulent  practices,  and  observed  that  when  the  names 
came  to  be  alphabeted,  the  truth  would  be  told,  whatever  might  be 
the  language  of  the  record ;  for  the  alphabet  would  read  Black  Tom, 
Black  Harry,  &c.  Kentucky  realised  more  in  her  treasury  than  the 
parent  State  had  done,  considering  that  she  had  but  a  remnant  of 
|>ublic  lands,  and  she  added  somewhat  to  her  population.  But  they 
were  far  less  available  than  they  would  have  been  under  a  system  of 
previous  survey  and  regular  sale. 

These  observations  in  respect  to  the  course  of  the  respectable  States 
referred  to,  in  relation  to  their  public  lands,  are  not  prompted  by  any 
unkind  feelings  towards  them,  but  to  show  the  supeiiority  of  the 
4and  system  of  the  United  States. 

Under  the  system  of  the  general  government,  the  wisdom  of  which, 
in  some  respects,  is  admitted  even  by  the  report  of  the  land  commit- 
tee, the  country  subject  to  its  operation,  beyond  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  has  rapidly  advanced  in  population,  improvement  and 
prosperity.  The  example  of  the  State  of  Ohio  was  emphatically  re- 
lied on  by  the  report  of  the  committee  of  manufactures — its  million 
of  people,  its  canals,  and  other  improvements,  its  flourishing  towns, 
its  highly  cultivated  fields,  all  put  there  within  less  than  forty  years, 
^o  weaken  the  force  of  this  example,  the  land  committee  deny  that 
the  population  of  the  State  is  principally  settled  upon  public  lands 
derived  from  the  general  government.  But,  Mr.  President,  with 
great  deference  to  that  committee,  1  must  say  that  it  labors  under 
misapprehension.  Three-fourths,  if  not  four-fifths  of  the  population 
of  that  State,  are  settled  upon  public  lands  purchased  from  the  United 
States,  and  they  are  the  most  flourishing  parts  of  the  State.  For  the 
correctness  of  this  statement  I  appeal  to  my  friend  from  Ohio,  (Mr. 
Ewing,)  near  me.  He  knows  as  well  as  I  do,  that  the  rich  valleys 
of  the  Miami  of  Ohio,  and  the  Maumee  of  the  Lake,  the  Sciota  and 


* 


09  rWE  nhUC  LAHOt.  Ill 

die  Miukingiim  are  prioeipally  settled  by  pertoni  deriving  titles  to 
their  lands  from  the  United  States. 


In  a  national  point  of  view,  one  of  the  greatest  advantages 
these  public  lands  in  the  west,  and  this  system  of  selling  them,  affi>rds, 
is  the  resource  which  they  present  against  pressure  and  want,  in  other 
parts  of  the  Union,  from  the  vocations  of  society  being  too  closely 
filled,  and  too  much  crowded.  They  constantly  tend  to  sustain  the 
price  of  labor,  by  the  opportunity  which  they  offer  of  the  acquisitioB 
of  fertile  land  at  a  moderate  price,  and  the  consequent  temptation  to 
emigrate  from^  those  parts  of  the  Union  where  labor  may  be  badly 
lewarded.  I 

The  progress  of  settlement,  and  the  improvement  in  the  fortunes 
and  condition  of  individuals,  under  the  operation  of  this  beneficent 
system,  are  as  simple  as  they  are  manifest.  Pioneers  of  a  more  ad*- 
venturous  character,  advancing  Ivsfore  the  tide  of  emigration,  pene* 
trate  into  the  uninhabited  regions  of  the  west.  They  apply  the  axe 
to  the  forest,  which  &lls  before  them,  or  the  plough  to  the  prahrie, 
■deeply  sinking  its  share  in  the  unbroken  wild  grasses  in  which  it 
abounds.  They  build  houses,  plant  orchards,  enclose  fields,  cultivate 
the  earth,  and  rear  up  families  around  them.  Meantime,  the  tide  of 
emigration  flows  upon  them,  their  improved  &rms  rise  in  value,  a  de- 
mand for  them  takes  place,  they  sell  to  the  new  comers,  at  a  great 
advance,  and  proceed  farther  west,  with  ample  means  to  purchase 
from  government,  at  reasonable  prices,  sufficient  land  for  all  the  mem- 
bers of  their  fiunilies.  Another  and  another  tide  succeeds,  the  first 
poshing  on  westwardly  the  previous  settlers,  who,  in  their  turn,  sell 
out  their  fiirms,  constantly  augmenting  in  price,  until  they  arrive  at 
a  fixed  and  stationary  value.  In  this  way,  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  are  daily  improving  their  circumstances  and  bettering  their 
condition.  I  have  often  witnessed  this  gratifying  progress.  On  the 
same  farm  you  may  sometimes  behold,  standing  together,  the  first 
Tode  cabin  of  round  and  unhewn  logs,  and  wooden  chimneys,  the 
hewed  log  house,  chinked  and  shingled,  with  stone  or  brick  chim- 
neys ;  and,  lastly,  the  comfortable  brick  or  stone  dwelling,  each  de- 
noting the  different  occupants  of  the  fiirm,  or  the  several  stages  of  the 
oondition  of  the  same  occupant.  What  other  nation  can  boast  of  such 
an  ouUet  for  its  increasing  population,  such  bountiful  means  of  pro- 
motinfr  their  prosperity,  and  securing  their  independence  ? 


112  tPEICBSt   OV  HBITRT  CLAT. 

To  the  pablic  lands  of  the  United  States,  and  especially  to  the  ex- 
isting system  by  which  they  are  distributed  with  so  much  regularity 
and  equity,  are  we  indebted  for  these  signal  benefits  in  our  national 
eondition.  And  every  consideration  of  duty,  to  ourselves,  and  to 
posterity,  enjoins  that  we  should  abstain  from  the  adoption  of  aay 
wild  project  that  would  cast  away  this  vast  national  property,  holden 
by  the  general  government  in  sacred  trust  for  the  whole  people  of  tlie 
United  States,  and  forbids  that  we  should  rashly  touch  a  system  which 
has  been  so  successfully  tested  by  experience. 

It  has  been  only  within  a  few  years  that  restless  men  have  thrown 
before  the  public  their  visionary  plans  for  squandering  the  public  do- 
main. With  the  existing  laws  the  great  State  of  the  west  is  satisfied  and 
contented.  She  has  felt  their  benefit,  and  grown  great  and  powerful 
under  their  sway.  She  knows  and  testifies  to  the  liberality  of  the 
general  government  in  the  administration  of  the  public  lands,  extend- 
ed alike  to  her  and  to  the  other  new  States.  There  are  no  petitions 
from,  no  movements  in  Ohio,  proposing  vital  and  radical  changes  in 
the  systsm.  During  the  long  period,  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  in  the  Senate,  that  her  upright  and  unambitious  citizen,  the 
first  representative  of  that  State,  and  afterwards  successively  Senator 
and  Governor,  presided  oyer  the  committee  of  public  lands,  we  heard  of 
none  of  these  chimerical  schemes.  All  went  on  smoothly,  and  quietly, 
and  safely.  No  man,  in  the  sphere  within  which  he  acted,  ever  com- 
manded or  deserved  the  implicit  confidence  of  Congress  more  than 
Jeremiah  Morrow.  There  existed  a  perfect  persuasion  of  his  entire 
impartiality  and  justice  between  the  old  States  and  the  new.  A  few 
artless  but  sensible  words,  pronounced  in  his  plain  Scotch  Irish  dia- 
lect, were  always  sufficient  to  ensure  the  passage  of  any  bill  or  reso- 
lution which  he  reported.  For  about  twenty-five  years,  there  was 
no  essential  change  in  the  system  ;  and  that  which  was  at  last  made, 
varying  the  price  of  the  public  lands  from  two  dollars,  at  which  it  had 
all  that  time  remained,  to  one  dollar  and  a  quarter,  at  which  it  has 
been  fixed  only  about  ten  or  twelve  years,  was  founded  mainly  on  the 
oonsideratioQ  of  abolishing  the  previous  credits. 

Assuming  the  duplication  of  our  population  in  terms  of  twenty- 
five  years,  the  demand  for  waste  land,  at  the  end  of  every  term,  will 
at  least  be  double  what  it  was  at  the  commencement.  But  the  ratio 
of  the  increased  demand  will  be  much  greater  than  the  increase  of 


ON   THE  FUBUC    ZJkMDS.  lid 

tlie  whole  population  of  the  United  States,  because  the  Western 
States  nearest  to,  or  including  i\Le  public  lands,  populate  much  more 
rapidly  than  other  parts  of  the  Union  ;  and  it  will  be  from  them  that 
the  greatest  current  of  emigration  will  flow.  At  this  moment  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  are  the  most  migrating  States  in  the  Union. 

To  supply  this  constantly  augmenting  demand,  the  policy,  which 
has  hitherto  characterized  the  general  government,  has  been  highly 
liberal  both  towards  individuals  and  the  new  States.  Large  tracts, 
fax  surpassing  the  demand  of  purchasers,  in  every  climate  and  situa- 
tion, adapted  to  the  wants  of  all  parts  of  the  Union,  are  brought  into 
market  at  moderate  prices,  the  government  having  sustained  all  the 
expense  of  the  original  purchase,  and  of  surveying,  marking,  and  di- 
viding the  land.  For  fifty  dollars  any  poor  man  may  purchase  forty 
acres  of  first  rate  land ;  and  for  less  than  the  wages  of  one  year's  labor, 
he  may  buy  eighty  acres.  To  the  new  States,  also,  has  the  govern- 
ment been  liberal  and  generous  in  the  grants  for  schools  and  for  inter- 
nal improvements,  as  well  as  in  reducing  the  debt,  contracted  for  the 
purchase  of  lands,  by  the  citizens  of  those  States,  who  were  tempted, 
in  a  spirit  of  inordinate  speculation,  to  purchase  too  much,  or  at  too 
high  prices. 

Such  is  a  rapid  outline  of  this  invaluable  national  property — of  the 
system  which  regulates  its  management  and  distribution,  and  of  the 
efiects  of  that  system.  We  might  here  pause,  and  wonder  that  there 
should  be  a  disposition  with  any  to  waste  or  throw  away  this  great 
resource,  or  to  abolish  a  system  which  has  been  fraught  with  so  many 
manifest  advantages.  Nevertheless,  there  are  such,  who,  impatient 
with  the  slow  and  natural  operation  of  wise  laws,  have  pot  forth  va- 
rious pretensions  and  projects  concerning  the  public  lands,  within  a 
few  years  past.  One  of  these  pretensions  is  an  assumption  of  the 
sovereign  right  of  the  new  States  to  all  the  lands  within  their  respec- 
tive limits,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  general  government,  and  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  the  people  of  the  United  States,  those  in  the  new 
States  only  excepted.  It  is  my  purpose  now  to  trace  the  origin,  ex- 
amine the  nature,  and  expose  the  injustice  of  this  pretension. 

• 

This  pretension  may  be  fiurly  ascribed  to  the  propositions  of  the 
gentleman  from  Missouri,  (Mr.  Benton,)  to  graduate  the  public  lands, 
to  reduce  the  price,  and  cede  the  ^*  refuse"  lands  (a  term  which  I 


It4  fFKICHIt  OF  RXNIT  GLAT. 

believe  originated  with  him)  to  the  States  within  which  they  Ii«. 
Prompted  probably,  by  these  propositions,  a  late  Governor  of  llJinoia, 
anwilling  to  be  outdone,  presented  an  elaborate  message  to  the  l^is* 
iature  of  that  State,  in  which  he  gravely  and  formally  asserted  the 
right  of  that  State  to  all  the  land  of  the  United  States,  comprehended 
within  its  limits.  It  must  be  allowed  that  the  Governor  was  a  most 
knpartial  judge,  and  the  legislature  a  most  disinterested  tribunal,  to 
decide  such  a  question. 

The  senator  from  Missouri  was  chanting  most  sweetly  to  the  tuiie^ 
^  refuse  lands,"  ^'  refuse  lands,"  '<  refuse  lands,"  on  the  Missouri  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  soft  strains  of  his  music,  having  caught 
the  ear  of  his  excellency,  on  the  Illinois  side,  he  joined  in  chorus,  and 
ftmck  an  octave  higher.  The  senator  from  Missouri  wished  only  to 
pick  up  some  crumbs  which  fell  firom  Uncle  Sam's  table  ;  but  ths 
Governor  resolved  to  grasp  the  whole  loaf.  The  senator  modestly 
claimed  only  an  old  smoked,  rejected  joint ;  but  the  stomach  of  hb 
excellency  yearned  after  the  whole  hog !  The  Governor  peeped  over 
the  Mississippi  into  Missouri,  and  saw  the  senator  leisurely  roaming 
in  some  rich  pastures,  on  bits  of  refuse  lands.  He  returned  to  IllincMs, 
and,  springing  into  the  grand  prairie,  determined  to  claim  and  oocupj 
it,  in  all  its  boundless  extent. 

Then  came  the  resolution  of  the  senator  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Tai»- 
well,)  in  May,  1826,  in  the  following  words : 


«< 


Rnehid,  That  it  ia  expedient  for  the  ITuited  States  to  cede  and  tarrpnder  to  Am 
■everal  States,  within  whose  limits  the  same  may  be  sitaated^  all  the  riisht,  title»  aad 
interest  of  the  United  States,  to  any  lands  lying  and  being  within  the  boundaries  of 
Moh  States,  respectively,  upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as  may  be  conastent  with 
the  due  observance  of  tne  public  faith,  and  with  the  general  interest  of  the  United 


The  latter  words  rendered  the  resolution  somewhat  ambiguous ;. 
bat  still  it  contemplated  a  cession  and  surrender.  Subsequently,  the 
senator  firom  Virginia  proposed,  after  a  certain  time,  a  gratuitous  snr« 
render  of  all  unsold  lands,  to  be  applied  by  the  legislature,  w  9uppoti 
of  education  and  the  intemal  iuq)ravement  of  the  State. 

CHera  Mr.  Taaewell  controverted  the  statement.  Mr.  Clay  called  to  tba  Secrertiy 
to  hand  him  the  journal  of  April,  1828,  which  he  held  up  to  the  Senate,  and  read  fimn 
itIiieroikiWingi 

•  *"Ib«bil  togndiHt  thtprieeoftliep«bliohuidi»to  ouikndoiyitioasdierMf  Is 


OH  THI  VUBLXC  LAKM.  Il9 

Miml  mnUn,  tnd  to  etde  the  refuse  to  the  Stetes  in  which  thej  lit,  beio^  vadtr 

ooanderatioB— 

Mr.  Tazewell  moyed  to  insert  the  following  as  a  substitute  : 

"  That  the  lands  which  shall  have  been  subject  to  sale  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  and  6hall  remain  unsold  for  two  years,  after  having  been  oti'rred  at  twenty-five 
cents  per  acre^  shall  be,  and  the  same  is  ceded  to  the  State  in  which  the  same  may 
lie,  to  be  applied  by  the  legislature  thereof  in  support  of  edvcation,  and  the  interaal 
improvement  of  the  State.'*] 

Thus  it  appesra  not  only  that  the  honorable  senator  proposed  the 
cession,  bat  showed  himself  the  friend  of  edur;ation  and  internal  im- 
prorements,  by  means  derived  from  the  general  government.  For 
this  liberal  disposition  on  his  part,  I  believe  it  was,  that  the  State  of 
Missouri  honored  a  new  county  with  his  name.  If  he  had  carried 
his  proposition,  that  State  might  well  have  granted  a  principality  to 
him. 

.  The  memorial  of  the  legislature  of  niinois,  probably  produced  by 
the  message  of  the  Governor  already  noticed,  had  beeir  presented, 
asserting  a  claim  to  the  public  lands.  And  it  seems  (although  the 
ftct  bad  escaped  my  recollection  until  I  was  reminded  of  it  by  one  of 
lier  senators  (Mr.  Hendricks,)  the  other  day,  that  the  legislature  of 
Indiana  had  instructed  her  senators  to  bring  forward  a  similar  claim. 
At  the  last  session,  however,  of  the  legislature  of  that  State,  resolu- 
tions had  passed,  instructing  her  delegation  to  obtain  from  the  gene- 
ral govenunent  cessUms  of  the  unappropriated  public  lands,  on  the 
most  favorable  terms.  It  is  clear  from  this  last  expression  of  the  will 
of  that  legislature,  that,  on  reconsideration,  it  believed  the  right  to 
the  public  lands  to  be  in  the  general  government,  and  not  in  the  State 
cC  Indiana.  For,  if  they  did  not  belong  to  the  general  government, 
it  had  nothing  to  cede ;  if  they  belonged  already  to  the  State,  no 
cession  was  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  the  right  of  the  State. 

I  will  here  submit  a  passing  observation.  If  the  general  govern- 
ment had  the  power  to  cede  the  public  lands  to  the  new  States  for 
particular  purposes,  and  on  prescribed  conditions,  its  power  must  be 
unquestionable  to  make  some  reservations  for  similar  purposes  in  be- 
half of  the  old  States.  Its  power  cannot  be  without  limit  as  to  the 
new  States,  and  circumscribed  and  restricted  as  to  the  old.  Its  capa- 
city to'  bestow  benefits  or  dispense  justice  is  not  confined  to  the  new 
Slalaa^  but  is  coextensive  with  the  whole  Union.  It  may  grant  to 
ally  or  it  can  grant  to  none.    And  this  comprehensive  ec^oity  is  not 


4 


/ 


116  8PEKCHS8  OF  HENRT    CLAT. 

only  Id  conformity  with  the  spirit  of  the  cessions  in  the  deeds  from 
the  ceding  States,  but  is  expressly  enjoined  by  the  terms  of  those 
deeds. 

Such  is  the  probable  origin  of  the  pretension  which  1  have  been 
tracing  ;  and  now  let  us  examine  its  nature  and  foundation.  The  ar* 
gument  in  behalf  of  the  new  States,  is  founded  on  the  notion,  that  as 
the  old  States,  upon  coming  out  of  the  revolutionary  war,  had  or 
claimed  a  right  to  all  the  lands  within  their  respective  limits ;  and  as 
the  new  States  have  been  admitted  into  the  Union  on  the  same  foot* 
ing  and  condition  in  all  respects  with  the  old,  therefore  they  are  enti- 
tled to  all  the  waste  lands  embraced  within  their  boundaries.  But  the 
argument  forgets  that  all  the  revolutionary  States  had  not  waste 
lands ;  that  some  had  but  very  little,  and  others  none.  It  forgeUi 
that  the  right  of  the  States  to  the  waste  lands  within  their  limits  was 
controverted ;  and  that  it  was  insisted  that,  as  they  had  been  con- 
quered in  a  common  war,  waged  with  common  means,  and  attended 
with  general  sacrifices,  the  public  lands  should  be  held  for  the  com- 
mon benefit  of  all  the  States.  It  forgets  that  in  consequence  of  this 
right  asserted  in  behalf  of  the  whole  Union,  the  States  that  contained 
any  large  bodies  of  waste  lands  (and  Virginia,  particularly,  that  bad 
the  most)  ceded  them  to  the  Union  for  the  equal  benefit  of  all  the 
States.  It  forgets  that  the  very  equality,  which  is  the  basis  of  the 
argument,  would  be  totally  subverted  by  the  admission  of  the  validity 
of  tiie  pretension.  For  how  would  the  matter  then  stand }  The  re- 
volutionary States  will  have  divested  themselves  of  the  large  districts 
of  vacant  lands  which  they  contained,  for  the  common  benefit  of  all 
the  States ;  and  those  same  lands  will  enure  to  the  benefit  of  the  new 
States  exclusively.  There  will  be,  on  the  supposition  of  the  validity 
of  the  pretension,  a  reversal  of  the  condition  of  the  two  classes  of 
States.  Instead  of  the  old  having,  as  is  alleged,  the  wild  lands  which 
they  included  at  the  epoch  of  the  revolution,  they  will  have  none, 
and  the  new  States  ali*  And  this  in  the  name  and  for  the  purpose 
of  equality  among  all  the  members  of  the  confederacy  !  What,  espe- 
cially, would  be  the  situation  of  Virginia  ?  She  magnanimously  ceded 
an  empire  in  extent  for  the  common  benefit.  And  now  it  is  proposed, 
not  only  to  withdraw  that  empire  from  the  object  of  its  solemn  dedi- 
cation, to  the  use  of  all  the  States,  but  to  deny  her  any  particijJation 
in  it,  and  appropriate  it  exclusively  to  the  benefit  of  the  new  States 
carved  out  of  it. 


OH  TBI  FUBUC  LANlHh  ^  117 

If  the  new  States  had  any  right  to  the  public  lands,  in  order  to 
produce  the  very  equality  contended  for,  they  ought  forthwith  to  cede 
that  right  to  the  Union,  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  Stales.  Ha- 
ving no  such  right,  they  ought  to  acquiesce  cheerfully  in  an  equality 
which  does,  in  bct^  now  exist  between  them  and  the  old  Statea 

f 

The  committee  of  manu&ctures  has  clearly  shown,  that  if  the  right 
were  recognised  in  the  new  States  now  existing,  to  the  public  lands 
within  their  limits,  each  of  the  new  States,  as  they  mighf  hereafter 
be  successively  admitted  into  the  Union,  would  have  the  same  right ; 
and  consequently  that  the  pretension  under  examination  embraces,  in 
efiect,  the  whole  public  domain,  that  is,  a  billion  and  eighty  millions 
of  acres  of  land. 

The  right  of  the  Union  to  the  public  lands  is  incontestible.  It  ought 
.not  to  be  considered  debateable.  It  never  was  questioned  but  by  a 
few,  whose  monstrous  heresy, it  was  probably  supposed,  would  escape 
:Animadversion  from  the  enormity  of  the  absurdity,  and  the  utter  im- 
practicability of  the  success  of  the  claim.  The  right  of  the  whole  is 
aealed  by  the  blood  of  the  revolution,  founded  upon  solemn  deeds^of 
oession  from  sovereign  States,  deliberately  executed  in  the  face  of  the 
world,  or  resting  upon  national  treaties  concluded  with  foreign  pow- 
ers, on  ample  equivalents  contributed  from  the  common  treasury  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States. 

This  right  of  the  whole  was  stamped  upon  the  face  of  the  new 
States  at  the  very  instant  of  their  parturition.  They  admitted  and 
recognised  it  with  their  first  breath.  They  hold  their  stations,  as 
members  of  the  confederacy,  in  virtue  of  that  admission.  The  sena- 
tors who  sit  here,  and  the  members  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
from  the  new  States,  deliberate  in  Congress  with  other  senators  and 
representatives, under  that  admission.  And  since  the  new  States  came 
into  being,  they  have  recognised  this  right  of  the  general  government 
by  innumerable  acts. 

By  their  concurrence  in  the  jyussage  of  hundreds  of  laws  respecting 
the  public  domain,  founded  upon  the  incontestible  right  of  the  whole 
of  the  States. 

By  repeated  applications  to  extbguish  Indian  titles,  and  to  survey 

the  fauida  which  they  covered. 

^  H 


118  IPBKCHBt  OF  HBITRT  CLAT. 

And  l»7  solicitation  and  acceptance  of  extensire  grants  from  thft 
general  government,  of  the  public  lands. 

The  existence  of  the  new  State  is  a  felsehood,  or  the  right  of  all 
the  States  to  the  public  domain  is  an  undeniable  truth.  They  ha^e 
no  more  right  to  the  public  lands,  within  their  particular  jurisdiction, 
than  other  States  have  to  the  mint,  the  forts  and  arsenals,  or  public 
ships  within  theirs,  or  than  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
have  to  this  magnificent  capitol,  in  whose  splendid  halls  we  now  de- 
liberate, 

The  equality  contended  for  between  all  the  States  now  exists.  The 
public  lands  are  now  held,  and  ought  to  be  held  and  adininistered  lor 
the  common  benefit  of  all.  I  hope  our  fellow  citizens  of  Illinois,  In- 
diana, and  Missouri  will  reconsider  the  matter  ;  that  they  will  cease 
to  take  counsel  from  demagogues  who  would  deceive  them,  and  instill 
eiToneous  principles  into  their  ears ;  and  that  they  will  feel  and  ac- 
knowledge that  their  brethren  of  Kentucky  and  of  Ohio,  and  of  all 
the  States  in  the  Union,  have  an  equal  right  with  the  citizens  of  those 
three  Stales  in  the  public  lands.  If  the  possibility  of  an  event  so  dire- 
ful as  a  severance  of  this  Union,  were  for  a  moment  contemplated,, 
what  would  be  the  probable  consequence  of  such  an  unspeakable 
calamity  ;  if  three  confederacies  were  formed  out  of  its  fragments,  do 
you  imagine  that  the  western  confederacy  would  consent  to  the  States 
including  the  public  lands,  holding  them  exclusively  for  themselves  ? 
C^n  you  imagine  that  the  States  of  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
would  quietly  renounce  their  right  in  all  the  public  lands  west  of 
them  ?  No,  sir  !  No,  sir !  They  would  wade  to  their  knees  in 
blood  before  they  would  make  such  an  unjust  and  ignominious  sur- 
render. 

But  this  pretension,  unjust  to  the  old  States,  unequal  as  to  all, 
would  be  injurious  to  the  new  States  themselves,  in  whose  behalf  it 
has  been  put  forth,  if  it  were  recognized.  The  interest  of  the  new 
States  is  not  confined  to  the  lands  within  their  limits,  but  extends  to 
the  whole  billion  and  eighty  millions  of  acres.  Sanction  the  claims 
however,  and  they  are  cut  down  and  restricted  to  that  which  is  in- 
cluded in  their  own  boundaries.  Is  it  not  better  for  Ohio,  instead  of 
the  five  millions  and  a  half — ^for  Indiana,  instead  of  the  fifteen  mil- 
lions—or even  for  Illinois,  instead  of  the  thirty-one  or  thirty-two  mill- 


ON  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS.  119 

Missouri,  instead  of  the  thirty-eight  millions — within  their 
respective  limits,  to  retain  their  interest  in  those  several  quantities, 
tad  also  retain  their  interest,  in  common  with  the  other  members  of 
the  Union,  in  the  countless  millions  of  acres  that  lie  west,  or  north- 
weBiy  beyond  them  ? 

I  will  now  proceed,  Mr.  President,  to  consider  the  expediency  of  a 
reduction  of  the  price  of  the  public  lands  and  the  reasons  assigned  by 
the  land  committee^  in  their  report,  in  &vor  of  that  measure.  They 
are  presented  there  in  formidable  detail,  and  spread  out  under  seven 
difierent  heads.  Let  us  examine  them :  the  first  is,  '^  because  the 
new  States  have  a  clear  right  to  participate  in  the  benefits  of  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  government,  by  getting  the 
reduciion  extended  to  the  article  of  revenue  chiefly  used  by  them.^^  Here 
is  a  renewal  of  the  attempt  made  early  in  the  session  to  confound  the 
public  lands  with  foreign  imports,  which  was  so  successfully  exposed 
and  refuted  by  the  report  of  the  committee  on  manufactures.  Will 
not  the  new  States  participate  in  any  reduction  of  the  revenue,  in 
common  with  the  old  States,  without  touching  the  public  lands  ?  As 
fiur  as  they  are  consumers  of  objects  of  foreign  imports,  will  they  not 
equally  share  the  benefit  with  the  old  States  ?  What  right,  over  and 
above  that  equal  participation,  have  the  new  States  to  a  reduction  of 
the  price  of  the  public  lands  ?  As  States j  what  right,  much  less 
what  ^*  clear  right"  have  they  to  any  such  reduction  ?  In  their  sove- 
mgn  or  corporate  capacities,  what  right  ?  Have  not  all  the  stipula- 
tions between  them,  as  States y  and  the  general  government  been  fully 
complied  with  ?  Have  the  people  within  the  new  States,  consider- 
ed distinct  from  the  States  themselves,  any  right  to  such  reduction  f 
Whence  is  it  derived  ?  They  went  there  in  pursuit  of  their  own 
happiness.  They  bought  lands  from  the  public  because  it  was  their 
interest  to  make  the  purchase,  and  they  enjoy  them.  Did  they,  be- 
cause they  purchased  some  land,  which  they  possess  peacefully,  ac- 
quire any,  and  what  right,  in  the  land  which  they  did  not  buy  ?  But 
it  may  be  ar^ed,  that  by  settling  and  improving  these  lands,  the  ad- 
jacent public  lands  are  enhanced.  True ;  and  so  are  their  own.  The 
enhancement  of  the  public  lands  was  not  a  consequence  which  they 
went  there  to  produce,  but  was  a  collateral  efiect,  as  to  which  they 
were  passive.  The  public  does  not  seek  to  avail  itself  of  this  aug- 
mentation in  value,  by  augmenting  the  price.  It  leaves  that  where  it 
iras ;  and  tfie  demand  for  reduction  is  made  in  behalf  of  those  who 


I 

120  fPEECHES  OF  RENRT   CLAT. 

say  their  labor  has  increased  the  value  of  the  public  lands,  and  the 
claim  to  reduction  is  founded  upon  the  fact  of  enhanced  value!  The 
public,  like  all  other  landholders,  had  a  right  to  anticipate  that  the 
sale  of  a  part  would  communicate,  incidentally,  greater  value  upon 
the  residue.  And,  like  all  other  land  proprietors,  it  hA  the  right  to 
ask  more  for  that  residue,  but  it  does  not,  and  for  one,  I  should  be.as 
unwilling  to  disturb  the  existing  price  by  augmentation  as  by  reduc- 
tion. But  the  public  lands  is  the  article  of  revenue  which  the  people 
of  the  new  States  chiefly  consume.  In  another  part  of  this  report  libe- 
ral grants  of  the  public  lands  are  recommended,  and  the  idea  of  Hold- 
ing the  public  lands  as  a  source  of  revenue  is  scouted,  because  it  is 
said  that  more  revenue  could  be  collected  from  the  settlers  as  comm- 
mers,  than  from  the  lands.  Here  it  seems  that  the  public  lands  are 
the  articles  oi  revenue  chiefly  consumed  by  the  new  States. 


With  respect  to  lands  yet  to  be  sold,  they  are  open  to  the  purch 
'  alike  of  emigrants  from  the  old  States,  and  settlers  in  the  new.  As 
the  latter  have  most  generally  supplied  themselves  with  lands,  the 
probability  is,  that  the  emigrants  are  more  interested  in  the  question 
of  reduction  than  the  settlers.  At  all  events,  there  can  be  no  peculiar 
right  to  such  reduction  existing  in  the  new  States.  It  is  a  question 
common  to  all,  and  to  be  decided  in  reference  to  the  interest  of  tiie 
whole  Union. 

2.  "  Because  the  public  debt  being  now  paid,  the  public  lands  are  entirely  relaaaed 
from  the  pledge  the^  were  under  to  that  objectj  and  are  free  to  receive  a  mw  and 
liberal  datination^fir  tht  rditfcf  the  Stata  in  lohich  Ihey  lie.** 

The  payment  of  the  public  debt  is  conceded  to  be  near  at  hand  ; 
and  it  is  admitted  that  the  public  lands,  being  liberated,  may  now  re- 
ceive a  new  and  liberal  destination.  Such  an  appropriation  of  their 
proceeds  is  proposed  by  the  bill  reported  by  the  committee  of  maan- 
fieu^tores,  and  which  I  shall  hereafter  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate 
more  particularly  to.  But  it  did  not  seem  just  to  that  committee, 
that  this  new  and  liberal  destination  of  them  should  be  restricted  *<  for 
the  rolief  of  the  States  in  which  they  lie,"  exclusively,  but  should 
extend  to  all  the  States  indiscriminately  upon  principles  of  equitable 
distribution. 

8.  '*  Because  nearly  one  hundred  millions  of  acres  of  the  land  now  in  market  ara 
the  refuse  of  saleft  and  donations,  throngh  a  long  series  of  yeanr,  and  are  of  yery  lit* 
tie  actnal  value,  and  only  fit  to  be  given  to  aettleDi,  or  abandoned  to  the  States  in 
which  they  lie.** 


OM   THl  PUBLIC  LANDS.  Idl 

•  * 

According  to  an  official  statement,  the  total  quantity  of  pablic  land 
which  has  been  surveyed  up  to  the  31st  of  December  last,  was  a  little 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  millions  of  acres.  Of  this  a 
large  proportion,  perhaps  even  more  than  the  one  hundred  millions 
of  acres  stated  in  the  land  report,  has  been  a  long  time  in  market. 
The  entire  quantity  which  has  ever  been  sold  by  the  United  States, 
up  to  the  same  day,  after  deducting  lands  relinquished  and  lands  re- 
verted to  the  United  States,  according  to  an  official  statement,  also, 
is  twenty-five  millions  two  hundred  forty-two  thousand  five  hundred 
and  ninety  acres.  Thus  after  the  lapse  of  thirty-six  years,  during 
which  the  present  land  system  has  been  in  operation,  a  little  more 
than  twenty-five  millions  of  acres  have  been  sold,  not  averaging  a 
million  per  annum,  and  upwards  of  one  hundred  millions  of  the  sur- 
veyed lands  remain  to  be  sold.  The  argument  of  the  report  of  the 
land  committee  assumes  that  '<  nearly  one  hundred  millions  are  the 
refuse  of  sales,  and  donations,"  are  of  very  little  actual  value,  and 
only  fit  to  be  given  to  settlers,  or  abandoned  to  the  States  in  which 
they  lie. 

Mr.  President,  let  us  define  as  we  go— let  us  analyze.  What  do 
the  land  committee  mean  by  '^  refuse  land  ?"  Do  they  mean  worth- 
less, inferior,  rejected  land,  which  nobody  will  buy  at  the  present 
government  price  ?  Let  us  look  at  facts,-  and  make  them  our  guide. 
The  government  is  constantly  pressed  by  the  new  States  to  bring 
more  and  more  lands  into  the  market ;  to  extinguish  more  Indian  titles ; 
to  survey  more.  The  new  States  themselves  are  probably  urged 
to  operate  upon  the  general  government  by  emigrants  and  settlers, 
who  see  still  before  them,  in  their  progress  west,  other  new  lands 
which  they  desire  The  general  government  yields  to  the  soliciti^ 
tions.  It  throws  more  land  into  the  market,  and  it  is  annually  and 
daily  preparing  additional  surveys  of  fresh  lands.  It  has  thrown) 
and  is  preparing  to  throw  open  to  purchasers  already  one  hundred 
and  sixty-two  millions  of  acres.  And  now,  because  the  capacity  to 
purchase,  in  its  nature  limited  by  the  growth  of  our  population,  is  to- 
tally incompetent  to  absorb  this  immense  quantity,  the  government 
is  called  upon,  by  some  of  the  very  persons  who  urged  the  exhibition 
of  this  vast  amount  to  sale,  to  consider  all  that  remains  unsold  as  re- 
fuse !  Twenty-five  millions  in  thirty-six  years  only  are  sold,  and  all 
the  rest  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  refuse.  Is  this  right  ?  If  there  had 
been  five  hundred  millions  in  inar^t,  there  probably  would  not  haye 


123  8PKKCHE8   OF  HENRT   CLAT. 

been  more,  or  much  more  sold.  But  I  deny  the  correctness  of  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  worthless  because  not  sold.  It  is  not  sold  be- 
cause there  were  not  people  to  buy  it.  You  must  have  gone  to  other 
countries,  to  other  worlds,  to  the  moon,  and  drawn  from  thence  peo- 
ple to  buy  the  prodigious  quantity  which  you  ofiered  to  sell. 

Refuse  land  !  A  purchaser  goes  to  a  district  of  country  and  baye 
oat  of  a  township  a  section  which  strikes  his  fancy.  He  exhanitt 
his  money.  Others  might  have  preferred  other  sections.  Other  sec- 
tions may  even  be  better  than  his.  He  can  with  no  more  propriety 
be  said  to  have  "  refused"  or  rejected  all  the  other  sections,  than  a 
man  who,  attracted  by  the  beauty,  charms  and  accomplishments  of 
a  particular  lady,  marries  her,  can  be  said  to  have  rejected  or  refus^ 
all  the  rest  of  the  sex. 

Is  it  credible  that  out  of  one  hundred  and  fiHy  or  one  hundred  and  six- 
ty millions  of  acres  of  land  in  a  valley  celebrated  for  its  fertility,  there 
are  only  about  twenty-five  millions  of  acres  of  good  land,  and  that  all 
the  rest  is  refuse  ?  Take  the  State  of  Illinois  as  an  example.  Of  all 
the  States  in  the  Union,  that  State  probably  contains  the  greatest 
proportion  of  rich,  fertile  lands ;  more  than  Ohio,  more  than  Indiana, 
abounding  as  they  both  do  in  fine  lands.  Of  the  thirty-three  mil- 
lions and  a  half  of  pnblic  lands  in  Illinois,  a  little  more  only  than  two 
millions  have  been  sold.  Is  the  residue  of  thirty-one  millions  all  re- 
fuse land  }  Who  that  is>acquainted  in  the  west  can  assert  or  believe 
it  ?  No,  sir ;  there  is  no  such  thing.  The  unsold  lands  are  unsold 
because  of  the  reasons  already  assigned.  Doubtless  there  is  much 
inferior  land  remaining,  but  a  vast  quantity  of  the  best  of  lands  also. 
For  its  timber,  soil  water  power,  grazing,  minerals,  almost  all  land 
possesses  a  certain  value.  If  the  lands  unsold  are  refuse  and  worth- 
less in  the  hands  of  the  general  government,  why  are  they  sought 
after  with  so  much  avidity  ?  If  in  our  bands  they  are  good  for  noth- 
ing, what  more  would  they  be  worth  in  the  hands  of  the  new  States  ? 
"  Only  fit  to  be  given  to  settlers  !"  What  settlers  would  thank  you  ? 
what  settlers  would  not  scorn  a  gift  of  refuse^  worthless  land  ?  If  you 
mean  to  be  generous,  give  them  what  is  valuable  ;  be  manly  in  yoor 
generosity. 

But  let  us  examine  a  little  closer  this  idea  of  refuse  land.  If  there 
be  any  State  in  which  it  is  to  be  found  in  large  quantities,  that  State 


OH  THB  FUBUC    LAVDt.  128 

would  be  Ohio.  It  is  the  oldest  of  the  new  Slates.  There  the  pub- 
lic lands  have  remained  longer  exposed  in  the  market.  But  thm 
we  find  only  five  millions  and  a  half  to  be  sold.  And  I  hold  in  my 
hand  an  account  of  sales  in  the  Zanesville  district,  one  of  the  oldest 
in  that  State  made  during  the  present  year.  It  is  in  a  paper,  entitled 
the  «^Ohio  Republican,"  published  at  Zanesville  the  2()th  May,  1833. 
The  article  is  headed  ^^  refuse  land,"  and  it  states :  ^'  It  has  suited 
the  interest  of  some  to  represent  the  lands  of  the  United  States  which 
have  remained  in  market  for  many  years,  as  mere  '  refuse'  which 
cannot  be  sold ;  and  to  urge  a  rapid  reduction  of  price,  and  the  ces* 
sion  of  the  residue  in  a  short  period,  to  the  States  in  which  they  are 
situated.  It  is  strongly  urged  against  this  plan  that  it  is  a  specula- 
ting project,  which,  by  alienating  a  large  quantity  of  land  from  the 
United  States,  will  cause  a  great  increase  of  price  to  actual  settlers, 
in  a  few  years — instead  of  their  being  able  forever,  as  it  may  be  said 
is  the  case  under  the  present  system  of  land  sales,  to  obtain  a  farm 
at  a  reasonable  price.  To  show  how  far  the  lands  unsold  are  from 
being  worthless,  we  copy  from  the  Gazette  the  following  statement 
of  recent  sales  in  the  Zanesville  district,  one  of  the  oldest  districts  in 
the  west.  The  sales  at  the  Zanesville  land  office  since  the  com* 
mencement  of  the  present  year  have  been  as  follows:  January^ 
$7,120  80,  February  $8,542  67,  March  $11,744  75,  April  $9,209 
19y  and  since  the  first  of  the  present  month  about  $9,000  worth 
have  been  sold,  more  than  half  of  which  was  in  40  acre  lots"  And 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  the  act,  passed  at  this  season,  authr  riz- 
iBg  sales  of  forty  acres,  will  firom  the  desire  to  make  additions  to 
frnns,  snd  to  settle  young  members  of  fionilies,  increase  the  sales  very 
much,  at  leyt  during  this  year. 

A  friend  of  mine  in  this  city  bought  in  Illinois  last  fall  about  two 
thousand  acres  of  this  refuse  land,  at  the  minimum  price,  for  which 
he  has  lately  refused  $6  per  acre.  An  officer  of  this  body,  now  in 
my  eye,  purchased  a  small  tract  of  this  same  refuse  land  of  one  bun- 
dled and  sixty  acres,  at  second  or  third  hand,  entered  a  few  years 
ago,  and  which  is  now  es^mated  at  $1,900.  It  is  a  business,  a  very 
profitable  business,  at  which  fortunes  are  made  in  the  new  States,  to 
purchase  these  refuse  lands,  and,  without  improving  them,  to  sell 
them  at  large  advances. 

Far  from  being  discouraged  by  the  fact  of  so  much  surveyed  public 


IM  tPKBCUSS   OF   HEITRT  OLAT. 

land  remaining  unsold,  we  should  rejoice  that  this  bountiftd  resoiuws, 
possessed  by  our  country,  remains  in  almost  undiminished  quantitj^ 
notwithstanding  so  many  new  and  flourishing  States  have  sprung  up 
in  the  wilderness,  and  so  many  thousands  of  families  have  been  m^> 
commodated.  It  might  be  otherwise,  if  the  public  land  was  dealt  out 
by  government  with  a  sparing,  grudging,  griping  hand.  But  thej 
are  liberally  offered,  in  exhaustless  quantities,  and  at  moderate  price0| 
enriching  individuals,  and  tending  to  the  rapid  improvement  of  the 
country.  The  two  important  facts  brought  forward  and  emphatical- 
ly dwelt  on  by  the  committee  of  manufactures,  stand  in  their  foil 
force,  unaffected  by  anything  stated  in  the  report  of  the  land  commit- 
tee. These  facts  must  carry  conviction  to  every  unbiassed  mind  that 
will  deliberately  consider  them.  The  first  is,  the  rapid  increase  of  the 
new  States,  far  outstripping  the  old,  averaging  annually  an  increase 
of  eight  and  a  half  per  cent.,  and  doubling  of  course  in  twelve  yean. 
One  of  these  States,  Illinois,  full  of  refuse  land,  increasing  at  the  rate 
of  eighteen  and  a  half  per  cent. !  Would  this  astonishing  growth 
take  place  if  the  lands  were  too  high  or  all  the  good  land  sold  ?  The 
other  fact  is,  the  vast  increase  in  the  annual  sales :  in  1830,  rising  of 
three  millions.  Since  the  report  of  the  committee  of  manufactures, 
the  returns  have  come  in  of  the  sales  of  last  year,  which  had  been 
estimated  at  three  millions.  They  were  in  fact  $3,566,127  94! 
Their  progressive  increase  baffles  all  calculation.  Would  this  hap- 
pen, if  the  price  were  too  high  ? 

It  is  argued  that  the  value  of  different  townships  and  sections  is 
various ;  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  wrong  to  fix  the  same  price  for  all. 
The  variety  in  the  quality,  situation,  and  advantages  of  difi^rent  tracts, 
is  no  doubt  great.  After  the  adoption  of  any  system  of  classification, 
there  would  still  remain  very  great  diversity  in  the  tracts  belonging 
to  the  same  class.  This  is  the  law  of  nature.  The  presumption  ct 
inferiority,  and  of  refuse  land,  founded  upon  the  length  of  time  that 
the  land  has  been  in  market,  is  denied,  for  reasons  already  stated. 
The  ofier,  at  public  auction,  of  all  lands  to  the  highest  bidder,  previ* 
ons  to  their  being  sold  at  private  sale,  provides  in  some  degree  for  the 
variety  in  the  value,  since  each  purchaser  pushes  the  land  up  to  the 
price  whi(;h,  according  to  his  opinion,  it  ought  to  command.  But  if 
the  price  demanded  by  government  is  not  too  high  for  the  good  land, 
(and  no  one  can  believe  if,)  why  not  wait  until  that  is  sold  before  any 
i^uction  in  the  price  of  the  bad  ?    AimI  that  will  not  be  sold  fiot 


ON  TB£  PVBUC  LAVM.  106 

maoy  yean  to  cone.  It  would  be  quite  as  wrong  to  bring  the  price 
of  good  land  down  to  the  standard  of  the  bad^  as  it  is  aliedged  to  be 
to  carry  the  latter  up  to  that  of  the  former.  Until  the  good  land  ia 
sold  there  will  be  no  purchasers  of  the  bad :  for,  as  has  been  stated  in 
the  report  of  the  committee  of  manufactures,  a  discreet  farmer  would 
rather  give  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre  for  first  rate  land,  than 
accept  refuse  and  worthless  land  as  a  presept.  i 

"  4.  Because  the  speedy  extinction  of  the  federal  title  within  their  limits  is  ntee^ 
smy  to  the  independej%ce  of  the  new  States,  to  their  ejwdity  with  the  eider  States ;  lo 
the  development  of  their  resources;  to  the  mtkjettvm  of  their  soil  to  taxation,  eidtir 
vation  and  tettUmtntf  and  to  the  proper  eqjoyment  of  their  joriadiotion  and  soTei* 
eignty." 

All  this  is  mere  assertion  and  declamation.  The  general  govern- 
^ment  at  a  moderate  price,  is  selling  the  public  land  as  fast  as  it  can  find 
purchasers.  The  new  States  are  populating  with  unexampled  ra^ 
pidity  ;  their  condition  is  now  much  more  eligible  than  that  of  some 
of  the  old  States.  Ohio,  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  confess,  is,  in 
internal  improvement  and  some  other  respects,  fifty  years  in  advance 
of  her  elder  sister  and  neighbor,  Kentucky.  How  have  her  growth 
and  prosperity,  her  independence,  her  equality  with  the  elder  States, 
the  development  of  her  resources,  the  taxation,  cultivation,  and  set- 
tlement of  her  soil,  or  the  proper  enjoyment  of  her  jurisdiction  and 
sovereignty,  been  affected  or  impaired  by  the  federal  title  within  her 
limits  ?  The  federal  title !  It  has  been  a  source  of  blessings  and  of 
bounties,  but  not  one  of  red  grievance.  As  to  the  exemption  from 
taxation  of  the  public  lands,  and  the  exemption  for.five  years  of  those 
sold  to  individuals,  if  the  public  land  belonged  to  the  new%  States, 
would  they  tax  it  ?  And  as  to  the  latter  exemption,  it  is  paid  for  by 
the  general  government,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  compacts ; 
and  it  is  moreover,  beneficial  to  the  new  States  themselves,  by  hold- 
ing out  a  motive  to  emigrants  to  purchase  and  settle  within  their 
limits. 

**&  Because  the  ramified  machinery  of  the  land  oAoe  depamnent,  and  the  own- 
enhip  of  so  much  soil,  extends  the  patronage  and  authority  of  the  general  govern- 
meat  into  the  heart  and  comert  of  the  new  States,  and  soSjects  their  pdic§  to  ths 
danger  of  a  foreign  %mipaumfnl  infloenee.'^ 

A  foreign  and  powerful  influence  !  The  federal  government  a  for- 
eign government !  And  the  exercise  of  a  legitimate  control  over  the 
national  property,  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  people  of  the  United 
States,  a  deprecated  penetratkm  into  the  heart  and  comers  of  thei^w 


126  IPUECHKB  OF  HUIBT    CLAT* 

States !  As  to  the  calamity  of  the  land  offices,  which  are  held  witb- 
in  them,  I  believe  that  is  not  regarded  by  the  people  of  those  Statm 
with  quite  as  much  horror  as  it  is  by  the  land  committee.  They 
justly  consider  that  they  ought  to  hold  those  offices  themselves,  and 
that  no  persons  ought  to  be  sent  from  the  other  foreign  States  of  thia 
Union  to  fill  them.  And,  if  the  number  of  the  offices  were  increased, 
it  would  not  be  looked  upon  by  them  as  a  grievous  addition  to  the 
calamity. 


But  what  do  the  land  committee  mean  by  the  authority  of 
foreign,  federal  government  ?  Surely  they  do  not  desire  to  get  rid  of 
the  federal  government.  And  yet  the  final  settlement  of  the  land 
question  will  have  effected  but  little  in  expelling  its  authority  from 
the  bosoms  of  the  new  States.  Its  action  will  still  remain  in  a  thou- 
sand forms,  and  the  heart  and  comers  of  the  new  States  will  still  be 
invaded  by  post-offices  and  post-masters,  and  post-roads,  and  the  Cum- 
berland road,  and  various  other  modifications  of  its  power. 

**  Because  the  sum  of  $425,000,000  proposed  to  be  drawn  from  the  new  States  and 
Territories,  by  the  sale  of  their  soil,  at  $\  25  per  acre,  is  unconscionable  and  on- 
praclicable — such  as  never  can  be  paid— and  the  bare  attempt  to  rai&e  which.  maK 
dnin,  exhaust  and  impoverihh  these  Statep,  and  give  birth  to  the  fcelingt?,  wnicb  a 
f«D8e  of  injustice  and  oppreraion  never  fail  to  excite,  and  the  excitement  of  whid^ 
Mould  be  so  carefully  avoided  in  a  confederacy  of  free  Stales.** 

In  another  part  of  their  report  the  committee  say,  speaking  of  the 
immense  revenue  alledged  to  be  derivable  from  the  public  lands, 
^'  this  ideal  revenue  is  estimated  at  $425,000,000,  for  the  lands  now 
within  the  limits  of  the  States  and  Territories,  and  at  $1,363,589,- 
691  for  the  M'hole  federal  domain.  Such  cA/inmca/ calculations  pre* 
dude  the  propriety  of  argumentative  answers."  Well,  if  these  cal- 
culations are  all  chimerical,  there  is  no  danger  from  the  preservation 
of  the  existing  land  system  of  draining,  exhausting  and  impoverish- 
ing the  new  States,  and  of  exciting  them  to  rebellion. 

The  manufacturing  committee  did  not  state  what  the  public  landt 
would,  in  fact,  produce.  They  could  not  state  it.  It  is  hardly  a 
subject  of  approximate  estimate.  The  committee  stated  what  would 
be  the  proceeds,  estimated  by  the  minimum  price  of  the  public  lands ; 
what,  at  one-half  of  that  price  ;  and  added  that,  although  there  might 
be  much  land  that  would  never  sell  at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per 
acre,  ^'  as  fresh  lands  are  brought  into  market  and  exposed  to  sale  at 
auction,  many  of  them  sell  at  prices  exceeding  one  doUarand  a  quar- 


OK  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS.  127 

fer  per  acre.''  Tbey  concluded  by  remarking  that  the  least  fiivora- 
ble  view  of  regarding  them  was  to  consider  them  a  capital  yielding 
ao  annuity  of  three  millions  of  dollars  at  this  time  ;  that,  in  a  few 
years,  that  annuity  would  probably  be  doubled,  and  that  the  capital 
might  then  be  assumed  as  equal  to  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 

Whatever  may  be  the  sum  drawn  from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands, 
it  will  be  contributed,  not  by  citizens  of  the  States  alone  in  which 
they  are  situated,  but  by  emigrants  from  all  the  States.  And  it  will 
be  raised,  not  in  a  single  year,  but  in  a  long  series  of  years.  It  would 
have  been  impossible  for  the  State  of  Ohio  to  have  paid,  in  one  year, 
the  millions  that  have  been  raised  in  that  State  by  the  sale  of  public 
lands ;  but  in  a  period  of  upwards  of  thirty  years  the  payment  has 
been  made,  not  only  without  impoverishing,  but  with  the  constantly 
increasing  prosperity  of  the  State. 

Such,  Mr.  President,  are  the  reasons  of  the  land  committee  for  the 
reduction  of  the  price  of  the  public  lands.  Some  of  them  had  been 
anticipated  and  refuted  in  the  report  of  the  manufacturing  committee  i 
and  I  hope  that  I  have  now  shown  the  insolidity  of  the  residue. 

I  will  not  dwell  upon  the  consideration  urged  in  that  report  against 
any  large  reduction,  founded  upon  its  inevitable  tendency  to  lessen 
the  value  of  the  landed  property  throughout  the  Union,  and  that  in 
the  western  States  especially.  That  such  would  be  the  necessary 
consequence,  no  man  can  doubt  who  will  seriously  reflect  upon  such 
a  measure  as  that  of  throwing  into  market,  immediately,  upwards  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  acres,  and  at  no  distant  period  up- 
wards of  two  hundred  millions  more,  at  greatly  reduced  rates. 

If  the  honorable  chairman  of  the  land  committee  (Mr.  King,)  had 
relied  upon  his  own  sound  practical  sense,  he  would  have  presented 
a  report  far  less  objectionable  than  that  which  he  has  made.  He  has 
availed  himself  of  another's  aid,  and  the  hand  of  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  (Mr.  Benton,)  is  as  visible  in  the  composition  as  if  his  name 
had  been  subscribed  to  the  instrument.  We  hear  again,  in  this  pa- 
per, of  that  which  we  have  so  often  heard  repeated  before  in  debate,  by 
the  Senator  from  Missouri — the  sentiments  of  Edmund  Burke.  And 
what  was  the  state  of  things  in  England,  to  which  those  sentiments 
were  applied. 


\ 


198  tPKlCHBS  OF  HBNRT  CLAT. 

England  has  too  little  land,  and  too  many  people.  America  has  too 
much  land,  for  the  present  population  of  the  country,  and  wants  peo- 
ple. The  British  crown  had  owned,  for  many  generations,  large 
bodies  of  land,  preserred  for  game  and  forest  from  which  but  snudl 
revenues  were  derived.  It  was  proposed  to  sell  out  the  crown  lands, 
that  they  might  be  peopled  and  cultivated,  and  that  the  royal  family 
should  be  placed  on  the  civil  list.  Mr.  Burke  supported  the  propo- 
sition by  convincing  arguments.  But  what  analogy  is  there  between 
the  crown  lands  of  the  British  sovereign,  and  the  public  lands  of  the 
United  States  ?  Are  they  here  locked  up  from  the  people,  and,  for 
the  sake  of  their  game  or  timber,  excluded  from  sale  ?  Are  not  they 
freely  exposed  in  market,  to  all  who  want  them,  at  moderate  prices  ? 
The  complaint  is,  that  they  are  not  sold  fast  enough,  in  other  words, 
that  people  are  not  multiplied  rapidly  enough  to  buy  them.  Pa- 
tience, gentlemen  of  the  land  committee^  patience !  The  new  States 
are  daily  rising  in  power  and  importance.  Some  of  them  are  already 
great  and  flourishing  members  of  the  confederacy.  And,  if  you  will 
only  acquiesce  in  the  certain  and  quiet  operation  of  the  laws  of 
God  and  man,  the  wilderness  will  quickly  teem  with  people,  and  be 
filled  with  the  monuments  of  civilization. 

The  report  of  the  land  committee  proceeds  to  notice  and  to  animad- 
vert upon  certain  opinions  of  a  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  con- 
tained in  h^s  annual  report,  and  endeavors  to  connect  them  with  some 
sentiments  expressed  in  the  report  of  the  committee  of  manufactures. 
That  report  has  before  been  the  subject  of  repeated  commentary  in 
the  Senate,  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  and  of  much  misrepresen- 
tation and  vituperation  in  the  public  press.  Mr.  Rush  showed  me 
the  rough  draft  of  that  report,  and  I  advised  him  to  expunge  the 
paragraphs  in  question,  because  I  foresaw  that  they  would  be  mis- 
represented, and  that  he  would  be  exposed  to  unjust  accusation.  But 
knowing  the  purity  of  his  intentions,  believing  in  the  soundness  of  the 
views  which  he  presented,  and  confiding  in  the  candor  of  a  just  pub- 
lic, he  resolved  to  retain  the  paragraphs.  I  cannot  suppose  the  Sen- 
ator from  Missouri  ignorant  of  what  passed  between  Mr.  Rush  and 
me,  and  of  his  having,  against  my*  suggestions,  retained  the  para- 
graphs in  question,  because  these  facts  were  all  stated  by  Mr.  Rush 
himself,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  a  late  member  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, representing  the  district  in  which  I  reside,  which  letter^ 
more  than  a  year  ago,  was  published  in  the  western  papers. 


Olf   THE  PUBLIC    LANDS.  129 

I  shall  say  nothing  in  defence  of  myself — nothing  to  disprove  the 
charge  of  my  cherishing  unfriendly  feelings  and  sentiments  towards 
any  part  of  the  west.  If  the  public  acts  in  which  I  have  participa- 
ted ;  if  the  uniform  tenor  of  my  whole  life  will  not  refute  such  an 
imputation,  nothing  that  I  could  here  say  would  refute  jt. 

But  I  trz//  say  something  in  defence  of  the  opinions  of  my  late  pa- 
triotic and  enlightened  colleague,  not  here  to  speak  for  himself;  and 
I  will  vindicate  his  official  opinions  from  the  erroneous  glosses  and 
interpretations  which  have  been  put  upon  them. 

Mr.  Rush,  in  an  official  report  which  will  long  remain  a  monument 
of  his  ability,  was  surveying  with  a  statesman's  eye  the  condition  of 
America.  He  was  arguing  in  favor  of  the  Protective  Policy — the 
American  system.  He  spoke  of  the  limited  vocations  of  our  society, 
and  the  expediency  of  multiplying  the  means  of  increasing  subsis- 
tence, comfort  and  wealth.  He  noticed  the  great  and  the  constant 
tendency  of  our  fellow-citizens  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  the  want 
of  a  market  for  their  surplus  produce,  the  inexpediency  of  all  blindly 
rushing  to  the  same  universal  employment,  and  the  policy  of  dividing 
ourselves  into  various  pursuits.     He  says : 

"  The  manner  in  which  the  Tfinote  lands  of  the  United  States  are  aellinf  and  m'U 
tlumr,  whilst  it  poasibly  may  tend  to  increase  more  quickly  the  as^greg ate  poinilation 
.of  the  country,  and  the  mere  means  of  subsistence,  does  not  increase  capital  in  the 
tame  proportion.  *  •  *  Anything  that  may  serve  to  hold  back  this  tendency 
to  diffusion  from  running  too  far  and  too  long  into  an  extreme^  can  scarcely  prove 
otherwise  than  salutary.  ♦  *  ♦  •  If  the  population  of  th*»9e,  (a  ma- 
jority of  the  States,  including  some  western  States,)  not  yet  redundant  in  fact, 
though  appearing  to  be  so,  under  this  legislative  incitement  to  emigrate,  remain 
fixed  m  more  instances,  as  it  probably  would  be  by  extending  the  moiivei  to  manu* 
facturingjabor,  it  is  believed  that  the  nation  would  gain  in  two  ways :  first,  by  the 
more  rapid  accumulation  of  capital ;  and  next  by  the  gradual  reduction  of  the  ex- 
tern of  its  agricultural  population  over  that  engaged  in  other  vocations.  It  is  not 
imagined  that  it  ever  would  be  practieable,  even  if  it  were  desirable,  to  turn  this 
ttream  of  emigration  aside;  but  resonrces.  opened  through  the  influence  of  the 
]mw?.  in  new  fields  of  industryi^  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  States  already  siifnciently 

E opted  to  enter  upon  them,  migtat  operate  to  lessen,  in  some  degree,  and  usefully 
Hen,  its  absorbing  force.** 

Now,  Mr.  President,  what  is  there  in  this  view  adverse^  to  the 
west,  or  unfavorable  to  its  interests  ?  Mr.  Rush  is  arguing  on  the 
tendency  of  the  people  to  engage  in  agriculture,  and  the  incitement  to 
emigration  produced  by  our  laws.  Does,  he  propose  to  change  those 
laws  in  that  particular  ?  Does  he  propose  any  new  measure  ?  So  far 
from  suggesting  any  alteration  of  the  conditions  on  which  the  public 
lands  are  sold,  he  expressly  says  that  it  is  not  desirable,  if  it  were 


t 
«> 


130  SPEECHES  OF   HENRY   CLAT. 

practicable,  to  tarn  this  stream  of  emigration  aside.  Leaving  all  the 
laws  in  full  force,  and  all  the  motives  to  emigration,  arising  from  fer- 
tile and  cheap  lands,  untouched,  he  recommends  the  encouragement 
of  a  new  branch  of  business,  in  which  all  the  Union,  the  west  as  well 
as  the  rest,  is  interested ;  thus  presenting  an  option  to  population  to  en*' 
gage  in  manufactures  or  in  agriculture,  at  its  own  discretion.  And  does 
liuch  an  option  afford  just  ground  of  complaint  to  any  one  ?  Is  it  not 
an  advantage  to  all  ?  Do  the  land  committee  desire  (I  am  sure  they  do 
Dot)  to  create  starvation  in  one  part  of  the  Union,  that  emigrants  may 
be  forced  into  another  ?  If  they  do  not,  they  ought  not  to  condemn  a 
multiplication  of  human  employments,  by  which,  as  its  certain  conse* 
quence,  there  will  be  an  increase  i^n  the  means  of  subsistence  and  com- 
fort. The  objection  to  Mr.  Rush,  then,  is,  that  he  looked  at  his  whole 
country,  and  at  all  parts  of  it ;  and  that,  whilst  he  desired  the  prosperity 
and  growth  cf  the  west  to  advance  undisturbed,  he  wished  to  buildup, 
on  deep  foundations,  the  welfare  of  all  the  people. 

Mr.  Rush  knew  that  there  were  thousands  of  the  poorer  classes 
who  never  would  emigrate  ;  and  that  emigration,  under  the  best  aus- 
pices, was  far  from  being  unattended  with  evil.  There  are  moral, 
physical,  pecuniary  obstacles  to  all  emigration ;  and  these  will  increase 
as  the  good  vacant  lands  of  the  west  are  removed,  by  intervening  set- 
tlements further  and  further  from  society,  as  it  is  now  located.  It  is, 
I  believe.  Dr.  Johnson,  who  pronounces  that  of  all  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal creation,  man  is  the  most  difficult  to  be  uprooted  and  transferredl 
to  a  distant  country ;  and  he  was  right.  Space  itself — mountains,  and 
seas,  and  rivers,  are  impediments.  The  want  of  pecuniary  means — 
the  expenses  of  the  outfit,  subsistence  and  transportation  of  a  family, 
is  no  slight  circumstance.  When  all  these  difficulties  are  overcome, 
(and  how  few,  comparatively,  can  surmount  them,)  the  greatest  of 
all  remains — that  of  being  torn  from  one^s  natal  spot — separated  for- 
ever from  the  roof  under  which  the  companions  of  his  childhood  were 
sheltered,  from  the  trees  which  have  shaded  him  from  summer's  heats, 
the  spring  from  whose  gushing  fountain  he  has  drunk  in  his  youth, 
the  tombs  that  hold  the  precious  relic  of  his  venerated  ancestors  ! 

But  I  have  said  that  the  land  committee  had  attempted  to  con- 
CMind  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  Rush  with  some  of  the  reasoning  em- 
ployed by  the  committee  of  manufactures  against  the  proposed  reduc- 
tioii  of  the  price  of  the  public  lands.   What  is  that  reasoning  ?    Hers 


S 


on   THX  PUBLIC  LAHH.  131 

it  it ;  it  vill  apeak  for  itself;  uti  without  a  tingle  commcDt  will  de- 
nwsslrate  bow  difierenl  it  is  from  that  of  the  late  Secretary  of  thft 
Treasiirj,  uuexceptionattle  u  that  haa  been  showa  to  be. 

"The  m«t*«t  ewigiBtinn  {««  the  mBDnfaciuring  TOmmiUfc)  ihal  m  btlit^ni 
now  to  talif  p!»ce  from  Bny  of  rlie  Sioim,  is  from  f'liio.  Ki-iiiuiliv,  »w\  Tennfawe. 
The  eUcels  of  *  maicrid  rnluclioa  in  the  price  t-t  <\h-  fiuUc  lii[iil>-  -ximUl  be — lR.,tO 

leseen  liie  vslueorreal  esiale  in  thoM  ihree  Slai  ■<.  -  il  ,  tml r.i  i,  ili.  "j  inlerenl  ia 

ihe  pnblic  domain,  u  a  common  fnod  for  the  ij'niiii  nf  uM  i\,--  ^i..r<  - ;  and  Sd.,ta 
otfer  whet  wonid  operate  aa  a  boUDly  to  further  cnu^'i.iiKiLi  iTum  iii<<-'i'  i^lalpp.  oca* 
lioning  more  and  more  lands, ail uated  within  tlii-iri,  in  In-  Uimtvn  \uu.  the  market, 
thrriby  not  only  leaarning  the  (alue  of  ibcu  lands,  but  iJtiiitnii^  iliini  bolb  of  theii 
po^talion  and  labor." 

There  are  good  men  in  di&rent  parts,  but  especially  in  the  Atlantio 
portion  of  the  Udiod,  who  have  been  induced  to  re)i;ard  lightly  this 
fast  national  property ;  who  have  been  persuaded  that  the  people  of 
the  west  are  dissatisfied  with  the  ad  ministration  of  it ;  and  who  be- 
lieve that  it  will,  in  the  end,  be  lost  to  the  nation,  and  that  it  is  not 
worth  present  care  and  preservation.  But  these  are  radical  mistakes. 
The  great  body  of  the  west  are  satisfied — perfectly  salisfled  with  the 
general  administration  of  the  public  lands.  They  would  indeed  like, 
and  are  entitled  to,  a  mora  liberal  expenditure  among  them  of  the 
proceeds  of  thtf  sates.  For  this  provision  is  made  by  the  bill  to  which 
I  will  hereafter  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate.  But  the  great  body 
<rf  the  west  have  not  called  for,  and  understand  too  well  their  real 
interest  to  desire  any  essential  change  in  the  system  of  survey,  sale, 
or  price  of  the  lands.  There  may  be  a  few,  stimulated  by  dem^ 
gogues,  who  desire  chai^ ;  and  what  sjrstem  is  there,  what  govera- 
ment,  what  order  of  human  society,  that  a  few  do  not  desire  change  I 

It  is  one  of  the  admirable  properties  of  the  existing  system,  that  It 
contains  within  itself  and  carries  along  principles  of  conservation  and 
■alety.  In  the  progress  of  its  operation,  new  States  become  identified 
with  the  old,  in  feeling,  in  thinking,  and  in  interest.  Now,  Ohio  is 
■  as  sound  as  any  old  State  in  the  Union,  in  all  her  views  relating  to 
Ihe  public  lands.  She  feels  (hat  her  share  in  the  exterior  domain  is 
much  more  important  than  would  be  an  exclusive  right  to  the  few 
millions  of  acres  left  unsold,  within  her  limits,  accompanied  by  a  vir- 
tual stirrender  of  her  interest  )D  all  the  other  public  lands  of  the  (Jol- 
ted States.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that  now,  the  people  of  the  other 
new  States,  left  to  their  otm  unbiassed  sense  of  equity  and  justicSi 
would  form  the  same  judgment.  They  cannot  believe  that  what  the/ 
have  not  bought,  what  lemaina  the  property  of  themselves  and  aD 


183  8PKBCHM  OF  HUTRT  CLAT. 

their  brethren  of  the  United  Stages,  in  common,  belong^  to  them  ex- 
clusively. But  if  I  am  mistaken — if  they  have  been  deceived  bj 
erroneous  impressions  on  their  mind,  made  by  artful  men,  as  the  sales 
proceed,  and  the  land  is  exhausted,  and  their  population  increased, 
like  the  State  of  Ohio,  they  will  feel  that  their  true  interest  points  to 
their  remaining  copartners  in  ih%  whole  national  domain,  instead  of 
bringing  forward  an  unfounded  pretension  to  the  inconsiderable  lem- 
nant  which  will  be  then  left  in  their  own  limits. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  I  have  to  say  something,  in  respect  to 
the  particular  plan  brought  forward  by  the  committee  of  munofac- 
tures  for  a  temporary  appropriation  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands.  « 

The  committee  say  that  this  fund  is  not  wanted  by  the  general  go- 
vernment ;  that  the  peace  of  the  country  is  not  likely,  from  praaeiit 
'appearances,  to  be  speedily  disturbed  ;  and  that  the  general  goveiti- 
men?  is  absolutely  embarrassed  in  providing  against  an  enormous 
surplus  in  the  treasury.  While  this  is  the  condition  of  the  Fedenl 
■government,  the  States  are  in  want  of,  and  can  most  beneficially  use, 
that  very  surplus  with  which  we  do  not  know  what  to  do.  The  pow- 
ers of  the  general  government  are  limited  ;  those  of  the  States  ue 
Ample.  If  those  limited  powers  authorised  an  application  of  the  fond 
to  some  objects,  perhaps  there  are  some  others,  of  more  importanot, 
to  which  the  powers  of  the  States  would  be  more  competent,  or  to 
which  they  may'apply  a  more  provident  care. 

But  the  government  of  the  whole  and  of  the  parts,  at  last  is  but  one 
'government  of  the  same  people.  In  form  they  are  two,  in  substance 
one.  They  both  stand  under  the  same  solemn  obligation  to  promola 
by  all  the  powers  with  which  they  are  respectively  entrusted,  tii^ 
happiness  of  the  people ;  and  the  people  in  their  turn,  owe  respeet 
and  allegiance  to  both.  Maintaining  these  relations,  there  should  be 
mutual  assistance  to  each  other  affi>rded  by  these  two  systems.  When 
the  States  are  full-handed,  and  the  cofiers  of  the  general  government 
are  empty,  the  States  should  come  to  the  relief  of  the  general  govem- 
-ment,  as  many  of  them  did,  most  promptly  and  patriotically,  during 
the  late  war.  When  the  conditions  of  the  parties  are  reversed,  as  is 
BOW  the  case,  the  States  wanting  what  is  almost  a  burthen  to  die 


OV   THE  PUBUC  LAUDS.  138 

general  government,  the  duty  of  this  government  is  to  go  to  the  relief 
qg  the  States. 

They  were  views  like  these  which  induced  a  majority  of  the  com- 
mittee to  propose  the  plan  of  distribution  contained  in  the  bill  now 
under  consideration,  For  one,  hofWever,  I  will  again  repeat  the  de- 
daration,  which  I  made  early  in  the  session,  that  I  unite  cordially 
with  those  who  condemn  the  application  of  any  principle  of  distribu- 
tion among  the  several  States,  to  surplus  revenue  derived  from  taxa- 
tion. I  think  income  derived  from  taxation  stands  upon  ground  totally 
distinct  from  that  which  is  received  from  the  public  lands.  Congress 
can  prevent  the  accumulation,  at  least  for  any  considerable  time,  of 
revenue  from  duties,  by  suitable  legislation,  lowering  or  augmenting 
the  imposts ;  but  it  cannot  stop  the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  without 
the  exercise  of  arbitrary  and  intolerable  power.  The  powers  of  Con- 
gress over  the  public  lands  are  broader  and  more  comprehensive  than 
those  which  they  possess  over  taxation  and  the  money  produced  by  it. 

This  brings  me  to  consider  Ist  —the  power  of  Congress  to  make 
the  distribution.  By  the  second  part  of  the  third  section  of  the  fourth 
article  of  the  constitution.  Congress  ^*  have  power  to  dispose  af^  and 
make  all  needfril  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or 
other  property  of  the  United  States."  The  power  of  disposition  is 
plenary,  unrestrain(3d,  unqualified.  It  is  not  limited  to  a  specified 
object  or  to  a  defined  purpose,  but  left  applicable  to  any  object  or 
purpose  which  the  wisdom  of  Congress  shall  deem  fit,  acting  under 
its  high  responsibility. 

•  The  government  purchased  Louisiana  and  Florida.  May  it  not 
i^pl^y  the  proceeds  of  lands  within  those  countries  to  any  object  which 
the  good  of  the  Union  may  seem  to  indicate  ?  If  there  be  a  restraint 
in  the  constitution,  where  is  it — ^what  is  it  ?  . 

The  uniform  practice  of  the  government  has  conformed  to  the  idea 
of  its  possessing  full  powers  over  the  public  lands.  They  have  been 
freely  granted,  from  time  to  time,  to  communities  and  individuals,  for 
a  great  variety  of  purposes.  To  States  for  education,  internal  im- 
pfovements,  public  buildings ;  to  corporations  for  education  ;  to  the 
deaf  and  dumb ;  to  the  cultivators  of  the  olive  and  the  vine  ;  to  pr»- 
•mptionen ;  to  Gieneral  La&yette,  Itc. 

•I 


IM  8PIXCHE8  OF  HENBT    CLAT. 

The  deeds  from  the  ceding  States,  far  from  opposing,  fully 
(he  distribution.  That  of  Virginia  ceded  the  land  as^acommOft 
fund  fo.'  the  use  and  benefit  of  such  of  the  United  Slates  as  have  be- 
come, or  shall  become  members  of  the  confederation  or  federal  alli- 
ance  of  the  said  States,  Virginia  inclusive."  The  cession  was  for  the 
benefit  of  all  the  States.  It  may  be  argued  that  the  fund  must  faa 
retained  in  the  common  treasury,  and  thence  paid  out.  But  by  the  bill 
reported,  it  will  come  into  the  common  treasury,  and  then  the  ques- 
tion how  it  shall  be  subsequently  applied  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
tuck  of  the  United  States  as  compose  the  confederacy,  is  one  of 
modus  only.  Whether  the  money  is  disbursed  by  the  general  govern* 
ment  directly,  or  is  paid  out  upon  some  equal  and  just  priuciple  to  Um 
States,  to  be  disbursed  by  them,  cannot  affect  the  right  of  distributiiMi. 
If  the  general  government  retained  the  power  of  ultimate  disburse- 
ment,  it  could  execute  it  only  by  suitable  agents ;  and  what  agency  is 
more  suitable  than  that  of  the  States  themselves  ?  If  the  States  ez« 
pend  the  nrtoney,  as  the  bill  contemplates,  the  expenditure  will,  ia 
effect,  be  a  disbursement  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole,  although  the 
several  States  are  organs  of  the  expenditure ;  for  the  whole  and  all 
the  parts  are  identical.  And  whatever  redounds  to  the  benefit  of  all 
the  parts  necessarily  contributes  in  the  same  measure  to  the  benefit  of 
the  whole.  The  great  question  should  be,  Is  the  distribution  upoa 
equal  and  just  principles  ^     And  this  brings  me  to  consider. 


2d.  The  terms  of  the  distribution  proposed  by  the  bill  of  the 
mittee  of  manufactures.  The  bill  proposes  a  division  of  the  nett  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  among  the  sveral  States  compcK 
sing  the  Union,  according  to  their  federal  representative  population, 
as  ascertained  by  the  last  census ;  and  it  provides  for  new  States  that 
may  hereafter  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  The  basis  of  the  distribi^ 
tion,  therefore^  is  derived  from  the  constitution  itself^  which  has 
adopted  the  same  rule  in  respect  to  representation  and  direct  taxes. 
None  could  be  more  just  and  equitable. 

But  it  has  been  contended  in  the  land  report, that  the  revolutionary 
States  which  did  not  cede  their  public  lands,  ought  not  to  be  allowel 
locome  into  the  d'istribution.  This  objection  does  not  apply  to  tha 
purchases  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  because  the  consideration  hi 
them  was  paid  out  of  the  common  treasury,  and  was  consequentlf 
contributed  by  all  the  Slates.    Nor  has  the  objection  any  just  found*- 


ON  THB  rUBLIC  LANDB.  18i 

lion  when  applied  to  the  public  lands  deriv^  from  Virginia  and  the 
Other  ceding  States  ;  because  by  the  terms  of  the  deeds  the  cessions 
were  made  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  all  the  States.  The  ceding 
States  having  made  no  exception  of  any  State,  what  right  has  the 
general  government  to  interpolate  in  the  deeds,  and  now  create  an 
Exception  ?  The  general  government  is  a  mere  trustee,  holding  the 
domain  in  virtue  of  those  deeds,  accordmg  to  the  terms  and  conditions 
which  they  expressly  describe  ;  and  it  is  bound  to  execute  the  trust 
'  accordingly.  But  how  is  the  fund  produced  by  the  public  lands  now 
'expended  ^  It  comes  into  the  common  treasury,  and  is  disbursed  for 
the  common  benefit,  without  exception  of  any  State.  The  bill  only 
proposes  to  substitute  to  that  object,  now  no  longer  necessary,  another 
and  more  useful  common  object.  The  general  application  of  the  fand 
will  continue,  under  the  operation  of  the  bill,  although  the  particnltf 
purposes  may  be  varied. 

The  equity  of  the  proposed  distribution,  as  it  respects  the  two  class- 
es of  States,  (he  old  and  the  new,  must  be  manifest  to  the  Senate; 
It  proposes  to  assign  to  the  new  States,  besides  the  five  per  cenl 
stipulated  for  in  their  several  compacts  with  the  general  government, 
the  further  sum  of  ten  per  cent,  upon  the  nett  proceeds.  Assuming 
the  proceeds  of  the  last  year,  amounting  to  $3,566,127  94,  as  the 
btsis  of  the  calculation,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  paper  which  shows  the 
sum  that  each  of  the  seven  new  States  would  receiye.  They  hare 
oomplained  of  the  exemption  from  taxation  of  the  public  lands  sold 
bj  the  general  government  for  five  years  after  the  sale.  If  that  ex- 
emption did  not  exist,  and  tliey  were  to  exercise  the  power  of  taxing 
(hose  lands,  as  the  average  increase  of  their  population  is  only  eight 
«iid  a  half  per  cent,  per  annum,  the  additional  revenue  which  thej 
would  raise  would  only  be  eight  and  a  half  per  cent,  per  annum ; 
(hat  is  to  say,  a  State  now  collecting  a  revenue  of  $100,000  per  an* 
num,  would  collect  only  $108,500,  if  it  were  to  tax  the  lands  recent- 
ly sold.  But  by  the  bill  under  consideration,  each  of  (he  seven  new 
States  will  annually  receive,  as  its  distribvtive  share,  more  than  the 
whole  amount  of  its  annual  revenue. 

It  may  be  thought  that  to  set  apart  ten  per  cent  to  the  new  States, 
in  the  first  instance,  is  too  great  a  proportion,  and  is  unjust  toward 
(be  old  States.  But  it  will  be  recollected  that,  as  they  populate  much 
Cuter  than  the  old  States,  and  as  the  last  eensus  is  to  govern  in  Ike 


136  BPEECHKS   or  HENRY   CLAT. 

apportionment,  they  ought  to  receive  more  than  the  old  States.  If 
they  receive  too  much  at  the  commencement  of  the  term,  it  may  be 
neutralized  by  the  end  of  it. 

After  the  deduction  shall  have  been  made  of  the  fifteen  per  cent 
allotted  to  the  new  States,  the  residue  is  to  be  divided  among  the 
twenty-four  States,  old  and  new,  composing  the  Union.  What  each 
of  the  States  would  receive,  is  shown  by  a  table  annexed  to  the  re- 
port. Taking  the  proceeds  of  the  last  year  as  the  standard,  there 
must  be  added  one-sixth  to  what  is  set  down  in  that  table  &i  the  pro* 
portion  of  the  several  States. 

'If  the  power  and  the  principle  of  the  proposed  distribution  be  satis- 
&ctory  to  the  Senate,  I  think  the  objects  cannot  fail  to  be  equally  so. 
They  are  education,  internal  improvements,  and  colonization — all 
great  and  beneficent  objects — all  national  in  their  nature.  No  mind 
can  be  cultivated  and  improved ;  no  work  of  internal  improvement 
can  be  executed  in  any  part  of  the  Union,  nor  any  person  of  color 
transported  from  any  of  its  ports,  in  which  the  whole  Union  is  not 
interested.  The  piosperity  of  the  whole  is  an  aggregate  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  parts. 

.  The  States,  each  judging  for  itself,  will  select  among  the  objects 
enumerated  in  the  bill,  that  which  comports  best  with  its  own  policy 
There  is  no  compulsion  in  the  choice.  Some  will  prefer,  perhaps,  to 
apply  the  fund  to  the  extinction  of  debt,  now  burdensome,  created  for 
internal  improvement ;  some  to  new  objects  of  internal  improvement ; 
others  to  education;  and  others  again  to  colonization.  It  may  be 
supposed  possible  that  the  States  will  divert  the  fund  from  the  speci- 
fied purposes :  but  against  such  a  misapplication  we  have,  in  the  first 
place,  the  security  which  arises  out  of  their  presumed  good  faith; 
and,  in  the  second,  the  power  to  withhold  subsequent,  if  there  has 
been  any  abuse  in  previous  appropriations. 

It  has  been  argued  that  the  general  government  has  no  power  in 
respect  to  colonization.  Waiving  that,  as  not  being  a  question  at  this 
time,  the  real  inquiry  is,  have  the  States  themselves  any  such  power  ? 
For  it  is  to  the  States  that  the  subject  is  referred.  The  evil  of  a  free 
black  population  is  not  restricted  to  particular  States,  but  extends  to 
and  is  felt  by  all.     It  is  not,  therefore,  the  slave  question,  but  totally 


OK  TBS  PUBLIC  LABTDt.  137 

.distinct  from  and  unconnected  with  it.  I  have  heretofore  often  ex- 
pressed my  perfect  conviction  that  the  general  government  has  no 
constitutional  power  which  it  can  exercise  in  regard  to  African  sla- 
very. That  conviction  remains  unchanged.  The  States  in  which 
■layery  is  tolerated,  have  exclusively  in  their  own  hands  the  entire 
regulation  of  the  subject.  But  the  slave  States  differ  in  opinion  as  to 
the  expediency  of  African  colonization.  Several  of  them  have  sig- 
nified their  approbation  of  it.  The  legislature  of  Kentucky,  I  believe 
unanimously,  recommended  the  encouragement  of  colonization  to 
Congress. 

Should  a  war  break  out  during  the  term  of  five  years,  that  the 
operation  of  the  bill  is  limited  to,  the  fund  is  to  be  withdrawn  and 
applied  to  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  If  there  be  no  war. 
Congress,  at  the  end  of  the  term,  will  be  able  to  asceitain  whether 
the  money  has  been  beneficially  expended,  and  to  judge  of  the  pro- 
priety of  continuing  the  distribution. 

Three  reports  have  been  made,  on  this  great  subject  of  the  public 
lands,  during  the  present  session  of  Congress,  besides  that  of  the  Seo- 
letary  of  the  Treasury  at  its  commencement — two  in  the  Senate  and 
one  in  the  House.  All  three  of  them  agree,  1st,  In  the  preservation 
of  the  control  of  the  general  government  over  the  public  lands  ;  and 
2d,  They  concur  in  rejecting  the  plan  of  a  cession  of  the  public  lands 
to  the  States  in  which  they  are  situated,  recommended  by  the  Secre- 
tary. The  land  committee  of  the  Senate  propose  an  assignment  of 
fifteen  per  cent  of  the  nett  proceeds,  besides  the  five  per  cent.  stipiH 
lated  in  the  compacts,  (making  together  twenty  per  cent.)  to  the  new 
States,  and  nothing  to  the  old* 

The  committee  of  manufactures  of  the  Senate,  after  an  allotment 
ef  an  additional  sum  of  ten  per  cent,  to  the  new  States,  propose  an 
equal  distribution  of  the  residue  among  all  the  States,  old  and  new, 
upon  equitable  principles. 

The  Senate's  land  committee,  besides  the  proposal  of  a  distribution| 
restricted  to  the  new  States,  recommends  an  immediate  reduction  of 
the  price  of  "  fresh  lands,"  to  a  minimutn  of  one  dollar  per  acre,  and 
to  fifty  cents  per  acre  for  lands  which  have  been  five  years  or  up- 
wards in  market. 


138  SPEECHES  or   QEXST  CLAT. 

The  land  committee  of  the  House  is  opposed  to  all  distrihutioii) 
general  or  partial,  and  recommends  a  reduction  of  the  price  to  oos 
dollar  per  acre. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  I  have  a  few  more  words  to  say  and  shall 
be  done.  We  are  admpnished  by  all  our  reflections,  and  by  existing 
signs,  of  the  duty  of  communicating  strength  and  energy  to  the  glori^ 
ous  Union  which  now  encircles  our  favored  country.  Among  the 
ties  which  bind  us  together,  the  public  domain  merits  high  considers* 
lion.  And  if  we  appropriate,  for  a  limited  time,  the  proceeds  of  that 
great  resource,  among  the  several  States,  for  the  important  objects 
which  have  been  enumerated,  a  new  and  powerful  bond  of  afiection 
and  of  interest  will  be  added.  The  States  will  feel  and  recognize  the 
operation  of  the  general  government,  not  merely  in  power  and  bur- 
dens, but  in  benefactions  and  blessings.  And  the  general  govemraenl 
in  its  tnm  will  feel,  from  the  expenditure  of  the  money  which  it  duF 
penses  to  the  States,  the  benefits  of  moral  and  intellectnal  improve- 
ment of  the  people,  of  greater  facility  in  social  and  commercial  inters 
course,  and  of  the  purification  of  the  population  of  our  country,  them- 
selves the  best  parental  sources  of  national  character,  national  Union, 
and  national  greatness.  Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  the  particular 
proposition  now  under  consideration,  1  sincerely  hope  that  the  attexK 
tion  of  the  nation  may  be  attracted,  to  this  most  interesting  subject; 
that  it  may  justly  appreciate  the  value  of  this  immense  national  prop- 
erty ;  and  that,  preserving  the  regulation  of  it  by  the  will  of  the  whole, 
for  the  advantage  of  the  whole,  it  may  be  transmitted,  as  a  sacred 
end  inestimable  succession,  to  posterity,  for  its  benefit  and  blesainf 
for  ages  to  come 


ON  INTRODUCING  THE  COMPROMISE  BILL. 


In  Tus  Sknatk  of  the  United  States,  Febbuart  12,  1833. 


(The  election  of  General  Jacxion  to  the  Freiiidency  for  a  second  term  took  phmi 
i*  the  fall  of  18S2,  and  immediately  thereafter,  the  State  of  South  Curolina  assum- 
ed hy  the  formal  edict  of  a  regular  Convention  of  her  people,  to  nullify  and  make 
foid  the  Taritfiawaof  the  United  States,  on  the  ground  that,  being  imposed  for  the 
porpoee  of  protecting  American  Manufactureis,  they  were  unconstitutional  and  in- 
Tslid.  General  Jackson  promptly  issued  a  vigorous  Proclanmlion,  denouncing  the 
ftct  as  rebellious  and  treasonable,  and  declaring  that  h^  should  use  all  the  power 
entnwted  to  him  to  vindicate  the  laws  of  the  Union  and  cause  them  to  be  respected. 
General  Scott  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  regular  force,  was  posted  at  Charles* 
ton,  S.  C.  and  every  portent  of  a  desperate  and  bloody  ttruggle  was  visible.  Gen. 
Jackson's  imperious  puf-sioos  were  lathed  to  madness  by  ^e  Carolina  rosistance, 
■Bd  the  whole  physical  power  of  the  country  but  awaited  bis  nod.  At  this  crisif 
Congress  assembled,  and  the  eifortsof  Mr.  Clay  were  promptly  directed  to  the  de- 
mising and  maturing  of  some  plan  to  prevent  a  collision  between  the  Union  and  the 
mnifying  State,  and  spare  the  effusion  of  blood.  Under  these  circumstances,  he 
yra^ected  and  presented  the  bill  known  as  the  CoitPRointc  Act.  On  introducing  this 
hUl,  he  addiened  the  Senate  as  follows  } 

I  TE6TEBDAT,  slr,  gave  notice  that  I  should  ask  leave  to  introduce 
a  bill  to  modify  the  various  acts  imposing  duties  on  imports.  1  at 
(be  same  time  added,  that  I  should,  wilh  the  permission  of  the  Sen- 
ate^ ofier  an  explanation  of  the  principle  on  vrhich  that  bill  is  founded. 
I  owe,  sir,  an  apology  to  the  Senate  for  this  course  of  action,  because, 
although  strictly  parliamentary,  it  is,  nevertheless,  out  of  the  usual 
practice  of  this  body  ;  but  it  is  a  course  which  I  trust  that  the  Senate 
will  deem  to  be  justified  by  the  interesting  nature  of  the  subject. 
I  rise,  sir  on  this  occasion,  actuated  by  no  motives  of  a  private  nature, 
by  no  personal  feelings,  and  for  no  personal  objects ;  but  exclusively 
in  obedience  to  a  sense  of  the  duty  which  I  owe  to  my  country.  I 
trust,  therefore,  that  no  one  will  anticipate  on  my  part  any  ambitious 
display  of  suchliumble  powers  as  1  may  possess.  It  is  sincerely  my 
purpose  to  present  a  plain,  unadorned,  and  naked  statement  of  facts 
connected  with  the  measure  which  1  shall  have  the  honor  to  propose, 
and  with  the  condition  of  the  country.    When  I  survey,  sir,  the  whola 


140  tPEECHCS  or  HENRT   CLAT. 

hce  of  our  conntry,  I  behold  all  around  me  evidences  of  the  mofl 
gratifying  prosperity,  a  prospect  which  would  seem  to  be  without  n 
oloud  upon  it,  were  it  not  that  through  all  parts  of  the  country  there 
exist  great  dissensions  and  unhappy  distinctions,  which,  if  they  .can 
possibly  be  relieved  and  reconciled  by  any  broad  scheme  of  legisfa^ 
tion  adapted  to  all  interests,  and  regarding  the  feelings  of  all  sections^ 
ought  to  be  quieted ;  and  leading  to  which  object  any  measure  ought 
to  be  well  received. 

In  presenting  the  modification  of  the  tariff  laws,  which  I  am  now 
about  to  submit,  I  have  two  great  objects  in  view.  My  first  objeet 
looks  to  the  tariff.  I  am  compelled  to  express  the  opinion,  formed 
after  the  most  deliberate  reflection,  and  on  full  survey  of  the  whole 
country,  that  whether  rightfully  or  wrongfully,  the  tariff  stands  in 
imminent  danger.  If  it  should  be  preserved  during  this  session,  it 
must  &11  at  the  next  session.  By  what  circumstances,  and  through  . 
what  causes,  has  arisen  the  necessity  for  this  change  in  the  policy  of 
our  country,  I  will  not  pretend  now  to  elucidate.  Others  there  are 
who  may  differ  from  the  impressions  which  my  mind  has  received, 
upon  this  point.  Owing,  however,  to  a  variety  of  concurrent  causes, 
the  tariff,  as  it  now  exists,  is  in  imminent  danger,  and  if  the  sy^em 
can  be  preserved  beyond  the  next  session,  it  must  be  by  some  means 
not  now  within  the  reach  of  human  sagacity.  The  fall  of  that  policy, 
sir.,  would  be  productive  of  consequences  calamitous  indeed.  When 
I  look  to  the  variety  of  interests  which  are  involved,  to  the  number 
of  individuals  interested,  the  amount  of  capital  invested,  the  value 
of  the  buildings  erected,  and  the  whole  arrangement  of  the  business 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  various  branches  of  the  manufacturing  art 
which  have  sprung  up  under  the  fostering  care  of  this  government,  I 
cannot  contemplate  any  evil  equal  to  the  sudden  overthrow  of  all  those 
interests.  History  can  produce  no  parallel  to  the  extent  of  the  mis- 
chief which  would  be  produced  by  such  a  disaster.  The  repeal  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes  itself  was  nothing  in  comparison  with  it.  That  con- 
demned to  exile  and  brought  to  ruin  a  great  number  of  persons.  The 
most  respectable  portion  of  the  population  of  France  was  condemned 
to  exile  aud  ruin  by  that  measure.  But  in  my  opinion,  sir,  the  sud- 
den repeal  of  the  tariff  policy  would  bring  ruin  and  destruction  on 
the  whole  people  of  this  country.  There  is  no  evil,  in  my  opinion,' 
equal  to  the  consequences  which  would  result  from  such  a  cata»- 
trophe. 


ON  INTKODUCIlfO  THE  COMPROMISE   BILL.  141 

What,  sir,  are  the  complaints  which  unhappily  divide  the  people 
of  this  great  country  ?  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  said  by  those  \i'ho  are 
<qpposed  to  the  tariff,  that  it  unjustly  taxes  a  portion  of  the  people, 
and  paralyzes  their  industry ;  that  it  is  to  he  a  perpetual  operation ; 
that  there  is  to  b^  no  end  to  the  system ;  which,  right  or  wrong,  is  to 
be  urged  to  their  inevitable  ruin.  And  what  is  the  just  complaint, 
on  the  other  hand,  of  those  who  sgpport  the  tariff?  It  is,  that  the 
policy  of  the  government  is  vascillating  and  uncertain,  and  that  there 
is  no  stability  in  our  legislation.  Before  one  set  of  books  are  fairly 
opened,  it  becomes  necessary  to  close  them,  and  to  open  a  new  set. 
Before  a  law  can  be  tested  by  experiment,  another  is  passed.  Be- 
fore tbe  present  law  has  gone  into  operation — before  it  is  yet  nine 
months  old — passed,  as  it  was,  under  circumstances  of  extraordinary 
deliberation,  the  fruit  of  nine  months  labor — before  we  know  anything 
of  its  experimental  effects,  and  even  before  it  ommences  its  operas 
tions,  we  are  required  to  repeal  it.  On  one  side  we  are  urged  to  re* 
peal  a  system  which  is  fraught  with  ruin ;  on  the  other  side,  the 
check  now  imposed  on  enterprise,  and  the  state  of  alarm  in  which  the 
public  mind  has  been  thrown,  renders  all  prudent  men  desirous,  look- 
ing ahead  a  little  way,  to  adopt  a  state  of  things,  on  the  stability  of 
which  they  may  have  reason  to  count.  Such  is  the  state  of  feeling 
on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other.  I  am  anxious  to  find  out  some 
principle  of  mutual  accommodation,  to  satisfy,  as  far  as  practicable, 
both  parties-r-to  increase  the  stability  of  our  legislation  ;  and  at  some 
distant  day — but  not  too  distant,  when  we  take  into  view  the  magni- 
tude of  the  interests  which  are  involved — to  bring  down  the  rate  of 
duties  to  that  revenue  standard  for  which  our  opponents  have  so  long 
contended.  The  basis  on  which  I  wish  to  found  this  modification,  is 
one  of  time ;  and  the  several  parts  of  the  bill  to  which  I  am  about  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  Senate,  are  founded  on  this  basis.  I  propose 
to  give  protection  to  our  manufactured  articles,  adequate  protection, 
jEbr  a  length  of  time,  which,  compared  with  the  length  of  human  life, 
IS  very  long,  but  which  is  short,  in  proportion  to'  the  legitimate  dis- 
cretion of  every  wise  and  parental  system  of  government — securing 
the  stability  of  legislation,  and  allowing  time  for  a  gradual  reduction, 
on  one  side ;  and,  on  the  other,  proposing  to  reduce  the  duties  to  that 
revenue  standard  for  which  the  opponents  of  the  system  have  so  long 
contended.  I  will  now  proceed  to  lay  the  provisions  of  the  bill  before 
the  Senate,  with  a  view  to  draw  their  attention  to  the  true  charactet 
of  the  bill. 


I4d  SPXECHBS  OF  BBNBT  CLAT. 

[Mr.  CiaT  then  proceeded  to  read  the  fUstiectloD  of  the  bill.] 

According  to  this  section,  it  nvill  be  perceived  that  it  is  proposed  to 
come  down  to  the  revenue  standard  at  the  end  of  little  more  than  oii|( 
years  and  a  half,  giving  a  protection  to  our  own  manufactures  which 
I  hope  will  be  adequate,  during  the  intermediate  time. 

[Mr,  Clav  here  recapitulated  the  provi.«;ions  of  the  sections,  and  showed  by  vaii- 
008  illustrations  how  they  would  oi)erate :  and  then  proceeded  to  read  and  comment 
ipon  the  second  section  of  the  bill.] 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  with  a 
iriew  to  make  a  concession  to  the  southern  section  of  the  country,  low 
priced  woollens,  those  supposed  to  enter  into  the  consumption  o^ 
slaves  and  the  poorer  classes  of  persons,  were  taken  out  of  the  general 
class  of  duties  on  woollens,  and  the  duty  on  them  reduced  to  five  pet 
cent.  It  will  be  also  recollected  that  at  that  time  the  gentlemen  from 
the  south  said  that  this  concession  was  of  no  consequence,  and  that  they 
did  not  care  for  it,  and  I  believe  that  they  do  not  now  consider  it  of  aoy 
greater  importance.  As,  therefore,  it  has  failed  of  the  purpose  for  whicl^ 
it  was  taken  out  of  the  common  class,  1  think  it  ought  to  be  brought  buck 
•gain,  and  placed  hy  the  side  of  the  other  description  of  woollens,  and 
made  subject  to  the  same  reduction  of  duty  as  proposed  by  this  sectiott> 

tHaving  next  read  throngh'nhe  third  section  of  the  bill,  Mr.  Clay  said  :J 

After  the  expiration  of  a  term  of  years,  this  section  lays  down  a 
rule  by  which  the  duties  are  to  be  reduced  to  the  revenue  standard} 
which  has  been  so  long  and  so  earnestly  contended  for.  Until  other- 
wise directed,  and  in  default  of  provision  being  made  for  the  wants 
of  the  government  in  1842,  a  rule  is  thus  provided  for  the  rate  of 
duties  thereafter.  Congress  being  in  the  meantime  authorized  to  adopt 
any  other  rule  which  the  exigencies  of  th^  country,  or  its  financial 
condition,  may  require.  That  is  to  say,  if,  instead  of  the  duty  of 
twenty  per  cent,  proposed,  fifteen  or  seventeen  per  cent,  of  duty  is 
sufficient,  or  twenty-five  per  cent,  should  be  found  necessary,  to  pro- 
duce a  revenue  to  defray  the  expenses  of  an  economical  administra- 
tion of  the  government,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  either  of  those 
rates,  or  any  other,  from  being  fixed  upon  :  whilst  the  rate  ( f  twenty 
per  cent,  is  introduced  to  guard  against  any  failure  on  the  part  of 
Congress  to  make  the  requisite  provision  in  due  season. 


ON   INTROBOCUfO  TBB  COMPROaCISB   BILL.  143 

This  leciioD  of  the  bill  contains  also  another  clause,  suggested  bf 
that  spirit  of  harmony  and  conciliation  which  I  pray  may  preside  over 
(he  councils  of  the  Union  at  this  trying  moment.  It  provider  (what 
those  persons  who  are  engaged  in  manufactures  have  so  long  aax* 
iously  required  for  their  security)  that  duties  shall  be  paid  in  ready 
money — and  we  shall  thus  get  rid  of  the  whole  of  that  credit  system, 
into  which  an  inroad  was  made,  in  regard  to  woollens,  by  the 
act  of  the  last  session.  This  section  further  contains  a  proviso  that 
nothing  in  any  part  of  this  act  shall  be  construed  to  interfere  with  the 
freest  exercise  of  the  power  of  Congress  to  lay  any  amount  of  duties, 
in  the  event  of  war  breaking  out  between  this  country  and  any  foreign 
power. 

[Mr.  Clay  then  read  the  fourth  tectioD  of  the  bill.] 

One  of  the  considerations  strongly  urging  for  a  reduction  of  the 
tariff  at  this  time  is,  that  the  government  is  likely  to  be  placed  in  a 
dilt^mma  by  having  an  overflowing  revenue  ;  and  this  apprehension  if 
the  ground  of  an  attempt  totally  to  change  the  protective  policy  of 
the  country.  The  section  which  I  have  read  is  an  eflbrt  to  guard 
against  this  evil,  by  relieving  altogether  from  duty  a  portion  of  the 
,  articles  of  import  now  subject  to  it.  Some  of  these  would,  under 
the  present  rate  of  duty  upon  them,  produce  a  considerable  revenue; 
the  article  of  silks  alone  would  yield  half  a  million  of  dollars  per  an* 
num.  If  it  were  possible  to  pacify  present  dissensions,  and  let  thingi 
take  their  course,  I  believe  that  no  difficulty  need  be  apprehended. 
If  the  bill  which  this  b«dy  passed  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  and 
has  again  passed  at  this  session,  shall  pass  the  other  Ilouse,  and  be* 
come  a  law,  and  the  gradual  reduction  of  duties  should  take  place 
which  is  contemplated  by  the  first  section  of  this  bill,  we  shall  have 
settled  two  (if  not  three)  of  the  great  questions  which  have  agitated 
this  country,  that  of  the  tariff,  of  the  public  lands,  and,  I  will  add,  of 
hiternal  improvement  also.  For,  if  there  should  still  be  a  surplus 
revenue,  thai  surplus  might  be  appli^,  until  the  year  1S42,  to  the 
completion  of  the  works  of  internal  improvement  already  commenced ; 
and,  after  1842,  a  reliance  for  all  funds  for  purposes  of  internal  im- 
provement should  be  placed  upon  the  operation  of  the  land  bill,  to 
which  ]  have  already  referred. 

It  is  not  my  object  in  referring  to  thai  measure  in  connexion  witk 


144  tPKECHCB  OP   HENRT  CLAT. 

• 

that  inrhich  I  am  about  to  propose,  to  consider  them  as  united  in  their 
&te,  being  desirous,  partial  as  I  may  be  to  both,  that  each  shall  stand 
or  fiill  upon  its  own  intrinsic  merits.     If  this  section  of  the  bill,  ad- 
ding to  the  nunil)er  of  free  articles,  should  become  law,  along  ¥rith 
the  reduction  of  duties  proposed  by  the  first  section  of  the  bill,  it  is 
by  no  means  sure  that  we  shall  have  any  surplus  revenue  at  all.     I 
have  been  astonished  indeed  at  the  process  of  reasoning  by  which  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  that  we 
diall  have  a  surplus  revenue  at  all,  though  I  admit  that  such  a  con- 
clusion can  be  arrived  at  in  no  other  way.     But  what  is  this  procesi? 
Duties  of  a  certain  rate  now  exist.     The  amount  which  they  produce 
is  known  ;  the  Secretary,  proposing  a  reduction  of  the  rate  of  duty, 
supposes  that  the  duties  will  be  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  the  reduction  of  duty.     Now  no  calculation  can  be  more  uncertain 
dian  that.     Though  perhaps  the  best  that  the  Secretary  could  have 
made,  it  is  still  all  uncertainty ;  dependent  upon  the  winds  and  waves, 
on  the  mutations  of  trade,  and  on  the  course  of  commercial  operiM- 
tions.     If  there  is  any  truth  in  political  economy,  it  cannot  be  that 
result  will  agree  with  the  prediction ;  for  we  are  instructed  by  all  ex- 
perience that  the  consumption  of  any  articlt  is  in  proportion  to  the 
reduction  of  its  price,  and  that  in  general  it  may  be  taken  as  a  rule, 
that  the  duty  upon  an  article  forms  a  portion  of  its  price.     I  do  not 
mean  to  impute  any  improper  design  to  any  one  ;  but,  if  it  had  been 
80  intended,  no  scheme  for  getting  rid  of  of  the  tariff  could  have  been 
more  artfully  devised  to  effect  its  purposes,  than  that  which  thus  cal- 
culated the  revenue,  and  in  addition,  assumed  that  the  expenditure 
of  the  government  every  year  would  be  so  much,  &c.     Can  any  one 
here  say  what  the  future  expenditure  of  the  government  will  be  ?     In 
this  young,  great,  and  growing  community,  can  we  say  what  will  be 
the  expenditure  of  the  government  even  a  year  hence,  much  less 
what  it  will  be  three,  or  four,  or  five  years  hence  ?    Yet  it  has  been 
estimated,  on  assumed  amounts,  founded  on  such  uncertain  data,  both 
of  income  and  expenditure,  that  the  revenue  might  be  reduced  so 
many  millions  a  year ! 

I  ask  pardon  for  this  digression,  and  return  to  the  examination  of 
articles  in  the  fourth  section,  which  are  proposed  to  be  lefl  free  of 
duty.  The  duties  on  these  articles  now  vary  from  five  to  ten  per 
cent,  ad  valorem ;  but  low  as  they  are,  the  aggregate  amount  of 
revenue  which  they  produce  is  considerable.    By  the  bill  of  the  lail 


ON   INTRODUCING  THE   COMPROMISE   BILL.  145 

iession,  the  doiies  on  French  silks  was  fixed  at  five  per  cent,  and  that. 
on  Chinese  silks  at  ten  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  By  the  bill  now  pro- 
posed, the  duty  on  French  silks  is  proposed  to  be  repealed,  leaving 
the  other  unlouched.  I  will  frankly  state  why  I  made  this  distinc* 
lion.  It  has  been  a  subject  of  anxious  desire  with  me  to  s<^e  our  com- 
merce with  France  increased.  France,  though  not  so  large  a  cus- 
tomer  in  the  great  staples  of  our  country  as  Great  Britain,  is  a  great 
growing  customer.  1  have  been  much  struck  with  a  fact  going  to 
prove  this,  which  accidentally  came  to  my  knowledge  the  other  day  ^ 
which  is,  that  within  the  short  period  of  fourteen  years,  the  amount 
<^  consumption  in  France  of  the  great  southern  staple  of  cotton  has 
been  iriplnd.  Again,  it  is  understood  that  the  French  silks  of  the 
lower  grddes  of  quality  cannot  sustain  a  competition  with  the  Chinese 
without  some  discrimination  of  this  sort.  I  have  understood,  also, 
that  the  duty  imposed  upon  this  article  at  the  last  session  has  been 
very  much  complained  of  on  the  part  of  France  ;  and,  considering  all 
the  circumstances  connected  with  the  relations  between  the  two  gov- 
ernments, it  appears  to  me  to  be  desirable  to  make  this  discriminv 
tion  in  favor  of  the  French  product.  If  the  Senate  should  think 
differently,  I  shall  be  content.  If,  indeed,  they  should  tliink  proper 
to  strike  out  this  section  altogether,  I  shall  cheerfiUly  submit  to  their 
decision. 

[After  reading  the  fifth  and  lixth  sections,  Mr.  Clat  said :] 

I  will  now  take  a  few  of  some  of  the  objections  which  will  be  made 
to  the  bill.  It  may  be  said  that  the  act  is  prospective,  that  it  binds 
oar  successors,  and  that  we  have  no  power  thus  to  bind  them.  It 
IB  true  that  the  act  is  prospective,  and  so  is  almost  every  act  which 
we  ever  passed,  but  we  can  ref)eal  it  the  next  day.  It  is  the  estab- 
lished usage  to  give  all  acts  a  prospective  operation.  In  every  tariff 
diere  are  some  provisions  which  go  into  operation  immediately,  and 
others  at  a  future  time.  Each  Congress  legislate  according  to  their 
own  views*of  propriety  ;  their  act  does  not  bind  their  successors,  but 
creates  a  species  of  public  faith,  which  will  not  rashly  be  broken. 
But  if  this  bill  shall  go  into  operation,  as  I  hope  even  against  hope, 
that  it  may,  I  doubt  not  that  it  will  be  adhered  to  by  all  parties. 
There  is  but  one  contingency  which  will  render  a  change  necessary, 
and  that  is  the  intervention  of  a  war,  which  is  provided  for  in  the 
bill.  The  hands  of  Congress  are  left  untied  in  this  event,  and  they 
will  he  at  liberty  to  reiort  to  any  mode  of  taxation  which  they  may 


H6  SPEECHES  OP  HENBT    CLAT. 

{>ropose.  But  if  we  suppose  peace  to  continue,  there  will  be  no  mo- 
tive for  disturbing  the  arrangement,  but  on  the  contrary,  every  motive 
to  carry  it  into  effect.  In  the  next  place,  it  will  be  objected  to  the 
bill,  by  the  friends  of  the  protective  policy,  of  whom  I  hold  myself  to 
be  one,  for  my  mind  is  immutably  fixed  in  favor  of  that  policy,  that 
it  abandons  the  power  of  protection.  But  I  contend,  in  the  first  placoi 
that  a  suspt'nsion  of  the  exercise  of  the  power  is  not  an  abandonment 
of  it ;  tor  the  power  is  in  the  constitution  according  to  our  theory—- 
was  put  there  by  its  framers,  and  can  only  be  dislodged  by  the  people. 
^  After  the  year  1842,  the  bill  provides  that  the  power  shall  be  exer- 
cised in  a  certain  mode.  There  are  four  modes  by  which  the  industry 
of  the  country  can  be  protected. 

First,  The  absolute  prohibition  of  rival  foreign  articles  that  are 
totally  untouched  by  the  bill ;  but  it  is  competent  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  government  to  exert  the  power  whenever  they  wish.  Second  ; 
The  imposition  of  duties  in  such  a  manner  as  to  have  no  reference  to 
any  object  but  revenue.  When  we  had  a  large  public  debt  in  1816, 
the  duties  yielded  thirty-seven  millions,  and  paid  so  much  more  of 
the  debt,  and  subsequently  they  yielded  but  eight  or  ten  millions,  and 
paid  so  much  less  of  the  debt.  Sometimes  we  have  to  trench  on  the 
sinking  fund.  Now  we  have  no  public  debt  to  absorb  the  surplui 
revenue,  and  no  motive  for  continuing  the  duties.  No  man  can  look 
at  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  say  that  we  can  carry  on  this 
aystem  with  accumulating  revenue,  and  no  practical  way  of  expend- 
ing it.  The  third  mode  was  attempted  last  session,  in  a  resoluttoo 
which  I  had  the  honor  to  submit  last  year,  and  which  in  fact  ulti- 
mately formed  the  basis  of  the  act  which  finally  passed  both  Housea. 
This  was  to  raise  as  much  revenue  as  was  wanted  for  the  use  of  the 
government,  and  no  more,  but  to  raise  it  from  the  protected  and  not 
from  the  unprotected  articles.  I  will  say,  that  1  regret  most  deeply 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  country  will  not  suffer  this  principle  to 
pirevail.  It  ought  to  prevail — and  the  day,  in  my  opinion,  will  comoi 
when  it  will  be  adopted  as  the  permanent  policy  of  the  country. 
Shall  we  legislate  for  our  own  wants  or  that  of  a  foreign  country  f 
To  protect  our  own  interests  in  opposition  to  foreign  legislation  waa 
the  basis  of.  this  system.  The  fourth  mode  in  which  protection  can 
be  afforded  to  domestic  industry,  is  to  admit  free  of  duty  every  arti- 
cle which  aided  the  operations  of  the  manufacturers.  These  are  the 
tmr  modes  for  protecting  our  bdustry ;  and  to  those  who  aay  thai 


OV   IllTltODUCIVO  THE   COMPROMISE   BILL.  147 

(be  bill  abandoiw  the  power  of  protection,  I  reply,  that  it  does 
not  touch  that  power ;  and  that  the  fourth  mode,  so  far  from  being 
UMtndoned,  is  extended  and  upheld  by  the  bill.  The  most  that  can 
be  objected  to  the  bill  by  those  with  whom  1  co-operate  to  support 
ihe  protective  system,  is  that,  in  consideration  of  nine  and  a  half  yean 
of  peace,  certainty,  and  stability,  the  manufacturers  relinquished  some 
advantages  which  they  now  enjoy.  What  is  the  principle  which  hai 
always  been  contended  for  in  this  and  in  the  other  House  ?  Afier  the 
accumulation  of  capital  and  skill,  the  manufacturers  will  stand  alone, 
imaided  by  the  government,  in  competition  with  the  imported  articlei 
from  any  quarter.  Now  give  us  time ;  cease  all  fluctuations  and 
agitations,  for  nine  years,  and  the  manufacturers  in  every  branch  will 
•Qstain  themselves  against  foreign  competition.  If  we  can  see  our 
way  clearly  for  nine  years  to  come,  we  can  safely  leave  to  posterity 
to, provide  for  the  rest.  If  the  tariff* be  overthrown,  as  may  be  its  &te 
next  session,  the  country  will  be  plunged  into  extreme  distress  and 
agitation.  I  want  harmony.  I  wish  to  see  the  restoration  of  those 
ties  which  have  carried  us  triumphantly  through  two  wars,  i  delight 
tot  in  this  perpetual  turmoil.  Let  us  have  peace,  and  become  once 
more  united  as  a  band  of  brothers. 

i 

It  may  be  said  that  the  farming  interest  cannot  subsist  under  a 
tirenty  per  cent,  ad  valorem  duty.  My  reply  is,  ^*  sufficient  for  the 
day  is  the  evil  thereof."  1  will  leave  it  to  the  day  when  the  reduction 
takes  effect,  to  settle  the  question.  When  the  reduction  takes  place, 
aad  the  farmer  cannot  live  under  it,  what  will  he  do  .^  1  will  tell  you 
what  he  ought  to  do.  He  ought  to  try  it — make  a  fair  experiment  of 
it — ard  if  he  cannot  live  under  it,  let  him  come  here  and  say  that  he 
is  bankrupt  and  ruined.  If  then  nothing  can  be  done  to  relieve  him| 
sir,  I  will  not  pronounce  the  words,  for  I  will  believe  that  something 
will  be  done,  and  that  relief  will  be  afforded,  without  hazarding  the 
peece  and  integrity  of  the  Union.  The  confederacy  is  an  excellent 
eontrivance,  but  it  must  be  managed  with  delicacy  and  skill.  There 
ere  an  infinite  variety  of  prejudices  and  loeal  interests  to  be  regarded, 
but  they  should  all  be  made  to  yeild  to  the  Union. 

If  the  system  proposed  cannot  be  continued,  let  us  try  some  inter 
■lediate  system,  before  we  think  of  any  other  dreadful  alternative. 
Sir,  it  will  be  said,  on  the  other  hand — for  the  objections  are  made 
Vj  tiie  friends  of  protection  principally — ^that  the  time  is  too  loeg; 


148  IPBSCHM   OP  HUTRT  CLAT. 

thai  the  intermediate  reductions  are  too  inconsiderable,  and  that  there 
is  no  guarantee  that,  at  the  end  of  the  time  stipulated,  the  reduction 
proposed  would  be  allowed  to  take  efiect.  In  the  first  place,  should 
be  recollected,  the  diversified  interests  of  the  country — the  measures 
of  the  government  which  preceded  the  establishment  of  manufactures 
— the  public  faith  in  some  degree  pledged  foi  their  security  ;  and  ibm 
ruin  in  which  rash  and  hasty  legislation  would  involve  them.  I  will 
not  dispute  about  terms.  It  would  not,  in  a  court  of  justice,  be  maiD- 
tained  that  the  public  faith  is  pledged  for  the  protection  of  manufac- 
tures ;  but  there  are  other  pledges  which  men  of  honor  are  bound  by, 
besides  those  of  which  the  law  can  take  cognizance. 

If  we  excite,  in  our  neighbor,  a  reasonable  expectation  which  in- 
duces him  to  take  a  particular  course  of  business,  we  are  in  honor 
bound  to  redeem  the  pledge  thus  tacitly  given.  Can  any  man  doubt 
that  a  large  portion  of  our  citizens  believed  that  the  system  would  ba 
permanent  ?  The  whole  country  expected  it.  The  security  agaimi 
any  change  of  the  system  proposed  by  the  bill,  is  in  the  character  of 
the  bill,  as  a  compromise  between  two  conflicting  parties  If  the  bill 
should  be  taken  by  common  consent,  as  we  hope  it  will  be — the  his- 
tory of  the  revenue  will  be  a  guarantee  of  its  permanence.  The  cir- 
cumstances under  which  it  was  passed  will  be  known  and  recorded — 
and  no  one  will  disturb  a  system  which  was  adopted  with  a  view  to 
give  peace  and  tranquillity  to  the  country. 

The  descending  gradations  by  which  I  propose  to  arrive  at  the 
minimum  of  duties,  must  be  gradual.  I  never  would  consent  to  any 
precipitate  operation  to  bring  distress  and  ruin  on  the  community. 

Now,  viewing  it  in  this  light,  it  appears  that  there  arc  eight  yean 
and  a  half,  and  nine  years  and  a  half,  taking  the  ultimate  time,  which 
would  be  an  efficient  protection,  the  remaining  duties  will  be  with- 
drawn by  a  biennial  reduction.  The  protective  principle  must  be  said 
to  be,  in  some  measure,  relinquished  at  the  end  of  eight  years  and  a 
half.  This  period  cannot  appear  unreasonable,  and  I  thijik  that  no 
member  of  the  Senate,  or  any  portion  of  the  country,  ought  to  make 
the  slightest  objection.  It  now  remains  for  me  to  consider  the  otlier 
objection — the  want  of  guarantee  to  there  being  an  ulterior  continu- 
ance of  the  duties  imposed  by  the  bill,  on  the  expiration  of  the  term 
which  it  prescribes.    The  best  guarantee  will  be  found  in  the  circum 


OR  inTRODUGlllG   THE  COMPROMISE   BILL.  140 

stances  under  which  the  measure  would  he  passed.  If  it  peaaea 
by  common  consent ;  if  it  is  passed  with  the  assent  of  a  portion — a 
considerable  portion  of  those  who  have  directly  hitherto  supported 
this  system,  and  by  a  considerable  portion  of  those  who  opposed  it — 
if  they  declare  their  satisfaction  with  the  measure,  1  have  no  doubt 
the  rate  of  duties  guarantied,  will  be  continued  aflcr  the  expiration  of 
the  term,  if  the  country  continues  at  peace.  And,  at  the  end  of  the 
term,  when  the  experiment  will  have  been  made  of  the  eiBciency  of 
the  mode  of  protection  fixed  by  the  bill,  while  the  constitutional  ques- 
tion has  been  sufiered  to  lie  dormant,  if  war  should  render  it  neces- 
sary, protection  might  be  carried  up  to  prohibition ;  while  if  the  coun- 
try should  remain  at  peace,  and  this  measure  go  into  full  operation, 
the  duties  will  be  gradually  lowered  down  to  the  revenue  standard, 
which  has  been  so  earnestly  wished  ff)r. 

But  suppose  that  I  am  wrong  in  all  these  views,  for  there  are  no 
guarantees,  in  one  sense  of  the  term,  of  human  infallibility.  Suppose 
a  different  state  of  things  in  the  south — that  this  Senate,  from  causes 
which  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  now,  but  which  are  obvious  to  every 
reflectincr  man  in  this  country— causes  which  have  operated  for  years 
past,  and  which  continue  to  operate — suppose,  for  a  moment,  that 
there  should  be  a  majority  in  the  Senate  in  favor  of  the  southern 
views,  and  that  they  should  repeal  the  whole  system  at  once, 
what  guarantee  would  we  have  that  the  repealing  of  the  law  would 
not  destroy  those  great  interests  which  it  is  so  important  to  preserve  ? 
What  guarantee  will  you  have  that  the  thunders  of  those  powerful 
nmnufactures  will  not  be  directed  against  your  capitol,  because  of  this 
abandonment  of  their  interests,  and  because  you  have  given  them  no 
protection  against  foreign  legislation.  Sir,  if  you  carry  your  measure 
of  repeal  without  the  consent,  at  least,  of  a  portion  of  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  preservation  of  manufactures,  you  h^ve  no  security, 
00  guarantee,  no  certainty,  that  any  protection  will  be  continued. 
But  if  the  measure  should  be  carried  by  the  comnribii  consent  of  both 
parties,  we  shall  have  all  security  ;  history  will  faithfully  record  the 
transaction ;  narrate  under  what  circumstances  the  bill  was  passed ; 
that  it  was  a  pacifying  measure ;  that  it  was  as  oil  poured  from  the 
vessel  of  the  Union  to  restore  peace  and  harmony  to  the  country. 
When  all  this  was  known,  what  Congress,  what  Legislature,  would 
mar  the  guarantee?    What  nuun  who  is  entitled  to  deserve  the  char- 


150  SPEBCHBS   OF  H£NRT    CLAT. 

•cierof  an  American  statesman,  would  stand  up  in  his  place  in  either 
House  of  Congress,  and  disturb  this  treaty  of  peace  and  amity  ? 

Sir,  I  will  not  say  that  it  may  not  he  disturbed.     All  that  I  say  is, 
that  here  is  all  the  reasonable  security  that  can  be  desired  by  those 
on  the  one  side  of  the  question,  and  much  more  than  those  on  the 
other  would  have  by  any  unfortunate  concurrence  of  circumstances. 
Such  a  repeal  of  the  whole  system  should  be  brought  about  as  would 
he  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  by  all  parties  in  this  country.     All  parties 
may  find  in  this  measure  some  reasons  for  objection.     And  what 
human  measure  is  there  which  is  free  from  objectionable  qualities  ? 
It  has  been  remarked,  and  justly  remarked,  by  the  great  father  of  our 
country  himself,  that  if  that  great  work  which  is  the  charter  of  our 
liherties,  and  under  which  we  have  so  long  flourished,  had  been  suh- 
mitted,  article  by  article,  to  all  the  different  States  composing  this 
Union,  that  the  whole  would  have  been  rejected  ;  and  yet  when  the 
whole  was  presented  tc^ther,  it  was  accepted  as  a  whole.     I  will 
•dmit  that  my  friends  do  not  get  all  they  could  wish  for ;  and  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  do  not  obtain  all  they  might  desire ;  hut 
both  will  gain  all  that  in  my  humble  opinion  is  proper  to  be  given  in 
the  present  condition  of  this  country.     It  may  be  true  that  there  will 
be  loss  and  gain  in  this  measure.     But  how  is  this  loss  and  gain  dis- 
tributed ?     Among  our  countrymen.     What  we  lose,  no  foreign  hand 
gains ;  and  what  we  gain,  will  be  no  loss  to  any  foreign  power.     It 
is  among  ourselves  the  distribution  takes  place.     The  distribution  is 
founded  on  that  great  principle  of  compromise  and  concession  which 
Ues  at  the  bottom  of  our  institutions,  which  gave  birth  to  the  consti- 
fcation  itself,  and  which  has  continued  to  regulate  us  in  our  onward 
marchy  and  conducted  the  nation  to  glory  and  renown. 

It  remains  for  me  now  to  touch  atiother  topic.  Objections  hate 
been  made  to  all  legislation  at  this  session  of  Congress,  resulting  from 
the  attitude  of  one  of  the  States  of  this  confederacy.  I  confess  that 
I  felt  a  very  strong  repugnance  to  any  legislation  at  all  on  this  sub- 
ject at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  principally  because  I  mis* 
eonceived  the  purposes,  as  1  have  found  from  subsequent  observation, 
which  that  State  has  in  view.  Under  the  influence  of  more  accurate 
iofinmation,  I  must  say  that  the  aspect  of  things  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session  have,  in  my  opinion,  greatly  changed.  When  I 
oame  to  take  my  seat  on  this  floor^  I  had  suppotsed  that  a  member  of 


OK   INTRODDCUfO   THE  COMPROMISE   BILL.  151 

this  Union  had  taken  an  attitude  of  defiance  and  hostility  against  the 
authority  of  the  general  government.  I  had  imagined  that  she  had 
arrogantly  required  that  we  should  abandon  at  once  a  system  which 
had  long  been  the  settled  policy  of  this  country.  Supposing  that  she 
had  manifested  this  feeling,  and  taken  up  this  position,  I  had,  in  con- 
sequence, felt  a  disposition  to  hurl  defiance  back  again,  and  to  impress 
upon  her  the  necessity  of  the  performance  of  her  duties  as  a  member 
of  this  Union.  But  since  my  arrival  here,  I  find  that  South  Carolina 
does  not  contemplate  force,  for  it  is  denied  and  denounced  by  that 
State.  She  disclaims  it — and  asserts  that  she  is  merely  making  an 
experiment.  That  experiment  is  this :  by  a  course  of  State  legisla- 
tion, and  by  a  change  in  her  fundamental  laws,  she  is  endeavoring  by 
her  civil  tribunals  to  prevent  the  general,  government  from  carrying 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  into  operation  within  her  limits.  That 
she  has  professed  to  be  her  object.  Her  appeal  is  not  to  arms,  but  to 
another  power ;  not  to  the  sword,  but  to  the  law.  I  must  say,  and  1 
will  say  it  with  no  intention  ot  disparaging  that  State,  or  any  other 
of  the  States — it  is  a  feeling  unworthy  of  her.  As  the  purpose  of 
South  Carolina  is  not  that  of  force,  this  at  once  disarms,  divests  legis- 
lation of  one  principal  objection,  which  it  appears  to  me  existed 
against  it  at  the  commencement  of  this  session.  Her  purposes  are  all 
of  a  civil  nature.  She  thinks  she  can  oust  the  United  States  from 
her  limits ;  and  unquestionably  she  has  taken  good  care  to  prepare 
her  judges  beforehand  by  swearing  them  to  deride  in  her  favor.  If 
we  submitted  to  her,  we  should  thus  stand  but  a  poor  chance  of  ob- 
taining justice.  She  disclaims  any  intention  of  resorting  to  force  un- 
less we  should  find  it  indispensable  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union 
by  applying  force  to  her.  It  seems  to  me  the  aspect  of  the  attitude 
of  South  Carolina  has  changed—- or  rather,  the  new  light  which  I  have 
obtained,  enables  me  to  see  her  in  a  different  attitude — and  I  have 
not  truly  understood  her  until  she  passed  her  laws,  by  which  it  was 
intended  to  carry  ^er  ordinance  into  effect.  Now,  I  venture  to  pr^ 
diet  that  the  State  to  which  I  have  referred  must  ultimately  £ftil  in  her 
attempt  I  disclaim  any  intention  of  saying  anything  to  the  dispar- 
agement oi  that  State.  Far  from  it.  I  think  that  she  has  been  rash, 
intemperate,  and  greatly  in  error ;  and  to  use  the  language  of  one  of 
her  own  writers*— made  up  an  issue  unworthy  of  her.  From  one  end 
to  the  other  of  tkis  continent,  by  acclamation,  as  it  were,  nullification 
has  been  put  down,  and  put  jdown  in  a  manner  more  efiectuilly  than 
lijrAtlMWMndwacpiwyn-tfapQia^  miMfMi;  by  tfie  irresistible  i^ma 


152  fPSfiCHES   OP   HENRT   CLAT 

bj  the  mighty  influence  of  public  opinion.  Not  a  voice  beyond  the 
single  State  of  South  Carolina  has  been  heard  in  favor  of  the  princi- 
ple of  nullification,  which  she  has  asserted  by  her  ov.  n  ordinance  ; 
and  I  will  say,  that  she  must  fail  in  her  lawsuit.  I  will  express  two 
opinions ;  the  first  of  which  is,  that  it  is  not  possible  for  the  ingenuity 
of  man  to  devise  a  system  of  State  legislation  to  defeat  the  execution 
of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  which  cannot  be  countervailed  by 
federal  legislation. 

A  State  might  take  it  upon  herself  to  throw  obstructions  in  the  way 
of  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  federal  government ;  but  federal 
legislation  can  follow  at  her  heel  quickly,  and  successfully  counteract 
the  course  of  State  legislation.  The  framers  of  the  constitution  fore- 
saw  this,  and  the  constitution  has  guarded  against  it.  What  has  it 
said?  It  is  declared,  in  the  clause  enumerating  the  powers  of  this 
government,  that  Congress  shall  have  all  power  to  carry  into  efiect 
all  the  powers  granted  by  the  constitution,  in  any  branch  of  the  go¥- 
emnsent  under  the  sweeping  clause — for  they  have  not  specified  con- 
tingencies, because  they  could  not  see  what  was  to  happen — but 
whatever  powers  were  necessary,  all,  all  are  given  to  this  govern- 
ment by  the  fundamental  law,  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  thoiifB 
powers  which  are  vested  by  that  constitution  in  the  federal  govern- 
ment. That  is  one  reason.  The  other  is,  that  it  is  not  possible  for 
any  State,  provided  this  government  is  administered  with  prudence 
and  propriety,  so  to  shape  its  laws  as  to  throw  upon  the  general  gov- 
ernment the  responsibility  of  first  resorting  to  the  employment  of  force ; 
but,  if  force  at  all  is  employed,  it  must  be  by  State  legislation,  and 
not  federal  legislation  ;  and  the  responsibility  of  employing  that  forca 
must  rest  with,  and  attach  to,  the  State  itself. 

9 

I  shall  not  go  into  the  details  of  this  bill.  I  merely  throw  out  these 
sentiments  for  the  purpose  of  showing  you  that  South  Carolina,  bar* 
hag  declared  her  purpose  to  be  this,  to  make  an  experiment  whether, 
by  a  course  of  legislation,  in  a  conventional  form,  or  a  legislative  form 
of  enactment,  she  can  defeat  the  execution  of  certain  laws  of  the 
United  States,  I,  for  one,  will  express  my  opinion — that  I  believe  it 
is  utterly  impracticable,  whatever  course  of  legislation  she  may  choose 
to  adopt,  for  her  to  succeed.  I  am  ready,  fbr  one,  to  give  the  tribu* 
nals  and  the  executive  of  the  country,  whether  that  executive  has  or 
has  not  my  oonfidence^ibe  ueccssMj  measiires  ef  power  and  autborilj 


ON   INTRODVCIirCI  THS  COMPKOMISE   BILL.  153 

to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union.  But  I  would  not  go  a  hair's  breadth 
further  than  what  was  necessary  for  those  purposes.  Up  to  that  point 
I  would  go,  and  cheerfully  go  ;  for  it  is  my  sworn  duty,  as  I  regard 
it,  to  go  to  that  point. 

Again :  taking  this  view  of  the  subject.  South  Carolina  is  doing 
nothing  more,  except  that  she  is  doing  it  with  more  rashness,  than 
some  other  States  have  done— that  respectable  State,  Ohio,  and,  if  I 
am  not  mistaken,  the  State  of  Virginia  also.  An  opinion  prevailed 
aome  years  ago,  that  if  you  put  the  laws  of  a  State  into  a  penal  form, 
you  could  oust  federal  jurisdiction  out  of  the  limits  of  that  State,  be- 
cause the  State  tribunals  had  an  exQlusivc  jurisdiction  over  penalties 
and  crimes,  and  it  was  inferred  that  no  federal  court  could  wrest  the 
authority  from  them.  According  to  that  principle,  the  State  of  Ohio 
passed  the  laws  taxing  the  branch  of  the  United  States  Bank,  and 
high  penalties  were  to  be  enforced  against  every  person  who  should 
attempt  to  defeat  her  taxation.  The  question  was  tried.  It  happened 
to  be  my  lot  to  be  counsel  at  law  to  bring  the  suit  against  the  State, 
and  to  maintain  the  federal  authority.  The  trial  took  place  in  the 
State  of  Ohio ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  many  circumstances  which  re- 
dounds to  the  honor  of  that  patriotic  State,  she  submitted  to  the  fed- 
eral force.  I  went  to  the  office  of  the  public  treasury  myself  to  which 
was  taken  the  money  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  it  having  re- 
mained there  in  sequestration  until  it  was  peaceably  rendered,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  decision  of  the  court,  without  any  appeal  to  arms.  In 
a  building  which  I  had  to  pass  in  order  to  reach  the  treasury,  I  saw 
the  most  brilliant  display  of  arms  and  musquetry  that  I  ever  saw  in 
my  life ;  but  not  one  was  raised  or  threatened  to  be  raised  against  the 
due  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  when  they  were  then 
enforced;  In  Virginia  (but  I  am  not  sure  that  I  am  correct  in  the 
history  of  it,)  there  was  a  case  of  this  kind.  Persons  were  liable  to 
penalties  for  selling  lottery  tickets.  It  was  contended  that  the  State 
tribunals  had  an  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  subject.  The  casc^ 
was  brought  before  the  Supreme  Court — the  parties  were  a  Mr.  Myers 
and  somebody  else,  and  it  decided  as  it  must  always  decide,  no  mat- 
ter what  obstruction — no  matter  what  the  State  law  may  be,  the  con- 
stitutional laws  of  the  United  States  must  follow  and  defeat  it,  in  its 
attempt  to  arrest  the  federal  arm  in  the  exercise  of  its  lawful  authority. 
South  Carolina  has  attempted — and,  I  repeat  it,  in  a  much  more  of- 
fensive way,  attempted  to  defeat  the  execution  of  the  lawa  of  the 


154  •PEECHBS  OF   HENRT   CLAT. 

United  States.  But  it  seems  that,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  she  has,  for  the  present,  determined  to  stop  here,  in  order  that, 
hy  our  legislation,  we  may  prevent  the  necessity  of  her  advancing  any 
farther.  But  there  are  other  reasons  for  the  expediency  of  legisla- 
tion at  this  time.  Although  I  came  here  impressed  with  a  different 
opinion,  my  mind  has  now  hecome  reconciled. 

The  memorahle  first  of  Fehruary  is  past.  I  confess  I  did  feel  an 
unconquerable  repugnance  to  legislation  until  that  day  should  have 
passed,  because  of  the  consequences  that  were  to  ensue.  I  hoped 
that  the  day  would  go  over  well.  I  feel,  and  1  think  that  we  must 
all  confess,  we  breathe  a  freer  air  than  when  the  restraint  was  upon 
us.  But  this  is  not  the  only  consideration.  South  Carolina  has  prac 
tically  postponed  her  ordinance,  instead  of  letting  it  go  into  effect,  till 
the  fourth  of  March.  Nobody  who  has  noticed  the  course  of  events, 
can  doubt  that  she  will  postpone  it  by  still  further  legislation,  if  Con- 
gress should  rise  without  any  settlement  of  this  question.  I  was 
going  to  say,  my  life  on  it,  she  will  postpone  it  to  a  period  subsequent 
to  the  fourth  of  March.  It  is  in  the  natural  course  of  events.  South 
Carolina  must  perceive  the  embarrassments  of  her  situation.  She 
must  be  desirous — it  is  unnatural  to  suppose  that  she  is  not — ^to  re- 
main in  the  Union.  What !  a  State  whose  heroes  in  its  gallant  an- 
cestry fought  so  many  glorious  battles  along  with  those  of  the  other 
States  of  this  Union — a  State  with  which  this  confederacy  is  linked 
by  bonds  of  such  a  powerful  character !  I  have  sometimes  fancied 
what  would  be  her  condition  if  she  goes  out  of  this  Union ;  if  her  five 
hundred  thousand  people  should  at  once  be  thrown  upon  their  own 
resources.  She  is  out  of  the  Union.  What  is  the  consequence  ?  She 
is  an  independent  power.  What  then  does  she  do  ?  She  must  have 
armies  and  fleets,  and  an  expensive  government — have  foreign  mis- 
sions— she  must  raise  taxes — enact  this  very  tariff,  which  has  driven 
her  out  of  the  Union,  in  order  to  enable  her  to  raise  money,  and  to 
sustain  the  attitude  of  an  independent  power.  If  she  should  liave  no 
force,  no  navy  to  protect  her,  she  would  be  exposed  to  piratical  in- 
cursions. Their  neighbor,  St.  Domingo,  might  pour  down  a  horde 
of  pirates  on  her  borders,  and  desolate  her  plantations.  She  must 
have  her  embassies,  therefore  must  she  have  a  revenue.  And,  let  me 
tell  you,  there  is  another  consequence — an  inevitable  one  ;  she  has  a 
oertain  description  of  persons  recognized  as  property  south  of  the 
Bolamac,  tad  west  of  the  Mistissippi,  which  would  be  no  logger 


L 


ON   IVTBODVCUIQ  THB  COMPEOMUE  BILL.  155 

recognized  as  such,  except  within  their  own  limits.  This  species  of 
property  would  sink  to  one-half  of  its  present  value,  for  it  is  Louis- 
iana and  the  south-western  States  which  are  her  great  market. 

But  I  will  not  dwell  on  this  topic  any  longer.  I  say  it  is  utterly 
impossible  that  South  Carolina  ever  desired,  for  a  moment,  to  become 
a  separate  and  independent  State.  If  the  exisfence  of  the  ordinance^ 
while  an  act  of  Congress  is  pending,  is  to  be  considered  as  a  motive 
for  not  passing  that  law,  why,  this  would  be  found  to  be  a  sufficient 
reason  for  preventing  the  passing  of  any  laws.  South  Carolina,  by 
keeping  the  shadow  of  an  ordinance  even  before  us,  as  she  has  it  in 
her  power  to  postpone  it  from  time  to  time,  would  defeat  our  legisla- 
tion for  ever.  I  would  repeat  that,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  the  condition  of  South  Carolina  is  only  one  of  the  elements  of  a 
combination,  the  whole  of  which,  together,  constitutes  a  motive  of 
action  which  renders  it  expedient  to  resort,  during  the  present  session 
of  Congress,  to  some  measure  in  order  to  quiet  and  tranquilize  the 
country. 

If  there  b^  any  who  want  civil  war — who  want  to  see  the  blood 
of  any  portion  of  our  countrymen  spilt — I  am  not  one  of  them.  I 
wish  to  see  war  of  no  kind ;  but,  above  all,  I  do  not  desire  to  see  a 
civil  war.  When  war  begins,  whether  civil  or  fbreign,  no  human 
sight  is  competent  to  foresee  when,  or  how,  or  where  it  is  to  termi- 
nate. But  when  a  civil  war  shall  be  lighted  up  in  the  bosom  of  our 
own  happy  land,  and  armies  are  marching,  and  commanders  are  win- 
ning their  victories,  and  fleets  are  in  motion  on  our  coast — tell  me,  if 
you  can,  tell  me  if  any  human  being  can  tell  its  duration.  God  alone 
knows  where  such  a  war  would  end.  In  what  a  state  will  be  left 
our  institutions  ?  In  what  state  our  liberties  ?  I  want  no  war ;  above 
ail,  no  war  at  home. 

Sir,  I  repeat,  that  I  think  South  Carolina  has  been  rash,  intemper- 
ate, and  greatly  in  the  wrong  ,  but  I  do  not  want  to  disgrace  her,  nor 
any  other  member  of  this  Union.  No :  I  do  not  desire  to  see  the 
lustre  of  one  single  star  dimmed,  of  that  glorious  confederacy  which 
constitutes  our  political  system  still  lessdo  I  wish  to  see  it  blotted  out, 
and  its  light  obliterated  for  ever.  Has  not  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina been  one  of  the  members  of  this  Union  in  <'  days  that  tried  men's 
^ouli  ?"    Hare  not  her  anceators  fought  along  side  our  ancestors  ? 


I 


156  8PEECHB8   OF   H£iatT   CLAT. 

Have  we  not,  conjointly,  won  together  many  a  glorious  battle  ?  If 
we  had  to  go  into  a  civil  war  with  such  a  State,  how  would  it  termi- 
nate ?  Whenever  it  should  have  terminated,  what  would  be  her  con- 
dition I  'If  she  should  ever  return  to  the  Union,  what  would  be  the 
condition  of  her  feelings  and  affections  ;  what  the  state  of  the  heart 
of  her  people  ?  She  has  been  with  us  before,  when  her  ancestors 
mingled  in  the  throng  of  battle,  and  as  I  hope  our  posteiity  will  min- 
gle with  hers,  for  ages  and  centuries  to  come,  in  the  united  defence 
of  liberty,  and  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  the  Union,  Ldo  not  wish  to 
see  her  degraded  or  defaced  as  a  member  of  this  confederacy. 

In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  entreat  and  implore  each  individual  mem- 
ber of  this  body  to  bring  into  the  consideration  of  this  measure,  which 
I  have  had  the  honor  of  proposing,  the  same  love  of  country  which, 
if  I  know  myself,  has  actuated  me  ,  and  the  same  desire  of  restoring 
harmony  to  the  Union,  which  has  prompted  this  effort.  If  we  can 
forget  for  a  moment — but  that  would  be  asking  too  much  of  human 
nature — if  we  could  suffer,  for  one  moment,  party  feelings  and  party 
causes — and,  as  I  stand  here  before  my  God,  I  declare  I  have  looked 
beyond  those  considerations,  and  regarded  only  the  vast  interests  of 
this  united  people — I  should  hope  that,  under  such  feelings,  and  with 
such  dispositions,  we  may  advantageously  proceed  to  the  considera- 
tion of  this  bill,  and  heal,  before  they  are  yet  bleeding,  the  wounds 
of  our  distracted  countrv. 


# 


IN  SUPPORT  OF  THE  COMPROMISE  ACT. 


In  THE  Senate  of  the  United  States   February  25,  1833. 


I  The  bill  before  noted,  having  been  introduced  and  favorably  reported,lt8  passage 
was  oppo;»ed  in  the  Senate,  especially  by  Mr.  Wesstcr.  Mr.  Clay  replied  to  the 
aigiuneubi  adduced  against  it  as  follows  x] 

Being  anxious,  Mr.  President,  that  this  bill  should  pass,  and  past 
this  day,  I  will  abridge  as  much  as  I  can  the  observations  I  am  called 
upon  to  make.  I  have  long,  with  pleasure  and  pride,  co-operated 
in  the  public  service  with  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts ;  and  I 
have  found  him  faithful,  enlightened,  and  patriotic.  I  have  not  a  par^ 
tide  of  doubt  as  to  the  pure  and  elevated  motives  which  actuate  him. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  gives  me  deep  and  lasting  regret  to  find 
myself  compelled  to  differ  from  him  as  to  a  measure  involving  vital 
interests,  and  perhaps  the  safety  of  the  Union.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  derive  great  consolation  from  finding  myself  on  this  occasion,  in  the 
midst  of  friends  with  whom  I  have  long  acted,  in  peace  and  in  war, 
and  especially  with  the  honorable  Senator  from  Maine,  (Mr.  Holmes) 
with  whom  I  had  the  happiness  to  unite  in  a  memorable  instance.  It 
was  in  this  very  chamber,  that  Senator  presiding  in  the  committee 
of  the  Senate,  and  I  in  committee  of  twenty-four  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  on  a  Sabbath  day,  that  the  terms  were  adjusted,  by 
which  the  compromise  was  effected  of  the  Missouri  question.  Then 
the  dark  clouds  that  hung  over  our  beloi^^d  country  were  dispersed ; 
and  now  the  thunders  from  others  not  less  threatening,  and  which 
have  been  longer  accumulating,  will,  I  hope,  roll  over  us  harmleia 
and  without  injury. 

The  senator  firom  Massachusetts  objects  to  the  bill  under  consider- 
etion  on  various  grounds.  He  argues  that  it  imposes  unjustifiable 
restraints  on  the  power  of  future  legislation ;  that  it  abandons  the 
protective  policy^  and  that  the  details  of  the  bill  are  practically  de- 


158  tPEECHES  OF  HENRT    CLAT. 

fective.  He  does  not  object  to  the  gradual,  but  very  inconsiderable, 
reduction  of  duties  which  is  made  prior  to  1842.  To  that  he  could 
not  object,  because  it  is  a  species  of  prospective  provision,  as  he  ad- 
mits, in  conformity  with  numerous  precedents  on  our  statute  book. 
He  does  not  object  bo  much  to  the  state  of  the  proposed  law  prior  to 
1842,  during  a  period  of  nine  years ;  but  throwing  himself  forward  to 
the  termination  of  that  period,  he  contends  that  Congress  wiU  then 
find  itself  under  inconvenient  shackles,  imposed  by  our  indiscreti<Mi. 
In  the  first  place  I  would  remark,  that  the  bill  contains  no  obligatory 
pledges ;  it  coulj^  make  none  ;  none  are  attempted.  The  power  over 
the  subject  is  in  the  constitution ;  put  there  by  those  who  formed  it, 
and  liable  to  be  taken  out  only  by  an  amendment  of  the  instrument. 
The  next  Congress,  and  every  succeeding  Congress,  will  undoubtedly 
have  the  power  to  repeal  the  law  whenever  they  may  think  proper. 
Whether  they  will  exercise  it  or  not,  will  depend  upon  a  sound  dis- 
cretion, applied  to  the  state  of  the  whole  country,  and  estimatii^ 
Cuirly  the  consequences  of  the  repeal,  both  upon  the  general  harmony 
and  the  common  interests.  Then  the  bill  is  founded  in  a  spirit  of 
compromise.  Now,  in  all  compromises  there  must  be  mutual  conces- 
sions. The  friends  of  free  trade  insist  that  duties  should  be  laid  in 
reference  to  revenue  alone.  The  friends  of  American  industry  say, 
that  another,  if  no|  paramount  object  in  laying  them,  should  be  to 
diminish  the  consumption  of  foreign,  and  increase  that  of  domestic 
products.  On  this  point  the  parties  divide,  and  between  these  two 
opposite  opinions,  a  reconciliation  is  to  be  effected,  if  it  can  be  accom- 
plished. The  bill  assumes  as  a  basis,  adequate  protection  for  nine 
years,  and  less  beyond  that  term.  The  friends  of  protection  say  to 
their  opponents,  we  are  willing  to  take  a  lease  of  nine  years  with  the 
long  chapter  of  accidents  beyond  that  period  including  the  chance  of 
war,  the  restoration  of  concord,  and  along  with  it,  a  conviction  coRk- 
mon  to  all,  of  the  utility  of  protection  ;  and  in  consideration  of  it,  if, 
in  1842,  none  of  these  contingencies  shall  have  been  realized,  we  artf 
willing  to  submit  as  long  as  Congress  may  think  proper,  to  a  maxim* 
nm  rate  of  twenty  per  cent.,  with  the  power  of  discrimination  below 
it,  cash  duties,  home  valuations,  and  a  liberal  list  of  free  articles,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  manufacturing  interest,  To  these  conditions  the 
opponents  of  protection  are  ready  to  accede.  The  measure  is  what  it 
professes  to  be,  a  compromise  ;  but  it  imposes,  and  could  impose  no 
restriction  upon  the  will  or  power  of  a  future  Congress.  Doubtteas 
great  reepect  will  be  paid,  as  it  ought  to  be  paid,  to  the  aerions 


09  inTRomyciira  the  compiiomisb  bill.  1M 

dkion  of  the  country  that  has  prompted  the  passage  of  this  hill.  Any 
future  Congress  that  might  disturb  this  adjustment,  would  act  under 
a  high  responsibility,  but  it  would  be  entirely  within  its  competency 
to  repeal,  if  it  thought  proper,  the  whole  bill.  It  is  &r  from  the  ob- 
ject of  those  who  support  this  bill,  to  abandon  or  surrender  the  policy 
ci  protecting  American  industry.  Its  protection  or  encouragement 
may  be  accomplished  in  various  ways.  1st.  By- bounties,  as  far  as 
they  are  within  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  ofier  them. 
2d.  By  prohibitions,  totally  excluding  the  foreign  rival  article.  3d. 
By  high  duties,  without  regard  to  the  aggregate  am^fSt  of  revenue 
which  they  produce.  4th.  By  discriminating  duties  so  adjusted  as  to 
limit  the  revenue  to  the  economical  wants  of  governn;ent.  And  5thly, 
By  the  admission  of  the  raw  material,  and  articles  essential  to  manu- 
fitctures,  free  of  duty.  To  which  may  be  added,  cash  duties,  home 
valuations,  and  the  regulation  of  auctions.  A  perfect  system  of  pro- 
tection would  comprehend  most  if  not  all  these  modes  of  afibrding  it. 
There  might  be  at  this  time  a  prohibition  of  certain  articles,  (ardent 
spirits  and  coarse  cottons,  for  example,)r  to  public  advantage.  If 
there  were  not  inveterate  prejudices  and  conflicting  opinions  prevail- 
ing, (and  what  statesman  can  totally  disregard  impediments  ?)  such 
a  compound  system  might  be  established. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  before  the  assertion  is  made  that  the  bill  sur 
renders  the  protective  policy,  gentlemen  should  understand  perfectly 
what  it  does  not  as  well  as  what  it  does  propose.  It  impairs  no 
power  of  Congress  over  the  whole  subject ;  it  contains  no  promise  or 
I^edge  whatever,  express  or  implied,  as  to  bounties,  prohibitions,  or 
auctions ;  it  does  not  touch  the  power  of  Congress  in  regard  to  them, 
and  Congress  is  perfectly  free  to  exercise  that  power  at  any  time  ;  it 
expressly  recognizes  discriminating  duties  within  a  prescribed  limit ; 
it  provides  for  cash  duties  and  home  valuations ;  and  it  secures  a  free 
list,  embracing  numerous  articles,  some  of  high  importance  to  the 
manu&cturing  arts.  Of  all  the  modes  of  protection  which  I  have 
enumerated,  it  affects  only  the  third  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  imposition  of 
high  duties,  producing  a  revenue  beyond  the  wants  of  government. 
The  senator  fix)m  Massachusetts  contends  that  the  policy  of  protec- 
tion was  settled  in  1816,  and  that  it  has  ever  since  been  maintained. 
Sir,  it  was  settled  long  before  1816.  It  is  coeval  with  the  present 
oonstitotion,  and  it  will  continue  under  some  of  its  various  aspects, 
doriog  the  existence  of  the  goTerament,    No  nation  can  exist— no 


160  tPX£CHKt  OF  RKXTKT    CLAT. 

nation  perhaps  eyer  existed,  without  protection  in  some  form,  and  to 
some  extent,  being  applied  to  its  own  industry.  The  direct  and  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  abandoning  the  protection  of  its  own  indostcy, 
would  be  to  subject  it  to  the  restrictions  and  prohibitions  of  foreign 
powers  ;  and  no  nation,  for  any  length  of  time,  can  endure  an  alien 
legislation  in  which  it  has  no  will.  The  discontents  which  prevail, 
aifd  the  safety  of  the  republic,  may  require  the  modification  of  a  spe- 
cific mode  of  protection,  but  it  must  be  preserved  in  some  other  mora 
acceptable  shape. 

All  that  was  settled  in  1816,  in  1824,  and  in  1828,  was  that  pPO> 
tection  should  be  afforded  by  high  duties^  mihout  regard  to  the  amtnmit 
of  the  revenue  which  they  might  yield.     During  that  whole  period,  we 
had  a  public  debt  which  absorbed  all  the  surpluses  beyond  the  ordi- 
nary wants  of  government.     Between   1816  and  1824,  the  revenoe 
was  liable  to  the  great  fluctuation^,  vibrating  between  the  extremes 
of  about  nineteen  and  thirty-six  millions  of  dollars.     If  there  were 
more  revenue,  more  debt  was  paid  ;  if  less,  a  smaller  amount  wai 
reimbursed.     Such  was  sometimes  the  deficiency  of  the  revenue  that 
it  became  necessary  to  the  ordinary  expenses  of  government,  to  trench 
upon  the  ten  millions  annually  set  apart  as  a  sinking  fund,  to  extin- 
guish the  public  debt.     If  the  public  debt  remained  undischarged,  or 
we  had  any  other  practical  mode  of  appropriating  the  surplus  revenue, 
the  form  of  protection,  by  high  duties,  might  be  continued  without 
public  detriment.     It  is  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  then,  and  the 
arrest  of  internal  improvements  by  the  exercise  of  the  veto,  that  un^ 
settle  that  specific  form  of  protection.     Nobody  supposes,  or  proposee 
that  we  should  continue  to  levy  by  means  of  high  duties,  a  large  an- 
nual surplus,  of  which  no  practical  use  can  be  made,  for  the  sake  of 
the  incidental  protection  which  they  afford.     The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  estimates  that  surplus  on  the  existing  scale  of  duties,  and 
with  the  other  sources  of  revenue,  at  six  millions  annually.     An  an* 
Dual  accumulation  at  that  rate,  would,  in  a  few  years,  bring  into  the 
treasury  the  whole  currency  of  the  country,  to  lie  there  inactive  and 
dormant. 

This  view  of  the  condition  of  the  country  has  impressed  every  pub- 
lic man  with  the  necessity  of  some  modification  of  the  principles  of 
protection,  so  far  as  it  depends  upon  high  duties.  The  senator  from 
Massachusetts  feels  it ;  and  hence,  in  the  resolutions  which  he  8irf»- 


ON   IMTROPUCING   THK  COMPROMISE  BILL.  161 

mitted,  he  proposes  to  redoce  the  duties,  so  as  to  limit  the  amount  of 
the  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  government.  With  him  revenue  is 
the  principalj-protection  the  subordinate  object.  If  protection  cannot 
be  enjoyed  aftep  such  a  reduction  of  duties  as  he  thinks  ought  to  be 
made,  it  is  not  to  be  extended.  He  says,  specific  duties  and  the  pow- 
er  of  discrimination,  are  preserved  by  his  resolutions.  So  they  may 
be  under  the  operation  of  the  bill.  The  only  difTerence  between  the 
two  schemes  is,  that  the  bill  in  the  maximum  which  it  provides,  sug- 
gests a  certain  limit,  while  his  resolutions  lay  down  none.  Below 
that  maximum  the  principle  of  descrimination  and  specific  duties  may 
be  applied.  The  senator  from  Pennsylvania,  (Mr.  Dallas,)  who, 
equally  with  the  senator  from  Massachusetts,  is  opposed  to  this  bill, 
would  have  agreed  to  the  bill  if  it  had  fixed  thirty  instead  of  twenty 
per  centum  ;  and  he  would  have  dispensed  with  home  valuation,  and 
come  down  to  the  revenue  standard  in  five  or  six  years.  Now,  Mr. 
President,  1  prefer,  and  1  think  the  manufacturing  interest  will  prefer, 
nine  years  of  adequate  protection,  home  valuations,  and  twenty  per 
centum  to  the  plan  of  the  senator  from  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  President,  I  want  to  be  perfectly  underftood  as  to  the  motives 
which  have  prompted  me  to  offer  this  measure.  I  repeat  what  I  said 
mn  the  introduction  of  it,  that  they  are,  first,  to  preserve  the  manufac- 
taring  interest,  and  secondly,  to  quiet  the  country.  1  believe  the 
American  system  to  be  in  the  greatest  danger ;  and  I  believe  it  can 
be  placed  on  a  better  and  safer  foundation  at  this  session  than  at  the 
Bert.  I  heard  with  surprise,  my  friend  from  Massachusetts  say,  that 
DOihing  had  occurred  within  the  last  six  months  to  increase  its  hazard, 
1  entreat  him  to  review  that  opinion.  Is  it  correct.  Is  the  issue  of 
■umerous  elections,  including  that  of  the  highest  officer  of  the  gov- 
ernment nothing  ?  Is  the  explicit  recommendation  of  that  officer,  in 
bm  message,  at^the  opening  of  the  session,  sustained,  as  he  is,  by  a 
recent  triumphant  election,  nothing  ?  Is  his  declaration  in  his  procla- 
■lalion,  that  the  burdens  of  the  South  ought  to  be  relieved,  nothing  ? 
Is  the  introduction  of  a  bill  into  the  House  of  Representatives,  during 
this  session,  sanctioned  by  the  head  of  the  treasury  and  the  adminis- 
tjstion,  prostrating  the  greater  part  of  the  manufactures  of  the  country, 
ttotbing  ?  Are  the  incretsing  discontents,  nothing  ?  Is  the  tendency 
«f  recent  events  to  unite  the  whole  South,  nothing  ?  What  have  we 
sot  witnessed  in  this  dwnber  ?  Friends  of  the  administratwn,  bunt* 
lag  nU  tbs  tiss  which  seemri  indiffobiUy  to  untie  them  to  its  chie^ 


162  SPEECHES   OF  HERRT   CLAY. 

and,  with  few  exceptions  south  of  the  Potomac,  opposing,  and  vehe- 
mently  opposing,  a  favorite  measure  of  that  administration,  which 
three  short  months  ago  they  contributed  to  establish  !  ^et  us  not  de- 
ceive ourselves.  ISow  is  the  time  to  adjust  the  question  in  a  manner 
satisfactory  to  both  parties.  Put  it  off  until  the  next  session,  and  the 
alternative  may,  and  probably  then  would  be  a  speedy  and  ruinous 
reduction  of  the  tariff,  or  a  civil  war  witii  the  entire  South. 

It  is  well  known,  that  the  majority  of  the  dominant  party  is  adverse 
to  die  tariff.  There  are  many  honorable  exceptions,  the  senator  from 
New  Jersey,  (Mr.  Dickerson,)  among  thein.  But  for  the  exertions 
of  the  other  party,  the  tariff  would  have  been  long  since  sacrificed 
Now  let  us  look  at  the  composition  of  the  two  branches  of  Congress 
at  the  next  session.  In  this  body  we  lose  three  friends  of  the  protec- 
tive policy,  without  being  sure  of  gaining  one.  Here,  judging  from 
present  appearances,  we  shall  at  the  next  session  be  in  the  minority. 
In  the  House  it  is  notorious  that  there  is  a  considerable  accession  to 
the  number  of  the  dominant  party.  How  then,  I  ask,  is  the  system 
to  be  sustained  against  numbers,  against  the  whole  weight  of  the  ad- 
ministration, against  the  united  South,  and  against  the  increased  pen- 
ding danger  of  civil  war  ?  There  is,  indeed,  one  contingency  that 
might  save  it,  but  that  is  too  uncertain  to  rely  upon.  A  certain  class 
of  northern  politicians,  professing  friendship  to  the  tariff,  have  been 
charged  with  being  secretly  inimic&l  to  it,  for  political  purposes. 
They  may  change  their  ground,  and  come  out  open  and  undisguised 
supporters  of  the  system.  They  may  even  find  in  the  measure  which 
I  have  brought  forward,  a  motive  for  their  conversion.  Sir,  I  shall 
rejoice  in  it,  from  whatever  cause  it  may  proceed.  And,  if  they  can 
give  greater  strength  and  durability  to  the  system,  and  at  the  same 
time  quiet  the  discontents  of  its  opponents,  I  shall  rejoice  still  morp. 
They  shall  not  find  me  disposed  to  abandon  it,  because  it  has  drawn 
succour  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  No,  Mr.  President,  it  is  not 
destruction,  but  preservation  of  the  system  at  which  we  aim.  If  dan- 
gers now  assail  it,  we  have  not  created  them.  I  have  sustained  i^ 
upon  the  strongest  and  clearest  convictions  of  its  expediency.  They 
are  entirely  unaltered.  Had  others,  who  avow  attachment  to  it,  sup- 
ported it  with  equal  zeal  -  and  straight-forwardness,  it  would  be  now 
free  from  embarrassment ;  but  with  them  it  has  been  a  secondary  in- 
tentt.  I  utter  no  complaints ;  I  make  no  reproaches.  I  wish  aafy 
.lodafand  myalf  now, at hefcto&m, againat  nnjoii  aswolta.    I b$w 


■> 


09   IHTBODUCIHO  THK  COMPROMIBB   ACT.  168 

been  represented  as  the  father  of  this  system,  and  I  am  charged  with 
aa  unnatural  abandonment  of  my  own  offspring.  I  have  never  arro- 
gated to  myself  any  such  intimate  relation  to  it.  I  have,  indeed, 
cherished  it  with  parental  fondness,  and  my  affection  is  undiminished, 
but  in  what  condition  do  I  find  this  child  ?  It  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
Philistines,  who  would  strangle  it.  I  fly  to  its  rescue,  to  snatch  it 
from  their  custody,  and  to  place  it  on  a  bed  of  security  and  repose  for 
nine  years,  where  it  may  grow  and  strengthen,  and  become  accepta- 
ble to  the  whole  people.  I  behold  a  torch  about  being  applied  to  a 
favorite  edifice,  and  1  would  save  it  if  possible  before  it  is  wrapt  in 
flames,  or  at  least  preserve  the  precious  furniture  which  it  contains. 
1  wish  to  see  the  tariff  separated  from  the  politics  of  the  country, 
that  business  men  may  go  to  work  in  security,  with  some  prospect  of 
stability  in  our  laws,  and  without  everything  being  staked  on  the  is- 
sue of  elections  as  it  were  on  the  hazards  of  the  die. 

And  the  other  leading  object  which  has  prompted  the  introduction 
of  this  measure,  the  tranquilizing  oi  the  country  is  no  less  important. 
All  wise  human  legislation  must  consult  in  some  degree  the  passions 
and  prejudices,  and  feelings,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  the  people.  It 
would  be  vain  and  foolish  to  proceed  at  all  times,  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, upon  the  notion  of  absolute  certainty  in  any  system,  or 
infallibility  in  any  dogma,  and  to  push  these  out  without  regard  to 
any  consequences.  With  us,  who  entertain  the  opinion  that  Congress 
is  constitutionally  invested  with  power  to  protect  domestic  industry, 
it  is  a  question  of  mere  expediency  as  to  the  form,  the  degree,  and 
the  time  that  the  protection  shall  be  afforded.  In  weighing  all  the 
considerations  which  should  control  and  regulate  the  exercise  of  thai 
power,  we  ought  not  to  overlook  what  is  due  to  those  who  honestly 
entertain  opposite  opinions  to  large  masses  of  the  community,  and  to 
deep,  long  cherished  and  growing  prejudices.  Perceiving,  ourselves, 
no  constitutional  impediment,  we  have  less  difficulty  in  accommoda- 
ting ourselves  to  the  sense  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  upon 
this  interesting  subject,  I  do  believe  that  a  majority  of  them  is  in 
£ivor  of  this  policy ;  but  I  am  induced  to  believe  this  almost  against 
evidence.  Two  States  in  New  England,  which  have  been  in  favor 
«f  the  system,  have  recently  come  out  against  it.  Other  States  of 
the  noxlh  and  east  have  shown  a  remarkable  indifference  to  its  preser- 
▼mtion.  If,  indeed,  they  have  wished  to  preserve  it,  they  have  ney- 
ertheless  placed  the  powers  of  government  in  hands  which  ordinary 


164  SPBECHKS  or  HENRT   CLAT. 

information  must  have  assured  them  ^were  rather  a  hazardous  deposi- 
tory.   With  us  in  the  west,  although  we  are  not  without  some  direct, 
,  and  considerable  indirect  interest  in  the  system,  we  have  supported  it 
more  upon  national  than  sectional  grounds. 

Meantime  the  opposition  of  a  large  and  respectable  section  of  the 
Union,  stimulated  by  political  success,  has  increased,  and  is  increas- 
ing.  Discontents  are  multiplying  and  assuming  new-and  dangerous 
aspects.  They  have  been  cherished  by  the  course  and  hopes  inspired 
during  this  administration,  which,  at  the  very  moment  that  it  threatens 
and  recommends  the  use  of  the  power  of  the  Union,  proclaims  aloud 
the  injustice  of  the  system  which  it  would  enforce.  These  discontents 
are  not  limited  to  those  who  maintain  the  extravagant  theory  of  nul- 
lification ;  they  are  not  confined  to  one  State ;  they  are  coextensh'e 
with  the  entire  South,  and  extend  even  to  northern  States.  It  has 
been  intimated  by  the  senator  from  Massachusetts,  that,  if  we  legis- 
late at  this  session  on  the  tariff,  we  Would  seem  to  legislate  under  the 
influence  of  a  panic.  I  believe,  Mr.  President j  I  am  not  nwre  sensi- 
ble to  danger  of  any  kind,  than  my  fellow-men  are  generally.  It  per- 
haps requires  as  much  moral  courage  to  legislate  under  the  imputa- 
tion of  a  panic,  as  to  refrain  from  it  lest  such  nn  imputation  should  be 
made.  But  he  who  regards  the  present  question  as  being  limited  to 
South  Carolina  alone,  takes  a  view  of  it  much  too  contracted. 
There  is  a  sympathy  of  feeling  and  interest  throughout  the  whole 
South.  Other  southern  States  mav  differ  from  that  as  to  the  reme- 
dy  to  be  now  used,  but  all  agree  (great  as  in  my  humble  judgment 
is  their  error,)  in  the  substantial  justice  of  the  cause.  Can  there 
be  a  doubt  that  those  who  think  in  common  will  sooner  or  later  act 
in  concert  ?  Events  are  on  the  wing,  and  hastening  this  co-operation. 
Since  the  commencement  of  this  session,  the  most  powerful  soathem 
member  of  the  Union  has  taken  a  measure  which  cannot  fail  to  lead 
to  important  consequences.  ,  She  has  deputed  one  of  her  most  distin- 
guished citizens  to  request  a  suspension  of  measures  of  resistance.  No 
attentive  observer  can  doubt  that  the  suspension  will  be  made.  Well, 
sir,  suppose  it  takes  place,  and  Congress  should  fail  at  the  next  ses- 
sion to  afford  the  redress  which  will  be  solicited,  what  course  would 
every  principle  of  honor,  and  every  consideration  of  the  interests  of 
Virginia,  as  she  understands  them,  exact  from  her  ?  Would  she  not 
make  common  cause  with  South  Carolina.^ — and  if  she  did,  would 


IN  SUPPORT  OF  TfiS  C0IIPR0UI8B   ACT.  165 

Bot  the  entire  Soath  eventually  become  parties  to  the  contest  ?  The 
test  of  the  Union  might  put  down  the  South,  and  reduce  it  to  submis- 
sion ;  but,  to  say  nothing  of  the  uncertainty  and  hazards  of  all  war, 
is  that  a  desirable  state  of  things  ?  Ought  it  not  to  be  avoided  if  it 
can  be  honorably  prevented  ?  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  think  that 
we  must  rely  exclusively  upon  moral  power,  and  never  resort  to 
physical  force.  1  know  too  well  the  frailties  and  follies  of  man,  in 
his  collective  as  well  as  individual  character,  to  reject  in  all  possible 
cases,  the  employment  of  force ;  but  I  do  think  that  when  resorted  to, 
especially,  among  the  members  of  a  confederacy,  it  should  manifestly 
appear  to  be  the  only  remaining  appeal. 

But  suppose  the  present  Congress  terminates  without  any  adjust* 
ment  of  the  tariff,  let  us  see  in  what  condition  its  friends  will  find 
themselves  at  the  next  session.  South  Carolina  will  have  postponed 
the  execution  of  the  law  passed  to  carry  into  eflect  her  ordinance 
until  the  end  of  that  session.  All  will  be  quiet  in  the  south  for  the 
present.  The  President,  in  his  opening  message,  will  urge  that  jus- 
tice, as  he  terms  it,  be  done  to  the  south,  and  that  the  burdens  im<* 
posed  upon  it  by  the  tariff  be  removed.  The  whole  weight  of  the  ad* 
ministration,  the  united  south,  and  majorities  of  the  dominant  ptrtf 
in  both  branches  of  Congress,  will  be  found  in  active^ co-operation.. 
Will  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  tell  me  how  we  are  to  save 
the  tariff  against  this  united  and  irresistible  force  ?  They  will  accuse 
us  of  indifference  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  of  being  will* 
iog  to  expose  the  country  to  the  dangers  of  civil  war.  The  fact  of 
South  Carolina  postponing  her  ordinance,  at  the  instance  of  Virginia, 
and  once  more  appealing  to  the  justice  of  Congress,  will  be  pressed 
with  great  emphasis  and  effect.  It  does  appear  to  me  impossible  that 
we  can  prevent  a  most  injurious  modification  of  the  tariff  at  the  next 
session,  and  that  this  is  the  favorable  moment  for  an  equitable  arrange- 
ment of  it.  I  have  been  subjected  to  animadversion  for  the  admission  of 
the  fttct,  that,  at  the  next  session,our  opponents  will  be  stronger,  and  the 
friends  of  the  American  System  weaker  than  they  are  in  this  Congress. 
Bat,  is  it  not  so  ?  And  is  it  not  the  duty  of  every  man  who  aspirei 
td  be  a  statesman  to  look  at  naked  facts  as  they  really  are  ?  Must  ha 
•ttjqpress  them }  Ought  he,  like  children,  to  throw  the  counterpani 
over  his  eyes,  and  persuade  himself  that  he  is  secure  from  danger  ? 
Are  not  our  opponents  as  well  informed  as  we  are  about  their  own 

•mBgCnf  . 

•L 


166  •PXBGHE8   OF   HKNIIT  CLAT. 

If  we  adjourn,  without  any  pennaneDt  tettlement  of  the  tarifl^  m 
what  paiDful  suspense  and  terrible  uncertainty  shall  we  not  leave  the 
manufacturers  and  business  men  of  the  country  ?  All  eyes  will  be 
turned,  with  trembling  and  fear,  to  the  next  session.  Operations  wiH 
be  circumscribed,  and  new  enterprises  checked,  or,  if  otherwise,  ruui 
and  bankruptcy  may  be  the  consequence.  I  believe,  sir,  this  meaa* 
lire,  which  offers  a  reasonable  guarantee  for  permanence  and  stability, 
will  be  hailed  by  practical  men  with  pleasure.  The  political  maDifr- 
bcturers  may  be  against  it,  but  it  will  command  the  approbation  of  a 
large  majority  of  the  business  manufacturers  of  the  country 

But  the  objections  of -the  honorable  Senator  from  Massacha- 
settsare  principally  directed  to  the  peiiod  beyond  1842.  During 
the  intermediate  time,  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  and  believe  that 
the  bill  secures  adequate  protection.  All  my  information  assures  me 
of  this  ;  and  it  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact,  that,  if  the  measure  of 
protection,  secured  prior  to  the  31st  December,  1841,  were  permar 
nent,  or  if  the  bill  were  even  silent  beyond  that  period,  it  would  coiii-> 
mand  the  cordial  and  unanimous  concurrence  of  the  friends  of  tiio 
policy.  What  then  divides,  what  alarms  us  .^  It  is  what  may  po^ 
Mbf  be  the  state  of  things  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-two^  or  subsequently  !  Now,  sir,  even  if  that  should  bo 
as  bad  as  the  m^ist  vivid  imagination  or  the  most  eloquent  tongno 
could  depict  it,  if  we  have  intermediate  safety  and  security,  it  does 
not  seem  to  me  wise  to  rush  upon  certain  and  present  evils,  becauao 
of  those  which,  admitting  their  possibility,  are  very  remote  and  con- 
tingent. What !  shall  we  not  extinguish  the  flame  which  is  bnnt» 
ing  through  the  roof  that  covers  us,  because,  at  some  future  and  dis- 
tant day,  we  may  be  again  threatened  with  conflagration  ? 

I  do  not  admit  that  this  bill  abandons,  or  fails  by  its  provisions  to 
secure  reasonable  protection  beyond  1842.  I  cannot  know,  1 
tend  not  to  know,  what  will  then  be  the  actual  condition  of  thisi 
try,  and  of  the  manufacturing  arts,  and  their  relative  conditicm  to  the 
rest  of  the  world.  I  would  as  soon  confide  in  the  forecast  of  the  hon* 
orable  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  as  in  that  of  any  other  man  in 
this  Senate,  or  in  this  country ;  but  he,  nor  any  one  else,  can  tell 
what  that  condition  will  then  be.  The  degree  of  protection  whick 
will  be  required  for  domestic  industry  beyond  1842,  depends  upon 
the  reduction  of  wages,  the  accumulation  of  capital,  the  improyemiKt 


m  8UFF0BT  OF  TRS  COMFROMIIE   ACT.  167 

m  skin,  the  perfection  of  inachineiy,  and  the  cheapening  of  the  price^ 
at  home,  of  essential  artfcles,  such  as  fuel,  iron,  &c.  I  do  not  think 
that  the  honorable  Senator  can  throw  himself  forward  to  1S42,  and 
tell  us  what,  in  all  these  particulars,  will  be  the  state  of  this  country, 
and  its  relative  state  Uf  other  countries.  We  know  that,  in  all  human 
probability,  pur  numbers  will  be  increased  by  an  addition  of  one-third, 
at  least,  to  their  present  amount,  and  that  may  materially  reduce 
wages.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  our  capital  will  be  augment- 
ed, our  skill  improved ;  and  we  know  that  great  progress  has  been 
made,  and  is  making,  in  machinery.  There  is  a  constant  tendency 
to  decrease  in  the  price  of  iron  and  coal.  The  opening  of  new  mines 
and  new  channels  of  communication,  must  continue  to  lower  it.  The 
successful  introduction  of  the  process  of  coaking  will  have  great  efifect 
The  price  of  these  articles,  one  of  the  most  opulent  and  intelligent 
manufacturing  houses  in  this  country  assures  me,  is  a  principal  cause 
of  the  present  necessity  of  protection  to  the  cotton  interest ;  and  that 
house  is  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  20  per  cent,  with  the  other 
advantages  secured  in  this  bill,  may  do  beyond  1842  Then,  sir, 
what  effect  may  not  convulsions  and  revolutions  in  Europe,  if  any 
should  arise,  produce  ?  I  am  fiu'  from  desiring  them,  that  our  coun- 
try may  profit  by  their  occurrence.  Her  greatness  and  glory  rest,  I 
hope,  upon  a  more  solid  and  more  generous  basis.  But  we  cannot 
•hut  our  eyes  to  the  fact,  that  our  greatest  manufacturing,  as  well  as 
commercial  competitor,  is  undergoing  a  momentous  political  experi- 
ment, the  issue  of  which  is  far  from  being  absolutely  certain.  Who 
can  raise  the  veil  of  the  succeeding  nine  years,  and  show  what,  at 
their  termination,  will  be  the  degree  of  competition  which  Great 
Britain  can  exercise  towards  us  in  the  manufecturing  arts  ? 

Suppose,  in  the  progress  of  gradual  descent  towards  the  revenae 
siaodard,  for  which  this  bill  provides,  it  should,  some  years  hence, 
become  evident  that  further  protection,  beyond  1843,  than  that  which 
it  contemplates,  may  be  necessary,  can  it  be  doubted  that,  in  some 
ibnn  or  other,  it  will  be  applied  ?  Our  misfortune  has  been,  and  yet 
IB,  that  the  public  mind  has  been  constantly  kept  in  a  state  of  feverish 
excitement  in  respect  to  this  system  of  policy.  Conventions,  elec- 
tions, Congress,  the  public  press,  have  been  for  years  all  acting  upon 
the  tariff,  and  the  tariff  acting  upon  them  all.  Prejudices  have  been 
excited,  passions  kindled,  and  mutual  irritations  carried  to  the  h\^ 
«il9flAofefltiH(nr«lk>D,  miMiQehthBl  good  fbeli^gi  bavetoena)i|f 


108  apiBCHii  or  hbnry  clat. 

most  extinguished,  and  the  voice  of  reason  and  experience  silenced^ 
among  the  members  of  the  confederacy.  Let  us  separate  the  tariff 
from  the  agitating  politics  of  the  country,  place  it  upon  a  stable  and 
firm  foundation,  and  allow  our  enterprising  countrymen  to  demon- 
strate to  the  whole  Union,  by  their  skilful  and  successful  labors,  the 
inappreciable  value  of  the  arts.  If  they  can  have,  what  they  have 
never  yet  enjoyed,  some  years  of  repose  and  tianquillity,  they  will 
make,  silently,  more  converts  to  the  policy,  than  would  be  made 
during  a  long  period  of  anxious  struggle  and  boisterous  contention. 
Above  all,  I  count  upon  the  good  effects  resulting  from  a  restoration 
of  the  harmony  of  this  divided  people,  upon  their  good  sense  and  their 
love  of  justice.  Who  can  doubt,  that  when  passions  have  subsided, 
and  reason  has  resumed  her  empire,  that  there  will  be  a  dispoaitioa 
throughout  the  whole  Union  to  render  ample  justice  to  all  its  parts  ? 
Who  will  believe  that  any  section  of  this  great  confederacy  would 
look  with  indifference  to  the  prostration  of  the  interests  of  another 
section,  by  distant  and  selfish  foreign  nations,  regardless  alike  of  the 
welfare  of  us  all  ?  No,  sir ;  I  have  no  fears  beyond  1842.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  are  brethren,  made  to  lovcf  and  respect  eaeh 
other.  Momentary  causes  may  seem  to  alienate  them,  but,  like 
fiimily  differences,  they  will  terminate  in  a  closer  and  more  aflfectioB* 
ate  union  than  ever.  And  how  much  more  estimable  will  be  a  ayn» 
tern  of  protection,  based  on  common  conviction  and  common  consent, 
and  planted  in  the  bosoms  of  all,  than  one  wrenched  by  power  fironi 
reluctant  and  protesting  weakness  ? 

That  such  a  system  will  be  adopted,  if  it  should  be  necessary  fiir 
the  period  of  time  subsequent  to  1842, 1  will  not  doubt.  But,  in  the 
scheme  which  I  originally  proposed,  I  did  not  rely  exclusively,  great 
as  my.reliance  is,  upon  the  operation  of  fraternal  feelings,  the  retnm 
of  reason,  and  a  sense  of  justice.  The  scheme  contained  an  appeal  te 
the  interests  of  the  South.  According  to  it,  unmanufectured  cotton 
was  to  be  a  free  article  after  1842.  Gentlemen  from  that  quarter 
have  digain  and  again  asserted  that  they  were  indifierent  to  the  do^ 
of  three  cents  per  pound  on  cotton,  and  that  they  feared  no  foreign 
competition.  I  have  thought  otherwise ;  but  I  was  willing,  hy  wq^ 
of  experiment,  to  take  them  at  their  word ;  not  that  I  was  oppoeed 
Id  the  protection  of  cotton,  but  believing  that  a  few  cargoes  of  for- 
eign  cotton  introduced  into  our  nortbem  ports,  free  of  du^,  iroold 
hasten  our  flontheni  friends  to  oome  hoe  and  ask  that  proteetioB  fbf 


IN  SUPKIBT  99  THE  COMPBOMUM  ACT.  109 

their  great  staple,  which  is  wanted  in  other  sections  for  their  interestf. 
That  feature  in  the  scheme  was  stricken  out  in  the  select  committee, 
bat  not  by  the  consent  of  my  firiencl  from  Delaware  (Mr.  Clayton)  or 
Bi3rMelf.  Still,  afteT  1842,  the  south  may  want  pnitection  for  sugati 
for  tobacco,  for  Virginia  coal,  perhaps  for  cotton  and  other  articles, 
whilst  other  quarters  may  need  it  for  wool,  woollens,  iron  and  cotton 
fabrics ;  and  these  mutual  wants,  if  they  should  exist,  will  lead,  I  hope. 
Id  some  amicable  adjustment  of  a  tariff  for  that  distant  period,  8ati»> 
iactory  to  all.  The  theory  of  protection  supposes,  too,  that,  after  a 
certain  time,  the  protected  arts  will  have  acquired  such  strength  and 
portion  as  will  enable  them  subsequently,  unaided,  to  stand  up 
against  foreign  competition.  If,  as  I  have  no  doubt,  this  should  prove 
to  be  correct,  it  will,  on  the  arrival  of  1842,  encourage  all  parts  of 
the  Union  to  consent  to  the  continuance  of  longer  protection  to  the 
articles  which  may  then  require  it. 


The  bill  before  us  strongly  recommends  itself  by  its  equity  and  inH 
partiality.  It  favors  no  one  interest,  and  no  one  State,  by  an  unjuil 
sacrifice  of  others.  It  deals  equally  by  all.  Its  basis  is  the  act  of 
Jaly  last.  That  act  was  passed  after  careful  and  thorough  investi* 
gation,  and  long  deliberation,  continued  through  several  months.  Al* 
though  it  may  not  have  been  perfect  in  its  adjustment  of  the  proper 
measure  of  protection  to  each  article  which  was  supposed  to  merit  it, 
it  is  not  likely  that,  even  with  the  same  length  of  time  before  us,  we 
coald  make  one  more  perfect.  Assuming  the  justness  of  that  act,  the 
bill  preserves  the  respective  propositions  for  which  the  act  provides, 
and  subjects  them  all  to  the  same  equal  but  moderate  reduction, 
spread  over  the  long  space  of  nine  years.  The  Senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts contends  that  a  great  part  of  the  value  of  all  protection  is 
gireo  up  by  dispensing  with  specific  duties  and  the  principle  of  dis- 
crimination. But  much  the  most  valuable  articles  of  our  domestic 
manufacturec  (cottoa  and  woollens,  for  exam[^e,)  have  never  enjoy- 
ed the  advantage  of  specific  duties.  They  have  always  been  liable 
to  ad  valorem  duties,  with  a  very  limited  application  of  the  minimum 
principle.  The  bill  does  not,  however,  even  after  1842,  surrender 
either  mode  of  laying  duties.  Discriminations  are  expressly  recog- 
nised below  the  maximum,  and  specific  duties  may  also  be  imposed, 
provided  they  do  not  exceed  it. 

The  boDonble  Seiiatiir  also  contends  that  the  bill  is  imperfiact,  and 


170  iPEBcuBs  OP  anrBT  cult. 

ihftt  the  exectttioB  of  it  will  be  impracticable.  He  asks,  how  is  the 
excess  above  20  per  cent,  to  be  ascertained  on  coarse  and  printsd 
cottons,  liable  to  minimums  of  30  and  35  cents,  and  subject  to  a  duty 
of  25  pbr  cent,  ad  valorem ;  and  how  is  it  to  be  estimated  in  the  cat» 
of  specific  duties  ?  Sir,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  bill  is  not  perfect, 
but  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  anything  impracticable  in  its  execD- 
tion.  Much  will,  however,  depepd  upon  the  head  of  the  treasury 
department.  In  the  instance  of  the  cotton  minimums,  the  statute 
having,  by  way  of  exception  to  the  general  ad  valorem  rule,  declared, 
in  certain  cases,  how  the  value  shall  be  estimated,  that  statutory 
value  ought  to  govern  ;  and  consequently  the  20  per  cent,  should  be 
exclusively  deducted  from  the  25  per  cent,  being  the  rate  of  duties 
to  which  cottons  generally  are  liable  ;  and  the  biennial  tenths  should 
be  subtracted  from  the  excess  of  five  per  cent.  With  regard  to  spe- 
cific duties,  it  will,  perhaps,  be  competent  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  in  the  execution  of  the  law,  for  the  sake  of  certainty,  to 
adopt  some  average  value,  founded  upon  importations  of  a  previous 
year.  But  if  the  value  of  each  cargo,  and  every  part  of  it,  is  to  be 
ascertained,  it  would  be  no  more  than  what  now  is  the  operation  in 
the  case  of  woollens,  silks,  cottons  above  30  and  35  cents,  and  a  v^ 
riety  of  other  ai tides :  and  consequently  there  would  be  no  more  im-' 
practicability  in  the  law. 

To  all  defects,  however,  real  or  imaginary,  which  may  be  supposed 
will  arise  in  the  execution  of  the  principle  of  the  bill,  I  oppose  one 
conclusive,  and,  I  hope,  satisfactory  answer.  Congress  will  be  in 
session  one  whole  month  before  the  commencement  of  the  law ;  aod 
if,  in  the  meantime,  omissions  calling  for  further  legislation  shall  be 
discovered,  there  will  be  more  time  then  than  we  have  now  to  sup- 
ply them.  Let  us,  on  this  occasion  of  compromise,  pursue  the  exam- 
ple of  our  fathers,  who,  under  the  influence  of  the  same  spirit,  in  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  determined  to  ratify 
it,  and  go  for  amendments  afterwards. 

To  the  argument  of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  that  this  in- 
terest, and  that,  and  the  other,  cannot  be  sustained  under  the  protec- 
tion beyond  1842, 1  repeat  the  answer,  that  no  one  can  now  tell  whet 
may  then  be  necessary.  That  period  will  provide  for  itself.  But  I 
was  surprised  to  hear  my  friend  singling  out  iron  as  an  article  that 
would  be  most  injuriously  affected  by  the  operation  of  this  bill.    If  I 


IH  SUPPORT  OP  THE  COMPROMIIE   ACT.  171 

am  Dot  greatly  mistakeD  in  my  recollection,  he  opposed  and  Toted 
against  the  act  of  1824,  because  of  the  high  duty  imposed  on  iron. 
But  for  that  duty,  (and  perhaps  the  duty  on  hemp,)  which  he  tlieii 
considered  threw  an  unreasonable  burden  upon  the  navigation  of  the 
country,  he  would  have  supported  that  act.  Of  all  the  articles  to 
which  protecting  duties  are  applied,  iron,  and  the  manufactures  of 
iron,  enjoy  the  highest  protection.  During  the  term  of  nine  years, 
the  deductions  from  the  duty  are  not  sgch  as  seriously  to  impair  those 
great  interests,  unless  all  my  information  deceives  me  ;  and  beyond 
that  period  the  remedy  has  been  already  indicated.  Let  me  suppose 
that  the  anticipations  which  1  form  upon  the  restoration  of  concord 
and  confidence  suall  be  all  falsified ;  that  neither  the  sense  of  frater- 
nal afiection,  nor  common  justice,  nor  even  common  interests,  will 
lead  to  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  tariff  beyond  1842.  Let  me 
suppose  tliat  period  has  arrived,  and  that  the  provisions  of  the  bill 
shall  be  interpreted  as  an  obligatory  pledge  upon  the  Congress  of 
that  day ;  and  let  me  suppose,  also,  that  a  greater  amount  of  proteo* 
tion  than  the  bill  provides  is  absolutely  necessaiy  to  some  interests, 
what  is  to  be  done  ?  Regaided  as  a  pledge,  it  does  not  bind  Congresi 
for  ever  to  adhere  to  the  specific  rate  of  duty  contained  in  the  bill 
The  most,  in  that  view,  that  it  exacts,  is  to  make  a  foir  experiment. 
If,  afler  such  experiment,  it  should  be  demonstrated  that,  under  such 
an  arrangement  of  the  tariff,  the  interests  of  large  portions  of  the 
Union  would  be  sacrificed,  and  they  exposed  to  ruin,  Congress  will 
be  competent  to  apply  some  remedy  that  will  be  effectual ;  and  I  hope 
and  believe  that,  in  such  a  contingency,  some  will  be  devised  that 
may  preserve  the  harmony  and  perpetuate  the  blessings  of  the  Union. 

It  has  been  alledged  that  there  will  be  an  augmentation,  instead  of 
a  diminution  of  revenue,  under  the  operation  of  this  bill.  I  feel  quite 
confident  of  the  reverse  ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  both  contin- 
gencies are  carefully  provided  for  in  the  bill,  without  aiiecting  the  pro- 
tected articles.  *« 

The  gentleman  from  Massachuetts  dislikes  the  measure,  because  it 
commands  the  concurrence  of  those  who  have  been  hitherto  opposed^ 
Sd  regard  to  the  tariff;  and  is  approved  by  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina,  (Mr.  Calhoun)  as  well  as  by  myself.  Why,  sir,  the  gen- 
tleman has  told  us  that  he  is  not  opposed  to  any  compromise.  Will 
he  be  pleased  to  say  how  any  compromise  oan  be  e&oted,  withoat  • 


ITS  wbbcbh  or  murRT  clat. 

coDCurrence  between  those  who  had  been  previously  diridedi  md 
tekmg  some  medium  between  the  two  extremes  ?  The  wider  the  di- 
Tision  may  have  been,  so  much  the  better  for  the  compromise,  which 
-ought  to  be  judged  of  by  its  nature  and  by  its  terms,  and  not  solely 
by  those  who  happen  to  vote  for  it.  It  is  an  adjustment  to  which 
both  the  great  interests  in  this  country  may  accede  without  either  b^ 
ing  dishonored.  The  triumph  of  neither  is  complete.  Eachy  for  the 
sake  of  peace,  harmony,  and  junion,  makes  some  concessions.  The 
south  has  contended  that  every  vestige  of  protection  should  be  eradi- 
cated from  the  statute  book,  and  the  revenue  standard  forthwith 
adopted.  In  assenting  to  this  bill,  it  waives  that  pretension — ^yields 
to  reasonable  protection  for  nine  years ;  and  consents,  in  consideniF 
tion  of  the  maximum  of  twenty  per  cent,  to  be  subsequently  applied^ 
to  discriminations  below  it,  cash  duties,  home  valuations,  and  a  long 
list  of  free  articles.  The  north  and  west  have  contended  for  the  prac- 
tical application  of  the  principle  of  protection,  regulated  by  no  other 
limit  than  the  necessary  wants  of  the  country.  If  they  accede  to  thb 
adjustment,  they  agree,  in  consideration  of  the  stability  and  certainty 
which  nine  years'  duration  of  a  favorite  system  of  policy  afibrds,  and 
of  the  other  advantages  which  have  been  enumerated,  to  come  down 
in  1S42  to  a  limit  not  exceeding  twenty  per  cent.  Both  parties,  aid- 
mated  by  a  desire  to  avert  the  evils  which  might  flow  from  carrying 
oat  into  all  their  consequences  the  cherished  system  of  either,  have 
met  upon  common  ground,  made  mutual  and  friendly  concessions^ 
and,  I  trust,  and  sincerely  believe,  that  neither  will  have,  hereafter, 
occasion  to  regret,  as  neither  can  justly  rei»'oach  the  other  with  wbi^ 
may  be  now  done. 

This,  or  some  other  measure  of  conciliation,' is  now  more  than  ever 
eeoessary,  since  the  passage,  through  the  Senate,  of  the  enforcing  biD. 
To  that  bill,  if  I  had  been  present,  on  the  final  vote,  I  should  have 
given  my  assent,  although  with  great  reluctance.  I  believe  this  gor* 
emment  not  only  possess^  of  the  constitutional  power,  but  to  be 
bound  by  every  consideration,  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  laws. 
But  I  deeply  regretted  the  necessity  which  seemed  to  me  to  require 
the  passage  of  such  a  bill.  And  I  was  far  from  being  without  serioiw 
apprehensions  as  to  the  consequences  to  which  it  might  lead.  I  ielt 
no  new-bom  zeal  in  favor  of  the  present  administration,  of  which  I 
BOW  think  as  I  have  always  thought.  I  could  not  vote  against  the 
measure  i  1  wouU  not  qpeak  in  its  behalf.    I  thought  it  most  proper 


i 


nr  svPvomT  or  the.  ooMPMnrai  act.  198 

IB  me  to  leave  to  the  friencls  of  the  administration  and  to  others,  who 
might  feel  themselrea  particularly  called  upon,  to  defend  and  sustain 
•  strong  measure  of  the  administration.     With  respect  to  the  series 
of  acts  to  which  the  executive  has  resorted,  in  relation  to  our  south- 
em  disturbance,  this  is  tiot  a  fit  occasion  to  enter  upon  a  full  consid- 
eration of  them ;  but  I  will  briefly  say,  that,  although  the  proclama- 
tion is  a  paper  of  uncommon  ability  and  eloquence,  doing  great  credit, 
as  a  composition,  to  him  who  prepared  it,  and  to  him  who  signed  it^ 
I  think  it  contains  some  ultra  doctrines,  which  no  party  in  this  coun- 
try had  ventured  to  assert.     With  these  arc  mixed  up  many  sound 
principles  and  just  views  of  our  political  systems.     If  it  is  to  be  judged 
by  its  effects  upon  those  to  whom  it  was  more  immediately  addressed, 
it  must  be  admitted  to  have  been  ill-timed  and  unfortunate.     Instead 
of  allaying  the  excitement  which  prevailed,^  it  increased  the  exaspe- 
ration in  the  infected  district,  and  affoided  new  and  unnecessary  causes 
of  discontent  and  dissatisfaction  in  the  south  generally.     The  mes- 
sage, subsequently  transmitted  to  Congress,  communicating  the  pro- 
ceedings of  South  Carolina,  and  calling  for  countervailing  enactments, 
was  characterized  with  more  prudence  and  moderation.     And,  if  thii 
unhappy  contest  is  to  continue,  I  sincerely  hope  that  the  future  con- 
duct of  the  administration  may  be  governed  by  wise  and  cautious 
eouDsels,  and  a  parental  forbearance.     But  when  the  highest  degree 
of  animosity  exists;  when  both  parties,  however  unequal,  have  ar- 
nyed  themselves  for  the  conflict,  who  can  tell  when,  by  the  indis- 
cretion of  subordinates,  or  other  unforseen  causes,  the  bloody  strug- 
gle may  commence  ?     In  the  midst  of  magazines,  who  knows  when 
the  fatal  spark  may  produce  a  terrible  explosion  ?    And  the  battle 
once  begun,  where  is  its  limit  ?    What  latitude  will  circumscribe  its 
TBgb  ?    Who  is  to  command  our  armies  ?    When,  and  where,  and 
how  is  the  war  to  cease  f    In  what  condition  will  the  peace  leave 
the  American  System,  the  American  Union,  and,  what  is  more  than 
all,  American  liberty  ?    I  cannot  profess  to  have  a  confidence,  which 
I  have  not,  in  this  administration,  but  if  I  had  all  confidence  in  it,  I 
should  still  wish  to  pause,  and,  if  possible,  by  any  honorable  adjust- 
ment, to  prevent  awful  consequences,  the  extent  of  which  no  hunum 
wisdom  can  foresee. 

It  appears  to  me,  then,  Mr.  President,  that  we  ought  not  to  con- 
tent ouradves  with  passing  the  enforcing  bill  only.  Both  that  and 
the  bill  of  peace  aeem  to  me  to  he  required  for  t*  e  food  of  our  coun- 


■id 


174  fmcHst  OF  rutbt  olat. 

tiy^  The  first  will  satisfy  all  who  love  order  and  law,  and  disaj^prore 
the  inadmissible  doctrine  of  nullification.  The  last  will  soothe  thoae 
who  love  peace  and  concord,  harmony  and  union.  One  demonstrate 
the  power  and  the  disposition  to  vindicate  the  authority  and  suprema- 
cy of  the  laws  of  the  Union ;  the  other  offers  that  which,  if  it  be  ae- 
oepted  in  the  fraternal  spirit  in  which  it  is  tendered,  will  supersede 
the  necessity  of  the  employment  of  all  force. 

There  are  some  who  say,  let  the  tariff  go  down  ;  let  our  manu&o- 
tnres  be  prostrated,  if  such  be  the  pleasure,  at  another  session,  of  thoee 
to  whose  hands  the  government  of  this  country  is  confided  :  let  banker 
niptcy  and  ruin  be  spread  over  the  land :  and  let  resistance  to  the 
laws,  at  all  hazards,  be  subdued.  Sir,  they  take  counsel  fi-om  their 
passions.  They  anticipate  a  terrible  reaction  firom  the  downfall  of 
the  tariff,  which  would  ultimately  re*establish  it  upon  a  firmer  basis 
than  ever.  £>ut  it  is  these  very  agitations,  these  mutual  irritations 
between  brethren  of  the  same  family,  it  is  the  individual  distress  and 
general  ruin  that  would  necessarily  follow  the  overthrow  of  the  tariff, 
that  ought,  if  possible,  to  be  prevented.  Besides,  are  we  certain  of 
this  reaction  ?  Have  we  not  been  disappointed  in  it  as  to  other  meas- 
ures heretofore  ?  But  suppose,  after  a  long  and  embittered  struggle, 
it  should  come,  in  what  relative  condition  would  it  find  the  parts  of 
this  confederacy  ?  In  what  state  our  ruined  manufactures  ?  When 
they  should  be  laid  low,  who,  amidst  the  fragments  of  the  general 
wreck,  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  land,  would  have  courage  to  en- 
gage in  fresh  enterprises,  under  a  new  pledge  of  the  violated  faith  of 
the  government  ?  If  we  adjourn,  without  passing  this  bill,  having 
entrusted  the  executive  with  vast  powers  to  maintain  the  laws, should 
he  be  able  by  the  next  session  to  put  down  all  opposition  to  them, 
will  he  not,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  success,  have  more  power 
than  ever  to  put  down  the  tariff  also  ?  Has  he  not  said  that  the  south 
IS  oppressed,  and  its  burdens  ought  to  be  relieved  ?  And  will  he  not 
feel  himself  bound,  after  he  shall  have  triumphed,  if  triumph  he  may 
in  a  civil  war,  to  appease  the  discontents  of  the  south  by  a  modificnp 
tion  of  the  tariff,  in  conformity  with  its  wishes  and  demands  ?  No, 
sir ;  no,  sir ;  let  us  save  the  country  from  the  most  dreadful  of  all 
calamities,  and  let  us  save  its  industry,  too,  from  threatened  destruc- 
tion. Statesmen  should  regulate  their  conduct  and  adapt  their  meai- 
nres  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times  in  which  they  live.  They  pannot, 
I,  transcend  the  limita  of  the  constitutional  rule ;  but  with  rd» 


0«  niTB0D9CIIIO  TBI  OMPBOilltt  ACT.  175 

ipect  to  those  systems  of  policy  which  fall  within  its  scope,  they  should 
arrange  them  according  to  the  interests,  the  wants,  and  the  prejudices 
of  the  people.  Two  great  dangers  threaten  the  public  safety.  The 
true  patriot  will  not  stop  to  inquire  how  they  have  been  brought 
about,  but  will  fly  to  the  deliverance  of  his  country.  The  di^rence 
between  the  friends  and  the  foes  of  the  compromise,  under  considerar 
tion,  is,  that  they  would,  in  the  enforcing  act,  send  forth  alone  a  flam- 
ing sword.  We  would  send  out  that  also,  but  along  with  it  the  olive 
branch,  as  a  messenger  of  peace.  They  cry  out,  the  law  !  the  law  I 
the  law !  Power !  power !  power !  We,  too,  reverence  the  law,  and 
bow  to  the  supremacy  of  its  obligation  ;  but  we  are  in  favor  of  the 
law  executed  in  mildness,  and  of  power  tempered  with  mercy.  Theyi 
as  we  think,  would  hazard  a  civil  commotion,  beginning  in  South 
Carolina  and  extending,  God  only  knows  where.  While  we  would 
vindicate  the  federal  government,  we  are  for  peace,  if  possible,  Union 
and  liberty.  We  want  no  war,  above  all,  no  civil  war,  no  family 
strife.  We  want  to  see  no  sacked  cities,  no  desolated  fields,  no  smok- 
ing ruins,  no  streams  of  American  blood  shed  by  American  arms ! 

I  have  been  accused  of  ambition  in  presenting  this  measure.  Am- 
bition !  inordinate  ambition !  If  I  had  thought  of  myself  only,  I  should 
have  never  brough  it  forward.  I  know  well  the  perils  to  which  I 
expose  myself;  the  risk  of  alienating  faithful  and  valued  friends,  with 
but  little  prospect  of  making  new  ones,  if  any  new  ones  could  com- 
pensate for  the  loss  of  those  whom  we  have  long  tried  and  loved ; 
and  the  honest  misconceptions  both  of  friends  and  foes.  Ambition ! 
If  I  had  listened  to  its  soft  and  seducing  whispers ;  if  I  had  yielded 
myself  to  the  dictates  of  a  cold,  calculating,  and  prudential  policy,  I 
would  have  stood  still  and  unmoved.  I  might  even  have  silently 
gazed  on  the  raging  storm,  enjoyed  its  loudest  thunders,  and  left  those 
who  are  charged  with  the  care  of  the  vessel  of  State,  to  conduct  it  as 
they  could.  I  have  been  heretofore  often  unjustly  accused  of  ambi- 
tion. Low,  grovelling  souls,  who  are  utterly  incapable  of  elevating 
themselves  to  the  higher  and  nobler  duties  of  pure  patriotism — beings 
who,  for  ever  keeping  their  own  selfish  aims  in  view,  decide  all  pub- 
lic measures  by  their  presumed  influence  on  their  aggrandizement, 
judge  me  by  the  venal  rule  which  they  prescribe  to  th<imselves.  I 
have  given  to  the  winds  those  false  accusations,  as  I  consign  that 
which  now  impeaches  my  motives.  I  have  no  desire  for  office,  not 
•fen  the  highest.    The  most  exalted  is  but  a  prison,  in  which  the 


in  WMCHM  OF  HKirmr  OLAT. 

0 

i 
oieareerated  incDinbent  daily  receives  his  cold,  heartless  yisitants, 

marks  his  weary  hours,  and  is  cut  off  from  the  practical  enjoyment  of 
■11  the  hlesaings  of  genuine  freedom.  I  am  no  candidate  for  any  of- 
fice in  the  gift  of  the  people  of  these  States,  united  or  separated ;  I 
never  wish,  never  expect  to  he.  Pass  this  hill,  tranquilize  the  coim- 
try,  restore  confidence  and  affection  in  the  Union,  and  I  am  willing  to 
go  home  to  Ashland,  and  renounce  public  service  forever.  I  should 
there  find,  in  its  groves,  under  its  shades,  on  its  lawns,  amidst  my 
flocks  and  herds,  in  the  bosom  of  my  family,  sincerity  and  truth, 
attachment  and   fidelity,  and  gratitude,  which  I  have  not  always 

found  in  the  walks  of  public  life Yes,  I  have  ambition,  but  it  is 

the  ambition  of  being  the  humble  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  Provi- 
dence, to  reconcile  a  divided  people,  once  more  to  revive  concord 
and  harmony  in  a  distracted  land — the  pleasing  ambition  of  contem- 
plating the  glorious  spectacle  of  a  free,  united,  prosperous,  and 
fraternal  pe^v^U^ ' 


ON  THE  REMOVAL  OF  THE  DEPOSITES. 


Ill  THE  Sbnatb  of  the  Uhited  Stateb,  Decbkbeii  26y  1833. 


(Hie  war  of  General  Jacxiok  upon  the  United  States  Bank  haTin^  been  proe» 
Aited  so  far  as  to  secure  the  ultimate  downfall  of  the  institution— a  renewal  of  its 
charter  having  been  prevented  by  the  Executive  Veto — the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  the  spring  of  18S3,  resolveil  that  th^  Deposites  of  the  Public  Monejrs  in  the 
United  States  Bank  were  safe,  and  (impliedly)  that  they  ought  to  be  continued.  In 
the  face  of  this,  General  JACstoir,  on  the  18th  of  September,  read  a  paper  to  his 
Cabinet,  avowing  his  determination  to  procure  the  Removal  of  the  Deposites.  On 
the  24lh  he  removed  Mr.  Buanb  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasory,  and 
appointed  Roocn  B.  Tamw  (before  Attorney  General)  in  his  stead.  Mr.  Tahxv 
immediately  removed  the  Deposites.  Upon  the  assemblinf  of  Gongiess  the  follow- 
ing December,  the  propriety  of  this  important  and  novel  step  came  natundly  imdar 
dbcussion.    Mr.  Clat  submitted  the  following  resolutions : 

Rnohftd,  That  by  dlnnissin^  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasory  beeanse  he  wonld 
■ot.  contrary  to  his  sense  of  his  ovm  duty,  remove  the  money  of  the  United  States 
in  opposite  with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches,  in  conformity  with 
the  President's  opinion:  and  by  appointing  his  successor  to  effect  such  removal, 
which  has  been  acne,  the  President  has  assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  not  granted  to  him  by  the  constitution  and  lavrs,  and 
dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

Radvtil,  That  the  reasons  ansigned  by  the  Secretarr  of  the  Treasunr  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  money  of  the  United  States,  deposited  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
and  its  branches,  communicated  to  Congress  on  the  3d  of  December,  1883,  are 
■■nsirirfartory  ana  insufficient.] 

We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  revolation,  hitherto  bloodless,  but  rajHdly 
tending  towards  a  total  change  of  the  pure  republican  character  of  the 
^Tenunenty  and  to  the  concentration  of  all  power  in  the  hands  of  one 
man.  The  powers  of  Congress  are  paralyzed,  except  when  exerted 
in  oonfonbity  with  his  will,  by  frequent  and  an  extraordinory  exer^ 
eise  of  the  executive  reto,  not  anticipated  by  the  founders  of  our  con- 
•titutiony  and  not  practised  by  any  of  the  predecessors  of  the  present 
tfhief  magistimte.  And,  to  cramp  them  still  more,  a  new  expedieal 
is  springing  into  use,  of  withholding  altogether  bills  which  haye  to» 
eeived  the  sanction  ai  both  Houses  of  Congress^  thereby  euttii^  eff 


178  •PncHBt  or  hkhbt  clat. 

aO  opportunity  of  passing  them,  even  if,  after  their  return,  the  mem- 
bers should  be  unanimous  in  their  favor.  The  constitutional  parti- 
cipation of  the  Senate  in  the  appointing  power  is  virtually  abolished 
by  the  constant  use  of  the  power  of  removal  from  office,  without  any 
known  cause,  and  by  the  appointment  of  the  same  individual  to  the 
same  office,  afler  his  rejection  by  the  Senate.  How  often  have  we, 
Senators,  felt  that  the  check  of  the  Senate,  instead  of  being,  as  the 
constitution  intended,  a  salutary  control,  was  an  idle  ceremony  ?  How 
often,  when  acting  on  the  case  of  the  nominated  successor,  have  we 
felt  the  injustice  of  the  removal  ?  How  often  have  we  said  to  each 
other,  well,  what  can  we  do ;  the  office  cannot  remain  vacant,  with- 
out prejudice  to  the  public  interest,  and,  if  we  reject  the  propofed 
aobstitute,  we  cannot  restore  the  displaced,  and,  perhaps,  some  more 
unworthy  man  may  be  nominated  ? 

The  judiciary  has  not  been  exempt  from  the  prevailing  rage  for 
innovation.  Decisions  of  the  tribunals,  deliberately  pronounced, 
have  been  contemptuously  disregarded.  And  the  sanctity  of  nu- 
merous treaties  openly  violated.  Our  Indian  relations,  coeval  with 
the  existence  of  the  government,  and  recognised  and  established  by 
numerous  laws  and  treaties,  have  been  subverted,  the  rights  of  the 
nelpless  and  unfortunate  aborigines  trampled  in  the  dust,  and  they 
brought  under  subjection  to  unknown  laws,  in  which  they  have  no 
voice,  promulgated  in  an  unknown  language.  The  most  extensive 
and  most  valuable  public  domain  that  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  one  na- 
tion, is  threatened  with  a  total  sacrifice.  The  general  currency  of 
the  country — the  life-blood  of  all  its  business — is  in  the  most  inuni- 
nent  dangei^of  universal  disorder  and  confusion.  The  power  of  inter- 
nal improvement  lies  crushed  beneath  the  veto.  The  system  of  pro- 
tection of  American  industry  was  snatched  from  impending  destruc- 
tion, at  the  last  session ;  but  we  are  now  coolly  told  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  without  a  blush,  '^  that  it  is  understood  to  be  con- 
ctded  on  all  hands ^  that  the  tariff  for  protection  merely  is  to  be  finally 
abandoned."  By  the  36  of  March,  1837,  if  the  progress  of  innova- 
tion continues,  there  will  be  scarcely  a  vestige  remaining  of  the  goT- 
eroment  and  its  policy,  as  they  existed  prior  to  the  3d  of  March, 
1829.  In  a  term  of  eight  years,  a  little  more  than  equal  to  thll 
which  was  required  to  establish  our  liberties,  the  government  will 
have  been  transformed  into  an  elective  monarchy — the  worst  of  all 
ftraa  of  government. 


Oir  TBI  BXMOTAL  OF  THX  DBPOSITn.  171 

Sach  is  a  melancholy  but  &itbful  picture  of  the  present  condition 
of  oar  public  affiiirs.  It  is  not  sketched  or  exhibited  to  excite,  here 
or  elsewhere,  irntaled  feeling.  1  have  no  such  purpose.  1  would, 
on  the  contrary,  implore  the  Senate  and  the  people  to  discard  all  pas* 
sion  and  prejudice,  and  to  look  calmly,  but  resolutely j  upon  the  ac- 
tual state  of  the  constitution  and  the  country.  Although  I  bring  into 
the  Senate  the  udme  unabated  spirit,  and  the  same  firm  determination 
which  have  ever  guided  me  in  the  support  of  civil  liberty,  and  the 
defence  of  our  constitution,  I  contemplate  the  prospect  before  us  with 
feelings  of  deep  humiliation  and  profound  mortification. 

It  is  not  among  the  least  unfortunate  symptoms  of  the  times,  that 
a  large  portion  of  the  good  and  enlightened  men  of  the  Union, 
of  all  parties,  are  yielding  to  sentiments  of  despondency.  There  is, 
unhappily,  a  feeling  of  distrust  and  insecurity  pervading  the  commu- 
nity. Many  of  our  best  citizens  entertain  serious  apprehensions  that 
our  Union  and  our  ^institutions  are  destined  to  a  speedy  overthrow. 
Sir,  I  trust  that  the  hopes  and  confidence  of  the  country  will  revive. 
There  is  much  occasion  for  manly  independence  and  patriotic  ▼igOTi 
but  none  for  despair.  Thank  God,  we  are  yet  free  ;  and,  if  we  pat 
on  the  chains  which  are  forging  for  us,  it  will  be  because  wedeserre 
to  wear  them.  We  should  never  despair  of  the  republic.  If  our 
ancestors  had  been  capable  of  surrendering  themselves  to  such  igno- 
ble sentimens,  our  independence  and  our  liberties  would  never  have 
been  achieved.  The  winter  of  1776-7  was  one  of  the  gloomiest  pe- 
riods of  the  revolution ;  but  on  this  day^  fifly-seven  years  ago,  the 
&ther  of  his  country  achieved  a  glorious  victory,  which  diffused  joy 
and  gladness  and  animation  throughout  the  States.  Let  us  cherish 
the  hope  that,  since  he  has  gone  from  among  us,  Providence,  in  the 
dispensation  of  his  mercies,  has  near  at  hand  in  reserve  for  us,  though 
jet  unseen  by  us,  some  sure  and  happy  deliverence  from  all  impend- 
ing dangers. 

.When  we  assembled  here  last  year,  we  were  full  of  dreadful  fore- 
bodings. On  the  one  hand  we  were  menaced  with  a  civil  war,  which, 
lighting  up  in  a  single  State,  might  spread  its  flames  throughout  one 
of  the  largest  sections  of  the  Union.  On  the  other,  a  cherished  sys- 
tem of  policy,  essential  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  industry 
of  our  countrymeu,  was  exposed  to  imminent  danger  of  immediali 
destruction.    Meaiw  werehsiipljippUadby  C!oiigi«M 


IW  traiciiii  or  HxirBT  clat. 


i 


etlainities.  The  country  reconciled,  and  our  Union  once  more  be- 
oftine  a  band  of  friends  and  brothers.  And  I  shall  be  greatly  disap- 
pointed, if  we  do  not  find  those  who  were  denounced  as  being  un* 
firiendly  to  the  continuance  of  our  confederacy,  among  the  foremost  to 
fly  to  its  preservation,  and  to  resist  all  executive  encroachment. 

Mr.  President,  when  Congress  adjourned,  at  the  termination  of 
the  last  session,  there  was  one  remnant  x>f  its  powers,  that  over  the 
purse,  left  untouched.  The  two  most  important  powers  of  civil  gor^ 
ernment  are,  those  of  the  swoid  and  the  purse.  The  first,  with  soma 
restriction,  is  confided  by  the  constitution  to  the  executive,  and  the 
last  to  the  legislative  department.  If  they  are  separate,  and  exer- 
cised by  different  responsible  departments,  civil  liberty  is  safe ;  but 
if  they  are  united  in  the  hands  of  the  same  individual,  it  is  gone. 
That  clear-sighted  and  sagacious  revolutionary  orator  and  patriot, 
(Patrick  Henry)  justly  said,  in  the  Virginia  Convention,  in  reply  to 
one  of  his  opponents : 


t€ 


Let  bim  candidly  tell  me  where  aod  when  did  freedom  eziM,  when  the 
Snd  parse  were  ^ven  up  from  the  people  1  Unlen  a  mirdcle  in  human  atTairs  in* 
ferposed,  no  nation  ever  retained  its  liberty  after  the  lose  of  the  eword  and  the  puise. 
Can  you  prove  by  any  argumentative  deduction,  that  it  is  possihlie  to  be' safe  wtlkoat 
•ne  of  them  1    IT  you  give  them  up  you  are  gone." 


Up  to  the  period  of  the  termination  of  the  last  session  of  Congress 
the  exclusive  constitutional  power  of  Congress  over  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States  bad  never  been  contested.*  Among  its  earliest  acts 
was  one  to  establish  the  treasury  department,  which  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  a  treasurer,  who  was  required  to  give  bond  and  secu- 
rity in  a  very  large  amount,  *^  to  receive  and  keep  the  moneys  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  disburse  the  same  upon  warrants  drawn  by  thfc 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  countersigned  by  the  Comptroller,  record- 
ed by  the  Register,  and  not  othermsey  Prior  to  the  establishment 
of  the  present  Bank  of  the  United  States,  no  treasury  or  place  had 
been  provided  and  designated  by  law  for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  ptib- 
lie  moneys,  but  the  treasurer  was  left  to  his  own  discretion  and  re* 
sponsibility.  When  the  existing  Bank  was  established,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  the  public  moneys  should  be  deposited  with  it,  and  cOnad* 
quently  that  Bank  became  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  For 
whatever  place  is  designate  by  law  for  the  keeping  of  the  poblkl 
Mooqr  oC  the  Uoited  Slates,  mder  the  eare  of  the  treasurer  of  tfw 


oil  THC  BKKOtAL  OT  TOIL  DIP08ITBS.  181 

(Jiiited  States,  is  for  the  time  being  the  treasttry.  Its  safety  was 
drawn  in  question  by  the  chief  magistrate,  and  an  agent  was  ap- 
pointed a  little  more  than  a  year  ago,  to  investigate  its  ability.  He 
reported  to  the  executive  that  it  was  perfectly  safe.  His  apprehen 
sions  of  its  solidity  were  communicated  by  the  President  to  Congresfi 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  examine  the  subject.  They,  also, 
reported  in  favor  of  its  security.  And,  finally,  amon^  the  last  acts 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  prior  to  the  close  of  the  last  session, 
was  the  adoption  of  a  resolution,  manifesting  its  entire  confidence  in 
the  ability  and  solidity  of  the  bank.  ^ 

Afler  all  these  testimonies  to  the  perfect  safety  of  the  public 
moneys,  in  the  place  appointe^d  by  Congress,  who  could  have  sup- 
posed that  the  place  would  have  been  changed  ?  Who  could  have 
imagined  that,  within  sixty  days  of  the  meeting  of  Congress,  and,  as 
it  were,  in  utter  contempt  of  its  authority,  the  change  should  have 
been  ordered  ?  Who  would  have  dreamed  that  the  treasurer  should 
have  thrown  away  the  single  key  to  the  treasury,  over  which  Con- 
gress held  ample  control,  and  accepted  in  lieu  of  it  some  dozens  of 
keys,  over  which  neither  Congress  nor  he  has  any  adequate  control  ? 
Tet,  sir,  all  this  has  been  done,  and  it  is  now  our  solemn  duty  to 
inquire — 1st,  By  whose  authority  it  has  been  ordered  ?  and  2d, 
Whether  the  order  has  been  given  in  conformity  with  the  constitution 
md  laws  of  the  United  States } 

I  agree,  sir,  and  I  am  happy  whenever  I  can  agree  with  the  Presi- 
dent, as  to  the  immense  importance  of  these  quctitions.  He  says,  in 
a  paper  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  that  he  looks  upon  the  pending 
question  as  involving  higher  considerations  than  the  "  mere  transfer 
of  a  smn  of  money  from  one  bank  to  another.  Its  decision  may  afTect 
the  character  of  our  government  for  ac<*s  to  come."  And,  with  him, 
I  view  it  as  of  transcendent  imj)ortance  both  in  its  consequences  and 
the  great  principles  which  the  question  involves.  In  the  view  which 
I  have  taken  of  this  subject,  1  hold  the  bank  as  nothing,  as  perfectly 
insignificant,  faithful  as  it  has  been  in  the  performance  of  all  its  duties, 
efficient  as  it  has  proved  in  regulating  the  currency,  than  which  there 
is  none  in  all  Christendom  so  sound,  and  deep  as  is  the  interest  of  the 
country  in  the  establishment  and  continuance  of  a  sound  currency, 
md  the  avoidance  of  all  those  evils  which  result  from  a  defective  or 
VMetUed  oorrency.    All  these  I  regard  as  questions  of  no  importance, 

•M 


182  SPEECHES  or   HENRT  CLAT. 

in  comparison  with  the  principles  involved  in  this  executive  innova- 
tion. It  involves  the  assumption  of  power  by  the  executive,  and  the 
taking  away  a  power  from  Congress  which  it  was  never  before  doubted 
to  possess — the  power  over  the  public  purse.  Entertaining  these 
views,  I  shall  not,  to-day,  at  least,  examine  the  reasons  assigned  by 
the  President,  or  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  for  if  the  Prc^ 
dent  had  no  power  to  perform  the  act,  no  reasons,  however  cogent  or 
strong,  which  he  can  assign  as  urging  him  to  the  accomplishment  of 
his  purpose,  no  reasons  can  sanctify  an  unconstitutional  and  illegal  act 

The  first  question,  sir,  which  I  intimated  it  to  be  my  purpose  to 
examine,  was,  by  whose  direction  was  this  change  of  the  depoaites 
made? 

Now,  sir,  is  there  any  man  who  hears  me,  who  requires  proof  on 
this  point  ?  Is  there  an  intelligent  man  in  the  whole  country  who 
does  not  know  who  it  was  that  decided  on  the  removal  of  the  da* 
posites  ?  Is  it  not  of  universal  notoriety  ?  Does  any  man  doubt  that 
it  was  the  act  of  the  President  ?  That  it  was  done  by  his  authority 
and  at  his  command  ?  The  President,  on  this  subject,  has  bin. self 
furnished  evidence  which  is  perfectly  conclusive,  in  the  paper  which 
he  has  read  to  his  cabinet ;  for,  although  he  has  denied  to  the  Senate 
an  official  copy  of  that  paper,  it  is  universally  admitted  that  he  has 
given  it  to  the  world  as  containing  the  reasons  which  influenced  him 
to  this  act.  As  a  part  of  the  people,  if  not  in  our  senatorial  character, 
we  have  a  right  to  avail  ourselves  of  that  paper,  and  of  all  which  it 
contains.  Is  it  not  peifectly  conclusive  as  to  the  authority  by  which 
the  deposites  have  been  removed  ?  I  admit  that  it  is  an  unprece* 
dented  and  most  extraordinary  paper.  The  constitution  of  the  United 
States  admits  of  a  call,  from  the  chief  magistrate,  on  the  heads  of 
departments,  for  their  opinions  in  writing. 

It  appears,  indeed,  that  this  power  which  the  constitution  confers 
on  the  President,  had  been  exercised,  and  that  the  cabinet  were  divi- 
ded, two  and  two,  and  one,  who  was  ready  to  go  on  either  side,  being 
a  little  indifferent  how  this  great  constitutional  power  was  settled  by 
the  President.  The  President  was  not  satisfied  with  calling  on  hi» 
cabinet  for  their  opinions,  in  the  customary  and  constitutional  form ; 
bat  he  prepares  a  paper  of  his  own,  and,  instead  of  receiving  reasons 
ftoQi  them«  reads  to  them,  and  thus  indoctrinates  them  according  to 


K 


OH  THS  SBMOTAL  OT  THB  DfiFOSITBS.  188 

Mb  own  views.  Thb,  airy  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our  conn- 
try,  when  a  paper  has  been  thus  read,  and  thus  published.  The  pro- 
ceeding is  entirely  without  precedent.  Those  who  now  exercise 
power  consider  all  precedents  wrong.  They  hold  precedents  in  con* 
tempt :  and,  casting  them  aside,  have  commenced  a  new  era  in  ad- 
ministration. But  while  they  thus  hold  all  precedents  in  contempt, 
disregarding  all,  no  matter  how  long  established,  no  matter  to  what 
departments  of  the  government  they  may  have  given  sanction,  they 
are  always  disposed  to  shield  themselves  behind  a  precedent,  when- 
ever they  can  find  one  to  subserve  their  purpose. 

But  the  question  is^-who  gave  the  order  for  the  removal  of  the 
deposites  ?  By  whose  act  were  they  removed  from  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  where  they  were  required  by  the  law  to  be  placed, 
and  placed  in  banks  which  the  law  never  designated  ?  I  tell  the  gen- 
tlemen who  are  opposed  to  me,  that  I  am  not  to  be  answered  by  the 
exhibition  of  an  order  signed  by  R.  Taney,  or  any  one  else.  I  want 
to  know,  not  the  deik  who  makes  the  writing,  but  the  individual  who 
dictates — not  the  hangman  who  executes  the  culprit,  but  the  tribunal 
which  orders  the  execution.  I  want  the  original  authority,  that  I 
may  know  by  whose  order,  on  whose  authority  the  public  deposites 
were  removed,  and  I  again  ask — is  there  a  member  of  this  Senate,  is 
there  an  intelligent  man  in  the  whole  country,  who  doubts  on  this 
point  ?  Hear  what  the  President  himself  says,  in  his  manifesto,  read 
to  his  Cabinet : 

**  The  President  deemB  it  HIS  duty,  to  commniacate  in  this  manner  to  his  eabi- 
net  tfcc  JhuU  condntumB  or  tns  oWs  mutd,  and  the  reasons  on  which  they  are  fonnd- 
^d,"  Ace. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  paper  what  does  he  say  ? 

"  TTie  President  af^ain  repeats  that  he  begs  his  cabinet  to  consider  the  proposied 
measaic  as  ms  owv,  in  the  auigport  of  which  be  shall  require  no  one  of  them  to  make 
a  sacriftce  of  opinion  or  principle.  Its  wBBPoiriniiLrrT  hai  becii  isiumcD,  after  the 
moat  mature  reflection,  as  necessary  to  preserve  the  morals  of  ihe  peowe,  the  free- 
dom of  the  press,  and  the  purity  of  the  elective  franchise,  without  which  all  wiU 
vnite  in  sayias  mat  the  blood  and  treasure  expended  by  our  (brefathers  in  the  eataiK 
lishment  of  our  happy  system  of  govenunent  will  have  beei  vain  and  fruitlesa.  Un- 
der these  oonvietions,  he  feels  that  a  measure  so  important  to  the  Amencan  peool^ 
eaanot  be  oommeneed  too  sooii ;  and  HE  titertfore  iwfn«  the  fnt  day  of  Ortobtr 
mat  as  a  period  proper  for  the  change  of  the  deposites,  or  sooner,  provided  the  neces- 
sary airangemeats  with  ths  State  Banks  can  be  made.'* 

Sir,  is  there  a  Senator  here  who  will  tell  me  that  this  removal  was 
not  made  l){^  fite  Preaident  ?    I  know,  indeed,  that  there  are  in  this 


184  BPEBCHBS  or  HKNBT   CLAT- 

docatnent  many  of  those  most  mild,  most  gracious,  most  coodeBcend- 
ing  expressions,  with  which  power  well  knows  how  to  clothe  its  man- 
dates. The  President  coaxes,  he  soothes  the  Secretary  in  the  most 
bland  and  conciliating  language  : 

'*  In  the  remarks  he  has  made  on  this  all  important  question,  he  trmtM  dis  Seere- 
tary  of  the  Treastiry  will  see  only  the  frank  uiid  respectful  declarations  of  the  opin- 
tons  which  the  iVeiiidriii  has  formed  on  a  m'^nsure  of  great  nstiona!  interest,  deei4y 
aiTecting  the  eh  inicter  an  1  useiulii^83of  his  uiiministration ;  and  not  a  tpkii  cf  dic- 
tation, which  th^  President  woull  be  (i»carffi4  to  avoid,  aa  ready  to  resist.  Happi 
will  he  be,  if  iii<.'  laets  now  di»cloB«?d  produce  unifoimity  of  opinion  and  unity  of 
action  among  the  mtmhcru  of  the  admmistrution." 

Sir,  how  kind  !  how  gentle !  How  very  gracior.s  must  this  have 
sounded  in  the  gratified  ear  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury !  Sir,  it 
reminds  me  of  an  historical  anecdote  related  of  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable characters  which  our  species  has  ever  produced.  While 
Oliver  Cromwell  was  contending  for  the  mastery  of  Great  Britain,  or 
Ireland,  (I  do  not  now  remember  which,)  he  besieged  a  certain  Catho- 
lic town.  The  place  made  a  stout  resistance ;  but  at  length  the  town 
being-  likely  to  be  taken,  the  poor  Catholics  proposed  terms  of  capitu- 
lation, stipulating  therein  for  the  toleration  of  their  religion.  The 
paper  containing  the  terms  was  brought  to  Oliver,  who,  putting  on 
his  spectacles  to  read  it,  cried  out,  "  Oh,  granted,  granted ;  certain- 
ly"— he,  however,  added — "  but  if  one  of  them  shall  dare  to  be  found 
attending  mass,  he  shall  be  hanged" — (under  what  section  is  not  men- 
tioned ;  whether  under  a  second,  or  any  other  section,  of  any  particu- 
lar law,  we  arc  not  told.) 

Thus,  sir,  the  Secretary  was  told  by  the  President  that  he  had  not 
the  slightest  wish  to  dictate — oh,  no :  nothing  is  farther  from  the  Presi- 
dent's intention  :  but,  sir,  what  was  he  told  in  the  sequel  ?  "If  you 
do  not  comply  with  my  wishes — if  you  do  not  effect  the  removal  of 
these  deposites  within  the  period  1  assign  you,  you  must  quit  your 
office."  And  what,  sir,  was  the  effect .?  This  document  bears  date 
on  the  18th  of  September.  In  the  official  paper,  published  at  the  seat 
of  government,  and  through  which  it  is  understood  that  the  govern- 
ment makes  known  its  wishes  and  purposes  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  we  were  told,  under  date  of  the  20th  September,  1833, 
two  days  only  after  this  cabinet  paper  was  read,  as  follows : 

"  Wc  are  aMthorized  to  ^ntc^'^Uuthonztd  ;  this  is  the  word  which  gave  credit 
to  this  aoM  inc.aiiofi]--"  We  »re  authoriz'^d  to  state  that  the  deposites  of  the  pqhUc 
money  will  be  changed  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  Che  SCate  BiiuA,  aa 


ON  THB  BXMOTAL  OV  THB  DBPOSITES.  185 

■ooD  u  neeeflnry  anan^pments  can  be  made  for  that  purpose,  and  that  it  is  believed 
they  can  be  completed  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Boston,  in  time 
Co  make  the  change  6y  thejirti  of  October,  and  perkapt  sooner,  i(  circumstances  should 
render  an  earlier  action  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  government."  * 

Tes,  sir,  od  the  18th  of  September  this  measuni  was  decided  on ; 
and  on  the  20th,  it  is  announced  to  the  people,  (hat  the  depositet 
would  be  removed  by  the  first  of  October,  or  sooner,  if  practicable ! 
Mr.  Duane  was  continued  in  office  till  the  23d,  on  which  day  he  was 
dismissed :  and  between  the  23d  and  the  d^th,  on  which  latter  day 
the  mere  clerical  act  of  signing  the  order  for  removal  was  performed, 
Mr.  Taney,  by  whom  it  was  done,  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  having  conformed  to  the  will  of  the  President,  against  his 
own  duty,  which  Mr.  Duane  would  not  do.  Yes,  sir,  on  the  20th 
went  forth  this  proclamation,  by  authority,  of  the  removal  of  the 
deposites,  although  Mr.  Duane  remained  in  office  till  the  2dd.  On 
this  point  we  have  conclusive  proof  in  a  letter  of  the  President  to  that 
gentleman,  dated  on  the  2dd,  which  letter,  after  all  the  gracious, 
firiendly  and  conciliating  lai^age  of  the  cabinet  paper,  concludes  in 
these  terms : 

**  I  fee!  constrained  to  notify  tou,  that  yow  fdrtber  services  as  Seeretaiy  of  tbe 
Treasury  are  no  longer  required." 

Such,  Mr.  President,  is  the  testimony  on  the  one  side  to  prove  the 
troth  of  the  proposition,  that  the  removal  of  the  deposites  firom  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  was  a  measure  determined  on  by  the  Pre- 
sident himself— determined  on  while  the  latter  Secretary  of  the  Trea^ 
sury  was  still  in  ofiice,  and  against  the  will  of  the  Secretary ;  although 
Mr.  Taney  may  have  put  his  signature  to  the  order  on  the  26th — a 
mere  ministerial  act,  done  in  conformity  with  the  previous  decision 
of  the  President,  that  the  removal  should  take  place  on  or  before  the 
fint  of  October. 

I  now  call  the  attention  (^  the  Senate  to  testimony  of  the  other 
party :  I  mean  Mr.  Duane.  After  giving  a  history  of  the  circum- 
stances which  accompanied  his  appointment  to  office,  and  what  pass- 
ed antecedent  to  his  removal,  he  proceeds  to  say : 

"  Thus  was  I  thrust  into  office— thus  was  I  dirutt  from  office—not  because  I  had 
neglected  any  duty— not  because  I  had  differed  with  him  about  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States— but  because  I  relhsed,  without  further  inquiry  by  Congrees,  to  remove 
the  depontes.** 

'  OiBlefltinioBybeiiiorevdiBplatetoeftabliahthepropofite^ 


186  8PIECBB8  OF  RXNRT  CLAT. 

.adyanced?  And  is  it  possible,  after  the  testimony  of  the  President 
on  one  side,  and  of  his  Secretary  on  the  other,  that  the  former  had 
decided  that  the  deposites  should  be  removed,  and  had  removed  the 
Secretary  because  he  would  not  do  it,  that  any  man  can  doubt  that 
.the  removal  was  the  President's  own  act?  that  it  was  done  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  command  ? 

And  now,  sir,  havii^  seen  that  the  removal  was  made  by  the  com- 
mand and  authority  of  the  'President,  I  shall  proceed  to  inquire 
whether  it  was  done  in  conformity  with  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
of  the  United  Stotes. 

I  do  not  purpose  at  this  time  to  go  into  the  reasons  alleged  by  the 
President  or  his  Secretary^  except  so  &r  as  those  reasons  contain  an 
attempt  to  show  that  he  possessed  the  requisite  authority.  Because 
if  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  no  power  to  do  this  thing — 
if  the  constitution  and  laws  instead  of  authorizing  it,  required  him  to 
keep  his  hands  off  the  treasury,  it  is  useless  to  inquire  into  any  reasons 
he  may  give  for  exercising  a  power  which  he  did  not  possess.  Sir, 
what  power  has  the  President  of  the  United  States  over  the  treasury  ! 
Is  it  in  the  charter  establishing  the  Bank  ?  The  clause  of  the  char- 
ter relating  to  the  public  deposites  declares, 


"  That  the  deposites  of  the  money  of  the  United  States,  in  places  in  which  the 
Bank  and  branches  thereof  may  be  established,  shall  be  made  in  said  bank  ,or 
branches  thereof,  unless  the  Secretary  of  the  treasury  shall  at  any  time  otherwise 
order  and  direct ;  in  which  case  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  snail  immediately 
lav  bol'ore  Congress,  if  in  session,  and  if  not,  immediately  after  the  commencemeul 
ef  the  next  session,  the  reasons  of  such  order  or  direction.** 

This  is  in  strict  consonance  with  the  act  creating  the  treasury  de- 
partment in  1789.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  by  that  act 
constituted  the  agent  of  Congress  ;  he  is  required  to  report  to  Con- 
gress annually  the  state  of  the  finances,  and  his  plans  respecting  them ; 
and  if  Congress  in  either  of  its  branches  shall  require  it,  he  is  to  re- 
port at  any  time  on  any  particular  branch  of  the  fiscal  concerns  of 
the  country.  He  is  the  agent  of  Congress  to  watch  over  the  safety 
of  the  national  deposites ;  and  if,  from  any  peculiar  circumstances, 
the  removal  of  them  shall  be  required,  he  is  to  report  the  feet — to 
whom  ?  to  the  President  ?  No,  sir — ^he  must  report  it  to  Congress, 
together  with  his  reasons  therefor.  By  the  charter  of  the  Bank,  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  clothed  with  two  powers  respecting 
%  and  two  onij«    By  oneof  itsdauav  ht  it  authoiiaed  to  nooiinate, 


ON   TRK  ft£MOTAL  OV  THE  DXP08ITES.  187 

and  by  and  with  the  consent  of  ther  Senate,  to  appoint  the  goyern" 
ment  directors,  and  to  remove  them :  by  the  other  clause  he  is  em- 
powered to  issue  a  scire  facicu  when  he  shall  apprehend  that  the 
charter  of  the  institution  has  been  violated.  These,  I  say,  are  the 
only  powers  given  him  by  the  charter,  all  others  are  denied  to  him, 
and  are  given  to  others.  The  Bank  is  not  bound  to  report  the  state 
of  its  Bt&xrs  to  him,  but  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  it  is 
thus  to  report  whenever  he  shall  call  upon  it  for  information ;  but 
when  it  becomes  necessary  to  go  farther,  a  committee  of  Congress  is 
authorized  to  examine  the  books  of  the  Bank  and  look  into  the  whole 
state  of  its  affairs,  and  to  re[K)rt,  not  to  the  President,  but  to  Congress 
who  appointed  them.  The  President  as  I  have  said,  is  restricted  to 
the  two  powers  of  appointing  directors,  and  issuing  a  scire  faciat* 

And  has  the  President  any  power  over  the  treasury  by  the  consti- 
tution ?  None,  sir — none.  The  constitution  requires  that  no  money 
shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  except  by  appropriation,  thus  placing 
it  entirely  under  the  control  of  Congress.  But  the  President  himself 
says  :  ''  upon  him  has  been  devolved,  by  the  constitution,  and  the 
lufifrages  of  the  American  people,  the  duty  of  superintending  the  ope- 
ration of  the  executive  departments  of  the  government,  and  seeing 
that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed. ^^  Sir,  the  President  in  another 
part  of  this  same  paper,  refers  to  the  same  suffrages  of  the  American 
people,  as  the  source  of  some  other  and  new  powers  over  and  above 
those  in  the  constitution,  or  at  least  as  expressive  of  their  approba- 
tion of  the  exercise  of  them.  Sir,  I  differ  from  the  President  on  this 
point ;  and  though  it  does  not  belong  exactly  in  this  place  in  the  ar- 
gument, I  will  add  a  remark  or  two  on  this  idea.  His  re-election  re- 
siilted  from  his  presumed  merits  generally,  and  the  confidence  and 
attachment  of  the  people  ;  and  from  the  un worthiness  of  his  compet- 
itor ;  nor  was  it  intended  thereby  to  express  their  approbation  of  all 
the  opinions  he  was  known  to  hold.  Sir,  it  cannot  be  believed  that 
the  great  State  of  Pennsylvania,  for  Instance,  which  has  so  justly  been 
denominated  the  key  stone  of  our  federal  arch,  in  voting  again  and 
again  for  the  present  Chief  Magistrate,  meant  by  that  act  to  reverse 
her  own  opinions  on  the  subject  of  domestic  industry.  Sir,  the  truth 
is,  that  the  re-election  of  the  President  proves  as  little  an  approbation 
by  the  people  of  all  the  opinions  he  may  hold,  even  if  he  had  ever 
uQequi vocally  expressed  what  those  opinions  were,  (a  thing  which 
he  nefv^y  so  &r  as  my  knowledge  extends,  has  yet  done)  as  it  would 


188  IPEKCHSS  OF  HSVBT    CLAT. 

prove  that  if  the  President  had  a  carbuncle  or  the  king's  evil,  they 
meant  by  re-electing  him,  to  approve  of  his  carbuncle. 

But  the  President  says,  that  the  duty  '^  has  been  devolved  upon 
him,"  to  remove  the  deposites,  ^^  by  the  Constitution  and  the  suffrages 
of  the  American  people."  Sir,  does  he  mean  to  say  that  these  suf- 
frages created  of  themselves  a  new  source  of  power  ?  That  he  deri- 
ved an  authority  from  them  which  he  did  not  hold  as  from  any  other 
souQce  }  If  he  means  that  theif  suffrages  made  him  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  that,  as  President,  Jie  may  exercise  every 
power  pertaining  to  that  office  under  the  constitution  and  the  laws^ 
there  is  none  who  controvert  it ;  but  then  there  could  be  no  need 
to  add  the  suffrages  to  the  constitution.  But  his  language  is,  '^  the 
suffrages  of  the  American  people  and  the  constitution."  Sir,  I  deny 
it.  There  is  not  a  syllable  in  the  constitution  which  imposes  any  such 
duty  upon  him.  There  is  nothing  of  any  such  thing  ;  no  color  to  the 
idea.  It  is  true,  that  by  law,  all  the  departments,  with  the  exceptioB 
of  the  treasury,  are  placed  under  the  general  care  of  the  President. 
He  says  this  is  done  by  the  constitution.  The  laws,  however,  have 
appointed  but  three  executive  departments ;  and  it  is  true  that  the 
secretaries  are  often  required  by  law  to  act  in  certain  cases  according 
to  the  directions  of  the  President.  So  far  ^  it  is  admitted  that  they 
have  been,  by  the  law,  (not  by  the  constitution,)  placed  under  the 
direction  of  the  President.  Yet,  even  as  to  the  State  departmenty 
there  are  duties  devolving  upon  the  Secretary  over  which  the  Presi- 
dent has  no  control ;  and  for  the  non-performance  of  which  that  ofB* 
cer  is  responsible,  not  to  the  President,  but  to  the  legislative  tribunals 
or  to  the  courts  of  justice.  This  is  no  new  opinion.  The  supreme 
court,  in  the  case  of  Marbury  and  Madison,  expressed  it  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms : 

'*  By  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  President  is  invested  with  certaia 
important  political  powen,in  the  exercise  of  which,  he  is  to  use  his  own  discretioB* 
and  is  accountable  only  to  his  country  in  his  political  character,  and  to  his  own  con- 
science. To  aid  him  in  the  performance  of  these  duties,  he  i^i  authorized  to  appoint 
certain  officer?,  who  act  by  his  authority,  and  in  conformity  to  his  orders. 

**  In  such  cases,  their  acts  are  his  acts ;  and  whatever  opinion  may  be  entertained 
of  the  manner  in  which  executive  discretion  may  be  used,  still  there  exists,  and  can 
exist,  no  power  to  control  that  discretion.  The  subjects  are  political.  They  respect 
the  nation,  not  individual  rigbts^nd  being  entrupted  (o  the  executive,  the  deciaioa 
of  the  executive  is  conchisive.  The  application  of  this  remark  will  be  perceived  hf 
adverting  to  the  act  of  Congress  for  establishing  the  department  of  foreign  affkiit. 
This  officer,  as  his  duties  were  prescribed  by  that  act,  is  to  conform  precisely  to  the 
will  of  the  President.  He  is  the  mere  organ  by  whom  that  will  is  communicated 
The  acts  of  such  an  officer,  as  an  officer,  can  never  be  examined  by  the  courts. 


ON  TBS  KEMOTAL  OP  TUB  DUPOSITtt.  iM 

"  Bot  when  the  legiiriatiire  proceeds  to  imjKJse  on  that  oiBeer  other  duties;  when 
he  is  directed  peremptorily  to  perform  certam  actn,  (that  ia,  when  he  is  not  placed 
nnder  the  direction  of  the  President,)  when  the  rights  of  individuals  are  dependent 
<m  the  performance  o(  those  acts,  he  is  so  far  the  qficer  of  the  law.;  is  amenable  to 
Ai  laws  for  his  conduct ;  and  cannot  at  his  discretion  sport  away  the  vested  rights  of 
•thprs. 

**  The  conchision  from  this  reasoning  is,  that  where  the  heads  of  departments  are 
the  poUtical  or  confidential  agents  of  the  eieoutive,  merely  to  execute  the  will  of 
the  President,  or  rather  to  act  in  cases  in  which  the  executive  possesses  a  constitn* 
tional  Of  le^al  discretion^  nothing  can  be  more  perfectly  clear  than  that  their  aeU 
are  only  politically  ezamiooble.  But  where  a  specific  duty  is  assigned  by  law,  and 
individual  rights  depend  upon  the  performance  of  that  duty,  it  seems  ecpiaHy  clear 
that  the  individual  who  considem  nimself  iojiued,  has  a  right  to  resort  to  the  lam 
of  his  country  for  a  remedy." 

Though  the  Preoident  is  mistaken  in  his  assertioni  that  the  consti- 
tution devolves  upon  the  President  the  superintendence  of  the  departs 
ments,  there  is  one  clause  of  that  instrument  which  he  has  very  cor- 
rectly quoted,  and  which  makes  it  his  duty  to  ^'  see  that  the  laws  are 
fiuthfully  executed,"  as  it  is  mine  now  to  examine  what  authority  he 
obtains  by  this  clause  in  the  case  before  us.  Under  it,  the  most  enor- 
mous pretensions  have  been  set  up  for  the  President. 

It  has  been  contended,  that  if  a  law  shall  pass  which  the  President 
does  not  conceive  to  be  in  conftmnity  with  the  constitution,  he  is  not 
bound  to  execute  it :  and  if  a  treaty  shall  have  been  made,  which,  in 
hb  opinion  has  been  unconstitutional  in  its  stipulations,  he  is  not 
bound  to  enforce  them.  And  it  necessarily  follows,  that,  if  the  courts 
of  justice  shall  give  a  decision,  which  he  shall  in  like  manner  deem 
Rifiiognant  to  the  constitution,  he  is  not  expected  or  bound  to  execute 
that  law.  Sir,  let  us  look  a  little  into  this  principle,  and  trace  it  oat 
inlo  some  of  its  consequences. 

One  of  the  most  unportant  acts  performed  at  the  departments  is,  to 
settle  those  yery  large  accounts  which  individuals  have  with  the 
go>Teniment ;  accounts  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars  ;  to  settle 
them,  an  auditor  and  a  comptroller  have  been  appointed  by  law, 
whose  official  acts  may  afiect,  to  the  extent  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars,  the  property  of  individual  contractors.  If  the  pretensions 
of  the  President  are  well  founded,  his  power  goes  further  than  he 
has  exerted  it.  He  may  go  into  the  office  of  the  auditor,  of  the  office 
of  the  comptroller,  and  may  say  to  him.  Sir,  Mr.  A.  B.  has  an  account 
under  settlement  in  this  office,  one  item  of  which  objected  to  by  you, 
I  consider  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  constitution ;  pass  that  ac- 
count and  send  it  to  the  auditor :  and  he  may  then  go  to  the  auditor 


1(K)  tPESCHBS  OF  HENRT    OLAY* 

and  hold  similar  language.  If  the  clause  of  the  constitution  is  to  be 
expounded,  as  is  contended  for,  it  amounts  to  a  complete  absorption 
of  all  the  powers  of  government  in  the  person  of  the  executive.  Sir, 
when  a  doctrine  like  this  shall  be  admitted  as  orthodox,  when  it  shall 
be  acquiesced  in  by  the  people  of  this  country,  our  government  will 
have  become  a  simple  machine  enough.  The  will  of  the  President 
will  be  the  whole  of  it.  There  will  be  but  one  bed,  and  that  will  be 
the  bed  of  Procrustes ;  but  one  will,  the  will  of  the  President.  All 
the  departments,  and  all  subordinate  functionaries  of  government, 
great  or  small,  must  submit  to  that  will ;  and  if  they  do  not,  then  the 
President  will  have  failed  to  <^  see  that  the  laws  are  fiuthfiilly  execu- 
ted." 

Sir,  such  an  extravagant  and  enormous  pretension  as  this  must  be 
set  alongside  of  its  exploded  compeer,  the  pretension  that  Congrem 
has  the  power  of  passing  any  and  all  laws  which  it  may  suppose 
conducive  to  "  th6  general  welfare." 

Let  me,  in  a  few  words,  present  to  the  Senate  what  are  my  own 
views  as  to  the  structure  of  this  government.  I  hold  that  no  pow- 
ers can  legitimately  he  exercised  under  it  but  such  as  are  expressly 
delegated,  and  those  which  are  necessary  to  carry  these  into  e£&ct. 
Sir,  the  executive  power  as  existing  in  this  government,  is  not  ta  be 
traced  to  the  notions  of  Montesquieu,  or  of  any  other  writer  of  that 
class,  in  the  abstract  nature  of  the  executive  power.  Neither  is  the 
legislative  nor  the  judicial  power  to  be  decided  by  any  such  refierenoe. 
These  several  powers  with  us,  whatever  they  may  be  elsewhere,  are 
just  what  the  constitution  has  made  them,  and  nothing  more.  And 
as  to  the  general  clauses  in  which  reference  is  made  to  either,  they 
are  to  be  controlled  and  interpreted  by  those  where  these  several 
powers  are  specially  delegated,  otherwise  the  executive  will  become 
a  great  vortex  that  mustend  in  swallowing  up  all  the  rest.  Nor  will 
the  judicial  power  be  any  longer  restrained  by  the  restraining  clauses 
in  the  constitution,  which  relate  to  its  exercise.  What  then,  it  will 
be  asked,  does  this  clause,  that  the  President  shall  see  that  the  laws 
are  faithfully  executed,  mean  ?  Sirs,  it  means  nothing  more  nor  less 
tittn  this,  that  if  resistance  is  made  to  the  laws,  he  shall  take  care 
that  resistance  shall  cease.  Congress  by  the  1st  article  of  the  8th 
section  of  the  constitution  b  required  to  provide  for  calling  out  the 
militia  to  execute  the  laws,  ia  case  of  resistance.    Sir,  it  might  as 


ON  THK  REMOYAL  OF  THE  DEP08ITS8.  191 

well  be  contended  under  that  clause,  tbat  Congrem  hare  the  power 
)of  determining  what  are,  and  what  are  not  the  laws  of  the  land, 
tyongress  has  the  power  of  calling  out  the  military  ;  well  sir,  what  » 
the  President,  by  the  constitution  ?  He  is  commander  of  the  aimy 
and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  when  called  out 
into  actual  service-  When,  then,  we  are  here  told  tbat  he  is  clothed 
with  the  whole  physical  power  of  the  nation,  and  when  we  are  af- 
terwards told,  that  he  must  take  care  tbat  the  laws  are  faithfully  ex- 
ecuted, is  it  possible  that  any  man  can  be  so  lost  to  the  lovo  of  liber- 
ty, as  not  to  admit  that  this  goes  no  farther  than  to  remove  any  re- 
.sistance  which  may  be  made  to  the  execution  of  the  laws?  We 
have  established  a  system  in  which  power  has  been  carefully  divided 
among  different  departments  of  the  government.  And  we  have  been 
told  a  thousand  times,  that  this  division  is  indispensable  as  a  safe- 
guard to  civil  liberty.  We  have  designated  the  departments,  and 
have  established  in  each,  officers  to  examine  the  power  belonging  to 
each.  The  President,  it  is  true,  presides  over  the  whole ;  his  eye 
surveys  the  wh<^e  extent  of  the  system  in  all  its  movements.  But 
has  he  power  to  enter  into  the  courts,  for  example,  and  tell  them 
what  is  to  be  done  ?  Or  may  he  come  here,  and  tell  us  the  same  ? 
Or  when  we  have  made  a  law,  can  he  withhold  the  power  necessary 
to  its  practical  effect  ?  He  moves,  it  is  true,  in  a  high,  a  glorious 
aphere.  It  is  his  to  watch  over  the  whole  with  a  paternal  eye ;  and, 
when  any  one  wheel  of  the  vast  machine  is  for  a  time  interrupted 
by  the  occurrence  of  invasion  or  rebellion,  it  is  his  care  to  propel  its 
movements,  and  to  furnish  it  with  the  requisite  means  of  performing 
its  appropriate  duty  in  its  own  place. 

That  this  is  the  true  interpretation  of  the  constitutional  clause  to 
which  I  have  alluded,  is  inferred  from  the  total  silence  of  all  contem- 
poraneous expositions  of  that  instrument  on  the  subject.  I  have  my- 
self (and  when  it  was  not  in  my  power  personally,  have  caused 
others  to  aid  me,)  made  researches  into  the  numbers  of  the  Federal- 
ist ;  the  debates  in  the  Virginia  convention,  and  in  the  conventions 
of  other  States,  as  well  as  all  other  sources  of  information  to  which  I 
could  obtain  access,  and  I  have  not,  in  a  solitary  instance,  found  the 
slightest  color  for  the  claims  set  up  in  these  most  extraordinary  times 
for  the  President,  that  he  has  authority  to  afford  or  withhold  at  pleas- 
ure the  means  of  enforcing  the  laws,  and  to  superintend  and  control 
an.  officer  charged  with  a  sp^fic  duty,  made  by  the  law  excluaively 


Idd  tPSECHES   OF   HEIVRT    CLAY 

his.  But,  sir,  I  liave  found  some  authorities  which  strongly  militate 
against  any  such  claim.  If  the  doctrine  be  indeed  true,  then  it  is 
moat  evident  that  there  is  no  longer  any  control  over  our  affairs  than 
that  exerted  by  the  President.  If  it  be  true  that  when  a  duty  is  fay 
law  specifically  assigned  to  a  particular  officer,  the  President  may  go 
into  his  office  and  control  him  in  the  manner  of  performing  it,  then  is 
it  most  manifest  that  all  barriers  for  the  safety  of  the  treasury  are 
gone.  Sir,  it  is  that  union  of  the  purse  and  the  sword,  in  the  band 
of  one  man,  which  constitutes  the  best  definition  of  tyranny  which 
our  language  can  give. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  requires  that  the 
public  deposites  be  made  in  its  vaults.  It  also  gives  the  Secretaiy 
of  the  Treasury  power  to  remove  them — and  why  ?  The  Seci^etary 
18  at  the  head  of  the  finances  of  the  government  Weekly  report  are 
made  by  the  bank  to  him.  He  is  to  report  to  Congress  annually  ; 
and  to  either  House  whenever  he  shall  be  called  upon.  He  is  the 
sentinel  of  Congress — the  agent  of  Congress — the  representative  of 
Congress.  Congress  has  prescribed  and  has  defined  his  duties.  He 
is  required  to  report  to  them,  not  to  the  President.  He  is  put  there 
by  us  as  our  representative  :  he  is  required  to  remove  the  deposites 
when  they  shall  be  in  danger,  and  we  not  in  session :  but  when  he 
does  this,  he  is  required  to  report  to  Congress  the  fact,  with  his  rea- 
sons for  it.  Now,  sir,  if,  when  an  officer  of  government  is  thus  spe- 
cifically assigned  his  duty,  if  he  is  to  report  his  official  acts  on  his 
responsibility  to  Congress,  if  in  a  case  where  no  ppwer  whatever  is 
given  to  the  President,  the  President  may  go  and  say  to  that  officer^ 
^*  go  and  do  as  I  bid  you,  or  you  shall  be  removed  from  office" — ^let 
me  ask  whether  the  danger  apprehended  by  that  eloquent  man  has 
not  already  been  realized  ? 

But,  sir,  let  me  suppose  that  I  am  mistaken  in  my  construction  of 
the  constitation ;  and  let  me  suppose  that  the  President  has,  as  is  con- 
tended, power  to  see  every  particular  law  carried  into  efiect ;  what, 
then,  was  it  his  duty  to  do  in  the  present  case  under  the  clause  thus 
interpreted  ?  The  law  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
remove  the  deposites  on  his  responsibility  to  Congress.  Now,  if  the 
President  has  power  to  see  this,  like  other  laws,  faithfully  executed, 
then  surely  the  law  exacted  of  him  that  he  should  see  that  the  Sec- 
retary was  allowed  to  exercise  his  firee,  unbiassed,  oncontrolled  ju4g 


ON   THE  KEMOVAL  OF  THE  DEF08ITES.  193 

ment  in  remoyiDg  or  not  removing  them.  That  was  the  execution 
of  the  law.  Congress  had  not  said  that  the  iSecretary  of  War,  or  the 
Secretary  of  State^  might  remove  the  public  deposites  from  the  trea- 
sury. 

The  President  had  no  right  to  go  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  ask 
him  what  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ought  to  do.  He  might  as 
well  have  consulted  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  about  a  contem- 
plated movement  of  the  army,  as  to  ask  the  Secretary  of  War  about 
the  disposition  of  the  public  moneys.  It  was  not  to  the  President, 
and  all  his  secretaries  combined,  that  the  power  was  given  to  alter 
the  disposition  of  the  deposites  in  the  bank.  It  was  to  the  Secretaiy 
alone,  exclusive  of  the  President  and  all  the  other  officers  of  govern- 
ment. And  according  to  gentlemcn*s  own  showing,  by  their  con- 
struction of  the  clause,  the  Secretary  ought  to  have  been  left  to  his 
own  unbiassed  determination,  uncontrolled  by  the  President  or  any 
body  else. 

I  would  thank  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  to  get  me  the  sedition 
law.     It  is  not  very  certain  how  soon  we  may  be  called  to  act  upon  it. 

Now,  sir,  let  us  trace  some  of  the  other  sources  of  the  exercise  of 
this  power,  or  motives  for  it,  or  by  whatever  other  name  they  are  to 
be  called.     He  says  to  Mr.  Duane : 

^''The  President  repeats  that  he  begs  the  cabinet  to  consider  the  propoeed  meamirt 
u  his  own,  in  the  support  of  which  he  shall  require  no  one  of  them  to  make  a  sac* 
rifice  of  oi>inion  or  principle.  It^  responsibility  has  been  a^umed,  after  the  moit 
mature  dofibi.'rafion  and  rellection,  aa  neces»iry  to  preserve  the  norals  of  the  people, 
tJie  fteedum  of  the  press,  and  the  purity  of  the  elective  franchise.*' 

The  morals  of  the  people !  What  part  of  the  constitution  has  given 
to  the  President  any  power  over  "  the  morals  of  the  people  ?"  None. 
It  does  not  give  such  power  even  over  religion,  the  presiding  and 
genial  influence  over  every  true  system  of  morals.  No,  sir,  it  gives 
him  no  such  power. 

And  what  is  the  next  step  ?  To*day  he  claims  a  power  as  neces- 
sary to  ther  morals  of  the  people ;  to*marrow  he  will  claim  another, 
MB  Still  more  indispensable  to  our  n  lis;ion.  And  the  President  might 
in  thiii  case  as  well  have  said  that  he  went  into  the  office  of  the  Sec- 
retory of  the  TVeasury,  and  controlled  his  free  exercise  of  his  authority 


194  SPEECHES  OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

as  Secretary,  because  it  was  necessary  to  preserve  <^  the  religion  of 
the  people !"  I  ask  for  the  authoiity.  Will  any  onie  of  those  gen- 
tlemen here,  who  consider  themselves  as  the  vindicators  of  the  execu- 
tive, point  me  to  any  clause  of  the  constitution  which  gives  to  the 
present  President  of  the  United  States  any  power  to  preserve  "  the 
morals  of  the  people  ?" 

But  ^^  the  freedom  of  the  press,"  it  seems,  was  another  motive. 
Sir,  I  am  not  surprised  that  the  present  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
should  £bel  a  desire  to  revive  this  power  over  the  press.  He,  I  think, 
was  a  member  of  that  party  which  passed  the  sedition  law,  under 
precisely  the  same  pretext.  I  recollect  it  was  said,  that  this  Bank, 
this  monster  of  tyranny,  was  taking  into  its  pay  a  countless  number 
of  papers,  and  by  this  means  was  destroying  the  fair  fame  of  the  Pre-' 
sident  and  his  Secretary,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  Sir,  it  is  some* 
times  useful  to  refer  back  to  those  old  things — to  the  notions  and  the 
motives  which  induced  men  in  former  times  to  do  certain  acts  which 
may  not  be  altogether  unlike  some  others  in  our  own  time. 

The  famous  sedition  act  was  passed,  sir,  in  1789 ;  and  it  contained| 
among  others,  the  following  provision : 

"  Sec.  2.  That  if  any  peieon  shall  write,  print,  utter  or  publish,  or  shall  cause  or 
pracore  to  be  written,  printed,  uttered  or  published,  or  shall,  knowingly  and  wiU- 
iBgly,  assist  or  aid  in  writing,  printing,  utterfng  or  publishing,  any  fake,  scandalous 
and  malicious,  writing  or  wntings,  agaimit  the  government  of  the  United  States  or 
either  House  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  or  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  with  intent  to  defame  the  said  government,  or  either  House  of  the  said  Con- 
gren,  or  the  said  President,  or  to  bring  them,  or  either  of  them,  into  contempt  or 
diinnate ;  or  to  excite  Rgainst  them,  or  either  of  them,  the  hatred  of  the  good 
people  of  the  United  States,  or  to  stir  up  sedition  within  the  United  States;  or  to 
excite  any  unlawful  combinations  therem,  for  oppoffing  or  resisting  any  law  of  the 
United  States,  or  any  act  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  done  m  pursuaneo 
of  any  such  law,  or  of  the  powers  in  him  vested  by  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States ;  or  to  resist,  oppose  or  defeat,  any  such  law  or  act ;  or  to  aid,  encourage  or 
abet,  any  hostile  designs  of  any  foreign  nation  against  the  United  States,  their  people, 
or^vemment.  then  such  person,  being  thereof  convicted  before  any  court  of  the 
United  States  having  jurisaiction  thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding 
two  thousand  dollars,  and  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  two  years." 

We  have  now,  sir,  in  the  reasons  for  the  removal  of  the  govern- 
ment deposites,  the  same  motives  avowed  and  acted  upon.  The 
abuse  of  the  government,  bringing  it  into  disrepute,  using  contemptu- 
ous language  to  persons  high  in  authority,  constituted  the  motivei 
for  passing  the  sedition  law :  and  what  have  we  now  but  a  repetition 
of  the  same  complaints  of  abuses,  disrespect,  &c.  As  it  is  now,  so  il 
was  then :  for,  says  the  next  section  of  the  same  sedition  act : 


ON  TBI  RSMOTAL  Or  TBS  DBPOtlTSS.  195 

"  That  if  any  penon  shall  bejproteeuted  under  this  act  for  the  writing  or  publuh- 
tng  any  libel  aforesaid,  it  shaU  be  lawful  for  the  d(*fendant,  upon  the  trial  of  the 
cause,  to  give  in  evidence  in  his  defence,  the  truth  of  the  matter  contained  in  the 
publication  charged  as  a  libel.  Aud  the  jnnr  who  shall  try  the  cause,  shall  have  a 
right  to  determine  the  law  and  the  fact,  under  the  direction  of  the  court,  as  in  other 
cases." 

It  is  only  for  the  sake  of  the  trtUhj  said  they  who  £ayored  the  pas- 
sage of  that  law — for  the  sake  of  justice ;  as  it  is  now  said  that  it 
was  necessary  to  remove  the  deposites  in  order  to  preserve  the  purity 
of  the  press.  That's  all,  sir.  But  there  is  one  part  of  this  assump- 
tion of  power  by  the  President  much  more  tyrannical  than  that  act. 
Under  that  law,  the  offending  party  was  to  have  a  trial  by  jury ;  the 
benefit  of  witnesses  and  of  counsel ;  and  the  rig]^t  to  have  the  truth 
of  his  alledged  libels  examined.  But  what  is  the  case  now  under 
consideration }  Why,  sir,  the  President  takes  the  whole  matter  in 
his  own  hands ;  he  is  at  once  the  judge,  the  jury,  and  the  executioner 
of  the  sentence,  and  utterly  deprives  the  accused  party  of  the  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  that  the  imputed  libel  is  no  libel  at  all,  but  founded 
in  the  clearest  truth. 

But  ^^  the  purity  of  the  elective  franchise,"  also,  the  President  has 
very  much  at  heart.  And  here,  again,  I  ask  what  part  of  the  consti- 
tution gives  him  any  power  over  that  <^  franchise  ?"  Look,  sir,  at 
the  nature  of  the  exercise  of  this  power  !  If  it  was  really  neces- 
sary that  steps  should  be  taken  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  press  or 
the  freedom  of  elections,  what  ought  the  President  to  have  done  ? 
Taken  the  matter  into  his  own  hands }  No,  sir ;  it  was  his  duty  to 
recommend  to  Congress  the  passage  of  laws  for  the  purpose,  under 
suitable  sanctions  ;  laws  which  the  courts  of  the  United  States  could 
execute.  We  could  not  have  been  worse  off  under  such  laws,  (how- 
ever exceptionable  they  might  be,)  than  we  are  now.  We  could 
then,  sir,  have  reviewed  the  laws,  and  seen  whether  Congress  or  the 
President  had  properly  any  power  over  this  matter ;  or  whether  the 
article  of  the  constitution  which  forbids  that  the  press  shall  be  touched, 
and  declares  that  religion  shall  be  sacred  from  all  the  powers  of  legis- 
lation, applied  in  the  case  or  not.  This  the  President  has  underta- 
ken to  do  of  himself,  without  the  shadow  of  authority,  either  in  the 
constitution  or  the  laws. 

Suppose,  sir,  that  this  contumacious  institution,  which  committed 
the  great  sin,  in  1829,  of  not  appointing  a  new  President  to  a  certain 
one  of  its  branched — suppoge  that  the  bank  should  go  on  and 


196  8PEBCHIS  OF   HKHBT  CLAT. 

eate  itself  against  the  calamnies  poured  out  upon  it — ^that  it  should 
continue  to  stand  upon  its  defence,  how  inefficient  will  have  been  the 
.  exercise  of  power  by  the  President !  How  inadequate  to  the  end  he 
had  in  view,  of  preserving  the  press  firom  being  made  use  of  to  de- 
fend the  bank !  Why,  sir,  if  we  had  had  the  power,  and  the  Presi- 
dent had  come  to  us,  we  could  have  laid  Mr.  Nicholas  Biddle  by  the 
heels,  if  he  should  have  undertaken  to  publish  another  report  of  gen- 
eral Smith  or  Mr.  Dufiio,  or  another  speech  of  the  eloquent  gen- 
tleman near  mc,  (Mr.  Webster)  or  any  other  such  Vihth^  tending  to 
bring  the  President  or  his  administration  into  disrepute.  But  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  who  thought  he  had  the  bank  in  his 
power ;  who  thought  he  could  stop  it ;  who  was  induced  to  believe, 
by  that  "  influence  behind  the  throne,  greater  than  itself,"  that  he 
could  break  down  the  bank  at  a  word,  has  only  shown  his  want  of 
power  over  the  press  by  his  attempt  to  exercise  it  in  the  manner  he 
has  done.  The  bank  has  avowed  and  openly  declared  its  purpose  to 
defend  itself  on  all  suitable  occasions.  And,  what  is  still  more  pro- 
voking, instead  of  being  a  bankrupt,  as  was  expected,  with  its  doors 
closed,  and  its  vaults  inaccessible,  it  has  now,  it  seems,  got  more 
money  than  it  knows  what  to  do  with  ;  and  this  greatest  of  misere 
and  hoarders  cruelly  refuses  to  let  out  a  dollar  of  its  ten  millions  of 
specie  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  banks  to  which  the  government 
deposites  have  been  transferred. 

Sir,  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
morals  of  the  community.  No,  sir ;  for  the  preservation  of  our  mor- 
als we  are  responsible  to  God,  and  I  trust  that  that  responsibility  will 
ever  remain  to  Him  and  His  mercy  alone.  Neither  had  the  Presi- 
dent anything  to  do  with  the  freedom  of  the  press.  The  power  over 
it  is  denied,  even  to  Congress,  by  the  people.  It  was  said,  by  one  of 
those  few  able  men  and  bright  luminaries  whom  Providence  has  yet 
•pared  to  us,  in  answer  to  complaints  by  a  foreign  minister,  against 
the  freedom  with  which  the  American  press  treated  certain  French 
functionaries,  that  the  press  was  one  of  those  concerns  which  admit- 
ted of  no  regulation  by  the  government ;  that  its  abuses  must  be  tol- 
erated, lest  its  freedom  should  be  abridged.  Such,  sir,  is  the  freedom 
of  the  press,  as  recognized  by  our  coui^titution,  and  so  it  has  been  re^ 
•pected  ever  since  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  act  which  I  have  al- 
ready quoted^  until  the  detestable  principles  of  that  law  have  been 


ON  TAB  EBHOTAL  QW   THE  DKPOSITEf .  197 

reasserted  by  the  President  in  his  assumption  of  a  power,  in  nowise 
belonging  to  his  office,  of  preserving  the  purity  of  the  press. 

Such,  sir,  are  the  powers  on  which  the  President  relies  to  justify 
his  seizure  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  I  have  examined 
them  one  by  one ;  and  ihcy  all  fail,  utterly  fail,  to  bear  out  the  act. 
We  are  irresistibly  brought  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  removal  of  the 
public  money  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  has  been  effected 
by  the  displacement  from  the  head  of  the  treasury  department  «f  one 
who  would  not  remove  them,  and  putting  in  his  stead  another  person 
who  would ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  President  has  no  co\or  of  au- 
thority in  the  constitution  or  the  laws  for  the  act  which  he  baa  under* 
taken  to  perform. 

Let  us  now,  for  a  few  moments  examine  the  consequences  which 
may  ensue  from  the  exercise  of  this  enormous  power.  If  the  Preat- 
dent  has  authority,  in  a  case  in  which  the  law  has  assigned  a  speci- 
fic duty  exclusively  to  a  designated  officer,  to  control  the  exercile  of 
his  discretion  by  that  officer,  be  has  a  right  to  interfere  in  every  other 
case,  and  remove  every  one  from  office  who  hesitates  to  do  his  bid- 
ding, against  his  judgment  of  his  own  duty.  This,  surely,  is  a  logi- 
cal deduction  not  to  be  resisted.  Well,  then,  how  stands  the  matter? 
Recapitulating  the  provisions  of  the  law  prescribing  how  money 
should  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  and  the  deduction  above  stated, 
what  is  to  prevent  the  President  from  going  to  the  Comptroller  and 
if  he  will  not  countersign  a  warrant  which  he  has  found  an  accom- 
modating Secretary  to  sign,  turning  him  out  for  another ;  then  going 
to  the  Register,  and  doing  the  same ;  and  then  to  the  Treasurer, 
and  commanding  him  to  pay  over  the  money  expressed  in  the  war- 
rant, or  subject  himself  to  expulsion. 

• 
Where  is  the  security  against  such  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Pre- 
sident ?  Where  the  boundary  to  this  tremendous  authority  which  he 
has  undertaken  to  exercise  ?  Sir,  every  barrier  around  the  treasury 
is  broken  down.  From  the  moment  that  the  President  said,  <<  I  make 
this  measure  my  own.  I  take  upon  myself  the  responsibility,"— 
from  that  moment  the  public  treasury  might  as  well  have  been  at  the 
Hermitage  as  at  this  place.  Sir,  the  measure  adopted  by  the  Presi- 
dent is  without  precedent — in  our  day  at  best.  There  is  indeed,  a 
precedent  <m  leoord,  bat  you  must  go  down  to  the  Christian  era  tat 

•N 


m  SPBECnn  Of  BSNBT    CLAT. 

ftk  It  will  be  recollected,  by  tbose  wbo  are  conversant  with  ancietti 
history,  that  after  Pompey  was  compelled  to  retire  to  Brundasiuniiy 
Csesar,  who  had  been  anxious  to  give  him  battle,  returned  to  Rome, 
^^  haying  reduced  Italy  (says  the  historian)  in  sixty  da}'s,  (the  exact 
period  sir,  between  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  and  the  meeting  of 
Congress,  without  the  usual  allowance  of  three  day's  grace,) — with- 
out bloodshed.''  The  historian  goes  on  '^  Finding  the  city  in  a  more 
settled  condition  than  he  expected,  and  many  Senators  there  he  ad- 
dressed them  in  a  mild  and  gracious  manner — (as  the  President  ad- 
dressed his  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,)  and  desired  them  to  send 
deputies  to  Pompey  with  an  officer  of  honorable  terms  of  peace.  As 
MetelluB,  the  Tribune  apfiosed  his  taking  money  out  of  the  pablie 
treasury,  and  cited  some  laws  against  it — (such,  sir,  I  suppose,  «i  I 
have  endeavored  to  cite  on  this  occasion) — Coesar  said,  ^^Arms  and 
laws  do  not  flourish  together.  If  you  are  not  pleased  with  what  I  am 
about,  you  have  only  to  withdraw — (leave  the  office,  Mr.  Duane  I) 
— War,  indeed,  will  not  tolerate  much  liberty  of  speech.  When  1 
say  this,  I  am  renouncing  my  own  right ;  for  you  find  all  those  whom 
I  have  found  exciting  a  spirit  of  faction  against  me,  are  at  my  dispo- 
sal." Haying  said  this,  he  approached  the  doors  of  the  treasury, 
and  as  the  Keys  were  not  produced,  he  sent  for  workmen  to  break 
them  open.  Metellus  again  opposed  him,  and  gained  credit  with 
some  for  his  firmness ;  but  Cceser  with  an  elevated  voice  threatened 
to  put  him  to  death,  if  he  gave  him  any  farther  trouble.  ^'And  you 
know  very  well,  young  man,"  said  he,  ^<  that  this  is  harder  for  me 
to  say  than  to  do."  Metellus,  terrified  by  the  measure,  retired,  and 
Gesar  was  afterward,  easily  and  readily  supplied  with  every  thing 
necessary  for  the  war. 

And  where  now,  sir,  is  the  public  treasury  ?  Who  can  tell  ?  It  if 
certainly  without  a  local  habitation,  if  it  be  not  without  a  nn^ie. 
And  where  is  the  'money  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  ?  Floats 
ing  about  in  treasury  draughtoer  t^liecks  to  the  amount  of  millioDa, 
fftaced  in  the  hands  )Df  lettering  banlcs,  to  enable  them  to  pay'U^ir 
own  debts,  instead  of  being  appropriated  to  the  service  of  the  peoplel 
/These  checks  are  scattered. te  the  %ii^4^  the  treasurer  of  the  Ui^^ 
Wfllates,  who  ia  required  by  law  to  let  out  money  from  the  treaau^ 
«Mr,  on  wmanta  signed  4^  the  Secretary  of  the  treaanry,  countei 


ON  THE  KEMOWAh  OF  TBS  DHMMITBk  199 

(Bfr.  Clat  here  reforred  to  aconespondence,  which  he  quoted,  between  the  tre«- 
wntr  and  the  ofBcera  of  the  bank,  complaining  of  these  checks  drawn  without  pro- 
per notice,  &c.,  in  which  the  treasarer  sayi  they  were  only  issued  to  be  used  in  cer- 
tain contingencies,  &c.] 

Thus,  sir,  the  people's  money  is  put  into  a  bank  here,  and  the  bank 
there,  in  regard  to  the  solvency  of  which  we  know  nothing,  and  it  is 
placed  there  to  be  used  in  the  event  of  certain  contingencies— contin*- 
gencies  of  which  neither  the  Treasurer  nor  the  Secretary  have  ye^ 
deigned  to  furnish  us  any  account. 

Where  was  the  oath  of  office  of  the  treasurer  when  he  Tenture4 
thus  to  sport  with  the  people's  money  ?  Where  was  the  constitution, 
which  forbids  money  to  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  without  appro- 
priation by  law  ?  Where  was  the  treasurer's  bond  when  he  thus  cast 
about  the  people's  money  ?  Sir, his  bond  is  forfeited.  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  any  great  knowledge  of  the  law,  but  give  me  an  intelligent 
and  unpacked  jury,  and  I  undertake  to  prove  to  him  that  he  has  for- 
feited the  penalty  of  his  bond. 

Mr.  President,  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  indebted  to  tho 
President  for  the  boldness  of  this  movement ;  and  as  one  among  the 
liumhlest  of  them,  i  profess  my  obligations  to  him.  He  has  told  the 
Senate,  in  his  message  refusing  an  official  copy  of  his  cabinet  paper, 
that  it  has  been  published  for  the  information  of  the  people.  As  a 
part  of  the  people,  the  Senate,  if  not  in  their  official  character,  hare 
a  right  to  its  use.  In  that  extraordinary  paper  he  has  proclaimed 
that  the  measure  is  hi$  own ;  and  that  he  has  taken  upon  himself  the 
responsibility  o^it.  In  plain  English,  he  has  proclaimed  an  open^ 
palpable,  and  daring  usurpation  I 

For  more  than  fifteen  years,  Mr.  President,  I  have  been  struggling 
to  avoid  the  present  state  of  things.  I  thought  I  perceived  in  some 
|Nrooaedings,  daring  the  conduct  of  the  Seminole  war,  a  spirit  of  de- 
fiance to  the  constitution  and  to  all  law.  With  what  sincerity  and 
frath — with  what  earnestness  and  devotion  to  civil  liberty,  I  have 
tttniggled,  the  Searcher  of  ail  human  hearts  best  knows.  With  what 
fMtnne,  the  bleeding  constitution  of  my  country  now  fatally  attests. 

I  hare  nevertheless,  persevered ;  and  under  every  discouragement^ 
4«iBgth»riMft  tiiM tli«» I apacrt  tii-iMiHUt in  tke  pnblie couneilai 


900  iPKECHn  OP   BBNRT  CLAT. 

I  will  peraeyere.  And  if  a  bountiful  Providence  would  allow  an  un- 
worthy sinner  to  approach  the  throne  of  grace,  I  would  beseech  him, 
as  the  greatest  favor  he  could  grant  to  me  here  below,  to  spare  me 
until  I  live  to  behold  the  people  rising  in  their  majesty,  with  a  peace- 
ful and  constitutional  exercise  of  their  power,  to  expel  the  Grotha 
from  Home ;  to  rescue  the  public  treasury  from  pillage,  to  preserve 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  to  uphold  the  Union  agaimit 
the  danger  of  the  concentration  and  consolidation  of  all  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  executive ;  and  to  sustain  the  liberties  of  the  people  of 
this  country  against  the  imminent  perils  to  which  they  now  stand 
exposed. 

[Here  Mr.  Clat,  who  was  onderstood  to  have  ^one  through  the  firrt  put  of  hit 
ipeech  only,  gave  way,  and  Mr.  Ewing  of  Ohio  moved  that  the  further  cooaLden- 
tion  of  the  subject  be  postponed  until  Monday  next ;  which  was  ordered  accordingly. 
And  then  the  Senate  adjourned  to  that  day.  December  80,  Mr.  Cult  resamed  hk 
■peech.] 

Before  I  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Secretiij 
of  the  Treasury,  and  the  second  resolution,  I  wish  to  anticipate  and 
answer  an  objection,  which  may  be  made  to  the  adoption  of  the  first 
It  may  be  urged  that  the  Senate,  being  in  a  certain  contingency,  ft 
court  of  impeachment  ought  not  to  pi^ejudge  a  question  which  iimaj 
be  called  upon  to  decide  judicially.  But  by  the  constitution  the  Se> 
nate  has  three  characters,  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial.  Its 
ordinary,  and  by  far  its  most  important  character,  is  that  of  its  being 
a  component  part  of  the  legislative  department.  Only  three  or  fioiir 
case^,  since  the  establishment  of  the  government,  (that  is,  during  a 
period  of  near  half  a  century,)  have  occurred,  in  which  it  was  nece^^ 
sary  that  the  Senate  should  act  as  a  judicial  tribunal,  the  least  im* 
portant  of  all  its  characters.  Now  it  would  be  moat  strange  if,  when 
its  constitutional  powers  were  assailed,  it  could  not  assert  and  yiadi- 
cate  them,  because,  by  possibility,  it  might  be  required  to  act  as  a 
court  of  justice.  The  first  resolution  asserts  only,  that  the  Presidoil 
has  assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the  public  treasury  not 
granted  by  the  constitution  and  laws.  It  is  silent  as  to  motive ;  and 
without  the  quo  animo — the  deliberate  purpose  of  usurpatioii-*-4hs 
President  would  not  be  liable  to  impeachment.  But  if  a  coDcarifnei 
of  all  the  elements  be  necessary  to  make  out  a  charge  of  wilful  Yiola- 
tion  of  the  constitution,  does  any  one  believe  that  the  President  will 
BOW  be  impeached  ?    And  shall  we  silently  sit  by  and  see  omndwm 


ON  THE  BKMOTAL  OV  THB  DIKMITEB.  Ml 

stripped  of  one  of  the  most  essential  of  our  legislative  powers,  and  the 
exercise  of  it  assumed  by  the  president,  to  which  it  is  not  delegated, 
without  eiTort  to  maintain  it,  because,  against  all  human  probability 
he  may  be  hereafler  impeached  ? 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  the  first  paragraph, 
commences  with  a  misstatement  of  the  fact.  He  says,  ^*  /  haw  direct' 
ecT'  that  the  deposites  of  the  money  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be 
made  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  If  this  assertion  is  regarded 
in  any  other  than  a  mere  formal  sense,  it  is  not  true.  The  Secretary 
may  have  been  the  instrument,  the  clerk  the  automaton,  in  whose 
name  the  order  was  issued  ;  but  the  measure  was  that  of  the  Presi- 
dent, by  whose  authority  or  command  the  order  was  given  ;  and  of 
this  we  have  the  highest  and  most  authentic  evidence.  The  Presi- 
dent has  told  the  world  that  the  measure  was  his  own,  and  that  he 
look  it  upon  his  own  responsibility.  And  he  has  exonerated  his  cabi- 
net from  all  responsibility  about  it.  The  Secretary  ought  to  have 
frankly  disclosed  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  told  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  If  he  had  done  so,  he 
would  have  informed  Congress  that  the  removal  had  been  decided  by 
the  President  on  the  18th  of  September  last ;  that  it  had  been  an- 
nounced to  the  public  on  the  20th  ;  and  that  Mr.  Duane  remained  in 
office  until  the  23d.  He  would  have  informed  Congress  that  this 
important  measure  was  decided  before  he  entered  into  his  new  office, 
and  was  the  cause  of  his  appointment.  Yes,  sir,  the  present  Secretary 
stood  by,  a  witness  to  the  struggle  in  the  mind  of  his  predecessor, 
between  his  attachment  to  the  President  and  his  duty  to  the  country  ; 
saw  him  dismissed  from  office,  because  he  would  not  violate  his  con- 
scientious obligations,  and  came  into  his  place,  to  do  what  he  could 
not  honorably,  and  would  not  perform.  A  son  of  one  of  the  fa- 
thers of  democracy,  by  an  administration  professing  to  be  democrat- 
ic, was  expelled  from  office,  and  his  place  supplied  by  a  gentleman 
who,  throughout  his  whole  career,  has  been  uniformly  opposed  to  de- 
mocracy !  A  gentleman  who,  at  another  epoch  of  the  republic,  when 
it  was  threatened  with  civil  war,  and  a  di  isolation  of  the  Union, 
voted,  (although  a  resident  of  a  slave  State)  in  the  legislature  of 
Maryland,  against  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  union  with- 
out a  restriction  incompatible  with  her  rights  as  a  member  of  the  con- 
federacy. Mr.  Duane  was  dismissed  because  the  solemn  convictions 
of  his  duty  would  not  allow  him  to  conform  to  the  President's  will ; 


tOtt  tPBKRBt  or  HEirmr  olat. 


becaoae  his  logic  did  not  bring  his  mind  to  the  same  conclusion  wMt 
those  of  the  logic  of  a  venerable  old  gentleman,  inhabiting  a  white 
house  not  distant  from  the  capital ;  because  his  watch  [Here  Mr. 
Clay  held  up  his  own,]  did  not  keep  time  with  that  of  the  PreaideiiC 
He  was  dismissed  under  that  detestable  system  of  proscription  for 
ppinion's  sake,  which  has  finally  dared  to  intrude  itself  inU>  the  hilb 
of  Congress — a  system  under  which  three  unoffending  clerks,  the  &- 
Ihers  of  families,  the  husbands  of  wives,  dependent  on  them  for  sop- 
port,  without  the  slightest  imputation  of  delinquency,  have  been  re-^ 
cently  unceremoniously  discharged,  and  driven  out  to  beggary,  by  a 
man,  himself  the  substitute  of  a  meritorious  officer,  who  has  not  beea 
in  this  city  a  period  equal  to  one  monthly  revolution  of  the  moon  I 
1  tell  our  Secretary,  (said  Mr.  Clay,  raising  his  voice,)  that,  if  he 
touch  a  single  hair  of  the  head  of  any  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  Se- 
nate, (I  am  sure  he  is  not  disposed  to  do  it,)  on  account  of  his  opiiH 
ions,  political  or  religious,  if  no  other  member  of  the  Senate  doei  it, 
1  will  instantly  submit  a  resolution  for  his  own  dismission. 

The  Secretary  ought  to  have  communicated  all  these  things  ;  he 
oc^ht  to  have  stated  that  the  cabinet  was  divided  two  and  two,  and 
one  of  the  members  equally  divided  with  himself  on  the  question^ 
willing  to  be  put  into  cither  scale.  He  ought  to  have  given  a  foil 
account  of  this,  the  most  important  act  of  executive  authority  since 
the  origin  of  the  government ;  he  should  have  stated  with  what 
unsullied  honor  his  predecessor  retired  from  office,  and  on  what  de- 
grading conditions  he  accepted  his  vacant  place.  When  a  moment- 
ous proceeding  like  this,  varying  the  constitutional  distribution  of 
the  powers  of  the  legislative  and  executive  departments,  was  resolved 
on ;  the  ministers  against  whose  advice  it  was  determined,  shoold 
have  resigned  their  stations.  No  ministers  of  any  monarch  in  En- 
rope,  under  similar  circumstances,  would  have  retained  the  seals  of 
office.  And  if,  as  nobody  doubts,  there  is  a  cabal  behind  the  curtain, 
without  character  and  without  responsibility,  feeding  the  passions, 

•  The  foUowiDg  18  the  proceeding  to  which  Mr.  Olat  referred : 

Resolved,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  That  the  Senators  and  ]tq>r»- 
sentatives  from  this  State  in  Congrera,  be  requested  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors  ia 
the  admiasion  of  the  State  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  to  prevent  the  prohibition  of 
davery  from  being  required  of  that  State  as  a  condition  of  its  admisaion." 

It  passed,  January,  1S20,  in  the  affirmative.  Among  the  names  of  thoae  in  tka 
■Qgative,  it  that  of  Mr.  Tiney. 


<MI  TQ9,Bm^V4L  OV  THE  DSTOtlTBt.  908 

symnlatiiig  the  prejudicei^ftDd  moukUi^  the  actions  of  the  iocmnbeBt 
of  the  presidential  office,  it  was  an  additional  reason  for  their  retig- 
BStions.  There  is  not  a  Maitre  d'hotel  in  Christendom,  who,  if  the 
scullions  were  put  into  command  in  the  parlor  and  dining  room^ 
would  not  scorn  to  hold  his  place,  and  fling  it  up  in  disgust  with  in^ 
dignant  pride ! 

I  shall  examine  the  rejxirt  before  us,  Srst,  As  to  the  power  of  the 
Secretary  over  the  deposites ;  second,  His  reasons  for  the  exercise 
of  it ;  and  third,  The  ofianner  of  its  exercise. 

.  I*  The  Secretary  asserts  that  the  power  of  removal  is  exclu$welff 
reserved  to  him ;  that  it  is  absoiuie  and  uncandiiianai^Bo  far  as  the 
interests  of  the  Bank  are  concerned ;  that  it  is  not  restri^lfid  to  any 
particular  contingencies ;  that  the  reservation  of  the  power  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  exclusively,  is  a  part  of  the  compact ;  that 
he  may  exercise  it,  if  the  public  convenience  or  interest  would  in  any 
degree  be  promoted  ;  that  this  exclusive  power,  thus  reserved,  is  so 
absolute,  that  the  Secretary  is  not  restrained  by  the  considerations 
that  the  public  deposites  in  the  Bank  are  perfectly  safe ;  that* the 
Bank  promptly  meets  all  demands  upon  it ;  and  that  it  faithfully  per- 
tbrms  all  its  duties ;  and  that  the  power  of  Congress,  on  the  contrary, 
is  so  totally  excluded,  that  it  could  not,  without  a  breach  of  the  com* 
pact,  order  the  deposites  to  be  changed,  even  if  Congress  were  satis- 
fied that  they  were  not  safe,  or  should  be  convinced  that  the  interests 

of  the  people  of  the  United  States  imperiously  demanded  the  re- 
moval. 

Such  is  the  statement  which  this  unassuming  Secretary  makes  of 
his  own  authority.  He  expands  his  own  power  to  the  most  extrava- 
gant dimensions  ;  and  he  undertakes  to  circumscribe  that  of  Congress 
in  the  narrowest  and  most  restricted  limits !  Who  would  have  expect- 
ed that,  after  having  so  confidently  maintained  for  himself  such  abso- 
lute, exclusive,  unqualified  and  uncontrollable  power,  he  would  have 
let  in  any  body  else  to  share  with  him  its  exercise  ?  Yet  he  says, 
^^  as  the  Secretary  of  the  treasury  presides  over  one  of  the  executive 
departments  of  the  government,  and  his  power  over  this  subject  forms 
a  part  of  the  executive  duties  of  his  office,  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
«xerci.<ted  must  be  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  officer,  "(meaning 
die  Pxesidenti  whose  official  name  his  modesty  would  not  allow  him 


904  '   tFUOHtf  OF  HIHRT  CLAT. 

tO'proDoance)  <^  to  whom  the  eonstitation  has  confided  the  whole  ex- 
ecutive power,  and  has  required  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  fitith- 
fblly  executed.'*  If  the  clause  in  the  compact  exclusively  vests  the 
power  of  removal  in  the  Secretary  of  the  treasury,  what  has  the  Pre- 
sident to  do  with  it  ?  What  part  of  the  charter  conveys  to  him  anj 
power  ?  If,  as  the  Secretary  contends,  the  clause  of  removal,  bein^^ 
part  of  the  compact,  restricts  its  exercise  to  the  Secretary,  to  the  en- 
tire exclusion  of  Congress,  how  does  it  embrace  the  President  ?  espe- 
cially since  both  the  President  and  Secretary  conceive  that  "the 
power  over  the  place  of  deposite  for  the  public  money,  would  seem 
properly  to  belong  to  the  legislative  department  of  the  government  ?•* 
If  the  Secretary  be  correct  in  asserting  that  ihe  power  of  removal  is 
confined  to  the  Secretary  of  the  treasury,  then  Mr.  Doane,  while  in 
office,  possessed  it ;  and  his  dismission,  because  he  would  not  exer- 
cise a  power  which  belonged  to  him  exclusively,  was  itself  a  violm- 
tioD  of  the  charter. 

But  by  what  authority  does  the  Secretary  assert  that  the  treasury 
department  is  oneof  the  executive  departments  of  the  government  ?  He 
has  none  in  the  act  which  creates  the  department ;  he  has  none  in  the 
constitution.  The  treasury  department  is  placed  by  law  on  a  difierent 
footing  from  all  the  other  departments,  which  are,  in  the  acts  creating' 
them,  denominated  executive,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of  the 
President.  The  treasury  department,  on  the  contrary,  is  organized 
on  totally  different  principles.  Except  the  appointment  of  the  officers, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  Senate,  and  the  power  which  is  exer- 
cised of  removing  them,  the  President  has  neither  by  the  constitution 
nor  the  law  creating  the  department,  anything  to  do  with  it.  The 
Secretary's  reports  and  responsibility  are  directly  to  Congress.  The 
whole  scheme  of  the  department  is  one  of  checks,  each  officer  acting 
as  a  control  upon  his  associates.  The  Secretary  is  required  by  the 
Uw  to  report,  not  to  the  President,  but  directly  to  Congress.  Either 
House  may  require  any  report  from  him,  or  command  his  personal 
attendance  before  it.  It  is  not,  therefore,  true  that  the  treasury  is  one 
of  the  executive  departments,  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  Presi- 
dent. And  the  inference  dravm  firom  that  erroneous  assumption  en* 
tirely  fails.  The  Secretary  appears  to  have  no  precise  ideas  either 
of  the  constitution  or  duties  of  the  department  over  which  he  pre- 
sides.    He  says : 


ON   THX  RBMOTAL  OP  THE     DIFOSITEf .  SOfl 

"  The  trrasary  depurtmeot  being  iotniated  with  the  idministmtion  of  the  finanoei 
of  the  country,  it  was  always  the  duty  of  the  Seartary,  in  the  absence  of  any  legift- 
hxvwt  provision  on  the  ftabject.  to  take  care  that  the  public  money  was  depoaitea  m 
aafe  keeping,  in  the  hands  of  faithful  agents,'*  &c. 

The  premises  of  the  Secretary  are  only  partially  correct,  and  the 
conclusion  is  directly  repugnant  to  law*.  It  never  was  the  duty  of  the 
Secretary  to  take  care  that  the  public  money  was  deposited  in  safe 
keeping,  in  the  hands  of  faithful  agents,  &c.  That  duty  is  expressly, 
by  the  act  organizing  the  department,  assigned  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  who  is  placed  under  oath,  and  under  bond,  with  a 
large  penalty,  not  to  issue  a  dollar  out  of  the  public  treasury,  but  in 
virtue  of  warrants  granted  in  pursuance  of  acts  of  appropriation,  ^'  and 
not  otherwise."  When  the  Secretary  treats  of  the  power  of  the  Pre^r 
ident,  he  puts  on  corsets  and  prostrates  himself  before  the  executive, 
in  the  most  graceful,  courteous  and  lady-like  form ;  but  when  ho 
treats  of  that  of  Congress,  and  of  the  treasurer,  he  swells  and  expands 
himself,  and  flirts  about,  with  all  the  airs  of  high  authority. 

But  I  cannot  assent  to  the  Secretary's  interpretation  of  his  power 
of  removal,  contained  in  the  charter.  Congress  has  not  given  up  ita 
control  over  the  treasury,  or  the  public  deposites,  to  either  the  Sec- 
retary or  the  Executive.  Congress  could  not  have  done  so  without 
a  treacherous  renunciation  of  its  constitutional  powers,  and  a  faithless 
abandonment  of  its  duties.  And  now  let  us  see  what  is  the  true  state 
of  the  matter.  Congress  has  reserved  to  itself,  exclusively,  the  right 
to  judge  of  the  reasons  for  removal  of  the  deposites,  by  requiring  the 
report  of  them  to  be  made  to  it ;  and,  consequently,  the  power  to 
ratify  or  invalidate  the  act.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  the 
fiscal  sentinel  of  Congress,  to  whom  the  bank  makes  weekly  reports, 
and  who  is  presumed  constantly  to  be  well  acquainted  with  its  actual 
condition.  He  may,  consequently,  discover  the  urgent  necessity  of 
prompt  action,  to  save  the  public  treasure,  before  it  is  known  to  Con- 
gress, and  when  it  is  not  in  session.  But  he  is  immediately  to  report 
— to  whom }  To  the  executive  ?  No,  to  Congress.  For  what  pur- 
pose }    That  Congress  may  sanction  or  disprove  the  act. 

The  power  of  removal  is  a  reservation  for  the  benefit  of  the  people, 
not  of  the  bank.  It  may  be  waived.  Congress,  being  a  legislative 
party  to  the  compact,  did  not  thereby  deprive  itself  of  ordinary  powers 
of  legislation.    It  cannot,  withoat  a  breach  of  the  national  faith,  r&- 


W0$  tviBcan  of  HtmT  olat. 

• 

peal  privileges  or  stipulatiomi  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  bank. 
Sut  it  may  repeal,  modify  or  waive  the  exercise  altc^ether,  of  those 
parts  of  the  charter  which  were  intended  exclusively  for  Uie  public. 
Could  not  Congress  lepeal  altogether  the  clause  of  removal  ?  Siiob 
a  repeal  would  not  injure,  but^dd  to  the  security  of  the  bank.  Could 
not  Congress  modify  the  clause,  by  revoking  the  agency  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  and  substituting  that  of  the  Treasurer,  or  any 
other  officer  of  government  ?  Could  not  Congress,  at  any  time  dur^ 
ing  the  twenty  years  duration  of  the  charter,  abolish  the  office  alto- 
gether of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  assign  all  his  present  duties 
to  some  newly  constituted  department  ?  The  right  and  the  security 
of  the  bank  do  not  consist  in  the  form  of  the  agency,  nor  in  the  name 
of  the  agent,  but  in  this  :  that,  whatever  may  be  its  form  or  his  de- 
nomination, the  removal  shall  only  be  made  upon  urgent  and  satis- 
factory reasons.  The  power  of  supplemental  legislation  was  exer- 
cised by  Congress  both  under  the  new  and  old  bank.  Three  yean 
after  the  establishment  of  the  existing  bank,  an  act  passed,  better  to 
regulate  the  election  of  directors,  and  to  punish  any  one  who  should 
Attempt,  by  bribes,  or  presents  in  any  form,  to  influence  the  operation 
of  the  institution. 

The  denial  of  the  Secretary,  to  Congress,  of  the  power  to  remove 
(he  deposites,  under  any  circumstances,  is  most  extraordinary.  Why, 
sir,  suppose  a  corrupt  collusion  between  the  Secretary  and  the  bank 
to  divide  the  spoils  of  the  treasury  .'  Suppose  a  total  nonfulfillment 
of  all  the  stipulations  on  the  part  of  the  bank  ?  Is  Congress  to  re- 
main bound  and  tied,  whilst  the  bank  should  be  free  from  all  the  obli- 
gations of  the  charter  ?  The  obligation  of  one  party,  to  observe  fidth 
fully  his  stipulations,  in  a  contract,  rests  upon  the  corresponding  obli- 
gation of  the  other  party  to  observe  his  stipulations-  If  one  party  ip 
released,  both  are  free.  If  one  party  fail  to  comply  with  his  contract, 
that  releases  the  other.  This  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  all  con- 
tracts, applicable  to  treaties,  charters,  and  private  agreements.  If  it 
were  a  mere  private  agreement,  and  one  party  who  had  bound  him- 
self to  deposite,  from  time  to  time,  his  money  with  the  other,  to  be 
redrawn  at  his  pleasure,  saw  that  it  was  wa.sting  and  squandered 
away,  he  would  have  a  clear  right  to  discontinue  the  deposites.  It 
is  true  that  a  party  has  no  right  to  excuse  himself  from  the  fulfillment 
of  his  contract,  by  imputing  a  breach  to  the  other  which  has  never 
been  made.     And  it  is  fortunate  for  the  peace  and  justice  of  socie^, 


OV  THB  BSKOTAL  OV  THE  DBVOtlTBS.  907 

thftt  neither  party  to  any  contract,  whether  public  or  private,  can  da* 
eide  conclusively  the  question  of  fulfillment  hy  the  other,  but  muat 
always  act  under  subjection  to  the  ultimate  decision,  in  case  of  con- 
troversy, of  an  impartial  arbiter,  provided  in  the  judicial  tribunals  of 
civilized  communities. 

« 

As  to  the  absolute,  unconditional  and  exclusive  power  which  the  Sec* 
letary  claims  to  be  vested  in  himself,  it  is  in  direct  hostility  with  the 
principles  of  our  government,  and  adverse  to  the  genius  of  all  free 
institutions.  The  Secretary  was  made,  by  the  charter,  the  mere  rep» 
resentative  or  agent  of  Congress.  Its  temporary  substitute,  acting  in 
fubordination  to  it,  and  bound,  whenever  he  did  act,  to  report  to  his 
principal  his  reasons,  that  they  might  be  judged  of  and  sanctioned,  or 
overruled.  Is  it  not  absurd  to  say  that  the  agent  can  possess  more 
power  than  the  principal  ?  The  power  of  revocation  is  incident  to 
all  agency,  unless,  in  expreits  terms,  by  the  instrument  creating  it, 
a  different  provision  is  made.  The  powers,  whether  of  the  principal 
9r  the  agent,  in  relation  to  any  contract,  roust  be  expounded  by  the 
principles  which  govern  all  contracts.  It  is  true  that  the  language 
gf  the  clause  of  removal,  in  the  charter,  is  general,  but  it  is  not  there- 
fore  to  be  torn  from  the  context.  It  is  a  part  onLy  of  an  entire  com- 
pact, and  is  so  to  be  interpreted  in  connexion  with  every  part  and  with 
the  whole.  Upon  surveying  the  entire  compact,  we  perceive  that 
the  hank  has  come  under  various  duties  to  the  public ;  has  underta- 
Isen  to  perform  important  financial  operations  for  the  government ; 
and  has  paid  a  bonus  into  the  public  treasury  of  a  million  and  a  half 
of  dollars.  We  perceive  that,  in  consideration  of  the  assumption  of 
these  heavy  engagements,  and  the  payment  of  that  large  sum  of  money 
on  the  part  of  the  bank,  the  public  has  stipulated  that  the  public  de- 
positee shall  remain  with  the  bank,  during  the  continuation  of  the 
charter,  and  that  its  notes  shall  be  received  by  the  government,  in 
payment  of  all  debts,  dues  and  taxes.  Except  the  corporate  charac- 
ter conferred,  there  is  none  but  those  two  stipulations  of  any  great 
importance  to  the  bank.  £ach  of  the  two  parties  to  the  compact 
must  stand  bound  to  the  performance  of  his  engagements,  whilst  the 
other  is  honestly  and  faithfully  fulfilling  Ms.  It  is  not  to  be  conceiv- 
ed, in  the  ibmiation  of  the  compact,  that  either  party  could  have  an- 
ticipated that,  whilst  be  was  fiurlyand  honestly  executing  every  obli- 
gation which  he  had  contracted,  the  other  party  might  arbitrarily  or 
capricioosly  exonerate  himself  from  the  discharge  of  his  obligatione. 


208  iPlKCHKS  OF  HIHRT   CLAT. 

Suppose,  when  citizens  of  the  United  States  were  invited  bj  the  gor* 
ernroent  to  subscribe  to  the  stock  of  this  bank,  that  they  had  been 
told  that,  although  the  bank  performs  all  its  covenants  with  perfect 
fidelity,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may,  arbitrarily  or  capricioaa- 
ly,  upon  his  speculative  notions  of  any  degree  of  public  interest  or 
convenience  to  be  advanced,  withdraw  the  public  deposites,  would 
they  have  ever  subscribed  ?  Would  they  have  been  guilty  of  the  foflj 
of  binding  themselves  to  the  perfoimance  of  burdensome  duties,  whilst 
the  government  was  led  at  liberty  to  violate  at  pleasure  that  stipula- 
tion of  the  compact  which  by  far  was  the  most  essential  to  them  ? 

On  this  part  of  the  subject,  I  conclude,  that  Congress  has  not  parted 
from,  but  retains,  its  leeitimate  power  over  the  deposites ;  that  it 
might  modify  or  repeal  altogether  the  clause  of  removal  in  the  char- 
ter ;  that  a  breach  of  material  stipulations  on  the  part  of  the  bank 
would  authorize  Congress  to  change  the  place  of  the  depositee  ;  that 
a  corrupt  collusion,  to  defraud  the  public,  between  the  bank  and  a 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  would  be  a  clear  justification  to  Congreaa 
to  direct  a  transfer  of  the  public  deposites ;  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  is  the  mere  agent  of  Congress,  in  respect  to  the  deposites, 
acting  in  subordination  to  his  principal ;  that  it  results  from  the  na- 
ture of  all  agency  that  it  may  be  revoked,  unless  otherwise  expressly 
provided  ;  and,  finally,  that  the  principal,  and  much  less  the  agent, 
of  one  party  cannot  justly  or  lawfully  violate  the  compact,  or  any  of 
its  essential  provisions,  whilst  the  other  party  is  in  the  progressive 
and  faithful  performance  of  all  his  engagements. 


If  I  am  right  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  there  is  an  end  of  the 
gument.  There  was  perfect  equality  and  reciprocity  between  the 
two  parties  to  the  compact.  Neither  could  exonerate  himself  fitrni 
the  performance  of  his  obligations,  while  the  other  was  honestly  pro- 
ceeding fairly  to  fulfil  all  his  engagements.  But  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  concedes  that  the  public  deposites  were  perfectly  safe  in  the 
hands  of  the  bank ;  that  the  bank  promptly  met  every  demand  upon 
it ;  and  that  it  faithfully  performed  all  its  duties.  By  these  concee- 
sions,  he  surrenders  the  whole  argument,  admits  the  complete  o^Ui- 
gation  of  the  public  to  perform  its  part  of  the  compact,  and  demon- 
strates that  no  reasons,  however  plausible  or  strong,  can  justify 
open  breach  of  a  solemn  national  compact. 


OR   THK  REMOVAL  OF  THB  DBPDSITBt.  909 

2.  But  he  has  brought  forward  various  reasons  to  palliate  or  justify 
his  violation  of  the  national  faith  ;  and  it  is  now  my  purpose  to  pro- 
ceed, in  the  second  place,  to  examine  and  consider  them.  Before  I 
proceed  to  do  this,  1  hope  to  be  allowed  again  to  call  tlie  attention  of 
the  Senate  io  the  nature  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
It  is  altogether  financial  and  administrative.  His  duties  relate  to  the 
finances,  their  condition  and  improvement,  and  to  them  exclusively. 
The  act  creating  the  treasury  department,  and  defining  the  duties  of 
the  Secretary,  demonstrates  this.  He  has  no  legislative  powers ;  and 
Congress  neither  has  nor  could  delegate  any  to  him.  His  powers, 
wherever  given,  and  in  whatever  language  expressed,  must  be  inter* 
preted  by  his  defined  dutiesi  Neither  is  the  treasury  department  an 
executive  department.  It  was  expressly  created  not  to  be  an  execa* 
tive  department.  It  is  administrative,  but  not  executive-  His  rela- 
tions are  positive  and  direct  to  Congress,  by  the  act  of  his  creation, 
and  not  to  the  President.  Whenever  he  is  put  under  the  direction 
of  the  President,  (as  he  is  by  various  subsequent  acts,  especially  ihxmt 
relating  to  the  public  loans,)  it  is  done  by  express  provision  of  law, 
and  for  specified  purposes. 

With  this  key  to  the  nature  of  the  office  and  the  duties  of  the  offi- 
cer, I  will  oow  briefly  examine  the  various  reasons  which  he  assigns 
for  the  removal  of  the  public  deposites.  The  firet  is  the  near  approach 
of  the  expiration  of  the  charter.  But  the  charter  had  yet  to  run  about 
two  and  a  half  of  the  twenty  years  to  which  it  was  limited.  During 
the  whole  term  the  public  deposites  were  to  continue  to  be  made  with 
the  bank*  It  was  clearly  foreseen,  at  the  commencement  of  the  term, 
as  now,  that  it  would  expire,  and  yet  Congress  did  not  then,  and  has 
never  since,  thought  proper  to  provide  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  de- 
posites prior  to  the  expiration  of  the  charter.  Whence  does  the  Sec- 
retary derive  an  authority  to  do  what  Congress  had  never  done  ? 
Whence  his  power  to  abridge  in  efiect  the  period  of  the  charter,  and 
to  limit  it  to  seventeen  and  a  half  years,  instead  of  twenty  ?  Was 
the  urgency  for  the  removal  of  the  deposites  so  great  that  he  could 
not  wait  sixty  days,  until  the  assembling  of  Congress  ?  He  admits 
that  they  were  perfectly  safe  in  the  bank ;  that  it  promptly  met  every 
demand  upon  it ;  and  that  it  faithfully  performed  all  its  duties.  Why 
not,  then,  wait  the  arrival  of  Congress  ?  The  last  time  the  House 
of  Representatives  hod  spoken,  among  the  very  last  acts  of  the  laii 
•epotf,  that  Hoiise  had  deebnd  itafiill  coofidflnce  in  the  safety  of 


310  mtcHBt  or  Hiirmr  glat. 

the  depofitea.  Why  not  wait  until  it  could  review  the  subject, 
ell  the  new  Ught  which  the  Secretary  could  throw  upon  it,  and  agaiB 
proclaim  its  opinion  ?  He  comes  into  office  on  the  23d  of  Septerobefi 
1833,  and,  in  three  days,  with  intuitive  celerity,  he  comprehends  the 
whole  of  the  operations  of  the  complex  department  of  the  treasuiy, 
perceives  that  the  government,  from  its  origin,  had  been  in  uniform 
error,  and  denounces  the  opinions  of  all  his  predecessors !  And,  has- 
tening to  rectify  universal  wrong,  in  defiance  and  in  contempt  of  the 
resolution  of  the  House,  he  signs  an  order  for  the  removal  of  the  da 
posites !  It  was  of  no  consequence  to  him,  whether  places  of  safety^ 
in  substitution  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  could  be  obtained  or 
not ;  without  making  the  essential  precautionary  arrangements,  he 
oonunands  the  removal  almost  instantly  to  be  made. 

Why,  sir,  if  the  Secretary  were  right  in  contending  that  he  alone 
could  order  the  removal,  even  he  admits  that  Congress  has  power  to 
provide  for  the  security  of  the  public  money,  in  the  new  places  to 
which  it  might  be  transferred.  If  he  did  not  deign  to  consult  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people  as  to  the  propriety  of  tiie  first  step,  did  not 
a  decent  respect  to  their  authority  and  judgment  exact  from  him  a 
delay,  for  the  brief  term  of  sixty  days,  that  they  might  consider  what 
was  fitting  to  be  done  ?  The  truth  is,  that  the  Secretary,  by  law, 
has  DoUiing  to  do  with  the  care  and  safle-keeping  of  the  public  money. 
As  has  been  already  shown,  that  duty  is  specifically  assigned  by  law 
to  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States.  And,  in  assuming  upon  hin^ 
self  the  authority  to  provide  other  depositories  than  the  fiank  of  the 
United  States,  he  alike  trampled  upon  the  duties  of  the  treasurer,  and 
what  was  due  to  Congress.  Can  any  one  doubt  the  motive  of  this 
precipitancy  ?  Does  anybody  doubt  that  it  was  to  preclude  the  so* 
tion  of  Congress,  or  to  bring  it  under  the  influence  of  the  execativo 
Veto  ^  Let  the  two  Houses,  or  either  of  them,  perform  their  duty  to 
the  country,  and  we  shall  hereafter  see  whether,  in  that  respect,  aft 
least,  Mr.  Secretary  will  not  fiiil  to  consummate  his  purpose. 


3.  The  next  reason  assigned  for  this  ofiensive  proceeding,  is  tho 
re-efeetion  of  the  present  chief  magistrate.    The  Secretary  says : 

'U  have  alwsfa  Teinirded  tbe  result  of  the  last  eI«!ctton  of  Prefideat  of  the  Uoiieil 
States  M  the  dedantion  of  a  m^ority  of  the  people,  that  the  charter  ought  not  to  be 
^nmBmtA.**  •  •  •  ••  Ii«  volutttary  appficatioii  to  Congress  for  the  renewal  of 
l^ofeaiter  four  years  before  it  ezpimd,  and  upon  the  eve  of  the  eleetioa  of  Pi  * ' 
«to«rtisMitf  as  «K  Mit  Si  brinsiaK  fbmaid  that  qoMioa  Ibr  iaeidt^ 


ON  "Vai  milOYAL  or  THK  OSPOtlTM.  SU 

■I  the  then  approaching  elcctkm.    It  was  accordingly  «igued  on  both  sides  befort 
the  tribunal  of  the  people,  and  their  verdict  pronounced  against  the  bank,'*&c. 

What  has  the  Secretary  to  do  irith  elections  ?  Do  they  belong  to 
the  financial  concerns  of  his  department  ?  Why  this  constant  refer- 
ence to  the  result  of  the  last  presidential  election  ?  Ought  not  the 
President  to  be  content  ^ith  the  triumphant  issue  of  it  ?  Did  he 
want  still  more  vetoes  ?  The  winners  ought  to  forbear  making  any 
complaints,  and  be  satisfied,  whatever  the  losers  may  be.  After  an 
election  w  fairly  terminated,  I  have  always  thought  that  the  best  way 
was  to  forget  all  the  incidents  of  the  preceding  canvass,  and  espe- 
cially the  manner  in  which  votes  had  been  cast.  If  one  has  been  sac- 
eessfuU  that  ought  to  be  sufficient  for  him  ;  if  defeated,  regrets  are 
unavailing.  Our  fellow  citizens  have  a  right  freely  to  exercise  their 
elective  franchise  as  they  please,  and  no  one,  certainly  no  candidate« 
has  any  right  to  complain  about  it. 

But  the  argument  of  the  Secretary  is,  that  the  question  of  the  bank 
was  fully  submitted  to  the  people,  by  the  consent  of  all  parties,  fully 
discussed  before  them,  and  their  verdict  pronounced  against  the  insti- 
tution, in  the  re-election  of  the  President.  His  statement  of  the  can 
requires  that  we  should  examine  carefully  the  various  messages  of 
the  President  to  ascertain  whether  the  bank  question  was  fairly  and 
frankly  (to  use  a  favorite  expression  of  the  President)  submitted  by 
him  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  In  his  message  of  1829,  the 
President  says : 

'*  The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  expires  in  1836,  and  its  stockhold- 
en  wlU  most  probably  apply  for  a  renewsl  of  their  privileges-  In  order  to  ayoid  the 
evils  resulting  from  frtcijrUancy  in  a  measare  involvins,  such  important  principles, 
■mi  nch  deep  pecnniary  intere fCp,  1  feel  that  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  iht  wartin  in- 
terested, too  soon  present  it,  to  the  deliberate  consideration  of  the  legislalare  aa^ 
the  people." 

The  charter  had  then  upwards  of  six  years  to  ran.  Upon  this 
solemn  invitation  of  the  chief  magistrate,  two  years  afterwards,  the 
bank  came  forward  with  an  application  for  renewal.  Then  it  was 
discovered  that  the  application  was  premature.  And  the  bank  was 
denounced  Cor  accepting  the  very  invitation  which  had  been  formally 
given.     The  President  proceeds : 

9 

**  Bodi  the  eoDstitntionatitjr  and  the  expedienej  of  the  bank  are  wel  qpeslioaij, 
kff  m  9arg$  jmtkm  ^^mftUmt  elHwtM,^ 

I'.-i.  ■■.     a      .   .  ■•'I        •  m  ■'■■'■■ 


S12  flPUCHIg  or   HUTRT  ^AT. 

This  message  was  a  non-committal.  The  President  does  not  an* 
nounce  clearly  his  own  opinion,  hut  states  that  of  a  large  pgrtion  of 
awr fellow  ciiisens*  Now  we  all  know  that  a  large  and  highly  respec- 
table number  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  always  enter- 
tained an  opinion  adverse  to  the  bank  on  both  grounds.  The  Presi- 
dent oontinues : 

'*  if  such  an  institution  is  deemed  essential  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  got' 
ernment,  I  submit  to  the  wisdom  of  the  legUlanire  whether  a  national  on^,  foanded 
upon  the  credit  of  the  goverrnnent,  and  its  lesources,  might  not  be  devised." 

Here,  again,  the  President,  so  far  firom  expressing  an  explicit  opiiH 
ion  against  all  national  banks,  makes  a  hypothetical  admission  of  tfan 
utility  of  a  bank,  and  distinctly  intimates  the  practicability  of  deviaiiig 
one  on  the  basis  of  the  credit  and  resources  of  the  government. 

In  his  message  of  1830,  speaking  of  the  bank,  the  President  says : 


"Nothing has  occurred  to  lessen,  in  any  degree,  the  dangers  which  manpef  mtr 
citizena  apprvhend  from  that  iimritution,  as  atyrtunt  on^nized.    In  the  spint  of  iso- 

E9vement  and  compromise,  which  distinguishes  oor  countnr  and  its  institaUouL  it 
comes  u«  to  inquire  whi.'th>*r  it  be  not  po»ibU  to  secure  toe  advantages  afiforaed 
bj  tho  present  bank  through  the  agency  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  so  in«>difled 
in  its  principles  and  structure,  as  to  obviate  conbtitutional  and  other  objections.** 

Here,  again,  the  President  recites  the  apprehensions  of  '<  many  of 
oar  citizens,^'  rather  than  avows  his  own  opinion.  He  admits  indeed 
<^  the  advantages  afforded  by  the  present  bank,''  but  suggests  an  in- 
quiry whether  it  be  possible  (of  course  doubting)  to  secure  them  by 
a  bank  differently  constructed.  And  towards  the  conclusion  of  that 
part  of  the  message,  his  language  fully  justifies  the  implication,  that 
it  was  not  to  the  bank  itself,  but  to  ^^  its  present  form,''  that  he  ol>- 
jected. 

The  message  of  1S31,  when  treating  of  the  bank,  was  very  brief 
The  President  says : 

'*  Entertaining  the  opinions  heretofore  expressed  in  relation  to  the  Bank  of  Ae 
United  States,  tu  at  pretent  or^iuzetf"— [non-committal  once  more  x  and  what  Aft 
meanji,  Mr.  President,  nobody  better  knows  than  you  and  I]—*'  I  felt  it  my  dnty,  a 
my  former  messages, /ranjlrfy  todiadote  them.** 

Erank  disclosures !  Now,  sir,  I  recollect  perfectly  well  the  impre^ 
tioins  made  on  my  mind,  and  on  those  of  other  Senators  with  whom 
I  eonversed,  iamiediately  after  that  message  was  read.    We  thought 


OH   Tfll  RBlfOTAL  OT  THE  DKPOBITEf .  dl8 

find  said  to  each  other^  the  President  has  left  a  door  open  to  pass  out. 
It  is  not  the  hank ;  it  is  not  any  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  which 
he  18  opposed,  but  it  is  to  the  particular  organization  of  the  existing 
bank.  And  we  all  concluded  that,  if  amendments  could  bo  made  to 
the  charter  satisfactory  to  the  President,  he  would  approve  a  bill  fof 
its  renewal. 

We  come  now  to  the  famous  message  of  July,  1832,  negativing  the 
bill  to  recharter  the  bank.  Here,  it  might  be  expected,  we  shall  cer- 
tainly find  clear  opinions,  unequivocally  expressed.  The  President 
cannot  elude  the  question.  He  must  now  be  perfectly  frank.  We 
shall  presently  see.     He  says ; 

*'  A  Bank  of  the  United  States  is,  in  manf  respects,  convenient  to  the  govenm^nt, 
and  uis^ful  to  ihe  p  oule.  Enteriaining  this  opinion,  and  deeply  im{>res8cd  with  tb« 
belief  that  some  of  the  powers  and  privileges  po8(»ei»ed  by  the  existing  bank>  arft 
unauthorized  by  the  constitution,"  cV^.  ♦  •  •  »*  f  felt  it  my  duly,  at  an  early 
period  of  my  administration,  to  call  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  practicability 
of  ori^nisinsr  an  inUitution,  combining  uU  its  advantages,  and  obviatmg  these  od^ 
jections.  I  sincerrly  regret,  that  in  the  act  before  me  I  can  perceive  none  of  thou 
modi/irations^"  &r.  ♦  ♦  *  **  That  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  competeat 
to  all  the  du(iet>  which  may  be  required  by  the  government,  might  be  so  organized 
as  not  to  infringe  on  our  own  delegated  powers,  or  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States, 
I  do  not  entertain  a  doubt  Had  the  Kxccutive  been  called  on  to  TuniiBh  the  prqfut 
qf  such  an  imtitution,  the  duty  would  have  been  cheerfully  performed." 

The  message  is  principally  employed  in  discussing  the  objections 
which  the  President  entertained  to  the  particular  provisions  of  the 
charter,  and  not  to  the  bank  itself ;  such  as  the  right  of  foreigners  to 
hold  stock  in  it ;  its  exemption  from  State  taxation ;  its  capacity  to 
hold  real  estate,  &c.  &c.  Does  the  President,  even  in  this  message, 
Irray  himself  in  opposition  to  any  Bank  of  the  United  States  ?  Doei 
he  even  oppose  himself  to  the  existing  bank  under  every  organiza- 
tion of  which  it  is  susceptible  ?  On  the  contrary,  does  he  not  declare 
that  he  does  not  entertain  a  doubt  that  a  bank  may  be  constitutionally 
organized  ?  Does  he  not  even  rebuke  Congress  for  not  calling  on 
him  to  furnish  a  project  of  a  bank,  which  he  would  have  cheerfully 
supplied  ?  Is  it  not  fairly  deducible,  from  the  message,  that  the 
charter  of  the  present  bank  might  have  been  so  amended  as  to  have 
secured  the  President's  approbatton  to  the  institution  ?  So  for  waa 
the  message  from  being  decisive  against  all  Banks  of  the  United 
States,  or  against  the  existing  bank,  under  any  modification,  the 
President  expressly  declares  that  the  question  was  adjourned.  He 
•ays : 

/  •O 


814  WEMCBMM  OP  HENRY    (».AT» 

**  A  general  diccunioo  will  now  take  place,  eliciting  new  light,  and  aetdiognir 

£»rtant  principles ;  and  a  new  Congrefp,  elected  in  (he  mid&t  oi  6uch  discu^ion,  and 
miahing  an  equal  representation  of  the  people,  according  to  the  last  ceiraaa,  «il 
bear  to  the  Capitol  the  verdict  of  public  opinion,  and  I  doubt  not  bring  thia  impoff* 
tant  question  to  a  satisfactory  result." 

This  review  of  the  yarious  messages  of  the  President,  conclunTa* 
Ij  evinces  that  they  were  far  from  expressing,  frankly  and  deciaivdj) 
any  opinions  of  the  chief  magistrate,  except  that  he  was  opposed  to 
the  amendments  of  the  chaiter  contained  in  the  bill  submitted  to  him 
for  its  renewal,  and  that  he  required  further  amendments.  It  demoii* 
ttrates  that  he  entertained  no  doubt  that  it  was  practicable  and  deair* 
Me  to  establish  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  ;  it  justified  the  hope 
that  he  might  be  ultimately  reconciljsd  to  the  continuation  of  tte 
present  Bank,  with  suitable  modifications  ;  and  it  expressly  pr»- 
claimed  that  the  whole  subject  was  adjourned  to  the  new  Congrets, 
to  be  assembled  under  the  last  census.  If  the  parts  of  the  messagei 
which  I  have  cited,  or  other  expressions,  in  the  same  document,  be 
doubtful,  or  susceptible  of  a  different  interpretation,  the  review  it 
sufficient  for  my  purpose ;  which  is,  to  refute  the  argument  so  confi- 
dently advanced,  that  the  President's  opinion,  in  opposition  to  the 
present  or  any  other  Bank  of  the  United  States,  was  frankly  and 
fairly  stated  to  the  people,  prior  to  the  late  election,  was  fully  under- 
stood and  finally  decided  by  them. 

Accordingly,  in  the  canvass,  which  ensued,  it  was  boldly  asserted 
oy  the  partisans  of  the  President  that  he  was  not  opposed  to  a  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  nor  to  the  existing  Bank  with  proper  amend* 
ments.  They  maintained,  at  least  wherever  those  friendly  to  a  Nn^ 
iional  Bank,  were  in  the  majority,  that  the  re-election  would  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  recharler  of  the  Bank,  with  proper  amendments.  They 
dwelt,  it  is  true,  with  great  earnestness,  upon  his  objections  to  the 
pernicious  influence  of  foreigners  in  holding  stock  in  it ;  but  they 
nevertheless  contended  that  these  objections  would  be  cured,  if  he 
was  re-elected,  and  the  Bank  sustained.  I  appeal  to  the  whole  Senate, 
to  my  colleagues,  to  the  people  of  Kentucky,  and  especially  to  the 
citizens  of  the  city  of  Louisville,  for  the  correctness  of  this  statement 

After  all  this,  was  it  anticipated  by  the  people  of  the  United  States 
that,  in  the  re-election  of  the  President,  they  were  deciding  aeainsi 
an  institution  of  such  vital  importance  ?  Could  they  have  imagined 
that|  after  an  express  adjournment  of  the  whole  matter  to  a 


OR   THE  RSMOVAL  OF   THE  DCP0SITK8.  2lt 

CoDgresa,  by  tbe  President  himself,  he  Avould  have  prejudged  the 
action  of  this  new  Congress,  and  pronounced  that  a  question,  express- 
ly by  hiniself  referred  to  its  authority,  was  previously  settled  by  the 
people  ?  He  claimed  no  such  result  in  his  message,  immediately  af- 
ter |he  re-election ;  although  in  it  he  denounced  the  Bank  as  an  un- 
safe depository  of  the  public  money,  and  invited  Congress  to  investi- 
gate its  condition.  The  President,  then,  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  are  without  all  color  of  justification  for  their  assertioDSy 
that  the  question  of  bank  or  no  bank  was  fully  and  fairly  submitted 
to  the  people,  and  a  decision  pronounced  against  it  by  them. 

Sir,  I  am  surprised  and  alarmed  at  the  new  source  of  executive 
power,  which  is  found  in  the  lesult  of  a  presidential  election.  I  had 
supposed  that  the  constitution  and  the  laws  were  the  sole  source  of 
executive  authority  ;  that  the  constitution  could  only  be  amended  in 
the  mode  which  it  has  itself  prescribed  ;  that  the  issue  of  a  presiden- 
tial election,  was  merely  to  place  the  chief  magistrate  in  the  post  as- 
signed to  hi^  ;  and  that  he  had  neither  more  nor  less  power,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  election,  than  the  constitution  defines  and  delegates. 
But  it  seems  that  if,  prior  to  an  election,  certain  opinions,  no  matter 
bow  ambiguously  put  forth  by  a  candidate,  are  known  to  the  people, 
these  loose  opinions,  in  virtue  of  the  election,  incorporate  themselves 
with  the  constitution,  and  afterwards  are  to  be  regarded  and  ex- 
pounded as  psrts  of  the  instrument. 

4.  The  public  money  ought  not,  the  Secretary  thinks,  to  remain  in 
the  Bank  until  the  last  moment  of  the  existence  of  the  charter.  But 
that  was  not  the  question  which  he  had  to  decide  on  the  26th  Sep- 
tember last.  Thp  real  question  then  was,  could  he  not  wait  sixty 
days  for  the  meeting  of  Congress  ?  There  were  many  last  moments, 
near  two  years  and  a  half,  between  the  26th  of  September  and  the 
day  of  the  expiration  of  the  charter.  But  why  not  let  the  public 
money  remain  in  the  Bank  until  the  last  day  of  the  charter  ?  It  is  a 
part  of  the  charter  that  it  shall  so  remain ;  and  Congress  having  so 
ordered  it,  the  Secretary  ought  to  have  acquiesced  in  the  will  of  Con- 
gress, unless  the  exigency  had  arisen  on  which  alone  it  was  supposed 
his  power  over  the  deposites  would  be  exercised.  The  Secretary  is 
greatly  mistaken,  in  believing  that  the  Bank  will  be  less  secure  in 
the  last  hoars  of  its  existence  than  previously.  It  will  then  be  col- 
lecting its  resources,  with  a  view  to  the  immediate  payment  of  its 


216  SPEECHES  or  HBNRT    CLAT. 

notes,  and  the  ultimate  division  among  the  stockholders  of  their  capi 
tal ;  and  at  no  period  of  its  existence  will  it  be  so  strong  and  ahle  to 
pay  all  demands  upon  it.  As  to  the  depreciation  in  the  value  of  ite 
notes  in  the  interior,  at  that  time,  why,  sir,  is  the  Secretary  possess- 
ed of  the  least  knowledge  of  the  course  of  the  trade  of  the  interior^ 
and  especially  of  the  western  States  ?  If  he  had  any,  he  could  not 
have  made  such  a  suggestion.  When  the  Bank  itself  is  not  diawing, 
its  notes  form  the  best  medium  of  remittance  from  the  interior  to  the 
Atlantic  capitals.  They  are  sought  after  by  merchants  and  traders 
with  avidity,' are  never  below  par,  and  in  the  absence  of  Bank  drafts 
may  command  a  premium.  This  will  continue  to  be  the  case  as  long 
as  the  charter  endures,  and  especially  daring  the  last  moments  of  its 
existence,  when  its  ability  will  be  unquestionable,  Philadelphia  be- 
ing the  place  of  the  redemption ;  whilst  the  notes  themselves  wUl 
be  received  in  all  the  large  cities  in  payment  of  duties. 

The  Secretary  asserts  that  "  it  is  tcell  understood  that  the  superior 
credit  heretofore  enjoyed  by  the  Notes  of  the  Bank  <ff  the  United 
States,  was  not  founded  on  any  particular  confidence  in  its  manage- 
ment or  solidity.  It  was  occasioned  altogether  by  the  agreement  on 
behalf  of  the  public,  in  the  act  of  incorporation,  to  receive  them  in 
all  payments  to  the  United  States." — I  have  rarely  seen  any  state 
paper  characterised  by  so  little  gravity,  dignity  and  circumspection, 
as  the  report  displays.  The  Secretary  is  perfectly  reckless  in  his  as- 
sertions of  matters  of  fact,  and  culpably  loose  in  his  reasoning.  Can 
he  believe  the  assertion  which  he  has  made  r  Can  he  believe  for  ex- 
ample, that  if  the  Notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  Metropolis  were  made 
receivable  in  all  payments  to  the  government,  they  would  ever  ac- 
quire, at  home  and  abroad,  the  credit  and  confidence  which  are  at- 
tached to  those  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  ?  If  he  had  stated 
that  the  faculty  mentioned,  was  one  of  the  elements  of  the  gremt 
credit  of  those  notes,  the  statement  would  have  been  true  ;  but  who 
can  agree  with  him,  that  it  is  the  sole  cause  .>  The  credit  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  results  from  the  large  amount  of  its  capi- 
tal ;  from  the  great  ability  and  integrity  with  which  it  has  been  ad> 
ministered ;  from  the  participation  of  the  government  in  its  affairs; 
from  Its  advantageous  location;  from  its  being  the  place  of  deposite 
of  the  public  moneys,  and  its  Notes  being  receivable  in  all  payments 
to  the  government ;  and  from  its  being  emphatically 'fA«  Bank  of  ike 


ON  THK  SIMOTAL  OP  THB  DtP0SIT£8.  217 

United  Staies.    This  latter  circumstance  arranges  it  with  the  Bank 
«f  England)  Fhrnce,  Amsterdam,  Genoa,  &c. 

6.  The  expansion  and  contraction  of  the  acc3mmodations  of  the 
bcuak  to  its  individual  customers,  are  held  up  by  the  Secretary,  in  bold 
relief,  as  evidences  of  misconduct,  vrhich  justified  his  virithdrawal  of 
the  deposites.  He  represents  the  bank  as  endeavoring  to  operate  on 
the  public,  by  alternate  bribery  and  oppression,  with  the  same  object 
in  both  eases,  of  influencing  the  election,  or  the  administration  of  the 
President.  Why  this  perpetual  reference  of  all  the  operations  of  the 
institution  to  the  executive  ?  Why  does  the  executive  think  of  uo- 
thing  but  itself?  It  is  1 !  It  is  I !  It  b  I,  that  is  meant,  appears  to  be 
the  constant  exclamation.  Christianity  and  charity  enjoin  us  never 
to  ascribe  a  bad  motive  if  we  can  suppose  a  good  one.  The  bank  is 
a  moneyed  corporation,  whose  profits  result  from  its  business ;  if  that 
be  extensive,  it  makes  better ;  if  limited,  less  profit.  Its  interest  is 
to  make  the  greatest  amount  of  dividends  which  it  can  safely.  And 
all  its  actions  may  be  more  certainly  asciibed  to  that  than  any  other 
principle.  The  administration  must  have  a  poor  opinion  of  the  vu>> 
tue  and  intelligence  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  if  it  supposes 
that  their  judgments  are  to  be  warped  and  their  opinions  controlled 
by  any  scale  of  gradua^d  bank  acconunodations.  The  bank  moat 
have  a  still  poorer  conception  of  its  duty  to  the  stockholder,  if  it  were 
to  regulate  its  issues  by  ihe  uncertain  and  speculative  standard  of  po- 
litical efi*ect,  rather  than  a  positive  arithmetical  rule  for  the  computa- 
tion of  interest. 

Ab  to  the  alleged  extension  of  the  business  of  the  bank,  it  has  been 
again  and  again  satisfactorily  accounted  for  by  the  payment  of  the 
public  debt,  and  the  withdrawal  from  Europe  of  considerable  sums, 
which  threw  into  its  vaults  a  large  amount  of  funds,  which,  to  be 
productive,  must  be  employed ;  and,  as  the  commercial  wants  pro- 
ceeding from  extraordinary  activity  of  business,  created  great  demands 
about  the  same  period  for  bank  acconunodations,  the  institution  nat- 
urally enlarged  its  transactions.  It  would  have  been  treacherous  to 
the  best  interests  of  its  constituents  if  it  had  not  done  so.  The  re- 
cent contraction  of  its  business  is  the  result  of  an  obvious  cause. 
Notwithstanding  the  confidence  in  it,  manifested  by  one  of  the  last 
acts  of  the  last  House  of  Representatives,  Congress  had  scarcely  left 
the  dblnot  befine  metsorea  were  put  in  operation  to  circuoivent  its 


918  kncscBSS  or  hkitbt  clat. 

wrthority.  Denunciations  and  threats  were  put  forth  against  it*  Rii* 
mora  stamped  with  but  too  much  authority,  were  circulated,  of  tbe 
intention  of  the  executive  to  disregard  the  admonition  of  the  House  of 
Representatiyes.  An  agent  was  sent  out — and  then  $uch  an  agemi — 
to  sound  the  local  institutions  as  to  the  terms  on  which  they  would 
receive  the  deposites.  Was  the  bank;  who  could  not  be  ignorant  of 
all  this,  to  sit  carelessly  by,  without  taking  any  precautionary  dmi^ 
sores  ?  The  prudent  mariner,  when  he  sees  the  coming  storm,  forb 
his  sails,  and  prepares  for  all  its  rage.  The  bank  knew  that  the  ex* 
ecutive  was  in  open  hostility  to  it,  and  that  it  had  nothing  to  expect 
from  its  forbearance.  It  had  numerous  points  to  defend,  tbestrengtk 
or  weakness  of  all  of  which  was  well  known  from  its  weekly  retuma 
to  the  Secretary,  and  it  could  not  possibly  know  at  which  the  fint 
mortal  stroke  would  be  aimed.  If,  on  the  twentieth  of  September 
last,  instead  of  the  manifesto  of  the  President  against  the  hank,  he 
had  officially  announced  that  he  did  not  mean  to  make  war  upon  the 
bank,  and  intended  to  allow  the  public  deposites  to  remain  until  the 
pleasure  of  Congress  was  expressed,  public  confidence  wodd  bare 
been  assured  and  unshakea,  the  business  of  the  country  continued  in 
quiet  and  prosperity,  and  the  numerous  bankruptcies  in  our  commer- 
cial cities  averted.  The  wisdom  of  human  actions  is  better  knowB 
in  their  results  than  at  their  inception.  That  of  the  bank  b  manifeal 
from  all  that  has  happened,  and  especially  from  its  actual  ofttditkm 
of  perfect  security. 

7.  The  Secretary  complains  of  misconduct  of  the  bank  in  deleg^ 
ling  to  the  committee  of  exchange  the  transaction  of  important  bu8i« 
ness,  and  in  that  committee  being  appointed  by  the  President  and  not 
the  board,  by  which  the  government  directora  have  been  excluded. 
The  directors  who  compose  the  board  meet  only  periodically*  Dri- 
ving no  compensation  frt>m  their  places,  which  the  charter  indeed 
prohibits  them  from  receiving,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  they  should 
be  constantly  in  session.  They  must,  necessarily,  therefore,  devolve 
a  great  part  of  the  business  of  the  bank  in  its  details,  upon  the  offi- 
cers and  servants  of  the  corporation.  It  is  sufficient,  if  the  boaid 
controls,  governs,  and  directs  the  whole  machine.  The  most  impoi^ 
tant  operation  of  a  bank  is  that  of  paying  out  its  cash,  and  that  the 
cashier  or  teller,  and  not  the  board  performs.  As  to  committeee  of 
exchange,  the  board,  not  being  always  in  session,  it  is  evident  that 
the  convenience  of  the  public  requires  that  there  should  be  aome  att- 


^ 


OH  THB  BSBIOTAL  OF  THE  DSPOf  ITI8.  219. 

tbority  at  the  bank  daily,  to  paM  daily  upoD  bills,  either  in  the  sale 
or  purchase,  as  the  wants  of  the  cmmnunity  require.  Every  bank,  I 
bdieve,  that  does  business  to  any  extent,  has  a  committee  of  exchange 
similar  to  that  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  In  regard  to  the 
mode  of  appointment  by  the  President  of  the  board,  it  is  in  conform- 
ity with  the  invariable  usage  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  with 
the  practice  of  the  Senate  for  several  years,  and  until  altered  at  the 
commencement  of  this  session,  with  the  usage  in  a  great  variety,  it 
not  all  of  the  State  legislatures,  and  with  that  which  prevails  in  our 
popular  assemblies.  I'he  president,  speaker,  chairman,  moderator, 
almost  uniformly  appoints  committees.  That  none  of  the  government 
directors  have  been  on  the  committee  of  exchange,  has  proceeded,  it 
is  to  be  presumed,  from  their  not  being  entitled,  from  their  skill  and 
experience,  and  standing  in  society*  to  be  put  there.  The  govern* 
ment  directors  stand  upon  the  same  equal  footing  with  those  appoint- 
ed by  the  stockholders.  When  appointed  they  are  thrown  into  the 
mass,  and  must  take  their  fair  chances  with  their  colleagues.  If  the 
President  of  the  United  States  will  nominate  men  of  high  character 
and  credit,  of  known  experience  and  knowledge  in  business,  they  will 
no  doubt  be  placed  in  corresponding  stations.  If  he  appoints  diflerent 
men  he  cannot  expect  it.  Banks  are  exactly  the  places  where  cur- 
rency and  value  are  well  understood  and  duly  estimated.  A  piece  of 
coin,  having  even  the  stamp  of  the  government,  will  not  pass  unless 
the  metal  is  pure. 

8.  The  French  bill  forms  another  topic  of  great  complaint  with  the 
Secretary.  The  state  of  the  case  is  that  the  government  sold  to  the 
bank  a  bill  on  that  of  France  for  $900,000,  which  the  bank  sold  in 
London,  whence  it  was  sent  by  the  purchaser  to  Paris  to  receive  the 
amount.  When  the  bank  purchased  the  bill,  it  paid  the  amount  to 
the  government,  or  which  is  the  same  thing,  passed  it  to  the  credit  of 
the  treasury,  to  be  used  on  demand.  The  bill  was  protested  in  Paris, 
and  the  agents  of  the  bank,  to  avoid  its  being  liable  to  damages,  took 
up  the  bill  on  account  of  the  bank.  The  bill  being  dishonored,  the 
"  bank  comes  back  on  the  drawer,  and  demands  the  customary  dama- 
ges due  according  to  the  course  of  all  such  transactions.  The  com-* 
plaint  of  the  Secretary  is,  that  the  bank  took  up  the  bill  to  save  its 
own  credit,  and  that  it  did  not  do  it  on  account  of  the  government ; 
in  other  words,  that  the  bank  did  not  advance  at  Parb  $900,000  to 
the  government  on  account  of  a  bill  which  it  had  already  paid  every 


8M)  0FXICHK8  OP  BKHRT   CLAT« 

dollar  at  Philadelphia.  Why,  Sir,  has  the  Secretary  read  the  charier  r 
If  he  has,  he  must  have  knowD  that  the  bank  could  not  have  ad^ 
taaced  the  $900,000  for  the  government  at  Paris,  without  subjediiig 
itself  to  a  penalty  of  three  times  the  amount  (2,700,000.)  The  18lh 
•ec4ion  of  the  charter  b  express  and  positive : 

**  That  if  the  said  corporation  filiall  advance  or  lend  any  sum  of  money  for  the  tMt 
I  or  on  account  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  to  au  amount  exceeding  five 

hundred  thousand  dollars,  all  pentons  concerned  in  making  such  unlawful  ■dvanees 
or  loan,  shall  forfeit  treble  the  amount,  one  fifth  to  the  informer,*'  &c. 

9.  The  last  reason  which  I  shall  notice  of  the  Secretary  is,  that 
this  ambitious  corporation  aspires  to  possess  political  power.  ThoM 
in  the  actual  possession  of  power,  especially  when  they  have  grossly 
abused  it,  are  perpetually  dreading  its  loss.  The  miser  does  not  cling 
to  his  treasure  with  a  more  death-like  grasp.  Their  suspicions  are 
always  active  and  on  the  alert.  In  every  form  they  behold  a  rival, 
and  every  breeze  comes  chdrged  with  alarm  and  dread.  A  thousand 
spectres  glide  before  their  affrighted  imaginations,  and  they  see,  in 
every  attempt  to  enlighten  those  who  have  placed  them  in  office,  a 
sinister  design  to  snatch  from  them  their  authority.  On  what  other 
principles  can  we  account  for  the  extravagant  charges  brought  for- 
ward by  the  Secretary  against  the  bank  ?  More  groundU»ss  and  reck- 
less assertions  than  those  which  he  has  allowed  himself  to  emhody  id 
his  report,  never  were  presented  to  a  deceived,  insulted,  and  outraged 
people.  Suffer  me,  sir,  to  groupe  some  of  them.  He  asserts,  "  that 
there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  the  bank  has  used  its  means 
to  obtain  political  power ;"  that,  in  the  Presidential  election,  ^'  the 
bank  took  an  open  and  direct  interest,  demonstrating  that  it  was  using 
its  money  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  hold  upon  the  people  of  this 
country ;''  that  it  '<  entered  the  political  arena ;''  that  it  circulated 
publications  containing  ^'  attacks  on  the  officers  of  government ;''  that 
"  it  is  now  openly  in  the  field  as  a  political  partisan ;"  that  there 
are  "  positive  proof s'^^  of  the  efforts  of  the  bank  to  obtaiji  power.  And, 
finally,  he  concludes,  as  a  demonstrated  proposition : 

••  Fouthly,  That  there  is  snfflcient  evidence  to  show  that  the  bank  has  been  and 
iCill  is  seeking  to  obtain  political  power,  aud  has  used  its  money  for  the  purpose  «l 
influencing  the  election  of  *he  public  servants.*' 

After  all  this,  who  can  doubt  that  this  ambitious  corporation  m  a 
candidate  for  the  next  Presidency  ?  Or,  if  it  can  moderate  its  lofty 
pretensions,  that  it  means  at  least  to  go  for  the  oflSce  of  Secretaiy  oC 


on   THE  BniOYJl.  OF  THB  DPOIITM. 


tin  Treasury,  upon  the  next  remoyal  ?  But  sir,  where  are  the  proofr 
of  these  political  designs  ?  Can  anything  be  more  reckless  than  these 
confident  assertions  of  the  Secretary  ?  Let  us  have  the  proofs :  I  call 
for  the  proofs.  The  bank  has  been  the  constant  object  for  years  of 
vituperation  and  calumny.  It  has  been  assailed  in  every  form  of  bit^ 
temeso  and  malignity.-  Its  operations  have  been  misrepresented ;  its 
credit  and  the  public  confidence  in  its  integrity  and  solidity  attempted 
to  be  destroyed ;  and  the  character  of  its  officers  assailed.  Ui^er 
these  circumstances,  it  has  dared  to  defend  itself.  It  has  circulated 
public  documents,  speeches  of  nofembers  of  Congress,  reports  made  by 
chairmen  of  committees,  friends  of  the  adnunistration,  and  other  pa^ 
pers.  And,  as  it  vras  necessary  to  make  the  defence  commensurate 
with  the  duration  and  the  extensive  theatre  of  the  attack,  it  has  been 
compelled  to  incur  a  heavy  expense  to  save  itself  fit>m  threatened 
destruction  It  has  openly  avowed,  and  yet  avows,  its  right  and 
purpose  to  defend  itself.  All  this  was  known  to  the  last  Congress. 
Not  a  solitary  material  fact  has  been  since  disclosed.  And  when  be- 
fore, in  a  country  where  the  press  is  free,  was  it  deemed  criminal  for 
any  body  to  defend  itself?  Who  invested  the  Secretary  of  the  Trear 
mry  with  power  to  interpose  himself  between  the  people,  and  light 
and  intelligence  ?  Who  gave  him  the  right  to  dictate  what  informa- 
tion should  be  communicated  to  the  people  and  by  whom  ?  Whence 
does  he  derive  his  jurisdiction  ?.  Who  made  him  censor  of  the  public 
press.'  From  what  new  sedition  law  does  he  deduce  his  authority  ? 
b  the  superintendence  of  the  American  press  a  part  of  the  financial 
duty  of  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ?  Why  did  he  not  lay  the  whole 
case  before  Congress,  and  invite  the  revival  of  the  old  sedition  law  ? 
Why  anticipate  the  arrival  of  their  session  ?  Why  usurp  the  authority 
of  the  only  department  of  government  competent  to  apply  a  remedy, 
if  there  be  any  power  to  abridge  the  freedom  of  the  press  ?  If  the 
Secretary  wishes  to  purify  the  press,  he  has  a  most  Herculean  duty 
before  him.  And  when  he  sallies  out  on  his  Quixotic  ^pedition, 
he  had  better  begin  with  the  Augean  stable,  the  press  nearest  to  him, 
organ,  as  most  needing  purification. 


I  have  done  with  the  Secretary's  reasons.  They  have  been  weighed 
and  found  wanting.  There  was  not  only  no  financial  motive  for  his- 
acting— the  sole  motive  which  he  could  officially  entertain — but 
every  financial  consideration  forbade  him  to  act.    I  proceed  now,  ia 


ttt  mtCBMM  or  BBVBT    GLAT. 

the  ihird  and  last  place,  to  examioe  the  manner  in  which  he  has 
ercised  his  power  over  the  deposites. 

3.  The  whole  people  of  the  United  States  derive  an  interest  finom 
the  public  deposites  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  a  stockholdeTf 
in  that  institution.  The  bank  is  enabled,  through  its  branches,  to 
throw  capital  into  those  parts  of  the  Union  where  it  is  most  needed. 
Thus  it  distributes  and  equalizes  the  advantages  accruing  from  tba 
collection  of  a  large  public  revenue,  and  the  consequent  public  do^ 
posites.  Thus  it  neutralizes  the  injustice  which  would  otherwise 
flow  from  the  people  of  tl^s  west  and  the  interior,  paying  their  fall 
proportion  of  the  public  burdens,  without  deriving  any  corresponding 
benefit  from  the  circulation  and  deposites  of  the  public  revenue.  The 
use  of  the  capital  of  the  bank  has  been  signally  beneficial  to  the  West. 
We  there  want  capital,  domestic,  foreign — any  capital  that  we  caa 
honestly  get.  We  want  it  to  stimulate  enterprise,  to  give  activity  t» 
business,  and  to  develope  the  vast  resources  which  the  bounty  of  Na- 
ture has  concentrated  in  that  region.  But,  by  the  Secretary's  finstt- 
cisl  arrangements,  the  twenty-five  or  thirty  millions  of  the  puUie 
revenue  collected  firom  all  the  people  of  the  United  States  (including 
those  of  the  west)  will  be  retained  in  a  few  Atlantic  ports.  Each 
port  will  engross  the  public  noK>neys  there  collected.  And,  as  that  of 
New  York  collects  about  one-half  of  the  public  revenue,  all  the  pe<H 
pie  of  the  United  States  will  be  laid  under  contribution,  not  for  the 
sake  of  the  people  of  the  city  of  New  York,  but  of  two  or  three  banks 
in  that  city,  in  which  the  people  of  the  United  States,  collectively, 
have  not  a  particle  of  interest ;  banks,  the  stock  in  which  is  or  may 
be  held  by  foreigners. 

Three  months  have  elapsed,  and  the  Secretary  has  not  yet  fbmd 
places  of  deposite  for  the  public  moneys,  as  substitutes  for  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  He  tells  us,  in  his  report  of  yesterday,  that  the 
bsnk  at  Charleston,  to  which  he  applied  to  receive  them,  declined 
the  custody,  and  that  he  has  yet  found  no  other  bank  willing  to  assume 
it.  But  he  states  that  the  public  interest  does  not  in  consequence 
safier.  No  I  What  is  done  with  the  public  moneys  constantly  le- 
oeiving  in  the  important  port  of  Charleston,  the  largest  port  (New 
Orleans  excepted)  from  the  Potomac  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico  ?  Whsl 
with  the  revenue  bonds  ?  It  appears  that  he  has  not  yet  received  ths 
charters  firom  all  the  banks  selected  as  places  of  deposite.     Can  any- 


ON  THE  REMOWAL  OP  THB  DKPOSITIf.  288 

Uiing  be  more  improvident  thin  that  the  Secretary  should  undertake 
to  contract  with  banks,  without  knowing  their  power  and  capacity  to 
contract  by  their  charters.  That  he  should  venture  to  deposite  the 
people's  money  in  banks,  without  a  full  knowledge  of  everything  le- 
apecting  their  actual  condition  ?  But  he  has  found  some  banks  will- 
ii^^  to  receive  the  public  deposites,  and  he  has  entered  into  contracts 
with  them.  And  the  very  first  step  he  has  taken  has  been  in  direct 
violation  of  an  express  and  positive  statute  of  the  United  States.  By 
the  act  of  the  1st  of  May,  1820,  sixth  section,  it  is  enacted : 

'*  That  DO  contract  shall  hereafter  be  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  or  of  tht 
Tftoiwry^  or  ot  the  department  of  war,  or  of  the  navy,  except  under  a  law  aathorix- 
ing  the  same,  or  nnder  an  appropriation  ade()iiaie  to  its  fulflUment ;  and  excepting, 
alio,  contracts  for  the  subsi-ience  and  cloihinK  of  the  army  or  navy,  and  contmcts 
ky  the  quarter  maater's  department,  which  may  be  mode  by  the  Secretaries  oi  thoM 
departments." 

Now,  sir,  what  law  authorized  these  contracts  with  the  local  banks, 
made  by  the  Secretary  o/jhe  Treasury  1  The  argument,  if  1  under- 
stand the  argument  intended  to  be  employed  on  the  other  side,  is  this : 
that,  by  the  bank  charter,  the  Secretary  is  authorized  to  remove  the 
public  deposites,  and  that  includes  the  power  in  question  ?  But  the 
act  establishing  the  treasury  department  confides,  expressly,  the  safe- 
keeping of  the  public  moneys  of  the  United  States  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States,  and  not  to  the  Secretary;  and  the  Treasurer, 
not  the  Secretary,  gives  a  bond  for  the  fidelity  with  which  he  shall 
keep  them.  The  moment  therefore,  that  they  are  withdrawn  from 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States^  they  are  placed,  by  law,  under  the 
charge  and  responsibility  of  the  Treasurer  and  his  bond,  and  not  of 
the  Secretary,  who  has  given  no  bond.  But  let  us  trace  this  argu- 
ment a  little  further.  The  power  to  remove  the  dcposites,  says  the 
Secretary  frmn  a  given  place,  implies  the  power  to  designate  the 
place  to  which  they  shall  be  removed.  And  this  implied  power  to 
designate  the  place  to  which  they  shall  be  removed,  impKes  the  power 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  contract  with  the  new  banks  of 
deposite.  And,  on  this  third  link,  in  the  chain  of  implications,  a 
fourth  is  constructed,  to  dispense  with  the  express  duties  of  the  Trea- 
iurer  of  tne  United  Slates,  defined  in  a  positive  statute  ;  and  yei  a 
/^hj  to  repeal  a  positive  statute  of  Congress,  passed  four  years  after 
the  passage  of  the  law  containing  the  present  source  of  this  most  ex- 
traordinary chain  of  implications.  The  exceptions  in  the  act  of  182(\ 
prove  the  inflexibility  of  the  rule  which  it  prescribes.  Annual  appro- 
priations   are  made  for  the   clothing  and   lobsistence  of  the  army 


234  SPBECHBI  OF   HBNRT  CLAT.  ' 

and  navy.  These  appropiiations  might  have  heen  rapposed  to  be  iih 
duded  in  a  power  to  contract  for  those  articles,  notwithstanding  the 
prohibitory  clause  in  that  act.  But  Congress  thought  otherwise,  and 
therefore  expressly  provided  for  the  exceptions-  It  must  be  admit- 
ted that  our  clerk  (as  the  late  Governor  Robinson,  of  Louisiana,  one 
of  the  purest  republicans  I  have  ever  known,  used  to  call  a  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,)  tramples  with  very  little  ceremony  upon  the  duties 
of  the  Treasurer,  and  the  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
when  they  come  in  his  way. 

These  contracts,  therefore,  between  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasmj 
and  the  local  banks  are  mere  nullities,  and  absolutely  void,  enforces* 
ble  in  no  court  of  justice  whatever,  for  two  causes — 1st.  Because  they 
are  made  in  violation  of  the  act  of  the  1st  of  May,  1820 ;  and  2d. 
Because  the  Treasurer,  and  not  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  alone 
had,  if  any  federal  officer  possessed,  the  power  to  contract  with  the 
local  banks.  And  here  again  we  perceive  the  necessity  there  wm 
for  avoiding  the  precipitancy  with  which  the  executive  acted,  and  fior 
awaiting  the  meeting  of  Congress.  Congress  could  have  deliberately 
reviewed  the  previous  legislation,  decided  upon  the  expediency  of  a 
transfer  of  the  public  deposites,  and  if  deemed  proper,  could  haTe 
passed  the  new  laws  adapted  to  the  new  condition  of  the  treasury. 
It  could'  have  decided  whether  the  local  banks  should  pay  any  bonoSi 
or  pay  any  interest,  or  diffuse  the  public  deposites  throughout  the 
United  States,  so  as  to  secure  among  all  their  parts  equality  of  bene- 
fits as  well  as  of  burdens,  and  provided  for  ample  guaranties  for  the 
safety  of  the  public  moneys  in  their  new  depositories. 

But  let  us  now  inquire  whether  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has 
exercised  his  usurped  authority,  in  the  formation  of  these  contractti 
with  prudence  anu  discretion.  Having  substituted  himself  to  Con- 
gress and  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  he  ought  at  least  to 
show  that,  in  the  stipulations  of  the  contracts  themselves,  he  has 
guarded  the  public  moneys  and  provided  for  the  public  interests.  I 
will  examine  the  contract  with  the  Girard  Bank  of  Philadelphia, 
which  is  presented  as  a  specimen  of  the  contracts  with  the  Atlantic 
banks.  The  first  stipulation  limits  the  duty  of  the  local  banks  to 
receive  in  deposite,  on  account  of  the  United  States,  only  the  notes 
of  banks  convertible  into  coin,  ^^  in  its  immediate  vicinity,"  or  which 
it  is,  ^^for  the  time  being,  in  the  habit  o(  receiving."    Under 


ON  TBI  ftUIOTAL  Or  THB  DSP08ITBS.  225 

stipulation,  the  Girard  Bank,  for  example,  will  not  be  bound  to  re- 
ceive the  notes  of  the  Louisville  Bank,  although  that  also  be  one^f 
the  deposite  banks,  nor  the  notes  of  any  other  bank,  not  in  its  inline* 
diate  vicinity.  As  to  the  provision  that  it  will  receive  the  notes  of 
banks  which,  for  the  time  being,  it  is  in  the  habit  of  receiving,  it  is 
absurd  to  put  such  a  stipulation  in  a  contract,  because  by  the  power 
retained  to  change  the  habit,  for  the  time  being,  it  is  an  absolute  nul- 
lity. Now,  sir,  how  does  this  compare  with  the  charter  and  Bank  of 
the  United  States  ?  The  bank  receives  everywhere,  and  credits  the 
government  with  the  notes,  whether  issued  by  the  branches  or  the 
principal  bank.  The  amount  of  all  these  notes  is  everywhere  availa- 
ble to  the  government.  But  the  government  may  be  overflowing  in 
distant  bank  notes  when  they  are  not  wanted,  and  a  bankrupt,  at  the 
places  of  expenditure,  under  this  singular  arrangement. 

With  respect  to  the  transfer  of  moneys  from  place  to  place,  the 
local  banks  require  in  this  contract  that  it  shall  not  take  place  but  upon 
reasonable  notice.  And  what  reasonable  is,  has  been  lefl  totally  uq- 
deiined,  and  of  course  open  to  future  contest.  When  hereafter  a 
transfer  is  ordered,  and  the  bank  is  unable  to  make  it,  there  is  noth- 
ing to  do  but  to  alledge  the  unreasonableness  of  the  notice.  The 
local  bank  agrees  to  render  to  the  government  all  the  services 
now  performed  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  subject,  how- 
ler, to  the  restriction  that  they  are  required  "  in  the  vicinity*'  of  the 
local  bank.  But  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  under  no  such  re- 
strictions ;  its  services  are  coextensive  with  the  United  States  and 
their  territories. 

The  local  banks  agree  to  submit  their  books  and  accounts  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  or  to  any  agent  to  be  appointed  by  him, 
but  to  be  paid  by  the  local  banks  pro  rata,  as  far  as  such  examination 
is  admissible  tcithout  a  violation  of  their  respective  charters  ;  and  how 
far  that  may  be  the  Secretary  cannot  tell,  because  he  has  not  yet 
seen  all  the  charters.  He  is,  however,  to  appoint  the  agents  of  ex- 
amination, and  to  fix  the  salaries  which  the  local  banks  are  to  pay. 
And  where  does  the  Secretary  find  the  authority  to  create  ofRcers  and 
fix  their  salaries,  without  the  authority  of  Congress  ? 

But  the  most  improvident,  unprecedented  and  extraordinary  pro- 
▼isbn  in  the  contract  a  that  which  relates  to  the  security.    Wheii| 


SW  tPEBCHIS   OF  nSMRT    CLAT. 

and  not  until,  the  dcposites  in  the  local  bank  shall  exceed  one-half 
of^he  capital  stock  actually  paid  in,  collateral  security,  salisf  ctory  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  is  to  be  given  for  the  safety  of  the  d^ 
posites.  VVhy,  sir,  a  freshman,  a  schoolboy,  would  not  have  thus 
dealt  with  his  father^s  guardian's  money.  Instead  of  the  securi^ 
preceding f  it  is  io  follow  the  depositc  of  the  people's  money  !  That 
is,  the  local  bank  gets  an  amount  of  their  money,  equal  to  one-half 
its  capital,  and  then  it  condescends  to  give  security  !  Does  not  the 
Secretary  know,  that,  when  he  goes  for  the  security,  the  money  maj 
be  gone,  and  that  he.  may  be  entirely  unable  to  get  the  one  or  the 
other  ?  We  have  a  law,  if  I  mistake  not,  which  forbids  the  advanoa 
of  any  public  money,  even  to  a  disbursing  agent  of  the  governmenl, 
without  previous  security.  Yet,  in  violation  of  the  spirit  of  that  law, 
or,  at  least,  of  all  common  sense  and  common  prudence,  the  Secro- 
tary  disperses  upwards  of  twenty-five  millions  of  public  revenue  amoag 
a  countless  number  of  unknown  banks,  and  stipulates  that,  when  tfaa 
amount  of  the  deposite  exceeds  one-half  of  their  respective  capital^ 
security  is  to  be  given  ! 


The  best  stipulation  in  the  whole  contract  is  the  last,  which 
aenres  to  the  Secretary  of  the  treasury  the  power  of  discharging  th 
local  banks  from  the  service  of  the  United  States  whenevex  he  pleaaea  \ 
and  the  sooner  he  exercises  it,  and  restores  the  public  depositea  la 
the  place  of  acknowledged  safety,  from  which  they  have  been  raahlj 
taken,  the  better  for  all  parties  concerned. 


Let  us  look  into  the  condition  of  one  of  these  local  banks,  the 
est  to  us,  and  that  with  respect  to  which  we  have  the  best  informa- 
tion. The  banks  of  this  district  (and  among  them  that  of  the  Me* 
tropolis)  are  required  to  make  annual  reports  of,  their  condition  oa 
the  first  day  of  January.  The  latest  official  return  from  the  Metrop- 
olis bank  is  of  the  first  of  January,  1S32.  Why  it  did  not  make  ona 
on  the  first  of  last  January,  along  with  the  other  banks,  I  know  not 
In  point  of  fact,  I  am  informed,  it  made  none.  Here  is  its  account  of 
January,  1832,  and  I  think  you  will  agree  that  it  is  a  Flemish  one. 
On  the  debit  side  stand  capital  paid  in  $500,000.  Due  to  the  baaksi 
$20,911  10;  individuals  on  deposite  $74,977  42;  dividend  and  ex- 
penses$17,591  77 ;  and  surplus  $8,131  02  ;  making  an  aggregate  of 
$684,496  31.  On  the  credit  side  there  are  bills  and  notes  discouat- 
ed)  and  stock  (what  sort })  bearing  interest,  $626,01 1  90 ;  real  eatate, 


09  m  BSMOTAL  OT  THS  DIPOSITK8.  297 

• 

4|18,404  86 ;  notes  of  other  banks  on  hand,  and  checks  on  do.,  $28, 
213  SO  ;  specie — ^now  Mr.  President,  how  much  do  yoo  imagine? 
Recollect,  that  this  is  the  bank  selected  at  the  seat  of  government, 
where  there  is  necessarily  concentrated  a  vast  amount  of  public  mo* 
ney,  employed  in  the  expenditure  of  government.  Recollect  that,  by 
another  executive  edict,  all  public  officers,  charged  with  the  disburse* 
ment  of  the  public  money  here,  are  required  to  make  their  deposites 
with  this  Metropolis ;  and  how  much  specie  do  you  suppose  it  had 
at  the  date  of  its  last  official  return.^  $10,974  76.  Due  from  other 
banks,  $5,890  99 ;  making  in  the  aggregate  on  the  credit  side,  $684, 
496  31.  Upon  looking  into  the  items,  and  casting  them  up,  you  will 
find  that  this  Metropolis  bank,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1832,  was 
liable  to  an  immediate  call  for  $176,335  29,  and  that  the  amount 
which  it  had  on  hand  ready  to  meet  that  call,  was  $40,079  55.  And 
this  is  one  of  the  banks  selected  at  the  seat  of  the  general  government, 
for  the  deposite  of  the  public  moneys  of  the  United  States.  A  bank 
with  a  capital  of  thirty-millicms  of  dollars,  and  upwards  of  ten  milU 
MDs  of  specie  on  hand  has  been  put  aside,  and  a  bank  with  a  capital 
of  half  a  million,  and  a  little  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars  in  specie 
€10  hand,  has  been  substituted  in  its  place !  How  that  half  million 
has  been  raised — ^whether  in  part  or  in  the  whole,  by  the  neutralizing 
operation  of  giving  stock  notes  in  exchange  for  certilBcates  of  stock, 
^bes  not  appear. 

The  design  of  the  whole  scheme  of  this  treasury  arrangement  seema 
Id  have  been,  to  Lave  united  in  one  common  league  a  number  of  local 
hutks,  dispersed  throughout  the  Union,  and  subject  to  one  central 
will,  with  a  right  of  scrutiny  instituted  by  the  agents  of  that  will.  It 
is  a  bad  imitation  of  the  New  York  project  of  a  safety  fund.  This 
confederation  of  banks  will  probably  be  combined  in  sympathy  as  wdl 
as  interest,  and  will  be  always  ready  to  fly  to  the  succor  of  the 
source  of  their  nourishment.  As  to  their  supplying  a  common  cur- 
rency, in  place  of  that  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  the  plan  is 
totally  destitute  of  the  essential  requisite.  They  are  not  required  to 
credit  each  other's  paper,  unless  it  be  issued  in  the  ^^  immediate  viei* 

We  have  seen  what  is  in  this  contract.  Now  let  us  see  what  m 
moi  there.  It  contains  no  stipulation  for  the  preservation  of  the  pub* 
Ue morab.;  none  for  the  freedom  of  deetions ;  none  for  the  purity  of 


238  8PEKCHBS  OF   BEMRT   CLAT. 

the  press.  All  these  great  interests,  afler  all  that  has  been  said  agmintt 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  are  lefl  to  shift  and  take  care  of  them- 
selves as  they  can.  We  have  already  seen  the  President  of  a  bank 
in  a  neighboring  city,  rushing  impetuously  to  the  defence  of  the  Se- 
cretary of  the  treasury  against  an  editorial  article  in  a  newspaper, 
although  the  '<  venom  of  the  shaft  was  quite  equal  to  the  vigor  of  the 
bow."  Was  he  rebuked  by  the  Secretary  of  the  treasury  ?  Was  the 
bank  dUcharged  from  the  public  service  ?  Or,  are  mor  als,  the  prem, 
and  elections,  in  no  danger  of  contamination,  when  a  host  of  banks 
become  literary  champions  on  the  side  of  power  and  the  officers  of 
government  ?  Is  the  pali-iotism  of  the  Secretary  only  alarmed  when 
the  infallibility  of  high  authority  is  questioned  ?  Will  the  Statee 
silently  acquiesce,  and  see  the  federal  authority  insinuating  itself  into 
banks  of  their  creation,  and  subject  to  their  exclusive  control  ? 

We  have,  Mr.  President,  a  most  wonderful  financier  at  the  head  of 
.lur  treasury  department.  He  sits  quietly  by  in  the  cabinet,  and  wit- 
nesses the  contest  between  his  colleague  and  the  President ;  sees  the 
conflict  in  the  mind  of  that  colleague  between  his  personal  attach- 
ment to  the  President  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  solemn  duty  to  the 
public  on  the  other.  Beholds  the  triumph  of  conscientious  obligation ; 
contemplates  the  noble  spectacle  of  an  honest  man,  preferring  to  snr* 
render  an  exalted  office  with  all  its  honors  and  emoluments,  rather 
than  betray  the  interests  of  the  people.  Sees  the  contemptuous  and 
insulting  expulsion  of  that  colleague  from  office  ;  and  then  coolly  en- 
ters the  vacated  place,  without  the  slightest  sympathy  or  the  small- 
est emotion.  He  was  installed  on  the  23d  of  September,  and  by  the 
26th,  the  brief  period  of  three  days,  he  discovers  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  had  been  wrong  from  its  origin  ;  that  every  one 
of  his  predecessors  from  Hamilton  down  including  Gallatin  (who, 
whatever  I  said  of  him  on  a  former  occasion,  and  that  I  do  not  mean 
to  retract,  possessed  more  practical  knowledge  of  currency,  banks, 
and:  finance,  than  any  man  I  have  ever  met  in  the  public  councils,) 
Dallas,  and  Crawford  had  been  mistaken  about  both  the  expediency 
and  constitutionality  of  the  baik,  that  every  chief  magistrate,  prior  to 
him  whose  patronage  he  enjoyed,  had  been  wrong  ;  that  the  supreme 
court  of  the  United  States,  and  the  i)eople  of  the  United  States,  dur- 
ing the  thirty-seven  years  that  they  had  acquiesced  in  or  recognised 
the  usefulness  of -a  bank,  were  all  wrong.  And  opposing  his  single 
opinion  to  their  united  judgments,  he  dismisses  the  bank,  scatters  the 


OR  THa  RKMOTAL  OP  THE  DKP08ITE8.  290 

public  money,  and  underUkes  to  regulate  and  purify  the  public  mo- 
rab,  the  public  press,  and  popular  elections. 

If  we  examine  the  operations  of  this  modem  Turgot,  in  their  finan- 
cial bearing  merely,  we  shall  find  still  less  for  approbation. 

1.  He  withdraws  the  public  moneys,  where,  by  his  own  deliberate 
adn^ission,  they  were  perfectly  safe,  with  a  bank  of  thirty-five  mill- 
ions of  capital,  and  ten  millions  of  specie,  and  places  them  at  great 
hazard  with  banks  of  comparatively  small  capital,  and  but  little  spe- 
cie, of  which  the  Metropolis  bank  is  an  example. 

2.  He  withdraws  them  from  a  bank  created  by,  and  oyer  which 
the  federal  government  had  ample  control,  and  puts  them  in  other 
banks,  created  by  different  governments,  and  over  which  it  has  no 
control. 

3.  He  wiU^raws  them  from  a  bank  in  which  the  American  peo- 
ple as  a  stocxholder,  were  drawing  their  fair  proportion  of  interest 
accruing  on  loans,  of  which  those  deposites  formed  the  basis,  and  puts 
them  where  the  people  of  the  United  States  draw  no  interest. 

4.  From  a  bank  which  has  paid  a  bonus  of  a  million  and  a  half, 
which  the  people  of  the  United  States  may  be  now  liable  to  refund, 
and  puts  them  in  banks  which  have  paid  to  the  American  people  no 
bonus. 

5.  Depreciates  the  Talue  of  stock  in  a  bank,  where  the  general 
government  holds  seven  millions,  and  advances  that  of  banks  in  whose 
stock  it  does  not  hold  a  doUan^  and  whose  aggregate  capital  does 
not  probably  much  exceed  that  very  seven  millions.    And,  finally, 

6.  He  dismisses  a  bank  whose  paper  circulates,  in  the  greatest 
credit  tfanragfaout  the  Union  and  in  foreign  countries,  and  engages  in 
tfie  public  service  banks  whose  paper  has  but  a  limited  and  local  cir- 
culation in  their  ^'  immediate  yicinities.'^ 

These  are  immediate  and  inevitable  results.  How  much  that  largt 
and  long-atanding  item  of  unavailable  funds,  annually  reported  to 

•P 


230  spiechu  of  hbnrt  clat. 

CoDgreM,  will  be  swelled  and  extended,  remains  to  be  developed  by 
time. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  what,  under  all  these  circumstances,  is  it 
our  duty  to  do  ?  Is  there  a  senator,  who  can  hesitate  to  affirm,  in 
the  language  of  the  resolution,  that  the  President  has  assumed  a  dan- 
gerous power  over  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  not  granted  to 
him  by  the  constitution  and  the  laws ;  and  that  the  reasons  assigned 
for  the  act,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  treasury,  are  insufficient  and  un- 
satisfactory ? 

The  eyes  and  the  hopes  of  the  American  people  are  anxiously 
turned  to  Congress.  They  feel  that  they  have  been  deceived  and  in- 
sulted ;  their  confidence  abused ;  their  interests  betrayed ;  and  their 
liberties  in  danger.  They  see  a  rapid  and  alarming  concentration  of 
all  power  in  one  man^s  hands.  They  see  that,  by  the  exercise  of  the 
positive  authority  of  the  executive,  and  his  negative  power  exerted 
over  Congress,  the  will  of  one  man  alone  prevails,  and  governs  the 
Republic.  The  question  is  no  longer  what  laws  will  Congress  pass, 
but  what  will  the  executive  not  veto  ?  The  President,  and  not  Codp 
gress,  is  addressed  for  legislative  action.  We  have  seen  a  corpora- 
tion, charged  with  the  execution  of  a  great  national  work,  dismiss  an 
experienced,  feithful  and  zealous  President,  afterwards  testify  to  his 
ability  by  a  voluntary  resolution,  and  rewaid  his  extraordinary  servi- 
ces by  a  large  gratuity,  and  appoint  in  his  place  an  executive  favor- 
ite, totally  inexperienced  and  incompetent,  to  propitiate  the  Presi- 
dent. We  behold  the  usual  incidents  of  approaching  tyranny.  The 
land  is  filled  with  spies  and  informers ;  and  detraction  and  denuncia- 
tion are  the  orders  of  the  day.  People,  especially  official  incumbents 
in  this  place,  no  longer  dare  speak  in  the  fearless  tones  of  manly  firee- 
men,  but  in  the  cautious  whispers  of  trembling  slaves.  The  premoni- 
tory symptoms  of  despotism  are  upon  us  ;  and  if  Congress  do  not  ap- 
ply an  instantaneous  and  effective  remedy,  the  fatal  collapse  will  soon 
come  on,  and  we  shall  die — ignobly  die !  base,  mean,  and  abject  slayet 
—the  scorn  and  contempt  of  mankind — ^unpitied,  unwept,  unmoomed ! 


ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


In  thk  Ssnate  or  tub  United  States^  Maach  7,  1834. 


{Od  preeenting  certain  memoriak  preying  for  relief  from  the  effects  of  the  Removal 
of  the  Depoaite8»  Mr.  Clay  said—] 

I  have  been  requested  by  the  committee  from  Philadelphia,  charg- 
ed with  presenting  the  memorial  to  Congress,  to  say  a  few  words  on 
the  subject ;  and  although  after  the  ample  and  very  satis&ctory  ex- 
position which  it  has  received  from  the  Senator  fix>m  Massachusetts, 
further  observations  are  entirely  unnecessary,  I  cannot  deny  myself 
the  gratification  of  complying  with  a  request,  proceeding  from  a 
source  so  highly  worthy  of  reqpectfiil  consideration. 

And  what  is  the  remedy  to  be  provided  for  this  most  unhappy  state 
of  the  country  ?  I  have  conversed  freely  with  the  members  of  the 
Philadelphia  committee.  They  are  real,  practical,  working-men ; 
intelligent,  well  acquainted  with  the  general  condition,  and  with  the 
sufferings  of  their  particular  community.  No  one,  who  has  not  a 
heart  of  steel,  can  listen  to  them,  without  feeling  the  deepest  sym- 
pathy for  the  privations  and  sufierings  unnecessarily  brought  upon 
the  laboring  classes.  Both  the  committee  and  the  memoritd  declare 
that  their  reliance  is,  exclusively,  on  the  legislative  branch  of  the 
government.  Mr.  President,  it  is  with  subdued  feelings  of  the  pro- 
foundoit  humility  and  mortification,  that  I  am  compelled  to  say  that, 
constituted  as  Congress  now  is,  no  relief  will  be  afforded  by  it,  unless 
its  members  shall  be  enlightened  and  instructed  by  the  people  them- 
selves. A  large  portion  of  the  body,  whatever  may  be  their  private 
judgment  upon  the  course  of  the  President,  believe  it  to  be  their- 
duty,  at  all  events  safest  for  themselves,  to  sustain  him  without  re- 
gfard  to  the  consequences  of  his  measures  upon  the  public  interests. 
And  nothing  but  clear,  decided  an4  unequivocal  demonstrations  of 


932  8PKBCHS8  or  HSSfRT    CLAT. 

the  popular  disapprobation  of  what  has  been  done^  will  divert  theni 
from  their  present  purpose. 

But  there  is  another  quarter  which  possesses  sufficient  power  a&d 
influence  to  relieve  the  public  distresses.  In  twenty-four  hours,  the 
executive  branch  could  adc^t  a  measure  which  would  a£R>rd  an  efll* 
cacious  and  substantial  remedy,  and  re-establish  confidence.  And 
those  who,  in  this  chamber,  support  the  administration,  could  not 
render  a  better  service  than  to  repair  to  the  executive  mansion,  and, 
placing  before  the  chief  magistrate  the  naked  and  undisguised  truths 
prevail  upon  him  to  retrace  his  steps  and  abandon  his  fatal  experi- 
ment. No  one,  sir,  can  perform  that  duty  with  more  propriety  thaD 
yourself.  You  can,  if  yc  u  will,  induce  him  to  change  his  course. 
To  you,  then,  sir,  in  no  unfriendly  spirit,  but  with  feelings  softened 
and  subdued  by  the  deep  distress  which  pervades  every  class  of  our 
countrymen,  I  make  the  appeal.  By  your  official  and  personal  relap> 
tionswith  the  President,  you  maintain  with  him  an  intercourse  which 
I  neither  enjoy  nor  covet.  Go  to  him  and  tell  him,  without  exagge* 
ration,  but  in  the  language  of  truth  and  sincerity,  the  actual  condi* 
tion  of  his  bleeding  country.  Tell  him  it  is  nearly  ruined  and  utt- 
done  by  the  measures  which  he  has  been  induced  to  put  in  operation. 
Tell  him  that  hi$  experiment  is  operating  on  the  nation  like  the  phi- 
losopher's experiment  upon  a  convulsed  animal,  in  an  exhausted  re- 
ceiver, and  that  it  must  expire  in  agony,  if  he  does  not  pause,  give  it 
free  and  sound  circulation,  and  suffer  the  energies  of  the  people  to 
be  revived  and  restored.  Tell  him  that,  in  a  single  city,  more  than 
sixty  bankruptcies,  involving  a  loss  of  upwards  of  fifteen  millions  of 
dollars,  have  occurred.  Tell  him  of  the  alarming  decline  in  the 
value  of  all  property,  of  the  depreciation  of  all  the  products  of  in- 
dustry, of  {he  stagnation  in  every  branch  of  business,  md  of  the  dose 
of  numerous  manufacturing  establishments,  which,  a  few  short 
months  ago,  were  in  active  and  flourishing  operation.  Depict  to  him^ 
if  you  can  find  language  to  portray,  the  heart-rending  wretchedncvs 
of  thousands  of  the  working  classes  cast  out  of  employment.  Tell 
him  of  the  tears  of  helpless  widows,  no  longer  able  fo  earn  their 
bread,  and  of  unclad  and  unfed  orphans  who  have  been  driven,  by  Yob 
policy,  out  of  the  busy  pursuits  in  which  but  yesterday  they  were 
gaining  an  honest  livelihood.  Say  to  him  that  if  firmness  be  honor* 
able,  when  guided  by  truth  and  justice,  it  is  intimately  allied  (• 
another  quAlity,  of  the  moil  pernicious  tendem^,  in  the  proeecotUNi 


OH   THX  8TATB  OT  THE  COURTRT.  233 

of  an  erroneous  system.  Tell  him  how  much  more  true  glory  is  to 
be  won  by  retracing  false  steps,  than  by  blindly  rushing  on  until  his 
country  is  overwhelmed  in  bankruptcy  and  ruin.  Tell  him  of  the 
ardent  attachment,  the  unbounded  devotion,  the  enthusiastic  grati- 
tude towards  him,  so  often  signally  manifested  by  the  American  peo- 
ple, and  that  they  deserve  at  his  hands  better  treatment.  Tell  him 
to  guard  himself  against  the  possibility  of  an  odious  comparison  with 
that  worst  of  the  Roman  emperors,  who,  contemplating  with  indl&r- 
ence  the  conflagration  of  the  mistress  of  the  world,  regaled  himself 
during  the  terriffic  scene  in  the  throng  of  his  dancing  courtiers.  If 
you  desire  to  secure  for  yourself  the  reputation  of  a  public  benefactor) 
describe  to  him  truly  the  universal  distress  already  produced,  and  the 
certain  ruin  which  must  ensue  from  perseverance  in  his  measures. 
Tell  him  that  he  has  been  abused,  deceived,  betrayed,  by  the  wicked 
counsels  of  unprincipled  men  around  him.  Inform  him  that  all  ef- 
forts in  Congress  to  alleviate  or  terminate  the  public  distress  are  par- 
alyzed and  likely  to  prove  totally  unavailing,  from  his  influence  upon 
a  large  portion  of  the  members,  who  are  unwilling  to  withdraw  their 
support,  or  to  take  a  course  repugnant  to  his  wishes  and  feelings. 
Tell  him  that,  in  his  bosom  alone,  under  actual  circumstances,  does 
the  power  abide  to  relieve  the  country ;  and  that,  unless  he  opens  it 
to  conviction,  and  corrects  the  errors  of  his  administration,  no  human 
imagination  can  conceive,  and  no  human  tongue  can  express,  the 
awful  consequences  which  may  follow.  Intreat  him  to  pause,  and 
to  reflect  that  there  is  a  point  beyond  which  human  endurance  can- 
ngt  go ;  and  let  him  not  drive  this  brave,  generous,  and  patriotic  peo- 
ple to  madness  and  despair. 

Mr.  President,  unafiectedly  indisposed,  and  unwilling  as  I  am  to 
trespass  upon  the  Senate,  I  could  not  decline  complying  with  a  re- 
quest addressed  to  me  by  a  respectable  portion  of  my  fellow  citizens, 
part  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  American  public.  Like  the  Sena- 
tor from  Massachusetts,  who  has  been  entrusted  with  the  presenta- 
tion of  their  petition  to  the  Senate,  I  found  them  plain,  judicious, 
sensible  men,  clearly  understanding  th^  own  interests,  and,  with 
the  rest  of  the  community,  writhing  under  the  operation  of  the  mea- 
sures of  the  execBtive.  If  I  have  deviated  from  the  beaten  track  of 
debate  in  the  Senate,  my  apology  must  be  found  in  the  anxious  solici- 
tude which  I  feel  for  the  condition  of  the  country.  And,  sir,  if  I 
shall  have  been  soocessful  in  touching  your  heart,  and  exciting  in  700 


234  tmCHES  OF  HINRT    CLAT. 

a  glow  of  patriotism,  I  shall  be  most  happy.  You  can  prerail  upon 
the  President  to  abandon  his  ruinous  course ;  and,  if  you  will  exert 
the  influence  which  you  possess,  you  will  command  the  thanks  and 
the  plaudits  of  a  grateful  people. 


/  .{ 


ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


In  ths  Senate  of  the  United  States,  March  14,  1834. 


I  AM  charged  with  the  pleasing  duty  of  presenting  to  the  Senate 
the  proceedings  of  a  public  meeting  of  the  people,  and  two  memori- 
als, subscribed  by  large  numbers  of  my  fellow  citizens^  in  respect  to 
the  exciting  state  of  public  afiairs. 

The  first  I  would  offer  are  the  resolutions  of  the  young  men  of 
Troy,  assembled  upon  a  call  of  upwards  of  seven  hundred  of  their 
number.  I  have  recently  visited  that  interesting  city.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  of  a  succession  of  fine  cities  and  villages  that  de- 
corate the  borders  of  one  of  the  noblest  rivers  of  our  country.  In 
spite  of  the  shade  cast  upon  it  by  its  ancient  and  venerable  sister  and 
neighbor,  it  has  sprung  up  with  astonishing  rapidity.  When  I  saw  it 
last  fall,  I  never  beheld  a  more  respectable,  active,  enterprizing  and 
intelligent  business  community.  Every  branch  of  employment  was 
flourishing.  Every  heart  beat  high  in  satisfaction  with  present  en- 
joyment, and  hopes  from  the  prospect  of  future  success.  How  sadly 
has  the  scene  changed !  How  terribly  have  all  their  anticipations  of 
continued  and  increasing  prosperity  been  dashed  and  disappointed  by 
the  folly  and  wickedness  of  misguided  rulers ! 

The  young  men  advert  to  this  change,  in  their  resolutions,  and  to 
its  true  cause.  They  denounce  all  experiments  upon  their  happiness. 
They  call  for  the  safer  councils  which  prevailed  under  the  auspices 
of  Washington  and  Madison,  both  of  whom  gave  their  approbation  to 
charters  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

But,  what  gives  to  these  resolutions  peculiar  interest,  in  my  esti^ 
mation,  is,  that  they  exhibit  a  tone  of  feeling  which  rises  far  aboya 
any  loss  of  property,  however  great,  any  distress  from  the  stagnation 
of  business,  however  intense.     They  manifest  a  deep  and  patriotic 


236  8PSSCHES  OF  HKNRT   CULT. 

sensibility  to  executive  usurpations,  and  to  the  consequent  danger  to 
civil  liberty.  They  solemnly  protest  against  the  union  of  the  purse 
and  the  sword  in  the  hands  of  one  man.  They  would  not  have  con- 
sented to  such  a  union  in  the  person  of  the  father  of  his  country, 
much  less  will  they  in  that  of  any  living  man.  They  feel  that,  when 
liberty  is  safe,  the  loss  of  fortune  and  property  is  comparatively  no- 
thing ;  but  that  when  liberty  is  sacrificed,  existence  has  lost  all  its 
charms. 

The  next  document  which  I  have  to  offer  is  a  memorial,  signed  by 
near  nine  hundred  mechanics  of  the  city  of  Troy.  Several  of  them 
are  personally  known  to  me.  And  judging  from  what  I  know,  see 
and  hear,  1  believed  there  is  not  any  where  a  more  skilful,  indos* 
trious  and  respectable  body  of  mechanics  than  in  Troy.  They  bear 
testimony  to  the  prevalence  of  distress,  trace  it  to  the  legal  acts  €)i 
the  executive  branch  of  the  government  in  the  removal  of  the  public 
deposites ;  ask  their  restoration,  and  the  recharter  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States.  And  the  committee,  in  their  letter  addressed  to 
me,  say :  <<  We  are,  what  we  profess  to  be,  working  men,  dependent 
upon  our  labor  for  our  daily  bread,  confine  our  attention  to  our  seve- 
ral vocations,  and  trust  in  God  and  the  continental  Congress  for  such 
protection  as  will  enable  us  to  operate  successfully."    ' 

The  first  mentioned  depository  of  their  confidence  will  not  deceive 
them.  But  I  lament  to  say  that  the  experience,  during  this  sessioii| 
does  not  authorize  us  to  anticipate  that  co-operation  in  another  quar- 
ter which  is  indispensable  to  the  restoration  of  the  constitution  and 
laws,  and  the  recovery  of  the  public  purse. 

The  last  memorial  I  would  present,  has  been  transmitted  to  me 
by  the  Secretaries  to  a  meeting  stated  to  be  the  largest  ever  held  in 
the  county  of  Schenectady,  in  New  York.  It  is  signed  by  about 
eight  hundred  persons.  In  a  few  instances,  owing  to  the  subscrip- 
tions having  been  obtained  by  different  individuals,  the  same  name 
occurs  twice.  The  memorialists  bring  their  testimony  to  the  exis- 
tence of  distress,  aud  the  disorders  of  the  currency,  and  invoke  the 
application  of  the  only  known,  tried  and  certain  remedy,  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  National  Bank. 

* 

And  now,  Mr.  President  I  will  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  to  fiy 


ON  THS  8TATB  07  THE  OOUITTRT.  287 

a  few  words  on  the  subject  matter  of  these  proceedmgs  and  memori- 
ak)  and  on  the  state  of  the  country  as  we  found  it  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session,  and  its  present  state. 

When  we  met,  we  found  the  executive  in  the  fuH  possession  of 
the  public  treasury.  All  its  barriers  had  been  broken  down,  and  in 
place  of  the  control  of  the  law  was  substituted  the  uncontrolled  will 
of  the  chief  magistrate.  I  say  uncontrolled :  for  it  is  idle  to  pretend 
that  the  executive  has  not  unrestrained  access  to  the  public  treasury, 
when  every  officer  connected  with  it  is  bound  to  obey  his  paratnoont 
will.  It  ts  not  the  form  of  keeping  the  account ;  it  is  not  the  place 
alone  where  the  public  money  is  kept  ^  but  it  is  the  power,  the  au- 
thority,  the  responsibility  of  independent  officers,  checking  and  check- 
ed by  each  other,  t^^at  constitute  the  public  security  for  the  safety  of 
the  public  treasure.    This  no  longer  exists,  is  gone,  is  annihilated. 

The  Secretary  sent  us  in  a  report  containing  the  reasons  (if  they 
can  be  dignified  with  that  appellation)  for  the  executive  seizure  of 
the  public  purse.  Resolutions  were  promptly  offered  in  this  body, 
denouncing  the  procedure  as  unconstitutional  and  dangerous  to  liber- 
ty, and  declaring  the  total  insufficiency  of  the  reasons.  Near  three 
months  were  consumed  in  the  discussion  of  them.  In  the  early  part 
of  this  protracted  debate,  the  supporters  of  distress,  pronounced  it  a 
panic  got  up  for  dramatic  effect,  and  affirmed  that  the  country  was 
enjoying  great  prosperity.  Instances  occurred  of  members  asserting 
that  the  places  of  their  own  residence  was  in  the  full  enjoyment  of 
enviable  and  unexampled  prosperity,  who,  in  the  progress  of  the  de- 
bate, were  compelled  reluctantly  to  own  their  mistake,  and  to  admit 
the  existence  of  deep  and  intense  distress.  Memorial  after  memorial 
poured  in,  committee  after  committee  repaired  to  the  capitol  to  re- 
present the  sufferings  of  the  people,  until  incredulity  itself  stood  re- 
buked and  abashed.  Then  it  was  the  Bank  that  had  inflicted  the 
calamity  upon  the  country — ^that  Bank  which  was  to  be  brought  un- 
der the  feet  of  the  President,  should  proceed  forthwith  to  wind  up 
its  affitirs. 

And,  during  tfi6  debate,  it  was  again  and  again  pronounced  by  the 
partisans  of  the  executive,  that  the  sole  question  involved  in  the 
resolutionB  was  bank  or  no  bank.  It  was  in  vain  that  we  protested, 
a^livtndy  protested,  that  that  was  not  the  question ;  and  that  tha 


Q3B  .   tPSBCHfiS  OF  UftlTBT  CLAT. 

true  question  was  of  immensely  higher  import ;  that  it  comprehended 
the  inviolability  of  the  constitution,  the  supremacy  of  the  laws,  aiid 
the  union  of  the  purse  and  the  sword  in  the  hands  of  one  man.  In 
vain  did  members  repeatedly  rise  in  their  places,  and  proclaim  their 
intention  to  vote  for  the  restoration  of  the  deposites,  and  their  settled 
determination  to  vote  against  the  recharter  of  the  Bank,  and  againat 
the  charter  of  any  Bank.  Gentlemen  persisted  in  asserting  the  iden- 
tity of  the  bank  question,  and  that  contained  in  the  resolutions ;  and 
thousands  of  the  people  of  the  country  are,  to  this  moment,  deluded 
by  the  erroneous  belief  in  that  identity. 

Mr.  President,  the  arts  of  power  and  its  minions  are  the  same  in 
all  countries  and  in  all  ages.  It  marks  a  victim  ;  denounces  it ;  and 
excites  the  public  odium  and  the  public  hatred,  to  conceal  its  own 
abuses  and  encroachments.  It  avails  itself  of  the  prejudice,  and  the 
passions  of  the  people,  silently  and  secretly,  to  forge  chains  to  en- 
slave the  people. 

Well,  sir,  during  the  continuance  of  the  debate,  we  have  been  told 
over  and  over  again,  that,  let  the  question  of  the  deposites  be  settled, 
let  Congress  pass  upon  the  report  of  the  Secretary,  and  the  activity 
of  business  and  the  prosperity  of  the  country  will  again  speedily  re- 
vive. The  Senate  has  passed  upon  the  resolutions,  and  has  done  its 
duty  to  the  country,  to  the  constitution,  and  to  its  conscience. 

And  the  report  of  the  Secretary  has  been  also  passed  upon  in  the 
other  house ;  but  how  passed  upon  ?  The  official  relations  which 
exist  between  the  two  houses,  and  the  expediency  of  preserving  good 
feelings  and  harmony  between  them,  forbid  my  saying  all  that  I  feel 
on  this  momentous  subject.  But  I  must  say,  that  the  House,  by  the 
constitution,  is  deemed  the  especial  guardian  of  the  rights  and  inte- 
rests of  the  people  ;  and,  above  all,  the  guardiaik  of  the  people's  mo- 
ney in  the  public  treasury.  The  House  has  given  the  question  of  the 
sufficiency  of  the  Secretary's  reasons  the  go-by,  evaded  it,  shunned 
it,  or  rather  merged  it,  in  the  previous  question.  The  House  oi  Re* 
presentatives  have  not  ventured  to  approve  the  Secretary's  reasons. 
It  cannot  approve  them ;  but,  avoiding  the  true  and  original  question, 
has  gone  off  upon  a  subordinate  and  collateral  point.  It  has  indirect- 
ly sanctioned  the  executive  usurpation.  It  has  virtually  abandoned 
its  constitutional  care  alid  control  over  the  public  treasury.    It  haa 


ON  THE   STATS  OF   THS  COUNTRY.  239 

•ufrendered  the  keys,  or  rather  permits  the  executive  to  retain  their 
custody  $  and  thus  acquiesces  in  that  conjunction  of  the  sword  and 
the  puise  of  the  nation,  which  all  experience  has  evinced,  and  all 
patriots  have  helievedi  to  be  fatal  to  the  continuance  of  public  liberty. 

Such  has  been  the  extraordinary  disposition  of  this  great  question. 
Has  the  promised  relief  come  ?  In  one  short  week,  after  the  house 
pronounced  its  singular  decision,  three  Banks  in  this  District  of  Co- 
lumbia have  stopped  parent  and  exploded.  In  one  of  them  the 
goyernment  has,  we  understand,  sustained  a  loss  of  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  And  in  another,  almost  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  capi- 
tol,  that  navy  pension  fund,  created  for  our  infirm  and  disabled,  but 
gallant  tars,  which  ought  to  be  held  sacred,  has  experienced  an  ab- 
straction of  $20,000  !  Such  is  the  realization  of  the  prediction  of 
relief  made  by  the  supporters  of  the  executive. 

And  what  is  the  actual  state  of  the  public  treasury  ?  The  Presi- 
dent, not  satisfied  with  the  seizure  of  it,  more  than  two  months  be- 
fore the  commencement  of  the  session,  appointed  a  second  Secretaiy 
of  the  treasury  since  the  adjournment  of  the  last  Congress.  We  are 
now  in  the  fifth  month  of  the  session  ;  and  in  defiance  of  the  sense 
of  the  country,  and  in  contempt  of  the  participation  of  the  Senate  in 
the  appointing  power,  the  President  has  not  yet  deigned  to  submit 
the  nomination  of  his  Secretary  to  the  consideration  of  the  Senate. 
Sir,  I  have  not  looked  into  the  record,  but,  from  the  habitual  prac- 
tice of  every  previous  President,  firom  the  deference  and  respect  which 
they  all  maintained  towards  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  government, 
I  venture  to  say  that  a  parallel  case  is  not  to  be  found. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  a  question  of  the  highest  importance  what  is 
to  be  the  issue,  what  the  remedy  of  the  existing  evils.  We  should 
deal  with  the  people  openly,  frankly,  sincerely.  The  Senate  stands 
ready  .to  do  whatever  is  incumbent  upon  it ;  but  unless  the  majority 
in  the  House  will  relent ,  unless  it  will  take  heed  of  and  profit  by 
recent  events,  there  is  no  hope  ioa^  the  nation  from  the  joint  action  of 
the  two  Houses  of  Congress  at  this  session.  Still,  I  would  say  to 
my  countrymen,  do  not  despair.  You  are  a  young,  brave,  intelligent 
and  as  yet  a  firee  people.  A  complete  remedy  for  all  that  you  suffer, 
and  all  that  you  dread,  is  in  your  own  hands.  And  the  events,  to 
which  I  have  just  alluded,  demonstrate  that  those  of  us  have  not 


940  8PKSCHK8  OF   HKNRT   CLAT. 

been  deceived  who  have  always  relied  upon  the  Tirtue,  the  capacity, 
and  the  intelligence  of  the  people. 

I  congratulate  you,  Mr.  President,  and  I  hope  you  will  receive  the 
congratulation  with  the  same  heartfelt  cordiality  with  which  I  tender 
it,  upon  the  issue  of  the  late  election  in  the  city  of  New  York.  I 
hope  it  will  excite  a  patriotic  glow  in  your  bosom.  I  congratulate 
the  Senate,  the  country,  the  city  of  New  York,  the  friends  of  liberty 
every  where.  It  was  a  great  victory,  k  must  be  so  regarded  in 
every  aspect.  From  a  majority  of  more  than  six  thousand,  which 
the  dominant  party  boasted  a  few  months  ago,  if  it  retain  any,  it  is  a 
meagre  and  spurious  majority  of  less  than  two  hundred.  And  the 
whigs  contended  with  such  odds  against  them.  A  triple  alliance  of 
atate  placemen,  corporation  placemen  and  federal  placemen,  amoant- 
ing  to  about  thirty-five  hundred,  and  deriving,  in  the  form  of  salarieBi 
compensations  and  allowances,  ordinary  and  extra,  from  tho  public 
chests,  the  enormous  sum,  annually,  of  near  one  million  of  dollars. 
Marshalled,  drilled,  disciplined,  comtnanded.  The  struggle  was  tre- 
mendous ;  but  what  can  Withstand  the  irresistible  power  of  the  vota- 
ries of  truth,  liberty,  and  their  country  ?  It  was  an  immortal  tiiumph 
— a  triumph  of  the  constitution  and  the  laws  over  usurpation  here, 
and  over  clubs  and  bludgeons  and  violence  there. 

Gro  on,  noble  city  ?  Go  on,  patriotic  whigs !  follow  up  your  gjio* 
rious  commencement ;  persevere,  and  pause  not  until  you  have  re- 
generated and  disenthralled  your  splendid  city,  and  placed  it  at  the 
head  of  American  cities  devoted  to  civil  liberty,  as  it  now  stands  pre- 
eminently the  first  as  the  commercial  emporium  of  our  commoB 
country !  Merchants,  mechanics,  traders,  laborers,  never  cease  to 
recollect  that,  without  freedom,  you  can  have  no  sure  commerce  or 
business ;  and  that  without  law  you  have  no  security  for  personal 
liberty,  property,  or  even  existence !  Countrymen  of  Tone,  of  Em* 
met,  of  Macneven,  and  of  Sampson,  if  any  of  you  have  been  dec^v- 
ed,  and  seduced  into  the  support  of  a  cause  dangerous  to  Amepcan 
liberty,  hasten  to  review  and  correct  your  course !  Do  not  forget 
that  you  abandoned  the  green  fields  of  your  native  island  to  esci^ 
what  you  believed  the  tyranny  of  a  British  king !  Do  not,  I  adjure 
you,  lend  yourselves,  in  this  land  of  your  asylum,  this  last  retreat  of 
the  freedom  of  man,  to  the  establishment  here,  for  you,  and  for  na  all, 
of  that  despotism  which  you  had  proudly  hoped  had  been  left  behind 


Ojr  THE  8TA1V  OT  THC  COUNTRT.  Ml 

joU|  in  Europe,  forever !  There  it  iniiehy  I  would  fain  belieTe,  in 
the  coDititutioDBl  forms  of  goverainent.  But  at  last  it  is  its  parental 
and  beneficent  operation  that  must  fix  its  character.  A  government 
may  in  form  be  free,  in  practice  tyrannical ;  as  it  may  in  form  be  des- 
potic, and  in  practice  liberal  and  free. 

It  was  a  brilliant  and  signal  triumph  of  the  whigs.  And  they  have 
assumed  for  themselves,  and  bestowed  on  their  opponents,  a  demon- 
stration which,  according  to  all  the  analogy  of  history,  is  strictly  cor^ 
rect.  It  deserves  to  be  extended  throughout  the  whole  country. 
What  was  the  origin,  among  our  British  ancestors,  of  those  appella- 
tions ?  The  tories  were  the  supporters  of  executive  power,  of  royal 
prerogative,  of  the  maxim  that  the  king  could  do  d/o  wrong,  of  the 
detestable  doctrines  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance.  Th^ 
whigs  were  the  champions  of  liberty,  the  friends  of  the  people,  and 
the  defenders  of  the  power  of  their  representatives  in  the  House  of 
Commons. 

During  our  revolutionary  war,  the  tories  took  sides  with  executi?e 
power  and  prerogative,  and  with  the  king,  against  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence. And  the  whigs,  true  to  their  principles,  contended  against 
royal  executive  power,  and  for  freedom  and  independence. 

And  what  is  the  present  but  the  same  contest  in  another  form  ? 
The  partisans  of  the  present  executive  sustain  his  power  in  the  most 
boundless  extent.  Xhey  claim  for  him  all  executive  authority. 
They  make  his  sole  will  the  governing  power.  Every  officer  con- 
cerned in  the  administmtion,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  is  to 
conlbhn  to  his  mandates.  Even  the  public  treasury,  hitherto  regard- 
ed as  sacred,  and  beyond  his  reach,  is  placed  by  them  under  his  oi- 
tire  direction  and  control.  The  whigs  of  the  present  day  are  oppos- 
ing executive  encroachment,  and  a  most  alarming  extension  of  ex- 
ecutive power  and  prerogative.  They  are  ferreting  out  the  abuses 
and  corruptions  of  an  administration,  under  a  chief  magistrate  who  is 
endeavoring  to  concentrate  in  his  own  person  the  whole  powers  of 
government  They  are  contending  for  the  rights  of  the  people,  for 
civil  liberty,  for  free  institations,  for  the  soprenmcy  of  the  constitu- 
tion and  the  laws.  The  contest  is  an  arduous  one ;  but,  although 
the  straggle  may  be  yet  awhile  prolonged,  by  the  blessing  of  Ood 
aad  the  qpirilMf  ow  aaeeitofBY  tha  iMae  caoBDi  be  doob^ 


d4d  1PKSCBI8  OF  RElOtT  CLAT. 

The  Senate  stands  in  the  breach,  ready  to  defend  the  constitntioii, 
and  to  relieve  the  distresses  of  the*people.  Bat,  without  the  cod- 
corience  of  another  branch  of  Congress,  which  ought  to  be  the  first 
to  jieid  it,  the  Senate  alone  can  send  forth  no  act  of  legislation.  Un 
aided,  it  can  do  no  positive  good ;  but  it  has  vast  {Nreventive  power. 
It  may  avert  and  arrest  evil,  if  it  cannot  rebuke  usurpation.  Sena* 
tors,  let  us  remain  steadily  by  the  constitution  and  the  country,  in 
this  most  portentous  crisis ;  let  us  oppose,  to  all  encroachments  and 
to  all  corruption,  a  manly,  resolute  and  uncompromising  resistance , 
let  us  adopt  two  rules  from  which  we  will  never  deviate,  in  deliber* 
ating  upon  all  nominations.  In  the  first  place,  to  preserve  untarnish- 
ed and  unsuspected  the  purity  of  Congress,  let  us  negative  the  nomi* 
nations  of  every  member  for  any  office,  high  or  low,  foreign  or  do- 
mestic, until  the  authority  of  the  constitution  and  laws  is  fully  re- 
stored. I  know  not  that  there  is  any  member  of  either  house  capable 
of  being  influenced  by  the  prospect  of  advancement  or  promotion  ,  I 
would  be  the  last  to  make  such  an  insinuation ;  but  suspicion  is 
abroad,  and  it  is  best,  in  these  times  of  trouble  and  revolution,  to  de- 
fend the  integrity  of  the  body  against  all  possible  imputations.  For 
one,  whatever  others  may  do,  I  here  deliberately  avow  my  settled 
determination,  whilst  I  retain  a  seat  in  this  chamber,  to  act  in  con- 
formity to  that  rule.  In  pursuing  it,  we  but  act  in  consonance  with 
a  principle  proclaimed  by  the  present  chief  magistrate  himself  when 
out  of  power  !  But,  alas  !  how  little  has  he  respected  it  in  power .' 
How  little  has  he,  in  office,  conformed  to  any  of  the  principles  which 
he  announced  when  out  of  office  ! 

And,  in  the  next  place,  let  us  approve  of  the  original  nomination 
of  no  notorious  brawling  partisan  and  electionterer ;  but,  especially, 
of  tne  reappointment  of  no  officer  presented  to  us,  who  shall  have 
prostituted  the  influence  of  his  office  to  partisan  and  electioneering 
purposes.  Every  incumbent  has  a  clear  right  to  exercise  the  elee* 
tive  franchise.  I  would  be  the  last  to  controvert  or  deny  it.  But  he 
has  no  right  to  employ  the  inflnence  of  his  office,  to  exercise  an  agen- 
cy which  he  holds  in  trust  for  the  people,  to  promote  his  own  selfish 
or  party  purposes.  Here,  also,  we  have  the  authority  of  the  present 
chief  magistrate  for  this  rule ;  and  the  authority  of  Mr.  Jefllerson. 
The  Senator  from  Tennesee  (Mr.  Grundy)  merits  lasting  praiae  for 
his  open  and  manly  condemnation  of  these  practices  oi  official  incmn* 
bents.    He  was  right,  when  he  declared  his  suspicioii  and  distmat  of 


OH  THS  8TATB  Of  THE  C0U9TRT. 


243 


/ 


the  purity  of  the  motives  of  any  officer  whom  he  saw  busily  interfer- 
iog  in  the  elections  of  the  people. 


Senators  !  we  have  a  highly  responsible  and  arduous  position  ;  but 
the  people  ate  with  us,  and  the  path  of  duty  lies  clearly  marked  be- 
fore us.  Let  us  be  firm,  persevering  and  unmoved.  Let  us  perform 
our  duty  in  a  manner  worthy  of  our  ancestors — ^worthy  of  American 
Senators — ^worthy  of  the  dignity  of  the  sovereign  States  that  we  re- 
present— above  all,  worthy  of  the  name  of  American  freemen  !  Let 
us  '<  pledge  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor,"  to  rescue 
our  beloved  country  from  all  impending  dangers.  And,  amidst  the 
genera]  gloom  and  darkness  which  prevail,  let  us  <pntinue  to  present 
one  unextinguished  light,  steadily  burning,  in  the  cause  of  the  people, 
ef  the  constitution,  and  of  dvil  liberty. 


I 


ON  OUR  RELATIONS  WITH  FRANCE. 


Iv  THE  Senate  of  the  United  States,  January  14,  1835. 


[General  Jackson  haying  in  a  Special  Message  recommended  the  adoption  of  ex* 
treme  measarea,  or  the  conferring  on  the  Executive  of  power  to  adopt  such  mea*. 
ores  against  France,  in  case  her  government  did  not  promptly  comply  wkh  her  Miii> 
istry's  stipulation  to  pay  us  25,000,000  francs  in  satisfaction  of  our  claims,  Mr. 
Clat,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  reported  the  followiag  resobi* 
tion: 


Badved,  That  it  is  inexpedient,  at  this  time,  to  pass  an}r  law  vesting  in  the  ..  .««^ 
dent  anthority  for  making  reprisals  upon  Frenen  property,  in  the  contingencv  of  pio- 
viaion  not  bemg  made  for  paying  to  the  United  States  tne  indemnity  Btipuibtea  by 
the  treaty  of  1831,  during  the  present  session  of  the  French  Chambeis. 

The  question  being  on  agreeing  to  this  resolution,  Mr.  Clay  said :] 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  at  the  present  stage  of  consideration  of  Htm 
resolution,  and  I  hope  it  will  not  be  necessary  at  any  stage,  to  say 
much  with  the  view  of  enforcing  the  arguments  in  its  fevor,  which 
are  contained  in  the  report  of  the  committee.  In  the  present  posture 
of  our  relations  with  France,  the  course  which  has  appeared  to  me 
and  to  the  committee  most  expedient  being  to  await  the  issue  of  those 
deliberations  in  the  French  Chambers  which  may  even  at  this  mo- 
ment be  going  on,  it  would  not  be  proper  to  enter  at  large,  at  the 
present  time,  into  all  the  particulars  touched  upon  \m  the  report.  On 
all  questions  connected  with  the  foreign  affairs  of  the  country,  difi^ 
ences  of  opinion  will  arise,  which  will  finally  terminate  in  whateTer 
way  the  opinion  of  the  people  of  this  country  may  so  tend  as  to  in- 
fluence their  representatives.  But,  whenever  the  course  of  things 
shall  be  such  that  a  rupture  shall  unfortunately  take  place  between 
this  country  and  any  foreign  country,  (whether  France  or  any  other) 
I  take  this  opportunity  of  saying  that,  from  that  moment,  whateTer 
of  energy  or  ability,  whatever  of  influence  I  may  possess  in  my  coun- 
try, shall  be  devoted  to  the  carrying  on  that  war  with  the  utnost 
vigor  which  the  arms  and  resources  of  the  United  States  can  give -to 


09  001  RXLAtlOirS  WITH  nAllCE.  245 

it.  I  will  not  anticipate*  howeyer,  tiich  a  state  of  things — nay,  I 
feel  yery  confident  that  snch  a  rupture  will  not  occur  between  the 
United  States  and  France. 

With  respect  to  the  justice  of  our  claim  upon  France  for  payment 
of  the  indemnity  stipulated  by  the  treaty,  the  report  of  the  committee 
is  in  entire  concurrence  with  the  executive.  The  opinion  of  the  com- 
mittee is  that  the  claims  stipulated  to  be  paid  are  founded  in 
justice ;  that  we  must  pursue  them ;  that  we  must  finally  obtain  sat- 
isfaction for  them,  and,  to  do  so,  must,  if  necessary,  employ  such 
means  as  the  law  of  nations  justifies  and  the  constitution  has  placed 
within  our  power.  On  these  points  there  is  no  diversity  of  sentiment 
between  the  committee  and  the  President ;  there  could  be  no  diver- 
sity between  either  the  committee  or  the  President  and  any  American 
citizen. 

In  all  that  the  President  has  said  of  the  obligation  of  the  French 
government  to  make  the  stipulated  provision  for  the  claims,' the  com- 
mittee entirely  concur.  If  the  President,  in  his  message,  after  making 
his  statement  of  the  case,  had  sto^d  there,  and  abstained  from  the 
recommendation  of  any  specific  measure,  there  could  not  have  been 
possibly  any  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  subject  between  him  and  any 
portion  of  the  country.  But  when  he  declares  the  confidence  which 
he  entertains  in  the  French  government ;  when  he  expresses  his  con- 
viction that  the  executive  branch  of  that  government  is  honest  and 
aincere  in  its  professions,  and  recites  the  promise  by  it  of  a  renewed 
efibrt  to  obtain  the  passage  of  a  bill  of  appropriation  by  the  French 
Chambers,  it  did  appear  to  the  committee  inconsistent  with  these  pro- 
fessions of  confidence,  that  they  should  be  accompanied  by  the  recom- 
mendation of  a  measure  which  could  only  be  authorized  by  the  con- 
viction that  no  confidence,  or,  at  least,  not  entire  confidence,  could  be 
placed  in  the  declaration  and  professions  of  the  French  government. 
Confidence  and  distrust  are  unnatural  allies.  If  we  profess  confidence 
anywhere,  especially  if  that  confidence  be  but  for  a  limited  period,  it 
should  be  unaccompanied  with  any  indication  whatever  of  distrust-^ 
*  confidence  fiill,  free,  frank.  But  to  say,  as  the  President,  through 
our  minister,  has  said,  that  he  will  await  the  issue  of  the  deliberations 
of  the  Chambers,  confiding  in  the  sincerity  of  the  king,  and  this,  too, 
after  hearing  of  the  rejection  of  the  first  bill  of  appropriation  by  the 
Chamben,  and  now,  at  the  very  moment  when  the  Chaittbm  are 


^46  •PIECHM  Of  HBNBT   CLAY, 

about  deliberating  on  the  subject,  to  throw  out  in  a  message  to  Cod* 
gress  what  the  President  himself  considered  might  possibly  be  riewed 
as  a  menace,  appeared  to  the  committee,  with  all  due  deference  to  the 
executive,  and  to  tbe  high  and  patriotic  purposes  which  may  be  sap- 
posed  to  have  induced  the  recommendation,  to  be  inconsistent  to  such 
a  degree  as  not  to  be  seconded  by  the  action  of  Congress.  It  alaoap- 
peared  to  the  committee,  after  the  distinct  recommendation  by  tbe 
President  on  this  subject,  that  there  should  be  some  expression  of  the 
sense  of  Congress  in  regard  to  it.  Such  an  expression  is  proposed  bj 
the  resolution  now  under  consideration. 

In  speculating  upon  probabilities  in  regard  to  the  course  of  the 
French  government,  in  reference  to  the  treaty,  four  contingenciefl 
might  be  supposed  to  arise :  First,  that  the  French  government  may 
have  made  the  appropriation  to  carry  the  treaty  into  effect  before  the 
reception  of  the  President's  message :  Secondly,  the  Chambers  may 
make  the  appropriation  after  the  reception  of  the  President's  message, 
and  notwithstanding  the  reconunendation  on  this  subject  contained  in 
it :  Thirdly,  the  Chambers  may,  in  consequence  of  that  recommen- 
dation, hearing  of  it  before  they  shi^  have  acted  finally  on  the  sub* 
ject,  refuse  to  make  any  appropriation  until  what  they  may  consider 
a  menace  shall  have  been  explained  or  withdrawn :  Or,  fourthly,  they 
may,  either  on  that  ground,  or  on  the  ground  of  dissatisfaction  with 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  refuse  to  pass  the  bill  of  appropriation. 
Now,  in  any  of  these  contingencies,  after  what  has  passed,  an  expres- 
sion of  the  sense  of  Congress  on  the  subject  appears  to  me  indispen- 
sable, either  to  the  passage  of  the  bill,  or  the  subsequent  payment  of 
the  money,  if  passed. 


Suppose  the  bill  to  have  passed  before  the  reception  of  the 
and  the  money  to  be  in  the  French  treasury,  it  would  throw  upon 
the  king  a  high  responsibility  to  pay  the  money,  unless  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  message  shpuld  be  explained  or  done  away;  or  at 
any  rate  unless  a  new  motive  to  the  execution  of  the  treaty  should  be 
furnished  in  the  fact  that  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  having  consid* 
ered  the  subject,  had  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  act  until  the  French 
Chambers  should  have  had  an  opportunity  to  be  heaid  from.  In  the 
second  contingency,  that  of  the  passage  of  a  bill  of  appropriation  after 
receiving  the  message,  a  vote  of  Congress,  as  proposed,  would  be 
soothing  to  the  pride  of  France,  and  calculated  to  continue  that  good 


OH  OUR  miLATTOiri  WITH  nUHCB.  5M7 

mderatanding  which  it  must  be  the  sincere  desire  of  every  citizen  of 
the  United  States  to  cultivate  with  that  country.  If  the  Chambers 
diall  have  passed  the  bill,  they  will  see  that  though  the  President  of 
the'Utiited  States,  in  the  prosecution  of  a  just  claim,  and  in  the  spirit 
of  sustaining  the  rights  of  the  United  States,  had  been  induced  to 
recommend  the  measure  of  reprisals,  yet  that  a  confidence  was  enter* 
tained  in  both  branches  of  (Congress  that  there  would  be  a  compliance, 
on  the  part  of  the  French  government,  with  the  pledges  it  had  given 
&c.  In  that  contingency,  the  expression  of  such  a  sentiment  by  Con- 
gress could  not  but  have  a  happy  effect.  In  the  other  contingency 
supposed,  also,  it  is  indispensable  that  some  such  measure  should  be 
adopted.  Suppose  the  bill  of  appropriation  to  be  rejected,  or  its  pas- 
sage to  be  suspended,  until  the  Chambers  ascertain  whether  the 
recommendation  by  the  President  is  to  be  carried  out  by  the  passage 
of  a  law  by  Congress,  a  resolution  like  this  will  furnish  the  evidence 
desired  of  the  disposition  of  Congress. 

If,  indeed,  upon  the  reception  of  the  President's  message  the  Cham 
hers  shall  have  refused  to  make  the  appropriation,  they  will  have  put 
themselves  in  the  wrong  by  not  attending  to  the  distribution  of  the 
powers  of  this  government,  and  informing  themselves  whether  those 
branches  which  alone  can  give  efiect  to  the  President's  recommenda- 
tion, would  respond  to  it.  But,  if  they  take  the  other  course  sug- 
gested, that  of  suspending  action  on  the  bill  until  they  ascertain 
whether  the  legislative  department  of  the  government  coincides  with 
the  executive  in  the  contingent  measure  recommended,  they  will 
then  find  thatthe  President's  recommendation — the  expression  of  the 
opinion  of  one  high  in  authority,  indeed,  having  a  strong  hold  on  the 
aflfections  and  confidence  of  the  people,  wielding  the  executive  power 
of  the  nation — but  still  an  inchoate  act,  having  no  effect  whatever 
without  the  legislative  action — had  not  been  responded  to  by  Con- 
gress, &c.  Thus  under  all  contingencies  happening  on  the  other  side 
of  the  water,  and  adapted  to  any  one  of  those  contingencies,  the  pas- 
sage of  this  resolution  can  do  no  mischief  in  any  event,  but  is  eminently 
calculated  to  prevent  mischief,  and  to  secure  the  very  object  which 
the  President  doubtless  proposed  to  accomplish  by  his  reconmiendation. 

I  will  not  now  consume  any  more  time  of  the  House  by  further  re- 
marks, but  will  resume  my  seat  with  the  intimation  of  my  willingness 
to  modify  the  resolution  in  any  manner,  not  changing  its  result, 


948  0PSECH£9  OF  HKNRY   CLAY. 

may  be  calculated  to  secure,  what  on  such  an  occasion  would  be 
highly  desirable,  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Senate  in  its  &Yor.  I 
belieye  it,  however,  all  essential  that  tiiere  should  be  a  declaration 
that  Congress  do  not  think  it  expedient,  in  the  present  state  of  the 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  France,  to  pass  any  law 
whatever  concerning  them. 

[After  brief  remarks  by  seTeral  other  memben,  the  letolntion  was  stightlj  ommL- 
fied  and  passed  by  a  unanimoas  vote.] 


I 


OUR  TREATMENT  OF  THE  CHEROKEES. 


Ih  thk  Ssnatb  of  the  United  Status  Fxbbuart  14, 1836. 


[The  fiat  for  the  Removal  of  the  Cherokeesfrom  their  territory  withu  the  Uuted 
States  haying  gone  forth,  Mr.  Clat  presented  to  the  Senate  the  memorial  of  tlioie 
Indians,  and  accompanied  it  by  the  following  Speech. 

I  HOLD  in  my  handg^aiid  beg  leave  to  present  to  the  Senate  certaMi 
resolutions  and  a  memorial  to  the  Senate  and  House  <^  Representa- 
tives  of  (he  United  States,  of  a  Council  met  at  Running  Waters,  con- 
flisting  of  a  portion  of  the  Cherokee  Indians.  The  Cherokees  have  a 
country —if,  indeed,  it  can  be  any  longer  called  their  country — ^whioh 
is  comprised  within  the  limits  of  Greorgia,  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and 
South  Carolina.  They  have  a  population  which  is  variously  estima- 
ted, but  which,  according  to  the  best  information  which  I  possess, 
amounts  to  about  fifteen  thousand  souls.  Of  this  population,  a  por- 
tion, believed  to  be  much  the  greater  part,  amounting,  as  is  estimated 
to  between  nine  and  ten  thousand  souls,  reside  within  the  limits  of 
the  State  of  Georgia.  The  Senate  is  well  aware,  that  for  several 
years  past  it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  general  government  to  trans- 
fer the  Indians  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  that  a  portion 
of  the  Cherokees  have  already  availed  themselves  of  this  policy  of 
the  government,  and  emigrated  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Oi  those 
who  remain,  a  portion — a  respectable,  but  also  an  inconsiderable  por- 
tion— are  desirous  to  emigrate  to  the  west,  and  a  much  larger  portion 
desire  to  remain  on  their  lands,  and  lay  their  bones  where  rest  those 
of  their  ancestors.  The  papers  which  I  now  present  emanate  from 
the  minor  portion  of  the  Cherokees ;  from  those  who  are  in  favor  of 
emigration.  They  present  a  case  which  appeals  strongly  to  the  sym- 
pathies of  Congress.  They  say  that  it  is  impossible  fi>r  them  to  con- 
tinue to  live  under  laws  which  they  do  not  understand,  passed  by 
authority  in  which  they  have  no  share,  promulgated  in  latiguage  of 
which  nothing  is  known  to  the  greater  portion  of  them,  and  estab- 
fisiuBg  ndee  for  their  goveninent  entirely  nnadapted  to  their  natwe, 


950  tPEECHBS  OP  HKNItT   CULT. 

education  and  habits.  They  say  that  destruction  is  hanging  over 
them  if  they  remain  ;  that,  their  right  of  self-goyemment  being  de- 
stroyed, though  they  are  sensible  of  all  the  privations,  and  hardships, 
and  sufferings  of  banishment  from  their  native  homes,  they  prefer 
exile  with  liberty,  to  residence  in  their  homes  with  slavery.  They 
implore,  therefore,  the  intervention  of  the  general  government  to 
provide  for  their  removal  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  establiah 
guaranties  never  hereafter  to  be  violated,  of  the  possession  of  tlie 
lands  to  be  acquired  by  them  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  of  the  per* 
petual  right  of  self-government.  This  is  the  object  of  the  resolutions 
and  petition  which  I  am  about  to  ofier  to  the  Senate. 

But  I  have  thought  that  this  occasion  was  one  which  called  upon 
me  to  express  the  opinions  and  sentiments  which  I  hold  in  relation  to 
this  entire  subject,  as  respects  not  only  the  emigrating  Indians,  but 
those  also  who  are  desirous  to  remain  at  home ;  in  short,  to  express 
in  concise  terms,  my  views  of  the  relations  between  the  Indian  tribes 
and  the  people  of  the  United  States,  the  rights  of  both  parties,  and 
the  duties  of  this  government  in  regard  to  them. 

The  rights  of  the  Indians  are  to  be  ascertained,  in  the  first  place, 
by  the  solemn  stipulations  of  numerous  treaties  made  with  them  fay 
the  United  States.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  to  all  the  treaties  which  have  been  made  with  Indian  tribes 
bearing  on  this  particular  topic  :  but  I  feel  constrained  to  ask  the  at- 
tention of  the  Senate  to  some  portions  of  those  treaties  which  have 
been  made  with  the  Cherokees,  and  to  the  memorable  treaty  of 
Greenville,  which  has  terminated  the  war  that  previously  thereto, 
for  many  years,  raged  between  the  United  States  and  the  northwest- 
em  Indian  tribes.  I  find,  upon  consulting  the  collection  of  Indian 
treaties  in  my  hand,  that  within  the  last  half  century,  fourteen  dittisr- 
ent  treaties  have  been  concluded  with  the  Cherokees,  the  first  of 
which  bore  date  in  the  year  1775,  and  some  one  or  more  of  which 
have  been  concluded  under  every  administration  of  the  general 
government,  from  the  beginning  of  it  to  the  present  time,  except  the 
present  administration,  and  that  which  immediately  preceded  it.  The 
Jreaty  of  Hopewell,  the  first  in  the  series  was  concluded  in  1775 ;  in 
the  third  article  of  which  <<  the  said  Indians  for  themselves,  and  their 
respective  tribes  and  towns,  do  acknowledge  all  the  Cherokees  to  be 
under  the  protection  of  the  United  States  of  America,  iimdcfm^  other 


OUR  TVBATMSKTOP  THE  CHlBOKKBt.  261 

Mevereign  whaitoever.^^    The  fifth  article  of  the  tame  treaty  proridea 
that, 

*'  If  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  other  person,  not  being  an  Indian,  shall 
attempt  to  settle  on  any  of  the  lands  westw  ard  or  sonthward  of  the  said  boandury^ 
which  are  hereby  allotted  to  the  Indians  for  their  hunting  grounds,  or,  having  al- 
ready settled,  and  will  not  remove  from  the  same  within  six  months  after  the  ratifi- 
cation of  this  treaty  snch  peison  riiall  forfeit  the  protection  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  Indians  may  punish  him  or  not,  as  thev  please :  provided  nevertheless,  that  thif 
article  shall  not  extend  to  the  people  settled  between  the  fork  of  French,  Broad,  aai 
Holston  riveis,"  Sec 

The  next  treaty  in  the  series,  which  was  concluded  after  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  under  the  auspicea 
of  the  father  of  his  country,  was  in  the  year  179 1,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Holston,  and  contams  the  following  provision : 

*'  Art.  7.  The  United  States  solemnly  guarantee  to  the  Cherokee  nation  all  their 
lands  not  hereby  ceded." 

This  is  not  an  ordinary  assurance  of  protection,  to.,  but  a  iokwm 
guaranty  of  the  rights  of  the  Cherokees  to  the  lands  in  questioD. 
The  next  treaty  to  which  I  will  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate,  was 
concluded  in  1794,  also,  under  the  auspices  of  General  Washington, 
and  declares  as  follows : 

*'  The  understracd  llpnr}r  Knox,  Secretary  for  (he  department  of  war,  being  au- 
thorized thereto  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  behalf  of  the  said  Unittd 
States,  and  the  undersigned  chiefs  and  warrio's,  in  their  own  names,  and  in  behalf 
of  the  whole  Cherokee  nation,  are  desirous  of  re-establishing  peace  and  friendship 
between  the  said  parties  in  a  permanent  maimer,  do  hereby  declare  that  the  said 
treaty  of  Holston  i^.  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  in  full  force  and  binding  upon  the 
said  parties,  as  well  in  respect  to  boundaries  therein  mentioned,  as  in  all  other  re* 
^»ects  whatever." 

This  treaty,  it  is  seen,  rtnewi  the  solemn  guarantee  contained  in 
the  preceeding  treaty,  and  declares  it  to  be  binding  and  obligatory 
apon  the  parties  in  all  respects  whatever. 

Again :  in  another  treaty,  concluded  in  1798,  under  the  second 
Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States,  we  find  the  following  stipula- 
tions: ^^ 

"  Alt.  1.  The  treaties  sabnsting  between  the  present  contracting  parties  are  ao« 
knowledged  to  be  of  full  and  operating  force ;  together  with  the  construction  and 
■sage  voder  their  respective  articles,  and  so  to  eoatinne." 

*'  Art.  S.  The  limits  and  boundaries  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  as  stipulated  and 
narked  by  the  existing  treaties  between  the  parties  shall  be  and  remain  the  same, 
where  not  altered  by  the  present  treaty." 

There  were  other  provisions,  in  other  tieatieai  to  which,  if  I  did*- 


252  SFXKCHB8  OP  HKNRT  OLAT. 

BOi  intend  to  take  up  as  little  time  as  possible  of  the  Senate,  I  might 
advantageously  call  their  attention.  1  will,  however,  pass  on  to  one 
of  the  last  treaties  with  the  Cberokees,  which  was  concluded  in  the 
year  1817.  That  treaty  recognized  the  difference  existing  between 
the  two  portions  of  the  Cberokees,  one  of  which  was  desirous  to  re- 
main at  home  and  prosecute  the  good  work  of  civilization,  in  which 
they  had  made  some  progress,  and  the  other  portion  was  desirous  to 
go  beyond  the  Mississippi.  In  that  treaty,  the  fifth  article,  afiei 
several  other  stipulations,  concludes  as  follows : 

"And  it  is  fnitheT  stipulated,  that  the  treaties  heretofore  between  the  Cherokee 
nsnob  aad  the  United  Htates  are  to  continue  in  fuU  foree  with  both  parts  of  the  na- 
tion, and  both  parts  thereof  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  which  the 
old  nation  enjoyed  under  the  aforesaid  treaties ;  the  United  States  reserrinc  the 
right  of  establishing  laciories,  a  military  poet,  and  roads  within  the  boundaries  u»ove 
defined." 

And  to  this  treaty,  thus  emphatically  renewing  the  recognition  of 
the  rights  of  the  Indians,  is  signed  the  name  as  one  of  the  Commis* 
noners  of  the  United  States  who  negotiated  it,  of  the  present  CSiief 
Magistrate  of  the  United  States. 

These  were  the  stipulations  in  treaties  with  the  Cherokee  nation, 
to  which  I  thought  proper  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate.  I 
will  now  turn  to  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  concluded  about  forty  yean 
ago,  recognizing  some  general  principles  applicable  to  this  subject. 
The  fiflh  article  of  that  treaty  reads  as  follows : 

*•  To  prevent  any  misunderrtanding  about  the  Indian  lands  relinquished  by  the 
United  States  in  the  fourth  article,  it  is  now  explicitiv  declared,  that  the  meanii^ 
of  that  relinquishment  is  this :  the  Indian  tribes  who  nave  a  right  to  those  lands  are 
quietly  to  e^joy  them,  hunting,  planting,  and  dwelling  thereon  so  ]onfi^  as  ihey  please, 
witbont  any  molestation  from  the  United  States ;  but  when  these  tribes,  or  any  of 
them,  shall  be  disposed  to  sell  their  lands,  or  any  part  of  them,  they  are  to  be  aold 
only  to  the  United  States  ;  and,  until  such  sale,  tne  United  States  will  protect  all  the 
said  Indian  tribes  in  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  their  lands  against  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  against  all  other  white  persons  who  intrude  upon  the  same.  And 
the  said  Indian  tribes  again  acknowledge  themselves  to  be  under  the  protection  of 
the  said  United  Statesy  and  no  other  power  whatever." 

Such,  sir,  are  the  rights  of  the  Indian  tribes.  And  what  are  thoee 
rights  ?  They  are,  that  the  Indians  shall  live  under  their  own  cus- 
toms and  laws  ;  that  they  shall  live  upon  their  own  lands,  huDting) 
planting  and  dwelling  thereon  so  long  as  they  please,  without  inter- 
ruption or  molestation  of  any  sort  from  the  white  people  of  the  UnitodI 
States,  acknowledging  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  no  other'  power  whatever ;  that  when  they  no  longer 


OUR  nUUTMIVT  or  THE  CHBBOKKSS.  853 

w»h  to  keep  the  land*,  they  shall  aell  them  only  to  the  United  Statae, 
whose  goyernment  thoa  aecures  to  iteelf  the  pre-emptive  right  of  por- 
chaae  in  them.  These  rights,  so  secured  by  succesaiye  treaties  and 
gnamnties,  have  also  been  recognixed|  on  several  occasionS|  by  the 
highest  judicial  tribunals. 

Udr.  Gi^T  here  qnoted  from  an  opiBioii  o^  the  Supreme  Court  a  pfiagr  dedans 
that  the  Indians  are  acknowledged  to  hare  an  unquestionable  and  heretofore  na- 
questioned  right  to  their  land,  nntil  it  ahaU  be  extinguished  by  Toluntarj  ceanon  to 
this  government.] 

But  it  is  not  at  home  alone  that  the  rights  of  the  Indians  within 
the  limits  of  the  United  States  have  been  recognised.    Not  only  has 
the  Executive,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Supreme 
Court,  recognised  these  rights,  but  in  one  of  the  most  important 
epochs  of  this  government,  and  on  one  oi  the  most  solemn  occasions 
in  our  intercourse  with  foreign  powers,  these  rights  of  the  Indian 
tribes  have  been  acknowledged.     You,  sir,  will  understand  me  at 
once  to  refer  to  the  negotiation  between  the  government  of  Great 
Britain  and  that  of  the  United  States,  which  had  lor  its  object  the 
termination  of  the  late  war  between  the  two  countries.     Sir,  it  must 
be  within  your  recollection,  and  that  of  every  member  of  the  Senate, 
that  the  hinge  upon  which  that  negotiation  turned — ^the  ground  upon 
which  it  was  for  a  long  time  apprehended  that  the  conference  be 
tween  the  commissioners  would  terminate  in  a  rupture  of  the  nego- 
tiation between  the  two  countries — ^was,  the  claim  brought  forward 
on  that  memorable  occasion  by  Great  Britain  in  behalf  of  the  Indians 
within  the  limits  of  the  United  States.     It  will  be  recollected  that 
she  advanced,  as  a  principle  from  which  she  would  not  recede,  as  a 
ttna  ^a  acm,  again  and  again,  during  the  progress  of  the  negotiati<Mi, 
that  the  Indians  as  her  allies,  should  be  included  in  the  treaty  of  peace 
which  the  negotiators  were  about  forming ;  that  they  should  have  a 
permanent  boundary  assigned  them,  and  that  neither  Great  Britain 
nor  the  United  States  should  be  at  liberty  to  purchase  their  lands. 

Such  were  the  pretensions  urged  on  that  occasion,  which  the  com« 
missioners  of  the  United  States  felt  it  to  be  their  imperative  duty 
to  resist.  To  establish,  as  the  boimdary,  the  line  of  the  treaty  of 
Greenville,  as  proposed,  which  would  have  excluded  from  the 
benefit  of  American  laws  and  privileges  a  population  of  ixyt  less  than 
a  hundrM  thousand  of  the  inhabitanti  of  Ohio,  American  dtixens. 


354  'flPKBOHn  or  hutbt  olat. 

titled  to  the  protection  of  the  govermnenty  was  a  proposition  which 
the  American  negotiators  could  not  for  a  moment  entertain :  thejr 
would  not  even  refer  it  to  their  government,  though  assured  that  it 
would  there  meet  the  same  unanimous  rejection  that  it  did  firom  them. 
But  it  became  a  matter  of  some  importance  that  a  satisfactory  assur- 
ance should  be  given  to  Great  Britain  that  the  war,  which  we  were 
about  to  brin^  to  a  conclusion  with  her,  should  close  also  with  her 
allies :  and  what  was  that  assurance  ?  I  will  not  trouble  the  Senate 
with  tracing  the  whole  account  of  that  negotiation,  but  I  beg  leacve 
to  call  your  attention  to  one  of  the  passages  of  it.  You  will  find,  on 
examining  the  history  of  the  negotiation,  that  the  demand  brought 
forward  by  the  British  government,  through  their  minister,  on  this 
occasion,  was  the  subject  of  several  argumentative  papers.  Towanb 
the  close  of  this  correspondence,  reviewing  the  course  pursued  towards 
the  Aborigines  by  the  several  European  powers  which  had  planted 
colonies  in  America,  comparing  it  with  that  of  the  United  States,  and 
contrasting  the  lenity,  kindness  and  forbearance  of  the  United  States, 
with  the  rigor  and  severity  of  other  powers,  the  American  negotiaton 
expressed  themselves  as  follows : 

'*  From  the  rigor  of  this  syttem^  howeyer,  as  practiied  by  Great  Britain,  and  all  tkf 
other  Eoropean  powers  in  America,  the  humane  and  li{>eral  policy  of  the  United 
Slates  has  yoluntarily  relaxed.  A  celebrated  writer  on  the  law  o(  nations,  to  whoae 
authority  British  jurists  have  taken  iwrticular  satisfaction  in  appealing,  after  stating, 
in  the  most  explicit  inanner,  the  le^Htimacy  of  colonial  settlements  in  America,^to 
the  exclusion  of  all  rights  of  uncivilized  Indian  tribes,  has  taken  occasion  to  praiie 
the  first  settlers  of  New  England,  and  of  the  fonndcr  of  Pennsylvania,  in  haviqf 
parchased  of  the  Indians  the  lands  they  resolved  to  cultivate,  notwithstanding  their 
being  furnished  with  a  charter  from  their  sovereign.  It  is  this  example  which  the 
United  States,  since  they  became  by  their  independence  the  sovereigns  of  the  terri- 
tory, have  adopted  and  organized  inio  a  political  $yttem.  Under  that  sytttm  the  bi- 
dians  residing  m  the  United  States  are  so  far  independent  that  thty  live  under  Clecr 
mim  cuttomsj  and  mot  under  the  lavM  tyfthe  United  Statee:  that  their  rights^  upon  the 
lands  where  they  inhabit  or  hunt  are  eecured  to  them  by  botmdarie$  defined  in  amiea- 
Ue  treaties  between  the  United  States  and  themselves ;  and  that  wheneTrr  tluwe 
boundaries  are  varied,  it  is  also  by  amicable  and  voluntary  treaties,  by  which  they 
receive  from  the  United  States  ample  compensation  for  every  right  tney  hav«  to  iba 
tends  ceded  by  them/*  &c. 

The  correspondence  was  farther  continued  ;  and  finally  the  com- 
missioners on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  proposed  an  article  to  which 
the  American  commissioners  assented,  the  basis  of  which  is  a  decla- 
ration of  what  is  the  state  of  the  law  between  the  Indian  tribes  and 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  They  then  proposed  a  further  arti- 
cle, which  declared  that  the  United  States  should  endeavor  to  restore 
peace  to  the  Indians  who  had  acted  on  the  side  of  Great  Britain,  to- 
gether with  all  the  rights,  possessions,  privileges  and  immunities  which 


otjR  TBSATICIIIT  OF  THS  CHSROKXXf .  d56 


they  po89essed  prior  to  the  year  1811,  that  ia,  antecedent  to  the 
between  England  and  the  United  States ;  in  consideration  that  Great 
Britain  would  terminate  the  war  so  far  as  respected  the  Indians  who 
had  been  allies  of  the  United  States,  and  restore  to  them  all  the  righto, 
privil^es,  possessions  and  immunities  which  these  also  had  eiijoyed 
previously  to  the  same  period.  Mr.  President,  I  here  state  my  solemn 
belief  that,  if  the  American  commissioners  had  not  declared  the  laws 
between  the  Indians  and  the  people  of  this  country,  and  the  rights  of 
the  Indians  to  be  such  as  they  are  stated  to  be  in  the  extracts  1  have 
read  to  the  Senate ;  if  they  had  then  stated  that  any  one  State  of  this 
Union  who  happened  to  have  Indians  residing  within  its  limits,  pot- 
sesspd  the  right  of  extending  over  them  the  laws  of  such  State,  and 
of  taking  their  lands  when  and  how  it  pleased,  that  the  effect  wouU 
have  been  a  prolongation  of  the  war.  I  again  declare  my  most  solemn 
belief,  that  Great  Britain,  who  assented  with  great  reluctance  to  this 
mutual  stipulation  with  respect  to  the  Indians,  never  would  have  done 
it  at  all,  but  under  a  conviction  of  the  correspondence  of  those  prin- 
ciples of  Indian  international  law,  (if  I  may  use  such  a  phrase)  with 
those  which  the  United  States  government  had  respected  ever  since 
the  period  of  our  independence. 

Sir,  if  I  am  rjght  in  this,  let  me  ask  whether  in  adopting  the  new 
code  which  now  prevails,  and  by  which  the  rights  of  the  Indians 
have  been  trampled  on,  and  the  most  solemn  obligations  of  treaties 
have  been  disregarded,  we  are  not  chargeable  with  having  induced 
that  power  to  conclude  a  peace  with  us  by  suggestions  utterly  un- 
founded and  erroneous  ? 

f  ^ 

^.  Most  of  the  treaties  between  the  Cherokee  nation  of  Indians  and 
the  United  States  have  been  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  ratification, 
aad  the  Senate  have  acted  upon  them  in  conformity  with  their  con- 
stitutional power.  Besides  the  action  of  the  Senate,  as  a  legislative 
body,  in  the  enactment  of  laws  in  conformity  with  their  stipulations, 
regulating  the  intercourse  of  our  citizens  with  that  nation,  it  has  acted 
ia  its  separate  character,  and  confirmed  the  treaties  themselves  by  the 
constitutional  majority  of  two-thirds  of  its  members.  Thus  have 
those  treaties  been  sanctioned  by  the  government  of  the  United  States 
and  by  every  branch  of  this  government ;  by  the  Senate,  the  Execu- 
tive, and  the  Supreme  Court ;  both  at  home  and  abroad.  But  not 
only  have  the  rights  of  the  Cherokees  received  all  these  recognitioM , 


266  SFBKCHEt  or  HSVRT    CLAT. 

theyhftTB  been,  by  implication,  recognized  by  the  Stste  of  Georgia 
itielf,  in  the  act  of  1802,  in  which  she  stipulated  that  the  goyemment 
of  the  United  States,  and  not  the  State  of  Georgia,  should  extingnLA 
tbe  Indian  title  to  the  land  within  her  limits ;  and  the  general  govern- 
ment has  been,  from  time  to  time,  urged  by  Georgia  to  comply 
its  engagements,  from  that  period  until  the  adoption  of  the  late 
policy  upon  this  subject. 

Having  thus,  Mr.  President,  stated,  as  I  hope,  with  clearness,  the 
RIGHTS  of  the  Indian  tribes,  as  recognised  by  the  most  solemn  MtB 
that  can  be  entered  into  by  any  goyemment,  let  me  in  the  next  plaoe 
inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  injuries  which  have  been  inflicted  upon 
them ;  in  other  words,  into  the  present  condition  of  the  Cherokeea,to 
whom  protection  has  been  assured  as  well  by  solemn  treaties  aa  by 
the  laws  and  guaranties  of  the  United  States  government 

And  here  let  me  be  permitted  to  say,  that  I  go  into  this  subject 
with  feelings  which  no  language  at  my  command  will  enable  me  ad- 
equately to  express.  I  assure  the  Senate,  and  in  an  especial  manner 
do  I  assure  the  honorable  senators  from  Greorgia,  that  my  wish  and 
purpose  kB  any  other  than  to  excite  the  slightest  possible  irritation  on 
ttie  part  of  any  human  being.  Far  from  it.  I  am  actuated  only  by 
feelings  of  grief,  feelings  of  sorrow,  and  of  profound  regret,  irresistibly 
called  forth  by  a  contemplation  of  the  miserable  condition  to  which 
these  unfortunate  people  have  been  reduced  by  acts  of  legislation 
proceeding  from  one  of  the  States  of  this  confederacy.  I  again  assure 
the  honorable  senators  from  Georgia,  that,  if  it  has  become  my  pain- 
fril  duty  to  comment  upon  some  of  these  acts,  I  do  it  not  with  any 
desire  to  place  them,  or  the  State  they  represent,  in  an  invidious  po- 
sition ;  but  because  Georgia  was,  I  believe,  the  first  in  the  career, 
the  object  of  which  seems  to  be  the  utter  annihilation  of  every  Indiu 
right,  and  because  she  has  certainly,  in  the  promotion  of  it,  far  ont* 
stripped  every  other  State  in  the  Union. 

I  have  not  before  me  the  various  acts  of  the  State  in  reference  to 
the  Indians  within  her  bounds ;  and  it  is  possible  I  may  be  under 
some  mistake  in  reference  to  them  ;  and  if  I  am,  no  one  will  correct 
the  error  more  readily  or  with  greater  pleasure. 

If,  however,  I  had  all  those  laws  in  my  hands,  I  should  not  mw 


OUR  TRSATHniT  OF  THE  CHlBOKEIf.  257 

sttempt  to  read  them.  Instead  of  this,  it  will  be  sufficient  for  me  to 
state  the  effects  which  have  been  produced  by  them  upon  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Cherokee  Indians  residing  in  that  State.  And  here  follows 
a  list  of  what  has  been  done  by  her  legislature.  Her  first  act  was  to 
abolish  the  goyernment  of  these  Cherokees.  No  human  community 
can  exist  without  a  goyernment  of  some  kind  ;  and  the  Cherokees, 
imitating  our  example,  and  haying  learned  from  us  something  of  the 
principles  of  a  free  constitution,  established  for  themselyes  a  goyern- 
ment somewhat  resembling  our  own.  It  is  quite  immaterial  to  us 
what  its  form  was.  They  always  had  had  some  goyernment  among 
them ;  and  we  guarantied  to  them  the  right  of  Hying  under  their  own 
laws  and  customs,  unmolested  by  any  one  ;  insomuch  that  our  own 
citizens  were  outlawed,  should  they  presume  to  interfere  with  them. 
What  particular  regulations  they  adopted  in  the  management  of  their 
humble  and  limited  concerns  is  a  matter  with  which  we  haye  no 
concern.  Howeyer,  the  yery  first  act  of  the  Greorgia  legislature  was 
to  abolish  all  goyemments  of  eyery  sort  among  these  people,  and  to 
extend  the  laws  and  goyernment  of  the  State  of  Greorgia  oyer  them. 
The  next  step  was  to  divide  their  territory  into  counties ;  the  next, 
to  sunrey  the  Cherdcee  lands ;  and  the  last,  to  distribute  this  land 
among  the  citizens  of  C^rgia  by  lottery,  giving  to  eyery  head  of  a 
fiunily  one  ticket,  and  the  prize  in  land  that  should  be  drawn  against 
it.  To  be  sure  there  were  many  reservations  for  the  heads  of  Indian  * 
fiunilies  ;  and  of  how  much  did  gentlemen  suppose  ? — ^f  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  only,  and  thb  to  include  their  improvements.  But 
eyen  to  this  limited  possession  the  poor  Indian  was  to  have  no  fee 
simple  title  :  he  was  to  hold  as  a  mere  occupant  at  the  will  of  the 
State  of  Georgia  for  just  as  long  or  as  short  a  time  as  she  might  think 
proper.  The  laws  at  the  same  time  gaye  him  no  one  particular  right 
whatever.  He  could  not  become  a  member  of  the  State  legislature, 
nor  could  he  hold  any  office  under  State  authority,  nor  could  he  vote 
as  an  elector.  He  possessed  not  one  single  right  of  a  freeman.  No, 
not  even  the  poor  privilege  of  testifying  to  his  wrongs  in  the  charac- 
ter of  a  witness  in  the  courts  of  Georgia,  or  in  any  matter  of  contro- 
ycrsy  wh*tsoeyer.  -  f. 

These,  Mr.  President  are  the  acts  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of 
Georgia,  in  relation  to  the  Indians.  They  were  not  all  passed  at  one 
session  ;  they  were  enacted,  time  afler  time,  as  the  State  advanced 
fdrther  und  fbrther  in  her  steps  to  the  acquisitioQ  of  the  Indian  C9«n- 


258  BPKKCHE8  OF  HKNRY   CLAY. 

■ 

tiy,  and  the  destruction  and  annihilation  of  all  Indian  rights,  nntil,lrf 
a  recent  act  of  the  same  body,  the  courts  of  the  State  itself  are  occla- 
ded  against  the  Indian  sufferer,  and  he  is  actually  denied  an  appeal 
even  to  foreign  tribunals,  in  the  erection  and  in  the  laws  of  which  lie 
had  no  roice,  there  to  complain  of  his  wrongs.  If  he  enters  the  hall 
of  Greorgia's  justice,  it  is  upon  a  surrender  at  the  thteshold  of  all  hia 
rights*  The  history  of  this  last  law  to  which  I  have  alluded,  is  this. 
When  the  previous  law  of  the  State,  dividing  the  Indian  lands  by 
lottery  was  passed,  some  Indians  made  an  appeal  to  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  State,  and  applied  for  an  injunction  against  the  proceeding ; 
and  such  was  the  undeniable  justice  of  their  plea,  that  the  judge  found 
himself  unable  to  refuse  it,  and  he  granted  the  injunction  sought  It 
was  the  injunction  which  led  to  the  passage  of  this  act :  to  some  of  — ; 
the  provisions  of  which  I  now  invite  the  attention  of  the  Senate.  \ 
And  first,  to  the  title  of  the  act :  "^ 

**  A  bill  to  amend  an  act  entitled  an  act  more  effectaally  to  protride  forthe  goven- 
ment  and  protection  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  residing  within  the  limits  of  Georgia : 
and  to  prescribe  the  bounds  of  their  occupant  claims :  and  also  to  authorise  gmaip 
to  uane  for  lots  drawn  in  the  late  land  and  gold  lotteries." 

Ah,  sir,  it  was  the  pursuit  of  gold  which  led  the  Spanish  invader 
to  desolate  the  fair  fields  of  Mexico  and  Peru — *^  and  to  provide  for 
the  appointment  of  an  agent  to  carry  certain  parts  thereof  into  exe- 
cution ;  and  to  fix  the  salary  of  such  agent,  and  to  punish  those  per* 
sons  who  may  deter  Indians  from  enrolling  for  emigration,  passed  2(Hh 
December,  1833."    Well,  sir,  this  bill  goes  on  to  provide, 

"  That  it  shall  be  the  dnty  of  the  agent  or  agents  a^*pointed  by  his  excellency  Ike 
OoTemor,  under  the  authority  of  this  or  the  act  of  which  it  is  amendatoiy,  to  report 
to  him  the  number,  district,  and  section  of  all  lots  of  land  subject  to  be  grantedTby 
the  provisions  of  said  act,  which  he  may  be  required  to  do  by  the  drawer,  or  his 
agent,  or  the  person  claiming  the  same;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  his  excellency 
the  Governor,  upon  the  appUcation  of  the  drawer  of  any  of  the  aforesaid  lota,  his  or 
her  special  agents,  or  the  person  to  whom  the  drawer  may  have  bona-fide  conveyed 
the  same,  his  agent  or  assigns,  to  issue  a  grant  therefor ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  said  agent  or  agents,  upon  the  productions  of  the  grant  so  issued  as  aforesaid  Iw 
toe  grantor,  his  or  her  agent,  or  the  person,  or  his  or  hor  agent  to  whom  the  said  land 
so  granted  as  aforesaid  may  have  been  bona-fide  conveyM,  to  deliver  possession  q( 
said  granted  lot  to  the  said  grantee,  or  person  entitled  to  the  possession  of  the  same 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  or  the  act  of  which  this  is  amendatory,  and  his  ex- 
cellency the  Governor  is  hereby  authorized  upon  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  said 
agent  is  impeded  or  resisted  in  delivering  such  possession,  by  a  force  which  he  can- 
not overcome,  to  order  out  a  sufficient  force  to  carry  the  power  of  said  agent  or 
agents  fully  into  etfect,  and  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  same  out  of  the  contingent 
fund :  provided  nothing  in  this  art  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  require  the  interfereaoe 
of  the  said  agent  lietween  two  or  more  individuals  claiming  possession,  by  virtue  of 
titles  derived  from  a  grant  from  the  State  to  any  lot.' 

Thus  after  the  State  of  Georgia  had  diitiboted  the  lands  of  the 


OUR  TRXATimrT  OP  Tin  CBimOKBlt.  950 

I 

ladiaDs  bj  lottery,  and  the  drawers  of  prizes  were  authorised  to  re- 
eeiye  grants  of  the  land  drawn,  and  with  these  grants  in  their  hand 
were  authorized  to  demand  of  the  agent  of  the  State,  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  to  be  pat  in  possesciion  of  the  soil  thus  obtained  ;  and  if 
any  resistance  to  their  entry  should  be  made — and  who  was  to  make 
it  but  a  poor  Indian  ? — the  Governor  was  empowered  to  turn  out  the 
military  force  of  the  State,  and  enable  the  agent  to  take  possession  by 
force,  without  trial,  without  judgment,  and  without  investigation. 

But,  should  there  be  two  claimants  of  the  prize,  should  two  of  the 
ticket  holders  dispute  their  claim  to  the  same  lot,  then  no  military 
force  was  to  be  used.  It  was  only  when  the  resistance  was  by  an 
Indian — it  was  only  when  Indian  rights  should  come  into  coUisioi 
with  the  alledged  rights  of  the  l^tate  of  Georgia,  that  the  strong  hand 
of  military  power  was  instantly  to  interpose.      ^ 

The  next  section  of  the  act  is  in  these  words : 


And  be  it  fojiher  enacted  by  the  authority  aforfsaid.  That  if  any  penon  dims- 
led  of  a  lot  of  land  under  this  act,  or  the  act  of  which  it  is  amvndatory.  Bhallgo 
befofe  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  of  the  inferior  court,  and  make  affidavit  tnat  he  or 
•be  was  not  liable  to  be  dispossessed  under  or  bv  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  or  the 
aJbresatd  act,  and  file  said  affidavit  in  the  clerk^s  office  of  ine  superior  court  of  the 
ooonty  in  which  said  land  shall  lie,  such  peivon  upon  giving  bond  and  security  in  the 
clerk's  office  for  the  costs  to  accrue  on  the  trial,  shall  be  permitted  within  ten  days 
from  such  diflXMsessing  to  enter  an  appeal  to  said  superior  court,  and  at  said  court 
^  judge  shall  cause  an  issue  to  be  made  up  between  the  appellant  and  the  person  to 
whom  possession  of  said  land  was  delivered  by  either  or  sud  agents,  which  said 
lane  shall  be  in  the  following  form.** 

[Mr.  Cuthbert,  of  Georgia,  here  interposed :  and  having  obtained  Mr.  Clat*s 
ooasentto  explain,  stated  that  he  had  unfortunately  not  been  in  the  Senate  when 
ths  honorable  Senator  commenced  his  speech ;  but  had  learned  that  it  was  in  m^ 
portof  a  memorial  from  certain  Cherokee  Indians  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  who  de- 
aired  to  emigrate.  He  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that  the  current  of  the  honorable 
Senator's  remarks  did  not  suit  remarkably  well  the  subject  of  such  a  memorial.  A 
■leaBorinl  of  a  different  kind  had  been  presented,  and  which  the  Committee  on  In- 
Saik  Affairs  had  before  it,  to  which  the  Senator's  remarks  would  better  apply.  The 
present  diacuiBion  was  wholly  unexpected,  and  it  seemed  to  him  not  in  consasteney 
widi  the  ofaieetof  the  memorial  he  had  presented.] 

I  am  tmly  sorry  the  honorable  gentleman  was  absent  when  I  com- 
menced speaking.  I  delayed  presenting  the  memorial  because  I  ob- 
serred  that  neither  of  the  Senators  from  Georgia  were  in  their  seats, 
until  the  hour  when  they  might  be  expected  to  be  present,  and  when 
one  of  them  (Mr.  King)  had  actuaUy  taken  his  seat.     If  thehonora 


d60  tPKBCHBI  or  HKNBT  CLAY. 

ble  Senator  had  been  preaent  lie  would  hare  heard  me  say  that  I 
thought  the  preaentation  of  the  memorial  a  fit  occasion  to  express  mj 
oentiments,  not  only  touching  the  rights  of  these  individual  petition- 
ersi  but  on  the  rights  of  all  the  Indian  tribes,  and  their  relations  to 
this  goyernment.  And  if  he  will  have  but  a  little  patience  he  will 
find  that  it  is  my  intention  to  present  propositions  which  go  to  era- 
brace  both  resolutions. 

And  here,  Mr.  President,  let  me  pause  and  invite  the  attention  of 
the  Senate  to  the  provision  in  the  act  of  G^rgia  which  I  was  leading 
—-that  is,  that  he  may  have  the  privilege  of  an  appeal  to  a  tribund 
of  justice,  by  forms  and  by  a  bond  with  the  nature  and  force  of  which 
ha  is  unacquainted ;  and  that  then  he  may  have — ^what  besides  ?  I 
invoke  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  this  part  of  the  law.  What,  I 
ask,  does  it  secure  to  the  Indian  ?  His  rights  ?  The  rights  recog- 
nized by  treaties  ?  The  rights  guarantied  to  him  by  the  most  solenm 
acts  which  human  governments  can  perform  ?  No.  It  allows  him 
to  come  into  the  courts  of  the  State,  and  there  to  enjoy  the  benefit 
of  the  summary  proceeding  called  in  the  act  ^^  an  appeal  I" — ^but 
which  can  never  be  continued  beyond  a  second  term  ;  and  when  lie 
comes  there,  what  then  ?  'He  shall  be  permitted  to  come  into  court 
and  enter  an  appeal,  which  shall  be  in  the  following  form  : 

"  A.  B.,  who  was  dispotBessed  of  a  lot  of  land  by  an  agent  of  the  State  of  Geoiaia* 
comes  into  court,  and  admitting  the  right  of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  pass  the  law 
under  which  agent  acted,  avers  that  he  was  not  liable  to  be  dispossestu^d  of  said  land, 
by  or  under  any  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  General  Aesembly  of  Georgia, 
passed  20th  December.  1838,  '  more  effectually  to  provide  for  the  protection  of  the 
Cherokee  Indians  resiaing  within  the  limits  of'^  Georgia,  and  to  prescribe  the  bounds 
of  their  occupant  claims,  and  also  to  authorize  grants  to  issue  for  lots  drawn  in  the 
lud  and  gola  lotteries  in  certain  cases,  and  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  aa 
■gent  to  carry  certain  parts  thereof  into  execution,  and  fix  the  salaiy  of  such  agent, 
and  to  punish  those  persons  who  may  deter  Indians  from  enrolling  for  emigration/ 
or  the  act  amendatory  thereof,  passed  at  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  1S34 :  *it 
which  issue  the  person  to  whom  possession  of  said  land  was  delivered  shall  join : 
and  which  issue  shall  constitute  tne  entire  pleadings  between  the  parties ;  nor  shall 
the  court  allow  any  matter  other  than  is  contained  m  said  iesue  to  be  placed  upon 
the  record  or  files  of  said  court ;  and  said  cause  shall  be  tried  at  the  first  term  ofthe 
oonrt,  unless  good  cause  i^all  be  shown  for  a  continuance,  and  the  same  party  rhaO 
not  be  permitted  to  continue  said  cause  more  than  once,  except  for  nnavoidabis 
providential  cause :  nor  shall  said  court  at  the  instance  of  eirher  party  pass  anr  order 
or  grant  any  injunction  to  stay  said  cause,  nor  permit  to  be  engrafted  on  said  canas 
any  other  proceedings  whatever.'  '* 

At  the  same  time  we  find,  by  another  enactment,  the  jtidges  of  the 
courts  of  Georgia  are  restrained  from  granting  injunctions,  so  that  the 
only  form  in  which  the  Indian  can  come  before  them  is  m  the  form 
of  an  appeal ;  and  in  this,  the  very  first  step  is  an  absolute  renuncia- 


OUR  TBK4TllBirT  OF  TBS  CHKROKEIt.  MI 

titfn  of  the  rights  he  holds  hy  treaty,  and  the  unqualified  admisakm 
of  the  rights  of  his  antagonist,  as  conferred  hy  the  laws  of  Georgia ; 
and  the  court  is  expressly  prohibited  from  putting  any  thing  else  upon 
^e  record.  Why  ?  Do  we  not  all  know  the  reason  ?  If  the  poor 
Indian  was  allowed  to  put  in  a  plea  stating  his  rights,  and  the  court 
should  then  decide  against  him,  the  cause  would  go  upon  an  appeal 
to  the  supreme  court ;  the  decision  could  be  re-examined,  could  be 
annulled,  and  the  authority  of  treaties  vindicated.'  But,  to  prevent 
this,  to  make  it  impossible,  he  is  compelled,  on  entering  the  court,  to 
renounce  his  Indian  rights,  and  the  court  is  forbidden  to  put  anything 
on  record  which  can  bring  up  a  decbion  upon  them. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  already  stated  that,  in  the  obaervations  I  have 
made,  I  am  actuated  by  no  other  than  such  as  ought  to  be  in  the 
breast  of  every  honest  man,  the  feelings  of  common  justice.  I  would 
say  nothing,  I  would  whisper  nothing,  I  would  insinuate  nothing,  I 
would  think  nothing,  which  can,  in  the  remotest  degree,  cause  irrita- 
tion in  the  mind  of  any  one,  of  any  Senator  here,  of  any  State  in  this 
Union,  I  have  too  much  respect  for  every  member  of  the  confederacy. 
1  feel  nothing  but  grief  for  the  wretched  condition  of  these  most  un- 
fortunate people,  and  every  emotion  of  my  bosom  dissuades  me  from 
the  use  of  epithets  that  might  raise  emotions  which  should  draw  the 
attention  of  the  Senate  from  the  justice  of  their  claims.  I  forbear  to 
apply  to  this  law  any  epithet  of  any  kind.  Sir,  no  epithet  is  needed. 
The  features  of  the  law  itself ;  its  warrant  for  the  interposition  of 
military  power,  when  no  trial  and  no  judgment  has  been  allowed  ;  its 
'denial  of  any  appeal,  unless  the  unhappy  Indian  shall  first  renounce 
ftis  own  rights,  and  admit  the  rights  of  his  opponent — features  such 
as  these  are  enough  to  show  what  the  true  character  of  the  act  is, 
and  supersede  the  necessity  of  all  epithets,  were  1  even  capable  of  ^ 
'applying  them. 


'  The  Senate  will  thus  perceive  .that  the  whole  power  of  the  State 
*of  Georgia,  military  as  well  as  civil,  has  been  made  to  bear  upon  these 
Indians,  without  their  having  any  voice  in  forming,  judging  upon,  or 
executing  the  laws  under  which  he  is  placed,  and  without  even  the 
poor  privilege  of  establishing  the  injury  he  may  have  suflere  by  In- 
dian evidence  :  nay,  worse  still,  not  even  by  the  evidence  of  a  white 
man  !  Because  the  renunciation  of  his  rights  precludes  all  evidence, 
irhite  or  black,  eivilixed  or  savage.    There  then  he  lies,  with  his 

•R 


d6d  tPBICHBS  OP  HKITRT  CLAY. 

pn^perty,  his  rights,  and  every  privilege  vrhich  makes  human 
tence  desirable,  at  the  mercy  of  the  State  of  Georgia ;  a  State,  in 
whose  government  or  laws  he  has  no  voice.  Sir,  it  is  impossible  fior 
the  most  active  imagination  to  conceive  a  condition  of  human  socie^ 
more  perfectly  wretched.  Shall  I  be  told  that  the  condition  of  the 
African  slave  is  worse  ?  No,  sir ;  no,  sir.  It  is  not  worse.  The  m- 
terest  of  the  master  makes  it  at  once  his  duty  and  his  inclination  to 
provide  for  the  comfort  and  the  health  of  his  slave  :  for  without  these 
he  would  be  unprofitable.  Both  pride  and  interest  render  the  master 
prompt  in  vindicating  the  rights  of  his  slave,  and  protecting  him  from 
the  oppression  of  others,  and  the  laws  secure  to  him  the  amplest 
m^ans  to  do  so.  But  who,  what  human  being,  stands  in  the  relatioa 
of  master  or  any  other  relation,  which  makes  him  interested  in  the 
preservation  and  protection  of  the  poor  Indian  thus  degraded  and  mis- 
erable ?  Thrust  out  from  human  society,  without  the  sympathies  of 
any,  and  placed  without  the  pale  of  common  justice,  who  is  there  Ip 
protect  him,  or  to  defend  his  rights  ^      ( 

Such,  Mr.  President,  is  the  present  condition  of  these  Cherokee 
memorialists,  whose  case  it  is  my  duty  to  submit  to  the  consideration 
of  the  Senate.  There  remains  but  one  more  inquiry  before  I  con- 
clude. Is  there  any  remedy  within. the  scope  of  the  powers  of  the 
federal  government  as  given  by  the  constitution  }  If  we  are  withool 
the  power,  if  we  have  no  constitutional  authority,  then  we  are  also 
without  responsibility.  Our  regrets  inky  be  excited,  our  sympathies 
may  be  moved,  our  humanity  may  be  shocked,  our  hearts  may  be 
grieved,  but  if  our  hands  are  tied,  we  can  only  unite  with  all  the  good, 
the  Christian,  the  benevolent  portion  of  the  human  family,  in  deplor- 
ing what  we  cannot  prevent. 

i' 
But,  sir,  we  are  not  thus  powerless.  I  stated  to  the  Senate,  whes 
I  began,  that  there  are  two  classes  of,  the  Cherokees  ;  one  of  these 
classes  desire  to  emigrate,  and  it  was  their  petition  I  presented  this 
morning,  and  M-ith  respect  to  these,  our  powers  are  ample  to  afibcd 
them  the  most  liberal  and  effectual  relief.  They  wish  to  go  beyond 
the  Mississippi,  and  to  be  guarantied  in  the  possession  of  the  country 
which  may  be  there  assigned  to  them.  As  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  have  full  powers  over  the  territories,  we  may  give  them  aB 
the  guaranty  which  Congress  can  express  for  the  undisturbed  poe* 
session  of  their  lands.  With  respect  to  their  case  there  can  be  jm> 
question  as  to  our  powers. 


OUR  mATMlVT  or  THE  CHESOKEES.  868 

And  then,  as  to  those  i?ho  desire  to  remain  on  this  side  the  river, 
1  ask  again,  are  we  powerless  ?  Can  we  afibrd  them  no  redress  ? 
Must  we  sit  still  and  see  the  injury  they  suffer,  and  extend  no  hand 
to  relieve  them  ?  It  were  strange  indeed,  were  such  the  case.  Why 
have  we  guarantied  to  them  the  enjoyment  of  their  own  laws  ? 
Why  have  we  pledged  to  them  protection?  Why  have  we  as- 
signed them  limits  of  territory?  Why  have  we  declared  that 
they  shall  enjoy  their  homes  in  peace,  without  molestation  from  any  r 
If  the  United  States  government  has  contracted  these  Serious  ohliga- 
lions,  it  ought,  bef6re  the  Indians  were  reduced  hy  our  assurances  to 
rely  upon  our  engagement,  to  have  explained  to  them  its  want  of 
authority  to  make  the  contract.  Before  we  pretend  to  Great  Britftin, 
to  Europe,  to  the  civilized  world,  that  such  were  the  rights  we  would 
secure  to  the  Indians,  we  ought  to  have  examined  the  extent  and  the 
grounds  of  our  own  rights  to  do  so.  But  is  such,  indeed,  our  situa- 
tion ?  No,  sir.  Georgia  has  shut  her  courts  against  these  Indians. 
What  is  the  remedy  ?  To  open  ours.  Have  we  not  the  right  ? 
What  says  the  constitution  ? 

"  The  JTidicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases  in  law  and  equity,  arisinf  iiii<ler 
this  constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  treaties  made  or  which  shall 
be  made  under  their  aathority.*' 

But  here  is  a  case  of  conflict  between  the  rights  of  the  proprie- 
ton  and  the  local  laws ;  and  here  is  the  very  case  which  the  consti- 
tntion  contemplated,  when  it  declared  that  the  power  of  the  federal 
judiciary  should  extend  to  all  cases  under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States.  Therefore  it  is  fully  within  the  competence  of  Congress,  un- 
der the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  to  provide  the  manper  hi  which 
the  Cherokees  may  have  their  rights  decided,  because  a  grant  of  the 
'  means  is  included  in  the  grant  of  jurisdiction.  It  is  competent,  then, 
Ibr  Congress  to  decide  whether  the  Cherokees  have  a  right  to  come 
into  a  court  of  justice  and  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  highest  authority 
to  sbstain  the  solemn  treaties  under  which  their  rights  have  been 
guarantied,  and  in  the  sacred  character  of  which  they  have  reposed 
their  confidence.  And  if  Congress  possesses  the  power  to  extend 
feUef  to  the  Indians,  are  they  not  bound  by  the  most  sacred  of  human 
considerations,  the  obligations  of  treaties,  the  protection  assured  them, 
by  every  Christian  tie,  every  benevolent  feeling,  every  humane  im- 
pulse of  the  human  heart,  to  extend  it  ?  If  they  were  to  fail  to  do 
ttita,  and  there  is,  aa  teasoci  aad  rerelation  declares  there  ia,a  tribaml 


lMi4  tPXECKES  or  HENBT    CLAT. 

of  eternal  justice  to  which  all  human  power  is  amenahle,  bow  could 
thex,  if  they  refused  to  perform  their  duties  to  this  injuied  and  op- 
pressed, though  civilized  race,  expect  to  escape  the  visitations  of  that 
Divine  vengeance  which  none  will  be  permitted-  to  avoid  who  have 
committed  wrong,  or  done  injustice  to  others  ?       ^^ 

At  this  moment,  when  the  United  States  are  urging  on  thegoveni- 
ment  X)f  France  the  fulfillment  of  the  obligations  of  the  treaty  con- 
cluded with  that  country,  to  the  execution  of  which  it  is  contended 
that  France  has  plighted  her  sacred  faith,  what  strength,  what  an  ir- 
resistible force  would  be  given  to  our  plea,  if  we  could  say  to  Framoe 
that,  in  all  instances,  we  had  completely  fulfilled  all  our  engagenoeuti, 
and  that  we  had  adhered  faithfully  to  every  obligation  which  we  had. 
contracted,  no  matter  whether  it  was  entered  into  with  a  powerful  or 
a  weak  people ;  if  we  could  say  to  her  that  we  had  complied  with 
all  our  engagements  to  others,  that  we  now  came  before  her,  alw^fs 
acting  right  as  we  had  done,  to  induce  her  also  to  fulfil  her  obliga- 
tions with  us.     How  shall  we  stand  in  the  eyes  of  France  and  of  the 
civilized  world,  if,  in  spite  of  the  most  solemn  treaties,  which  have 
existed  for  half  a  century,  and  have  been  recognized  in  every  form, 
and  by  every  branch  of  the  government,  how  shall  we  be  justified  if 
we  suffer  these  treaties  to  be  trampled  under  foot,  and   the  rights 
which  they  were  given  to  secure  trodden  in  the  dust  ?     How  would 
Great  Britain,  after  the  solemn  understanding  entered  into  with  her 
at  Ghent,  feel  after  such  a  breach  of  faith  ?     And  how  could  I,  as  t 
commissioner  on  the  negotiation  of  that  treaty,  hold  up  my  head  be- 
fore Great  Britain,  after  being  thus  made  an  instrument  of  fraud  and 
deception,  §»  I  assuredly  shall  be,  if  the  rights  of  the  Indians  are  to  be 
thus  violated,  and  the  treaties,  by  which  they  were  secured,  violated? 
How  could  1  hold  up  my  head,  after  such  a  violation  of  rights,  aad 
say  that  I  am  proud  of  my  country,  of  which  we  must  all  wish  to  be 
proud  ? 

,  For  myself,  I  rejoice  that  1  have  been  spared,  and  allowed  a  suita- 
ble opportunity  to  present  my  views  and  opinions  on  this  great  ai- 
tional  subject,  so  interesting  to  the  national  character  of  the  countiy 
fi^r  justice  and  equity.  I  rejoice  that  the  voice  which,  without  chaige 
of  presumption  or  arrogance,  1  may  say,  has  ever  been  raised  in  defence 
of  the  oppressed  of  the  human  species,  has  been  Iwjard  in  defence  of  this 
most  oppressed  of  all.     To  me,  in  that  awful  hour  of  death,  to  whieh 


OUB  TRBATMBNT  OV   TBI  CHIBOKKBS. 


266 


«n  must  come,  and  which,  with  respect  to  myself,  cannot  be  very  fiur 
distant,  it  will  be  a  source  of  the  highest  consolation  that  an  oppor- 
tunity has  been  found  by  me,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  my  official  duty,  to  pronounce  my  views  on  a  course  of 
policy  marked  by  such  wrongs  as  are  calculated  to  arrest  the  atten- 
tion of  every  one,  and  that  I  have  raised  my  humble  voice,  and  pro- 
nounced niy  solemn  protest  against  such  wrongs.    / 

I  will  no  longer  detain  the  Senate,  but  will  submit  the  following 
propositions  i 


Rnaived,  That  the  Committee  on  the  JadiettTy  be  directed  to  iaqnire  into  the 
expediency  ot  making  further  proviBion,  hy  law.  to  enable  Indian  nations,  or  tri^e% 
to  whose  use  and  occu^ncy  lands  are  secured  oy  treaties  concluded  between  tbeA 
and  the  United  States,  m  conformity  with  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Radvedt  That  the  Committee  on  Indian  Afiaiis  be  directed  to  inquire  into  tli» 
etpediency  of  making  further  proTision,  by  law,  for  setting  apart  a  district  of  coaa- 
trf  west  of  the  Mississippi  riTer,  for  rach  of  the  Cherokee  nation  as  may  be  disrasd 
to  emigrate  and  to  occupy  the  same,  and  for  securing  in  perpetuity  the  peacefoi  and 
ondiiCaibed  enjoyment  tnereof  to  the  emignnts  and  their  d««cendaBts. 


ON  SURRENDERING  THE  CUMBERLAND  ROAD. 


In  th£  Senate  or  the  United  States,  Febrvart  11, 1835. 


[A  bill  making  appropriations  for  the  completion  of  certain  portions  of  the 
beiland  Road,  and  their  surrender  thereupon  to  the  States,  having  been  reported 
diwiuaed  by  several  senatoTS,  in  favor  of  and  adverse  to  the  Internal  Impiov 
policy,  Mr.  Cz^y  ^poke  in  substance  as  follows :] 

I  WOULD  Dot  say  a  word  now  but  for  the  introduction  in  this  dit> 
evasion  of  collateral  matters  not  immediately  connected  with  it.  I 
DMan  to  vote  for  the  appropriation  contained  in  the  bill,  and  I  shall 
do  so  with  pleasure,  because,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case^ 
I  feel  myself  called  upon  by  a  sense  of  imperative  necessity  to  ykiii 
my  assent  to  the  appropriation.  The  road  will  be  abandoned,  and  all 
the  expenditures  which  have  heretofore  been  made  upon  it,  will  be 
entirely  thrown  away,  unless  we  now  succeed  in  obtaining  an  appro- 
priation to  put  the  road  in  a  state  of  repair.  Now,  1  do  not  concur 
with  the  gentleman  (Mr.  Swing)  that  Ohio  can  as  a  matter  of  strict 
right  demand  of  the  government  to  keep  this  road  in  repair.  And 
why  so  }  Because,  by  the  teems  of  the  compact,  under  the  operation 
of  which  the  road  was  made,  there  was  a  restricted  and  defined  fWnd  set 
apart  in  order  to  accomplish  that  object.  And  that  fund  measures  the 
obligation  of  the  government.  It  has  been,  however,  long  since  ex- 
hausted. There  is  no  obligation  then  on  the  part  of  the  government 
to  keep  the  road  in  repair.  But  I  am  free  to  admit,  that  considera- 
tions of  policy  will  prompt  it  to  adopt  that  course,  in  order  that  an 
opportunity  shall  be  presented  to  the  States  to  take  it  into  their  own 
hands. 

The  honorable  senator  from  Pennsylvania  felicitated  himself  on 
having,  at  a  very  early  epoch,  discovered  the  unconstitutionality  of  the 
general  government  erecting  toll  gates  upon  this  road,  and  he  voted 
against  the  first  measure  to  carry  that  object  into  execution.  I  must 
say,  that  for  myself,  I  think  the  general  government  have  a  right  to 


OH  fUaUNDKBINO  THS  CUMBERLAND  ROAD.  987 

adopt  that  course  which  it  deems  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
a«oad  which  is  made  under  its  own  authority.  And  as  a  legiti- 
mate consequence  from  the  power  of  making  a  road,  is  derived  the 
power  of  making  an  improvement  on  it.  That  is  established ;  and 
on  that  point  I  am  sure  the  honorable  gentleman  does  not  differ  from 
those  who  were  in  favor  of  establishing  toll-gates  at  the  period  to 
which  I  have  alluded.  I  would  repeat,  that  if  the  power  to  make  a 
road  be  conceded,  it  follows,  as  a  legitimate  consequence  from  that 
power,  that  the  general  government  has  a  right  to  preserve  it.  And| 
if  the  right  to  do  so,  there  is  no  mode  of  preservation  more  fitting  and 
suitable  than  that  which  results  from  a  moderate  toll  for  keeping  up 
the  road,  and  thug  continuing  it  for  all  time  to  come. 

The  opinion  held  by  the  honorable  senator  at  the  period  to  which 
I  have  adverted,  was  not  the  general  opinion.  He  will  well  remem- 
ber that  the  power  which  I  contended  did  exist,  was  sustained  in  the 
other  branch  of  the  legislature  by  large  majorities.  And  in  that  Sen* 
ate,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  there  were  but  nine  dissentients  from  the 
existence  of  it.  If  my  recollection  deceives  me  not,  I  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  concurring  with  the  distinguished  individual  who  now  presides 
over  the  deliberations  of  this  body.  I  think  that  he,  (the  Vice  Presi- 
dent) in  common  with  the  majority  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, coincided  in  the  belief,  that  a  road,  constructed  under 
the  orders  of  the  general  government,  ought  to  be  preserved  by  the 
authority  which  brought  it  into  being.  Now  that  is  my  opinion  still. 
1  am  not  one  of  those  who,  on  this  or  any  other  great  national  sub- 
ject, have  changed  my  opinion  in  consequence  of  being  wrought  upon 
by  various  conflicting  circumstances. 

With  regard  to  the  general  power  of  making  internal  improve- 
ments, as  far  as  it  exists  in  the  opinions  I  have  frequently  expressed 
in  both  houses,  my  opinion  is  still  unaltered.  But  with  respect  to 
the  expediency  of  exercising  that  power,  at  any  period,  it  must  de- 
pend upon  the  circumstances  of  the  times.  And  in  my  opinion  jlhe 
power  is  to  be  found  in  the  constitution.  This  belief  I  have  always 
entertained,  and  it  remains  unshaken.  I  cannot  coincide  in  the  opin- 
ion expressed  by  the  honorable  senator  from  Pennsylvania  and  the 
honorable  senator  from  Massachusetts,  in  regard  to  the  disposition 
that  is  to  be  mode  of  this  road. 


208  fPKKCHBI  or   tttXTRY  CLAT. 

What,  I  would  ask,  has  been  stated  on  all  hands  ?  That  the  Cum- 
berland road  is  a  great  national  object  in  which  all  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  interested  and  concerned  ;  that  we  are  interested  m 
our  corporate  capacity,  on  account  of  the  stake  we  posses  in  the  pub- 
lic domain,  and  that  we  are  consequently  benefited  by  that  road; 
that  the  people  of  the  west  are  interested  in  it  as  a  common  thorough- 
fiffe  to  all  places  from  one  side  of  the  country  to  the  other. 

I  say  that  the  principle  is  fundamentally  wrong  ;  I  protest  against 
il^ — have  done  so  from  the  first,  and  do  so  again  now.  It  is  a 'great 
national  object,  and  we  might  as  well  give  the  care  of  the  mint  to 
Pennsylvania ;  the  protection  of  the  breakwater,  or  of  the  public  yes 
sels  in  New  York,  Baltimore,  and  Philadelphia,  to  the  respective  le- 
gislatures of  the  States  in  which  that  property  was  situated,  as  give 
the  care  of  a  great  national  road  in  which  the  people  of  the  United 
States  were  concerned,  to  the  care  of  a  few  States  which  were  ac- 
knowledged to  have  no  particular  interest  in  it — States  having  so 
little  interest  in  that  great  work  that  they  would  not  repair  it  wheo 
oflered  to  their  hands. 

But  I  shall  vote  for  this  appropriation  ;  I  am  compelled  to  vote  fer 
it  by  the  force  of  circumstances  over  which  I  have  no  control.  I  have 
seen,  in  reference  to  internal  improvements,  and  other  measures  of  a 
national  character,  not  individuals  merely,  but  whole  masses— entire 
communities — prostrating  their  own  settled  opinions,  to  which  they 
have  conformed  for  half  a  century,  wheel  to  the  right  or  to  the  left — 
march  this  way  or  that,  according  as  they  see  high  authority  for  it. 
And  I  see  that  there  is  no  way  of  preserving  this  great  object,  which 
affords  such  vast  facilities  to  the  western  States,  no  other  mode  of 
preserving  it,  but  by  a  reluctant  acquiescence  in  a  course  of  policy, 
which  all  at  least,  have  not  contributed  to  produce,  but  which  is 
formed  to  operate  on  the  country,  and  from  which  there  is  no  appeal. 

In  conclusion,  I  again  reiterate,  that  I  shall  vote  for  the  appropria- 
tion in  this  bill,  although  very  reluctantly,  and  with  the  protest  that 
the  road  in  question,  being  the  common  property  of  the  whole  natiooi 
and  under  the  guardianship  of  the  general  government,  should  not  be 
treacherously  parted  from  by  it  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the  local 
governments,  who  feel  no  interest  in  the  matter. 


ON  APPOINTMENTS  AND  REMOVALS. 


In  the  Skhati  of  th£  United  States,  February  18|  1835.     ' 


^A  bill  to  define  and  fix  the  tenure  of  office,  by  limiting  the  Pre«dent*e  power  !• 
xeniove  subordinate  officera  to  cases  in  which  reasons  shall  be  firen  by  him,  and 
pieacribing  the  mode  of  its  exercise,  having  been  submitted  to  the  Senate,  Bfr.  Guiy, 
vpoo  the  qnestiott  of  its  passage,  addressed  the  Senate  an  follows  tl 

I  THINK  it  extremely  fortunate  that  this  subject  of  executiye  patroA- 
age  came  up,  at  this  session,  unencumbered  by  any  collateral  qoei- 
tion.  At  the  last  session  we  had  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  the 
treasury  report  sustaining  it,  and  the  protest  of  the  President  against 
the  resolution  of  the  Senate.  The  bank  mingled  itself  in  all  our  dif* 
oossions,  and  the  partisans  of  executive  power  availed  themselves  of 
the  prejudices  which  had  been  artfully  excited  against  that  institutioiii 
to  deceive  and  blind  the  people  as  to  the  enormity  of  executive  pre- 
tensions. The  bank  has  been  doomed  to  destruction,  and  no  one  now 
thinks  the  recharter  of  it  practicable,  or  ought  to  be  attempted.  I 
fear  that  the  people  will  have  just  and  severe  cause  to  regret  its  de« 
struction.  The  administration  of  it  was  uncommonly  able ;  and  one 
is  at  a  loss  which  roost  to  admirci  the  imperturbable  temper  <Hr  the 
wisdom  of  its  enlightened  ptesident.  No  country  can  possibly  pos- 
sess a  better  general  currency  than  it  supplied.  The  injurious  conse- 
quences of  the  sacrifice  of  this  valuable  institution  wUl  soon  be  felt. 
l]^re  being  no  longer  any  sentinel  at  the  head  of  our  banking  estab- 
lishments, to  warn  them,  by  its  information  and  operations,  of  ^h 
pioaching  danger,  the  local  institutions,  already  multiplied  to  an  alarm- 
ing extent,  and  almost  daily  multiplying,  in  seasons  <^  prosperity,  will 
make  free  and  unrestrained  emissions.  All  the  channels  of  circular 
tion  will  become  gorged.  Property  will  rise  extravagantly  high,  and, 
constantly  looking  up,  the  temptation  to  purchase  will  be  irresistible. 
Inordinate  speculation  will  ensue,  debts  will  be  fireely  contracted,  and 
If  hen  the  season  of  adversity  comes,  as  come  it  must,  the  banks,  aet- 
ing  without  concert  and^  withcNU  guldey  obeying  the  law  ci  self-piee- 


970  gPXBCHIS  OF  HXNRT   CLAT. 

eryation,  will  a]l  at  the  same  time  call  in  their  issues ;  the  yast  nim- 
ber  will  exaggerate  the  alarm,  and  general  distress,  wide-spread  niia, 
and  an  explosion  of  the  whole  banking  system,  or  the  establishmenl 
of  a  new  Bank  of  the  United  States,  will  be  the  ultimate  effects. 

We  can  now  deliberately  contemplate  the  vast  expansion  of  execu- 
tive power,  under  the  present  administration,  free  from  embarraM- 
ment.  And  is  there  any  real  lover  of  civil  liberty  who  can  behold  h 
without  great  and  just  alarm  ?  Take  the  doctrines  of  the  Protest 
and  the  Secretary's  ^port  together,  and,  instead  of  having  a  balanced 
gpvemment  with  three  co-ordinate  departments,  we  have  but  oii» 
power  in  the  State.  According  to  those  papers  all  the  oiBcers  coih* 
oerned  in  the  administration  of  the  laws  are  bound  to  obey  the  Presi- 
dent. His  will  controls  every  branch  of  the  administration.  No 
matter  that  the  law  may  have  assigned  to  other  officers  of  thegovem- 
ment  specifically  defined  duties ,  no  matter  that  the  theory  of  the  con 
atitution  and  the  law  supposes  them  bound  to  the  discharge  of  those 
duties  according  to  their  own  judgment,  and  under  their  own  respon- 
sibility, and  liable  to  impeachment  for  malfeasance  ;  the  will  of  the 
President,  even  in  opposition  to  their  own  deliberate  sense  of  their 
obligations,  is  to  prevail,  and  expulsion  from  office  is  the  penalty  of- 
disobedience !  It  has  not,  indeed,  in  terms,  been  claimed,  but  it  is  a 
legitimate  consequence  from  the  doctrine  asserted,  that  all  the  decis- 
ions of  the  judicial  tribunals,  not  conformable  with  the  President^ 
opinion,  must  be  inoperative,  since  the  officers  charged  with  their 
execution  are  no  more  exempt  from  the  pretended  obligation  to  chey 
his  orders  than  any  other  officer  of  the  administration. 

The  basis  of  this  overshadowing  superstructure  of  executive  power 
is,  the  power  of  dismission,  which  is  one  of  the  objects  of  the  bill  ao- 
der  consideration  somewhat  to  regulate,  but  which  it  is  contended  bj 
the  supporters  of  executive  authority  is  uncontrolable.  The  practi- 
cal exercise  of  this  power,  during  the  administration,  has  reduced  the 
salutary  co-operation  of  the  Senate,  as  approved  by  the  constitution, 
in  all  appointments,  to  an  idle  form.  Of  what  avail  is  it  that  the 
Senate  shall  have  passed  upon  a  nomination,  if  the  President,  at  any 
time  thereafter,  even  the  next  day,  whether  the  Senate  be  in  sessioo 
or  in  vacation,  without  any  known  cause,  may  dismiss  the  incumbent? 
Let  us  examine  the  nature  of  this  power.  It  is  exercised  in  the  re* 
of  the  executive  mansion,  perhaps  upon  secret  information. 


OR  APPOUTTUlin  ANB  RkHOTi.U.  ATI 

The  accused  officer  b  not  present,  nor  beard,  nor  confronted  with  tha 
witnesses  agaiosL  biin,  aod  the  President  is  judge,  jurot,  and  exeeu* 
tiooer.  No  reasons  ore  assigned  for  the  dismission,  and  the  public  ia 
left  to  conjecture  the  cause.  Is  not  a  power  so  exercised  essentially 
a  despotic  power  ?  It  is  adverse  to  the  genius  of  all  free  governments, 
the  foundation  of  which  is  responsibility.  Keapunsibilily  is  the  vital 
principle  of  civil  liberty,  as  irresponsibility  is  the  vital  principle  of 
despotism.  Free  gOTerninent  can  no  more  exi^t  without  this  princi 
pie  than  aoinial  life  can  be  sustained  without  the  presence  of  the  at- 
mosphere. But  is  not  the  Fiesident  absolutely  irresponsible  in  thm 
fxercr  jQ  of  this  power  ?  How  can  be  be  reached  }  By  impeachmeat  ? 
It  is  a  mockery. 

It  baa  been  truly  said  Ibat  the  office  was  not  made  for  the  incnn^ 
bent.  Nor  was  it  made  (or  the  incumbent  of  another  office.  In  both 
and  in  all  cases  public  ollices  are  created  for  the  public  ;  and  the  peo- 
ple hav«  a  right  to  know  why  and  wherefore  one  of  their  servant* 
dismisses  another.  The  abuses  which  have  flowed  and  w  likely  to 
flow  from  this  power,  if  unchecked,  are  indescribable.  How  olten 
have  all  of  us  witnessed  the  expulsion  of  the  most  &ithful  officen, 
of  the  highest  character,  and  of  the  most  undoubted  probity,  for  no 
other  imaginable  reason,  tban  difference  in  political  sentiments  ?  It 
begins  in  politics  and  may  end  in  religion.  If  a  President  should  be 
inclined  to  fanaticism,  and  the  power  should  not  be  regulated,  what 
it  to  prevent  the  dismission  of  every  officer  who  does  not  belong  to 
hia  sect,  or  persuasion  }  He  mny,  perhaps  truly,  say,  if  he  does  not 
dismiss  bim,  that  he  has  not  his  contidence.  It  was  the  cant  lan- 
gua^  of  Cromwell  and  bis  associates,  when  nbnuxious  individuals  - 
were  b  or  propoaeU  for  office,  that  they  could  not  confide  in  ihem- 
Tbe  tendency  of  this  power  is  to  revive  the  dark  ages  of  feudalism, 
and  to  render  every  officer  a  feudatory.  The  bravest  man  in  office) 
whose  employment  and  bread  depend  upon  the  will  of  the  President, 
will  quail  under  th*'  influence  of  the  power  of  dismission.  If  opposed 
in  sentiments  to  the  administration,  he  will  begin  by  silence,  and 
finally  will  be  goaded  into  partisanship. 

The  Senator  from  New  York,  (Mr.  Wright)  in  analyzing  the  liit 
of  one  hundred  thousand  who  arc  reported  by  the  comniiliee  of  pn- 
tronage  to  draw  money  from  the  public  treasury,  contends  that  a  large 
DOrtioa  of  them  cooaiati  of  the  umyi  the  nevy,  and  revolutionary  pe»* 


Sra  ,  SP1ECHB8  OF  HXiniT  CLAT. 

itonen ;  and,  paying  a  just  compliment  to  their  gallantry  and  patri- 
otism, asks,  if  they  \irill  allow  themselves  to  be  instrumental  in  the 
destruction  of  the  liberties  of  their  country  ?  It  is  very  remarkable 
that  hitherto  the  power  of  dismission  has  not  been  applied  to  the 
army  and  nayy,  to  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  service,  it  would 
seem  to  be  more  necessary  than  to  those  in  civil  places.  But  accu- 
mulation and  concentration  are  the  nature  of  all  power,  and  especially 
of  executive  power.  And  it  cannot  be  doubted  that,  if  the  power  of 
dismission,  as  now  exercised,  in  regard  to  civil  officers,  is  sanctioned 
tad  sustained  by  the  people,  it  will,  in  the  end,  be  extended  to  the 
aitny  and  navy.  When  so  extended,  it  will  produce  its  usual  effect 
of  subserviency,  or  if  the  present  army  and  navy  should  be  too  stem 
and  upright  to  be  moulded  according  to  the  pleasure  of  the  executiTe, 
ire  are  to  recollect  that  the  individuals  who  compose  them  are  not  to 
lire  always,  and  may  be  succeeded  by  those  who  will  be  more  pliant 
and  yielding.  But  I  would  ask  the  Senator  what  has  been  the  efkdt 
of  this  tremendous  power  of  dismission  upon  the  classes  of  officers  to 
which  it  has  been  applied  ?  Upon  the  post-office,  the  land-office,  and 
die  custom-house  ?  They  constitute  so  many  corps  d^armee^  ready 
to  further,  on  all  occasions,  the  executive  views  and  wishes.  Thej 
ttke  the  lead  in  primary  assemblies  whenever  it  is  deemed  expedieilt 
fo  applaud  or  sound  the  praises  of  the  administration,  or  to  carry  oot 
its  purposes  in  relation  to  the  succession.  We  are  assured  that  a  lai^ 
majority  of  the  recent  convention  at  Columbus,  in  Ohio,  to  nominate 
the  President's  successor,  were  office-holders.  And  do  you  imagine 
that  ihey  would  nominate  any  other  than  the  President's  known  6^ 

The  power  of  removal,  as  now  exercised,  is  nowhere  in  the  consti- 
tution expressly  recognized.  The  only  mode  of  displacing  a  publk^ 
officer  for  which  it  does  provide,  is  by  impeachment.  But  it  has  been 
afgued  on  this  occasion,  that  it  is  a  sovereign  power,  an  inherent 
l^wer,  and  an  executive  power ;  and,  therefore,  that  it  belongs  to  the 
President.  Neither  the  premises  nor  the  conclusion  can  be  sustained. 
If  they  could  be,  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  all  along  to- 
tally misconceived  the  nature  of  their  government,  and  the  character 
of  the  office  of  their  supreme  magistrate.  Sovereign  power  is  an- 
pfeme  power ;  and  in  no  instance  whatever  is  there  any  supreme 
power  vested  in  the  President.  Whatever  sovereign  power  is,  if  there 
be  any,  conveyed  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  vested 


ON  APPonrniKiin  akd  bkmotal*.  973 

■V  Congreu,  or  iu  the  President  ud  Senate.  -  The  power  to  declare 
waf,  to  la;  taxes,  to  coin  money,  is  vested  in  Congress ;  and  the 
treaty  making  power  in  the  President  and  Senate.  'I'he  post-manter 
general  has  the  power  to  dinnias  his  deputies.  Is  that  a  sovereign 
power,  or  has  he  any  ? 

Inherent  pow<!r  !  That  is  a  new  principle  to  enlarge  the  powers 
of  the  giineral  govemment.  Hitherto  it  has  been  supposed  that  there 
are  no  powers  poasened  by  the  goverament  of  the  United  Slates,  or 
any  branch  of  it,  but  such  as  are  granted  by  the  constitution  ;  and  in 
order  to  ascertain  what  has  been  granted,  that  it  was  necessary  to 
show  the  grant,  or  to  establish  that  the  power  claimed  was  necessary 
and  proper  to  execute  some  granted  power.  In  other  words,  that 
there  are  no  powers  but  those  which  are  expressed  or  incidental.  But 
it  seems  that  a  great  mistake  has  existed.  The  partisans  of  the  exe- 
cutive have  discovered  a  third  and  more  fruiirul  source  of  power. 
Inherent  power !  Whence  is  it  derived  .'  The  constitution  created  the 
office  of  President,  and  made  it  just  what  it  is.  It  had  no  power  prior 
to  its  existence.  It  can  hare  none  but  those  which  are  conferrtid 
upon  it  by  the  instrument  which  created  it,  or  laws  passed  in  pursi^ 
■pee  of  that  instrument.  Do  gentlemen  mean,  hy  inht^rent  power| 
iuch  power  as  is  exercised  by  the  monarchs  or  chief  magistrate!  of 
other  countries  ?     If  that  be  their  meaning,  they  should  avow  it. 

It  has  been  argned  that  the  power  of  removal  from  office  is  an  ex* 
eeutive  power ;  that  all  executive  power  is  vested  in  the  President ; 
and  that  he  is  to  see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed,  which,  it 
ia  contended  he  cannot  do,  unless  at  hia  pleasure  he  may  dismiss  any 
aubordinate  officer. . 

The  mere  act  of  dismission  or  removal  may  be  of  an  executive 
nature,  but  the  judgment  or  sentence  which  precedes  it  is  a  function 
of  a  judicial  and  not  executive  nature.  Impeachments  which,  as  haa 
been  already  observed,  are  the  only  mode  of  removal  from  office  ex- 
pressly provided  for  in  the  constitution,  are  to  be  tried  by  the  Senate, 
acting  as  a  judicial  (ribunal.  In  England,  and  in  all  other  States, 
Ihey  are  tried  by  judicial  tribunnls  In  aoveral  of  the  Slal<^s  removal 
from  office  sometimes  is  eOecuKl  by  the  legislative  authority,  as  in  the 
case  of  judges  on  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  uf  the  members.  The 
■dministi^ioD  of  the  lawa  of  tlte  MTeral  States  proceeds  r^uUijIf 


274  SPEECHES  OF    HENRT   CLAT. 

without  the  exercise  on  the  part  of  the  governors  of  any  power  simi- 
lar to  that  which  is  claimed  for  the  President.  In  Kentucky,  and  in 
other  States,  the  governor  has  no  power  to  remove  sheriffs,  coUecton 
of  the  revenue,  clerks  of  courts,  or  any  one  officer  employed  in  ad- 
ministration ;  and  yet  the  governor,  like  the  President,  is  coostito- 
tionally  enjoined  to  see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed. 

The  clause  relied  upon  to  prove  that  all  executive  power  is  vested 
in  the  President,  is  the  first  section  of  the  second  article.  Ob  exam- 
ining the  constitution,  we  6nd  that,  according  to  its  anangement,  it 
treats  first  of  the  legislative  power,  then  of  the  executive,  and  lastly, 
of  the  judicial  power.  In  each  instance  it  provides  how  those  pow- 
ers shall  be  respectively  vested.  The  legislative  power  is  confided  to 
a  Congress,  and  the  constitution  then  directs  how  the  members  of  thia 
body  shall  be  chosen,  and  after  having  constituted  the  body  enuma- 
rates  and  carefully  specifies  its  powers.  And  the  same  course  is  ob- 
served both  with  the  executive  and  the  judiciary.  In  neither  casBi 
does  the  preliminary  clause  convey  any  power ;  but  the  powers  of  the 
several  departments  are  to  be  sought  for  in  the  subsequent  provisions. 
The  legislative  powers  granted  by  the  constitution  are  to  be  yestedi 
how  ?  In  a  Congress.  What  powers  ?  Those  which  are  ennmerated. 
The  executive  power  is  to  be  vested,  how  ?  In  a  council,  or  in  sev- 
eral ?  No,  in  a  President  of  the  United  States  of  America.  What 
executive  power }  That  which  is  possessed  by  any  chief  magistrate 
in  any  country,  or  that  which  speculative  writers  attribute  to  the 
executive  head  ?  No  such  thing.  That  power,  and  that  only,  which 
the  constitution  subsequently  assigns  to  the  chief  nuigistrate. 

The  President  is  enjoined  by  the  constitution  to  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed.  Under  this  injunction,  the  power  of 
dismission  is  claimed  for  him ;  and  it  is  contended  that  if  those 
charged  with  the  execution  of  the  laws  attempt  to  execute  them  in  a 
sense  different  from  that  entertained  by  the  President,  he  may  prevent 
ii  or  withhold  his  co-operation.  It  would  follow,  that  if  the  judiciary 
give  to  the  law  an  interpretation  variant  from  that  of  the  President, 
he  would  not  be  bound  to  afford  means  which  might  become  neces- 
sary to  execute  their  decision.  If  these  pretensions  are  well  found- 
ed, it  is  manifest  that  the  President,  by  means  of  the  veto,  in  arresting 
the  passage  of  laws  which  he  disapproves,  and  the  power  of  expound- 
ing those  which  are  passed,  according  to  hb  own  sense  of  themi  will 


ON  APPOIIfTMBNTS  AND  RBMOTALfl.  376 

beeome  possessed  of  all  the  practical  authority  of  the  whole  govem- 
Bent.  If  the  judiciary  decide  a  law  contrary  to  the  President's  opin- 
iOD  of  its  meaning,  he  may  command  the  marshal  not  to  execute  the 
decision,  and  urge  his  constitutional  obligation  to  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed.  It  will  be  recollected  perhaps,  by  the 
Senate,  that  during  the  discussions  on  the  deposite  question,  I  pre- 
dicted that  the  day  would  arrive  when  •  President,  disposed  to  en- 
large his  powers,  would  appeal  to  his  official  oath  as  a  source  of 
power.  In  that  oath  he  undertakes  that  he  will ''  to  tlie  best  of  his 
ability  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States."  The  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  quickly  followed :  and 
during  the  same  session,  in  the  protest  of  the  President,  we  find  him 
referring  to  this  oath  as  a  source  of  power  and  duty.  Now,  if  the 
President,  in  virtue  of  his  oath,  may  interpose  and  prevent  anything 
from  being  done  confrary  to  the  constitution,  as  he  understands  it , 
and  may  in  virtue  of  the  injunction  to  take  care  that  the  -laws  be 
faithfully  executed,  prevent  the  enforcement  of  any  law  contrary  to 
the  sense  in  which  he  understands  it,  I  would  ask  what  powers  re- 
main to  any  other  branch  of  the  government  ?  Are  they  not  all  sab- 
■tantially  absorbed  in  the  WILL  of  one  man. 

The  President's  oath  obliges  him  to  do  no  more  than  every  member  of 
Congress  is  also  bound  by  official  oath  to  do ;  that  is,  to  support  the 
oonstitution  of  the  United  States  in  tbeir  respective  spheres  of  action 
Ib  the  discharge  of  the  duties  specifically  assigned  to  him  by  the  con- 
stitution and  laws,  he  is  for  ever  to  keep  in  view  the  constitution ; 
and  this  every  member  of  Congress  is  equally  bound  to  do,  in  the 
passage  of  laws.  To  step  out  of  his  sphere  ;  to  trench  upon  other 
departments  of  the  government,  under  the  notion  that  they  are  about 
to  violate  the  constitution,  would  be  to  set  a  most  pernicious  nnd  dan- 
gerous example  of  violation  of  the  constitution.  Suppose  Congress, 
by  two-thirds  of  each  branch,  pass  a  law  contrary  to  the  veto  of  the 
President,  and  to  his  opinion  of  the  constitution,  is  ho  afterwards  at 
liberty  to  prevent  its  execution  ?  The  injunction,  to  which  I  have 
adverted,  common  both  to  the  Federal  ftnd  most  of  the  State  ConsU- 
tations,  imposes  only  upon  the  chief  magistrate  the  duty  o*"  executing 
those  laws  with  the  execution  of  which  he  is  specially  charged  ; 
of  supplying,  when  necessary,  the  means  with  which  he  is  entrusted 
to  enable  others  to  execute  those  laws,  the  enforcement  of  which  is 
oonfided  to  them ;  and  to  commantcate  to  Congress  infractions  of  die 


d76  tPXlCHkS  OF  HBNRT    CLAT. 

laws,  that  the  guilty  may  be  brought  to  punishment,  or  the  defects  of 
legislation  remedied.  The  most  important  branch  of  the  govemmeftt 
to  the  rights  of  the  people,  as  regards  the  mere  execution  of  the  laws, 
is  the  judiciary  ;  and  yet  they  hold  their  offices  by  a  tenure  beyiN|4 
the  reach  of  the  President.  Far  from  impairing  the  efficacy  of  aagr 
powers  with  which  he  is  invested,  this  permanent  character  in  tlie 
judicial  office  is  supposed  to  gire  stability  and  independence  to  tile 
administration  of  justice. 

The  power  of  removal  from  office  not  being  one  of  those  poweis 
which  are  expressly  granted  and  enumerated  in  the  constitution,  «id 
having,  I  hope,  successfully  shown  that  it  is  not  essentially  of  an 
executive  nature,  the  question  arises  to  what  department  of  the  gov- 
ernment does  it  belong,  in  regard  to  all  offices  created  by  law,  or  whose 
tenure  is  not  defined  in  the  constitution  ?  There  is  much  force  in  the 
argumej^t  which  attaches  the  power  of  dismission  to  the  President 
and  Senate  conjointly,  as  the  appointing  power.  But  I  think  wj 
must  look  for  it  to  a  broader  and  higher  source — the  legislative  de- 
partment. The  duty  of  appointment  may  be  performed  under  a  law 
which  enacts  the  mode  of  dismission.  This  is  the  case  in  the  post- 
office  department,  the  post-master  general  being  invested  with  both 
the  power  of  appointment  and  of  dismission.  But  they  are  not  neces- 
sarily allied,  and  the  law  may  separate  them ;  and  assign  to  one  funs- 
tionary.  the  right  to  appoint,  and  to  a  diferent  one  the  right  to  dis- 
miss. Examples  of  such  a  separation  may  be  found  in  the  State  gov- 
ernments. 

It  is  the  legislative  authority  which  creates  the  office,  defines  its 
duties,  and  may  prescribe  its  duration.  I  speak,  of  course,  of  offiess 
not  created  by  the  constitution,  but  the  law.  The  office,  comii^  into 
existence  by  the  will  of  Congress,  the  same  will  may  provide  how, 
and  in  what  manner,  the  office  and  the  officer  shall  both  cease  to 
exist.  It  may  direct  the  conditions  on  which  he  shall  hold  the  offise, 
and  when  and  how  he  shall  be  dismissed.  Suppose  the  constitutios 
had  omitted  to  prescribe  the  tenure  of  the  judicial  oath,  could  not 
Congress  do  it  ?  But  the  constitution  has  not  fixed  the  tenure  of  sngr 
subordinate  offices,  and  therefore  Congress  may  supply  the  omission. 
It  would  be  unreasonable  to  contend  that,  although  Congress,  in  p«- 
iuit  of  the  public  good,  brings  the  office  and  the  officer  into  being,  and 
aligns  their  purposes,  yet  the  President  has  a  control  over  the  offi- 


on   APP0INTIC1NT8    AND  REKOTALB.  377 

eer  which  Congress  cannot  reach  or  regulate ;  and  this  control  in 
virtue  of  some  vague  and  undefined  implied  executive  power  which 
the  friends  of  executive  supremacy  are  totally  unable  to  attach  to  any 
specific  clause  in  the  constitution. 

It  has  been  contended,  with  great  ability,  that  under  the  clause  of 
the  constitution  which  declares  that  Congress  shall  have  power  '^  to 
make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into 
execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  others  vested  by  this  const!* 
tution  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  deparlntent 
or  officer  thereof  j^^  Congress  is  the  sole  depository  of  implied  powers^ 
and  that  no  other  department  or  officer  of  the  government  possesses 
any.  If  this  argument  be  correct,  there  is  an  end  of  the  controversy. 
But  if  the  power  of  dismission  be  incident  to  the  legislative  authority, 
Congress  has  the  clear  right  to  regulate  it.  And  if  it  belong  to  any 
other  department  of  the  government,  under  the  cited  clause.  Congress 
has  the  power  to  legislate  upon  the  subject,  and  may  regulate  it,  al* 
though  it  cannot  divest  the  department  altogether  of  the  right. 

Hitherto  I  have  considered  the  question  upon  the  ground  of  the 
constitution,  unafiected  by  precedent.  We  have  in  vain  called  upon 
our  opponents  to  meet  us  upon  that  ground ;  and  to  point  out  the 
clause  of  the  constitution  which  by  express  gmnt,-or  necessary  im- 
plication, subjects  the  will  of  the  whole  official  corps  to  the  pleasure 
of  the  President,  to  be  dismissed  whenever  he  thinks  proper,  without 
any  reasons  publicly  assigned  or  avowed  for  the  dismission,  and  which 
excludes  Congress  firom  all  authority  to  legislate  against  the  tremen- 
dous consequences  of  such  a  vast  power.  No  such  clause  has  been 
f  hown  ;  nor  can  it  be,  for  the  best  of  all  reasons,  because  it  does  not 
exist.  Instead  of  bringing  forward  any  such  satisfactory  evidence, 
gentlemen  entrench  themselves  behind  the  precedent  which  was  es- 
tablished in  1789,  when  the  first  Congress  recognized  the  power  of 
dismission  in  the  President ;  that  is,  they  rely  upon  the  opinion  of  tha 
first  Congress  as  to  what  the  constitution  meant  as  conclusive  of  what 
Ills. 

The  precedent  of  1789  was  established  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
Istives  against  the  opinion  of  a  large  and  able  minority,  and  in  the 
Senate  by  the  casting  rote  of  the  Vice  President,  Mr.  John  Adams* 
It  is  hnposriUe  to  read  llie  debate  irhich  it  ooeasioiied  without  being; 

•S 


278  spSECHjU  OP  H^RT  CXJL7. 

impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  just  confidence  reposed  in  the 
father  of  his  country,  then  at  the  head  of  the  government,  had  great, 
if  not  decisive  influence  in  establishing  it.  It  has  never,  prior  to  the 
commencement  of  the  present  administration,  been  submitted  to  the 
process  of  review.  It  has  not  been  reconsidered,  because  under  the 
mild  administrations  of  the  predecessors  of  the  President,  it  was  not 
abused,  but  jgenerallj  applied  to  cases  to  which  the  power  was  justly 
applicable. 

tMr.  Clav  here  proceeded  to  recite  from  a  memorandmn,  the  number  of  offieen 
removed  under  the  different  Presidents,  from  Washington  domii  $  but  the  reporter 
not  having  access  to  the  memorandum,  was  unable  to  note  the  precise  numberiuder 
each,  and  can  only  state,  generally,  that  it  was  Inconsdcrable  under  all  the  ■dminjn* 
trations  prior  to  the  present,  but  under  that  of  General  Ja4uon  the  number  of  le- 
movals  amounted  to  more  than  two  thousand— of  which  five  or  six  hundred  were 
postmasters.] 

Precedents  deliberately  establishejl  by  wise  men  are  entitled  to 
great  weight.  They  are  the  evidence  of  truth,  h\ii  only  evidence.  If 
the  same  rule  of  interpretation  has  been  settled,  by  concurrent  deci- 
sions, at  different  and  distant  periods,  and  by  opposite  dominant  par- 
ties, it  ought  to  be  deemed  binding,  and  not  disturbed.  But  a  solitary 
precedent,  established,  as  this  was,  by  an  equal  vote  of  one  branch, 
and  a  powerful  minority  in  the  other,  under  the  influence  of  a  confi- 
dence never  misplaced  in  an  illustrious  individual,  and  which  has 
never  been  re-examined,  cannot  be  conclusive. 

The  first  inquiry  which  suggests  itself  upon  such  a  precedent  as 
this. is,  brought  forward  by  the  friends  of  the  administration,  is,  what 
right  have  they  to  the  benefit  of  any  precedent }  The  coarse  of 'this 
administration  has  been  marked  by  an  utter  and  contemptuous  disre- 
gard of  all  that  has  been  previously  done.  Disdaining  to  move  on  in  the 
beaten  road  carefully  constructed  by  preceding  administrations,  and, 
trampling  upon  every  thing,  it  has  seemed  resolved  to  trace  out  fiv 
itself  a  new  line  of  march.  Then  let  us  inquire  how  thb  administra*. 
tion  and  its  partisans  dispose  of  precedents  drawn  from  the  same 
source,  the  first  Congress  under  the  present  constitution.  If  a 
precedent  of  that  Congress  be  suflicient  authority  to  sustain  an  exe- 
cutive power,  other  precedents  established  by  it,  in  support  of  legis- 
lative powers,  must  possess  a  like  force.  But  do  they  admit  tbist 
principle  of  equality  ?  No  such  thing ;  they  reject  the  precedents  of 
the  Congress  of:  1780  sustaining  the  power  of  Congressy  and  cliBg.W 


ON   AWOTNTimm   AND  RSMOTALS.  9T9 

that  only  which  expands  the  executiye  authority.    They  go  for  pre- 
rogative, and  they  go  against  the  rights  of  the  people. 

It  was  in  the.  first  Congress  that  assembled  in  1789,  that  the  bank 
of  the  United  States  was  established,  the  power  to  adopt  a  protective 
tariff  was  maintained,  and  the  right  was  recognized  to  authorize  in* 
temal  improvements.  And  these  several  powers  do  not  rest  on  the 
basis  of  a  single  precedent.  They  have  been  again  and  again  affirm- 
ed and  reaffirmed  by  various  Congresses,  at  difierent  and  distant  pe- 
riods, under  the  administration  of  every  dominant  party ;  and  in  re- 
gard to  the  bank,  it  has  been  sanctioned  by  every  branch  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  by  the  people.  Yet  the  same  gentlemen  who  console 
themselves  with  the  precedent  of  17S9  in  behalf  of  the  executive 
prerogative,  reject  as  unconstitutional  all  these  legislative  powonu 

No  one  can  carefully  examine  the  debate  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  1789,  without  being  struck  with  the  superiority  of  the 
argument  on  the  side  of  the  minority,  and  the  unsatisfactory  nature 
of  that  of  the  majority.  How  various  are  the  sources  whence  the 
power  is  derived  !  Scarcely  any  two  of  the  majority  agree  in  their 
deduction  of  it.  Never  have  I  seen,  from  the  pen  or  tongue  of  Mr. 
Madison,  one  of  the  majority,  any  thing  so  little  persuteive  or  con- 
vincing.  He  assumes  that  all  executive  power  is  vested  in  the  Presi- 
dent. •  He  does  not  qualify  it ;  he  does  not  limit  it  to  that  executive 
power  which  the  constitution  grants.  He  does  not  discriminate  be- 
tween executive  power  assigned  by  the  constitution,  and  executive* 
power  enacted  by  law.  He  asks,  if  the  Senate  had  not  been  associa- 
ted with  the  President  in  the  appointing  power,  whether  the  Preaident 
in  virtue  of  his  executive  power,  would  not  have  had  the  right  to 
make  all  qipomtments }  I  think  not ;  clearly  not.  It  would  have  ' 
been  a  most  sweeping  and  far-fetched  implication.  In  the  silence  of 
the  constitution,  it  would  have  devolved  upon  Congress  to  provide  by 
laiw  for  the  mode  of  appointing  to  office  ;  and  that  in  virtue  of  the 
clause,  to  which  I  have  already  adverted,  giving  to  Congress  power  ■■ 
tp  pass  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  on  the  government. 
^e  says,  *•*'  the.  danger  then  merely  consists  in  this :  the  President  can 
4isplace  from  office  a  man  whose  merits  require  that  he  should  be 
c^tinued  in  it.  What  will  be  the  motives  which  the  President  can 
ftel  for  such  an  abuseof  his  power?  What  motives !   The  pure  heart 


280  tPsscBit  or  rxsrt  clat. 

could  conceive  none ;  but  let  him  ask  General  Jackson,  and  he  wOI 
tell  him  of  motives  enough.  He  will  tell  him  that  he  wishes  hb  ad- 
ministration to  be  a  unit ;  that  he  desires  only  one  will  to  prevail  in 
the  executive  branch  of  government ;  that  he  cannot  confide  ip  men 
who  opposed  his  election ;  that  he  wants  places  to  reward  those  wha 
supported  it ;  that  the  spoils  belong  to  the  victor  ;  and  be  is  anxious 
to  create  a  great  power  in  the  State,  animated  by  one  spirit,  governed 
by  one  will,  and  ever  ready  to  second  and  sustain  his  administratioii 
in  all  its  acts  and  measures ;  and  to  give  its  undivided  forc«  to  the 
appointment  of  the  successor  whom  he  may  prefer.  And  what,  Mr. 
President,  do  you  suppose  are  the  securities  against  the  abuse  of  this 
power,  on  which  Mr.  Madison  relied  ?  ''  In  the  first  place,"  he  says, 
^  He  will  be  impeachable  by  this  House  before  the  Senate  for  such 
an  act  of  mal-admtnistration,"  &c.  Impeachment !  It  is  not  a  scare- 
crow. Impeach  the  President  for  dismissing  a  receiver  or  register  of 
the  land  office,  or  a  collector  of  the  customs !  But  who  is  to  impeach 
him  ?  The  House  of  Representatives.  Now  suppose  a  majority  of 
that  House  should  consist  of  members  who  approve  the  principle  that 
the  spoils  belong  to  the  victors ;  and  suppose  a  great  number  of  them 
are  themselves  desirous  to  obtain  some  of  these  spoils,  and  can  only 
be  gratified  by  displacing  men  from  office  whose  merits  require  that 
they  should  be  continued,  what  chance  do  you  think  there  would  be 
to  prevail  upon  such  a  House  to  impeach  the  President  ?  And  if  it 
were  possible  that  he  should,  under  such  circumstances ,  be  impeach- 
ed, what  prospect  do  you  believe  would  exist  of  his  conviction  by 
two-thirds  of  the  Senate,  comprising  also  members  not  particularly 
averse  to  lucrative  offices,  and  where  the  spoils  doctrine,  long  prac- 
tised in  New  York,  was  first  boldly  advanced  in  Congress  ? 

The  next  security  was,  that  the  President,  after  displacing  die 
meritorious  officer,  could  not  appoint  another  person  without  the  con- 
currence of  the  Senate.  If  Mr.  Madison  had  shown  how,  by  any 
action  of  the  Senate,  the  meritorious  officer  could  be  replaced, 
there  would  have  been  some  security.  But  the  President  has  dis- 
missed him ;  his  office  is  vacant ;  the  public  service  requires  it  to  be 
filled,  and  the  President  nominates  a  successor.  In  considering  this 
nomination,  the  President's  partisans  have  contended  that  the  Senate 
is  not  at  liberty  to  inquire  how  the  vacancy  was  produced,  but  islimi** 
ted  to  the  single  consideration  of  the  fitness  of  the  person  nominated 
Bat  soppose  tke  Senate  were  to  reject  himythat  wo«Jd  only  leare  tbs 


i 


cm  Amiiimntm  Ain>  kchovau.  981 

office  stQ  vacant,  aod  wodM  not  reinstate  the  removed  officer.  The 
President  would  have  nadifficuUy  in  nominating  another,  and  another, 
VBtil  Uie  patience  of  the  Senate  being  completely  exhausted,  they 
finally  confirm  the  appointment.  What  I  have  supposed  is  not  theory, 
but  BcWally  matter  of  fact.  How  o(len,  within  a  few  years  past, 
have  the  Senate  disapproved  of  removals  from  office,  which  they  have 
been  subsequeDlly  called  apon  to  concur  in  filling  ?  How  often, 
wearied  in  rejecting,  have  they  approved  of  persons  for  office  whom 
they  never  would  have  appointed  !  How  often  have  metntfera  ap- 
proved of  bad  appointments,  fearing  worse  if  they  were  rejected?  If, 
the  powers  of  the  Senate  were  ekercised  by  one  man,  he  might  op- 
pose, in  the  matt«  of  appoiatmenls,  a  more  successful  resistance  to 
executive  abuses.  He  might  take  the  ground  that,  in  cases  of  improper 
removal,  be  would  persevere  in  the  rejection  of  every  person  nomi- 
Dated,  until  the  meritorious  officer  was  reinstated.  But  the  Senate 
DOW  consists  of  forty-eight  members,  nearly  equally  divided,  one  por- 
tion of  which  is  ready  to  approve  of  all  nominations,  and  of  the  other, 
■omemembersconceivethattheyought  not  to  incur  the  responsibility 
of  hazarding  the  continued  vacancy  of  a  necessary  office,  because  the 
President  may  have  abused  his  powers.  There  is,  then,  no  security, 
not  the  slightest  practical  security,  against  abuses  of  the  power  of  re- 
moval in  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate  in  appointment  to  office. 

During  the  debate  in  ITSd,  Mr.  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  called 
fer  the  clause  of  the  constitution  granting  the  power.     He  said : 

"WesiedcrUringB  rower  inlhePrrmdentwbich  mavhcrfufterbe  gmrlTabni- 
•d;  foiwp  «re  not  alwajv  lo  expect  acfairf  mBSiEime  in  wIidiii  luch  enllrFeciiiflflCBea 
on  be  placed  oa  the  prrnent.  Perhaps  gcnClemen  are  ao  much  dsMled  wiih  Ihe 
if4<Ddor  of  the  Thtue*«rthepmenIPreMdent,  as  nol  lo  be  able  lo  see  into  Aitarin." 

•  »  •  •  "  Wc  ought  to  coniemplale  this  powei  in  Ihe  handa  of  »a 
anbitiom  man  viho  might  apply  it  lo  dangerana  parpoaes.  If  we  give  this  power 
to  the  Prendent,  he  may  from  caprice  remove  the  moat  wonby  men  rriim  offlcci 
hii  will  and  pleasure  will  be  the  allfthl  tenure  hy  which  the  ofSce  la  te  be  held,  aod 
of  conBrquence  ]>od  irnder  (he  offlcer  the  mere  ataM  dependent,  the  ablMl  ivn  a( 
■  peiKin  who  majr  be  diipgsed  to  •bae  the  confidence  hi*  rellow  ciiiiess  hav* 
placed  in  him." 

Mr.  Huntington  said: 

e  Aim  power,  whiidi  Oot 


Mr.  Geny,  afterwards  the  republican  Vice  Prendent  of  tho  TTnitcd 
Statei,  coDteaded, 


2Bd  8PSBCHK8  OF  HBMBT   CXJkT. 

"  That  we  are  making  these  officers  the  mere  creatures  of  the  President ;  thtjr 
dare  not  exercise  the  privilege  of  their  creation,  if  the  President  shall  order  them  lo 
forbear ;  because  he  holds  their  thread  of  life.  His  power  will  be  sovereign  over 
them,  and  will  soon  swallow  up  the  small  security  we  have  in  the  Senate's  concnr- 
rsnce  to  the  appointment ;  ana  we  shall  shortly  need  no  other  than  the  anthonQr 
of  the  supreme  executive  officer  to  nominate,  appoint,  continue  or  remove.** 

Was  not  that  prophecy ;  and  do  we  not  feel  and  know  that  it  is 
prophecy  fulfilled  ?  , 

There  were  other  members  who  saw  clearly  into  the  fatnre,  and 
predicted,  with  admirable  forecast,  what  would  be  the  practical  ope- 
ration of  this  power.  But  there  was  one  eminently  gifted  in  thitf 
particular.  It  seems  to  have  been  specially  reseryed  for  a  Jackson 
to  foretell  what  a  Jackson  might  do.  Speaking  of  some  future  Pres* 
ident,  Mr.  Jackson — I  believe  of  Georgia — ^that  was  his  name.  What 
a  coincidence ! 


'*  If  he  wants  to  establish  an  aibitrary  authority,  and  finds  the  secretary  of  finance 
(B(r.  Duane)  not  inclined  to  second  his  endeavors,  he  has  nothing  more  to  do  than 
to  remove  him,  and  get  one  appointed  (Mr.  Taney)  of  principles  more  congenial  to 
his  own.  Then,  says  he,  1  have  got  the  army,  let  me  have  but  the  money,  and  I 
wiU  establish  my  throne  upon  the  ruins  of  your  visionary  republic.  Black,  indeed, 
is  the  heart  of  that  man  who  even  suspects  him  CWASHiiroTOir)  to  be  capable  of 


In  the  early  stages,  and  during  a  considerable  portion  of  the  de- 
bate, the  prevailing  opinion  seemed  to  be  not  that  the  President  was 
invested  by  the  constitution  with  the  power,  but  that  it  should  be 
conferred  upon  him  by  act  of  Congress.  In  the  progress  of  it  the 
idea  was  suddenly  sfarted  that  the  President  possessed  the  power 
from  the  constitution,  and  the  first  opinion  was  abandoned.  It  was 
finally  resolved  to  shape  the  acts,  on  the  passage  of  which  the  ques- 
tion arose,  so  as  to  recognize  the  existence  <^  the  power  of  removal 
in  the  President. 

Such  is  the  solitary  precedent  on  which  the  contemners  of  all  pre- 
cedents rely  for  sustaining  this  tremendous  power  in  one  man !  A 
precedent  established  against  the  weight  of  argument,  by  a  House  of 
Representatives  greatly  divided,  in  a  Senate  equally  divided,  under 
the  influence  of  a  reverential  attachment  to  the  father  of  his  countiy, 
upon  the  condition  that,  if  the  power  were  applied  as  we  know  it  has 
been  in  hundreds  of  instances  recently  applied,  the  President  himself 
would  be  justly  liable  to  impeachment  and  removal  firom  ofiice^  and 


ON  APpAiimaafTs  akd  rimotals.  S88 

which,  until  this  administration,  has  never,  since  its  adoption,  been 
thoroughly  examined  or  considered.  A  power,  the  abuses  of  which, 
as  developed  under  this  administration,  if  they  be  not  checked  and 
corrected,  must  inevitably  tend  to  subvert  the  constitution,  and  over- 
throw public  liberty.  A  standing  army  has  been  in  all  free  countries, 
a  just  object  of  jealousy  and  suspicion.  But  is  not  a  corps  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dependents  upon  government,  actuated  by  one  spirit, 
obeying  one  will,  and  aiming  at  one  end,  more  dangerous  and  formid- 
able than  a  standing  army  ?  The  standing  army  is  separated  from 
the  mass  of  society,  stationed  in  barracks  or  military  quarters,  and 
operates  by  physical  force.  The  official  corps  is  distributed  and  ram- 
ified throughout  the  whole  country,  dwelling  in  every  city,  village, 
and  hamlet,  having  daily  intercourse  with  society,  and  operates  on 
public  opinion.  A  brave  people,  not  yet  degenerated,  and  devoted  to 
l^rty,  may  successfully  defend  themselves  against  a  military  force. 
Bqt  if  the  official  corps  is  aided  by  the  executive,  by  the  post-office 
department,  and  by  a  large  portion  of  the  public  press,  its  power  is 
invincible.  That  the  operation  of  the  principle  which  subjects  to 
the  will  of  one  man  the  tenure  of  all  offices,  which  he  may  vacate  at 
pleasure,  without  assigm'ng  any  cause,  must  be  to  render  them  sub- 
servient to  his  purposes,  a  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  the  short 
experience  which  we  have  had,  clearly  demonstrate 

It  may  be  asked  why  has  this  precedent  of  1789  not  been  reviewed  ? 
Does  not  the  long  acquiescence  in  it  prove  its  propriety  ?  It  has  not 
been  re-examined  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  all  feel  and 
own  the  necessity  of  some  more  summary  and  less  expensive  and  less 
dilatory  mode  of  dismissing  ddinquents  firom  subordinate  offices  than 
that  of  impeachment,  which,  strictly  speaking,  was  perhaps  the  only 
one  in  the  contemplation  of  the  firamers  of  the  constitution  ;  certainly 
it  is  the  only  one  for  which  it  expressly  provides.  Then,  under  all 
the  predecessors  of  the  President,  the  power  was  mildly  and  benefi- 
cially exercised,  having  been  always,  or  with  very  few  exceptions, 
applied  to  actual  delinquents.  Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been 
said  about  the  number  of  removals  which  were  made  during  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson's administration,  they  were,  in  &ct,  comparatively  few.  And 
yet  he  came  into  power  as  the  head  of  a  great  party,  which  for  years 
had  been  systematically  excluded  from  the  executive  patronage ;  a 
plea  which  cannot  be  urged  in  excuse  for  the  present  chief  magistrate 
It  was  reserved  for  him  to  act  on  the  bold  and  daring  principle  of 


1184  tPUCHIS  OP  BENRT   d^AT. 

f 

dismissing  from  office  those  who  had  opposed  his  election ;  of  db-> 
missing  from  office  for  mere  difference  of  opinion ! 

But  it  will  he  argued  that  if  the  summary  process  of  dismission  hk 
expedient  in  some  cases,. why  take  it  away  altogether?  The  hill 
under  consideration  does  not  disturb  the  power.  By  the  usage  of 
the  government,  not  1  think  by  the  constitution,  the  President  prac-' 
tically  possesses  the  power  to  dismiss  those  who  are  unworthy  of 
holding  these  offices.  By  no  practice  or  usage,  but  that  which  he 
himself  has  created,  has  he  the  power  to  dismiss  meritorious  officers 
only  because  they  diflfer  from  him  in  politics.  The  principal  object 
of  the  bill  is  to  require  the  President,  in  cases  of  dismission,  to  com- 
municate the  reasons  which  have  induced  him  to  dismiss  the  officer  y 
in  other  words,  to  make  an  arbitrary  and  despotic  power  a  responsi- 
ble power.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that,  if  the  President 'is  boui^ 
publicly  to  state  his  reasons,  that  he  would  act  from  passion  or  ^a* 
price,  or  without  any  reason.  He  would  be  ashamed  to  ayow  that  he 
discharged  the  officer  because  he  opposed  his  election.  And  yet  thif 
milQ  regulation  of  the  power  is  opposed  by  the  friends  of  the  ndmin<« 
istration  !  They  think  it  unreasonable  that  the  President  should  state 
his  reasons.     If  he  has  none,  perhaps  it  is. 

But,  Mr.  President,  although  the  bill  is,  I  think,  right  in  principle, 
it  does  not  seem  to  me  to  go  far  enough.  It  makes  no  provision  for 
the  insufficiency  of  the  reasons  of  thg  President,  by  restoring  or  dol- 
ing justice  to  the  injured  officer.  It  will  be  some,  but  not  sufficient 
restraint  against  abuses.  I  have,  therefore,  prepared  an  amendment, 
which  I  beg  leave  to  offer,  but  which  I  will  not  press  against  the  de^ 
cided  wishes  of  those  having  the  immediate  care  of  the  bill.  By 
this  amendment,*  as  to  all  offices  created  by  law,  with  certain  ex- 

*  The  amendment  was  in  the  following  words: 

Be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  all  instances  of  appointment  to  office,  by  the  Pre»- 
dent,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  the  power  of  removal  shall 
be  eiercised  only  in  concurrence  with  the  Senate  ;  and  when  the  Senate  is  not  iB 
■easion,  the  President  may  suspend  any  such  officer,  communicating  his  reasons  for 
the  suspension  during  the  first  month  of  its  succeeding  session,  and  if  the  Seoate 
concur  with  him  the  officer  shall  be  removed,  but  if  it  do  not  concur  with  him,  tbi 
officer  shall  be  restored  to  office. 

Mr.  CuLY  was  subsequently  induced  aot  to  nige  his  amendment  at  this  timis 


OK  ilFPOIMTMSIITt   AND  RIMOYALt.  385 

ofeptionsy  the  power  at  pilresent  exercised  is  made  a  suspensory  power. 
The  President  may,  in  the  vacation  of  the  Senate,  suspend  the  offi- 
cer, and  appoint  a  temporary  successor.  At  the  next  session  of  the 
Senate  he  is  to  communicate  hb  reasons :  and  if  they  are  deemed 
sufficient,  the  suspension  is  confirmed,  and  the  Senate  will  pass  upon 
the  new  officer.  If  insufficient,  the  displaced  officer  is  to  be  restored. 
This  amendment  is  substantially  the  same  proposition  as  one  which 
I  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  Senate  at  its  last  session.— 
Under  this  suspensory  power,  the  President  will  be  able  to  discharge 
all  defaulters  or  delinquents  ;  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Sen« 
ate  will  concur  in  all  such  dismissions.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will 
insure  the  integrity  and  independence  of  the  officer,  since  he  will  feel 
that  if  he  honestly  and  faithfully  discharges  his  official  duties,  he  can* 
not  be  displaced  arbitrarily,  or  from  mere  caprice,  or  because  he  has 
independently  exercised  the  elective  franchise. 

It  is  contended  that  the  President  cannot  see  that  the  laws  are 
fiuthfully  executed,  unless  he  possesses  the  power  of  removal.  That 
injunction  of  the  constitution  imports  a  mere  general  superintendence, 
except  where  he  is  specially  charged  with  the  execution  of  a  law. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  he  should  have  the  power  of  dismission.  It 
will  be  a  sufficient  security  against  the  abuses  of  subordinate  officers 
that  the  eye  of  the  President  is  upon  them,  and  that  he  can  commu- 
nicate their  delinquency.  The  State  Executives  do  not  possess  this 
power  of  dismission.  In  several,  if  not  all,  the  States,  the  Governor 
cannot  even  dismiss  the  Secretary  of  State ;  yet  we  have  heard  no 
complaints  of  the  inefficiency  of  State  Executives,  or  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  laws  of  the  States.  The  President  has  no  power  to  dis-* 
miss  the  judiciary ;  and  it  might  be  asked,  with  equal  plausibility, 
how  he  could  see  that  the  laws  are  executed,  if  the  judges  will  not 
conform  to  his  opinion,  and  he  cannot  dismiss  them  ? 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  argue  the  general  question,  in  considering 
either  the  original  bill  or  the  amendment.  The  former  does  not  touch 
the  power  of  dismission,  and  the  latter  only  makes  it  conditional  in* 
stead  of  being  absolute. 

It  may  be  said  that  there  are  certain  great  officers,  heads  of  depart- 
ments and  foreign  ministers,  between  whom  and  the  president  entire 
confidence  should  existi    This  is  admitted.    But  surely  if  the  Pren-* 


• 


i 


986  tPxtCHBi  OT  HnrmT  clat. 

dent  removes  any  of  them,  the  people  ought  to  know  the  cause.  The 
amendment,  however,  does  not  reach  those  classes  of  officers.  And 
supposing,  as  I  do,  that  the  legislative  authority  is  competent  to  regu- 
late the  exercise  of  the  power  of  dismission,  there  can  he  no  just  caose 
to  apprehend  that  it  will  fail  to  make  such  modifications  and  ezce|>- 
tions  as  may  be  called  for  by  the  public  interest";  especially  as  what- 
ever bill  may  be  passed  must  obtain  the  approbation  of  the  chief 
magistrate.  And  if  it  should  attempt  to  impose  improper  restrictioiis 
upon  the  executive  authority,  that  would  furnish  a  legitimate  occa- 
sion for  the  exerdse  of  the  veto.  In  conclusion,  I  shall  most  heartilj 
vote  for  the  bill,  with  or  without  the  amendment  which  I  have  pro- 
poaed. 


ON  THE  LAND  DISTRIBUTION. 


Iir   THE  SsNicTE  OF  THE  UnITED  StATES,  DECEMBER  24,    1835. 


[Former  attempts  to  procure  a  Distribution  to  the  several  States  of  the  Proceeds 
of  the  Public  Lands  having  been  baffled  by  Executive  inlluence  and  the  ExeeotiTS 
Veto,  Mr.  Clat,  on  the  day  above  indicated,  introduced  the  plan  anew,  advocatinf 
it  as  follows :] 

Although  I  find  myself  borne  down  by  the  severest  affliction  with 
which  Providence  has  ever  been  pleased  to  visit  me,  I  have  thought 
that  ray  private  griefs  ought  not  longer  to  prevent  me  from  attempt* 
ing,  ill  as  I  feel  qualified,  to  discharge  my  public  duties.  And  I  now 
rise,  in  pursuance  of  the  notice  which  has  been  given,  to  ask  leave  to 
introduce  a  bill  to  appropriate,  for  a  limited  time,  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States,  and  for  granting  land 
to  certain  States. 

I  feel  it  incumbent  on  me  to  make  a  brief  explanation  of  the  highly 
important  measxure  which  I  have  now  the  honor  to  propose.  The 
bill,  which  I  desire  to  introduce,  provides  for  the  distribution  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  public  lands  in  the  years  1833,  '34,  '35,  '36  and  '37, 
among  the  twenty-four  States  of  the  Union,  and  conforms  substan* 
tiaUy  to  that  which  passed  in  1833.  It  is  therefore  of  a  temporary 
character ;  but  if  it  shall  be  found  to  have  a  salutary  operation,  it  will 
be  in  the  power  of  a  future  Congress  to  give  it  an  indefinite  continu- 
ance, and,  if  otherwise,  it  will  expire  by  its  own  terms.  In  the  event 
of  war  unfortunately  breaking  out  with  any  foreign  power,  the  bill  is 
to  cease,  and  the  fund  which  it  distributes  is  to  be  applied  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  The  bill  directs  that  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
nett  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  sold  within  the  limits  of  the  seven 
new  States,  shall  be  set  apart  for  them,  in  addition  to  the  five  per 
cent,  reserved  by  their  several  compacts  with  the  United  States  ;  and 
that  theresidue  of  the  proceeds,  whether  firom  sales  made  in  the  States 
or  Territories,  shall  be  divided  among  the  twefity-four  States  in  pro- 


888  fPKXCHBS  OF  HBHRt    CULT. 

portion  to  their  respectiye  federal  population.  In  this  respect  the  hill 
conforms  to  that  which  was  introduced  in  1832.  For  one  I  should 
haveheen  willing  to  have  allowed  the  new  States  twelve  and  a  half 
per  cent,  hut  as  that  was  objected  to  bj  the  President,  in  his  yeto 
message,  and  has  been  opposed  in  other  quarters,  I  thought  it  best  to 
restrict  the  allowance  to  the  more  moderate  sum.  The  bill  also  con- 
tains large  and  liberal  grants  of  land  to  several  of  the  new  States^  to 
place  them  upon  an  equality  with  others  to  which  the  bounty  of  Con- 
gress has  been  heretofore  extended,  and  provides  that,  when  other 
States  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union,  they  shall  receive  their  share 
of  the  common  fund. 

The  nett  amount  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  in  the  year  1833, 
was  the  sum  of  $3,967,682  55,  in  the  year  1834,  was  $4,857,600  69, 
and  in  the  year  1835,  according  to  actual  receipts  in  the  three  first 
quarters  and  an  estimate  of  the  fourth,  is  $12,222,121  15  ;  making 
an  aggregate  for  the  three  years  of  $21,047,404  39.  This  aggregate 
is  what  the  bill  proposes  to  distribute  and  pay  to  the  twenty-fbuf 
States  on  the  first  dky  of  may,  1836,  upon  the  principles  which  I 
have  stated.  The  difierence  between  the  estimate  made  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  and  that  which  I  have  offered  of  the  product 
of  the  last  quarter  of  this  year,  arises  from  my  having  taken,  as  the 
probable  sum,  one-third  of  the  total  amount  of  the  three  first  quarters, 
and  he  some  other  conjectural  sum.  Deducting  from  the  $21,047,- 
404  39  the  fifteen  per  cent,  to  which  the  seven  new  States,  accord- 
ing to  the  bill,  will  be  first  entitled,  amounting  to  $2,612,350  18, 
there  will  remain  for  distribution  among  the  twenty-four  States  of  the 
Union  the  sum  of  $18,435,054  21.  Of  this  sum  the  proportion  of 
Kentucky  will  be  $960,947  41  ;  of  Virginia,  the  sum  of  $1,581,- 
669  39 ;  of  North  Carolina,  $988,632  42 ;  and  of  Pennsylvania, 
$2,083,233  32.  The  proportion  of  Indiana,  including  the  fifteen  per 
cent,  will  be  $855,588  23 ;  of  Ohio,  $1,677,110  84,  and  of  Missis- 
sippi, $958,945  42.  And  the  proportions  of  all  the  twenty-four 
States  are  indicated  in  a  table  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  prepared  at 
my  instance  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate,  and  to  which 
any  Senator  may  have  access.*    The  grounds  on  which  the  extra 

*  The  following  is  the  table  referred  to  by  Mr.  Clat  : 

Statement  showing  the  dividend  of  each  State  (according  to  the  federal  popnla- 
lion)  of  the  proceeds  of  the  Pablic  Lands,  daring  the  yean  I88S-4  tmd  *86,  after  dc 


ON  TBB  LAITD    DItTBIBimOir. 


allowance  is  made  to  the  new  States  are,  first,  their  complaint  that 
all  lands  sold  by  the  federal  government  are  five  years  exempted  from 
taxation ;  secondly,  that  it  is  to  be  applied  in  such  manner  as  will 
augment  the  value  of  the  unsold  public  lands  within  them ;  and,  lastty, 
their  recent  settlement. 


It  may  be  recollected  that  a  bill  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress, 
in  the  session  which  terminated  on  the  3d  of  March,  1833,  for  the 
distribution  of  the  amount  received  from  the  public  lands,  upon  the 
principles  of  that  now  offered.  The  Piesident,  in  his  message  at  tho 
commencement  of  the  previous  session,  had  specially  invited  the  at« 
tention  of  Congress  to  the  subject  of  the  public  lands ;  had  adverted 
to  their  liberation  from  the  pledge  for  the  payment  of  the  public  debt ; 
and  had  intimated  his  readiness  to  concur  in  any  disposal  of  them 
which  might  appear  to  Congress  most  conducive  to  the  quiet,  har- 
mony, and  general  interest  of  the  American  people. 

After  such  a  message,  the  President's  disapprobatioQ  of  the  biQ 
could  not  have  been  anticipated.  It  was  presented  to  him  on  the  2d 
of  March,  1833.  It  was  not  returned,  as  the  constitution  requires, 
but  was  retained  by  him  after  the  expiration  of  his  official  term,  and 

duetinf  from  the  amount  16  per  cent,  (treviously  allowed  to  the  sertB  New  Statea. 
[Fraotiona  of  dollars  are  omxnitted  in  the  following  suma.] 

auiia.  lalio*.  8uu«.  uNtw8tat«a.  BoOa^ 

BCaine 389,437  $617,20^ 

New  Hampshire, 209,329                 416,Sf)2 

Mnssachusetts, 710,408                  943,293 

Rhode  Wand. 97,194                  180,19» 

Connecticut, 297.665                 459,906 

Vermont,. 280,657                 433,713 

New  York, 1,918,553  2,964,834 

NewJenex, 819,922                 494,891 

Pennsylvania, 1,348,072  2,083,238 

Delaware, 75,482                 116,668 

Maryland, 405,843                 087,169 

riiginia, 1,023,50$  l,ftSl,'^ 

North  Carolina, 639,747                988,632 

South  Carol'ma, 465,025                 701,496 

Georgia 429^11                 «4,208 

Kentucky 621,832                960,^17 

TenaeaBee, 625,288                 968,218 

Ohio 935)S4  1,446,266             280,844              1,877,118 

Louisiana, 171,694                 286,8«y               67,681                 882388 

Indiana,... 843,031  680,102             825,485                 856,688 

lUinoU, 167,147                 242,846              483,760                 728,808 

Mi»oun, 180,418                201,8ta              n4,a»4                OT,* 

Misiviippi, 110,358  170,541              788,408                 968,Mi 

Alaltem^.. mfl»  4»m            M,8I8                9ir.M« 


900  tPllCHIf  OP  HBNRT  CLAY. 

iintii  the  next  setiion  of  Coi^ress,  -which  had  no  power  to  aet  upon 
'it.  It  was  understood  and  believed  that,  in  anticipation  of  the  pas* 
•age  of  the  bill,  the  President  had  prepared  objections  to  it,  which  he 
had  intended  to  return  with  his  negative  ;  but  he  did  jiot.  If  the  hill 
had  been  returned,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  would  have  been 
passed,  notwithstanding  those  objections.  In  the  House,  it  had  been 
carried  by  a  majority  of  more  than  two-thirds.  And,  in  the  Senate, 
although  there  was  not  the  majority  on  its  passage,  it  was  supposed 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  passage  of  the  compromise  bill,  some  of  the 
Senators  who  had  voted  against  the  land  bill  had  changed  their  views, 
and  would  have  voted  for  it  upon  its  return,  and  others  had  left  the 
Senate. 

There  are  those  who  believe  the  bill  was  unconstitutionally  re- 
tained by  the  President  and  is  now  the  law  of  the  land.  But  whether 
it  be  so  or  not,  the  general  government  holds  the  public  domain  in 
trust  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  States ;  and  it  is,  therefore, 
competent  to  provide  by  law  that  the  trustees  shall  make  distribution 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  three  past  years,  as  well  as  future  years,  among 
those  entitled  to  the  beneficial  interest.  The  bill  makes  such  a  pro- 
vision. And  it  is  very  remaricable,  that  the  sum  which  it  proposes  to 
distribute  is  about  the  gross  surplus,  or  balance,  estimated  in  the 
treasury  on  the  Ist  of  January,  1836.  When  the  returns  of  the  last 
quarter  of  the  year  come  in,  it  will  probably  be  found  that  the  sur- 
plus is  larger  than  the  sum  which  the  bill  distributes.  But  if  it  should 
not  be,  there  will  remain  the  seven  millions  held  in  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  applicable,  as  far  as  it  may  be  received,  to  the  service 
of  the  ensuing  year. 

It  would  be  premature  now  to  enter  into  a  consideration  of  the 
probable  revenue  of  future  years  ;  but,  at  the  proper  time,  I  think  it 
will  not  be  difficult  to  show  that,  exclusive  of  what  may  be  received 
from  the  public  lands ^  it  will  be  abundantly  sufficient  for  all  the  eco- 
nomical purposes  of  government,  in  a  lime  of  peace.  And  the  bill, 
as  I  have  already  stated,  provides  for  seasons  of  war.  I  wish  to  guard 
against  all  misconception  by  repeating,  what  I  have  heretofore  several 
times  said,  that  this  bill  is  not  founded  upon  any  notion  of  a  power  in 
Congress  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  and  distribute  the  amount  ainoi^ 
the  several  States.  I  think  Congreas  possesses  no  such  power,  and 
haeno right  to  exercise  it,  until  some  such  amendment  as  that  piO'*. 


oil  THK    LAllfi    MSTRIBUTimr.  Ml 

pofed  by  the  Senator  from  Soath  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun)  shall  b^ 
adopted.  But  the  bill  rests  on  the  basis  of  a  clear  and  comprehensive 
grant  of  power  to  Congress  over  the  territories  and  property  of  the 
United  Stat^  in  the  constitution,  and  upon  express  stipulations  i% 
the  deeds  of  cession. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  ever  regarded,  with  feelings  of  the  profound- 
ett  regret,  the  decision  which  the  President  of  the  United  States  felt 
himself  induced  to  make  on  the  bill  of  1833.  If  it  had  been  his  pleas* 
ure  to  approve  it,  the  heads  of  departments  would  not  now  be  taxing 
their  ingenuity  to  find  out  useless  objects  of  expenditure,  or  objects 
which  may  well  be  postponed  to  a  more  distant  day.  If  the  bill  had 
passed,  about  twenty  millions  of  dollars  would  have  been,  during  the 
last  three  years,  in  the  hands  of  the  several  States,  applicable  by  them 
to  the  beneficent  purposes  of  internal  improvement,  education,  or 
colonization.  What  inunense  benefits  might  not  have  been  diffused 
throughout  the  land  by  the  active  employment  of  that  large  sum  ? 
What  new  channels  of  commerce  and  communication  might  not  have 
been  opened?  What  industry  stimulated,  what  labor  rewarded? 
Hcyv  many  youthful  minds  might  have  received  the  blessings  of  edu* 
cation  and  knowledge,  and  been  rescued  from  ignorance,  vice,  and 
ruin  ?  How  many  descendants  of  Afi'ica  might  have  been  transported 
from  a  country  where  they  can  never  enjoy  political  or  social  equality, 
to  the  native  land  of  their  fathers,  where  no  impediment  exists  to  their 
attainment  of  the  highest  degree  of  elevation,  intellectual,  social,  and 
political  ?  Where  they  might  have  been  successful  instruments  in 
the  hands  of  Grod,  to  spread  the  religion  of  the  Lord,  and  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  civil  liberty  I 

And,  sir,  when  we  institute  a  comparison  between  what  might  have 
been  effected,  and  what  has  been  in  fact  done,  with  that  large  amount 
of  national  treasure,  our  sensations  of  regret,  on  account  of  the  failure 
of  the  bill  of  1833,  are  still  keener.  Instead  of  its  being  dedicated  to 
the  beneficent  uses  of  the  whole  people,  and  our  entire  country,  it  has 
been  an  object  of  scrambling  among  local  corporations,  and  locked  up 
in  the  vaulis,  or  loaned  out  by  the  directors  of  a  few  of  them,  who 
are  not  under  the  slightest  responsibility  to  the  government  or  people 
of  the  United  States.  Instead  of  libend,  enlightened,  and  national 
purposes,  it  has  been  partially  applied  to  local,  limited,  and  selfish 
vsea.    Applied  to  increase  the  semiHumual  dividends  of  fietvorite  stock- 


son  tPnCHES  OF  RXSratT  CLAT. 

holders  in  favorite  banks  !  Twenty  millions  of  tlie  national  treasure 
are  scattered  in  parcels  among  petty  corporations ;  and  while  they 
are  growling  over  the  fragments  and  greedy  for  more,  the  secretaries 
are  brooding  on  schemes  for  squandering  the  whole. 

But  although  we  have  lost  three  precious  years,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  tells  us  that  the  principal  is  yet  safe,  and  much  good 
may  be  still  achieved  with  it.  The  general  government,  by  an  ex- 
traordinary exercise  of  executive  power,  no  longer  affords  aid  to  any 
new  works  of  internal  improvement.  Although  it  sprung  from  the 
Union,  and  cannot  survive  the  Union,  it  no  longer  engages  in  any 
public  improvement  to  perpetuate  the  existence  of  the  Union.  It  k 
but  justice  to  it  to  acknowledge  that,  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
public  spirited  State  of  Maryland,  it  effected  one  national  road  having 
that  tendency.  But  the  spirit  of  improvement  pervades  the  land,  in 
every  variety  of  form,  active,  vigorous,  and  enterprising,  wanting 
pecuniary  aid  as  well  as  intelligent  direction.  The  States  have  un- 
dertaken what  the  general  government  is  prevented  from  accomplish* 
ing.  They  are  strengthening  the  Union  by  various  lines  of  commu- 
nication thrown  across  and  through  the  mountains.  New  York  has 
completed  one  great  chain:  Pennsylvania  another,  bolder  in  concep* 
tion  and  far  more  arduous  in  the  execution.  Virginia  has  a  similar 
work  in  progress,  worthy  of  all  her  enterprise  and  energy.  A  fourth 
fiurther  south,  where  the  parts  of  the  Union  are  too  loosely  connected, 
has  been  projected,  and  it  can  certainly  be  executed  with  the  sup- 
plies which  this  bill  affords,  and  perhaps  not  without  them. 

This  bill  passed,  and  these  and  other  similar  undertakings  comple* 
ted,  we  may  indulge  the  patriotic  hope  that  our  Union  will  be  bound 
by  ties  and  interests  that  render  it  indissoluble.  As  the  general  gov- 
ernment withholds  all  direct  agency  from  these  truly  national  works, 
and  from  all  new  objects  of  internal  improvement,  ought  it  not  to 
yield  to  the  States,  what  is  their  own,  the  amount  received  from  the 
public  lands  ?  It  would  thus  but  execute  faithfully  a  trust  expressly 
created  by  the  original  deeds  of  cession,  or  resulting  from  the  treaties 
of  acquisition.  With  this  ample  resource,  every  desirable  object  of 
improvement,  in  every  part  of  our  extensive  country,  may,  in  dde 
time,  be  accomplished.  Placing  this  exliaustlcss  fund  in  the  hands 
of  the  several  members  of  the  confederacy,  their  common  federal 


Oft   TBC  LAV]>    DTBTRfBcrnOll.  S93 


fiead  roay  address  them  id  the  glowing  language  of  the  British  hard, 
and 

'*  Bid  harbon  opt*n,  (ipbiic  waya  extt^ni!, 
Hid  t"inj)le.««  worthier  ol"  the  God  H>Cf  od. 
Hid  the  broad  arch  the  dangerou^i  flood  <;ontain. 
The  mole  projecting,  brcdk  ihe  roaring  iiium. 
Lack  CO  his  bounds,  that  dubjeci  coiimunU, 
Aud  roll  ubedieDt  riven  through  the  laud.*' 

The  aflkirs  of  the  public  lands  was  forced  upon  me.  In  thesessioii 
of  1831-2,  a  motion  from  a  quarter  principally  unfriendly  to  me,  was' 
made  to  refer  it  to  the  committee  on  manufactures,  of  which  I  was  a 
member.  I  strt*nuously  opposed  the  reference.  I  remonstrated, -I- 
protested,  1  entreated,  1  implored.  It  was  in  vain  that  1  insisted  thiP 
the  committee  on  the  public  lands  was  the  regular  standing  commit- 
tee to  which  such  reference  should  be  made.  It  was  in  vain  that  I 
contended  that  the  public  lands  and  domestic  manufactures  were  sub- 
jects absolutely  incongruous.  The  unnatural  alliance  was  ordered 
by  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  Senate.  I  felt  that  a  ])ersonal  embar- 
nissment  was  intended  me.  I  felt  that  the  design  was  to  place  in  my 
hands  a  many  edged  instrument,  which  I  could  not  touch  without 
being  wounded.  Nevertheless  I  subdued  all  my  repugnance,  and  I 
engaged  assidulously  in  the  task  which  had  been  so  unkindly  assigned 
me.  This,  or  a  similar  bill,  was  the  offspring  of  my  deliberations. 
When  reported,  the  report  accompanying  it  was  referred  by  the  same 
majority  of  the  Senate  to  the  very  committtee  on  the  public  land,  to 
which  I  had  unsuccessfully  sought  to  have  the  subject  originally  as- 
signed, for  the  avowed  purpose  of  obtaining  a  counteracting  report. 
But  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  it  passed  the  Senate  at  that  session.  At 
the  next,  both  Houses  of  Congress. 

I  confess  I  feel  anxious  for  the  fate  of  this  measure,  less  on  account 
of  any  agency  I  have  had  in  proposing  it,  as  I  hope  and  believe,  than 
from  a  firm,  sincere,  and  thorough  conviction,  that  no  one  measure 
ever  presented  to  the  councils  of  the  nation  was  fraught  with  so  much 
unmixed  good,  and  could  exert  such  powerful  and  enduring  influence 
in  the  preservation  of  the  Union  itself,  and  upon  some  of  its  highest 
interests.  If  I  can  be  instrumental,  in  any  degree,  in  the  adoption  of 
it,  1  shall  enjoy,  in  that  retirement  into  which  I  hope  shortly  to  enter, 
a  heart-feeling  satisfaction  and  a  lasting  consolation.  1  shall  cany 
there  no  regrets,  no  complaints,  no  reproaches  on  my  own  account 

•T 


294  •PUGBBB  QW  HBITBT   CLAT. 

When  I  lo6k  back  upon  my  humble  origin,  left  an  orphan  too  yomag 
to  have  been  conscious  of  a  father's  smiles  and  caresses,  with  a  wid- 
owed mother,  surrounded  by  a  numerous  offspring,  in  the  midst  of 
pecuniary  embarrassments,  without  a  regular  education,  without  for- 
tune, without  friends,  without  patrons,  I  have  reason  to  be  satisfied 
with  my  public  career.  I  ought  to  be  thankful  for  the  high  places 
and  honors  to  which  I  have  been  called  by  the  favor  and  partiality 
of  my  countrymen,  and  I  am  thankful  and  grateful.  And  I  shall  take 
with  me  the  pleasing  consciousness  that,  in  whatever  station  I  have 
been  placed,  I  have  earnestly  and  honestly  labored  to  justify  their 
confidence  by  a  faithful,  fearless,  and  zealous  discharge  of  my  publie 
duties.  Pardon  these  personal  allusions .  I  make  the  motion  of  whicb 
mitice  has  been  given. 


ON  THE  EXPUNGING  RESOLUTION. 


In  THS  Skic ATX  OF  THK  Unitbd  States,  Januart  16,  1837. 


[The  Senate  of  fhr  United  States,  having,  in  18W,  resolved,  by  a  decisive  rote, 
that  the  President  (Juckson,)  in  his  proceedings  in  eonnexion  with  the  Removal  of 
the  Depositos,  had  auaraed  and  exercised  power  cot  granted  by  the  Constitatioft 
or  the  law?,  but  inconsitnent  with  them— Mr.  Bcntoh  immediately  gave  notice  that 
he  should  move  to  trjtungt  the  same  from  the  journal  of  the  Senate.  He  made  hif 
motion  accordingly,  but  it  did  not  prevail  nntii  thr  session  of  1886^7,  when  a  strong 
Jackson  majority  having  been  aecared,  it  was  nreaed  to  a  successful  issue.  On  this 
oceasiob,  Mr.  Clay  spoke  as  follows :] 

CoNszDF.RiNo  that  I  was  the  mover  of  the  resolution  of  March, 
1834,  and  the  consequent  relation  in  which  I  stood  to  the  majoritj 
of  the  Senate  by  whose  vote  it  was  adopted,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty 
to  say  something  on  this  expunging  resolution,  and  I  always  have 
intended  to  do  so  when  I  should  bo  persuaded  that  there  existed  a 
settled  purpose  of  pressing  it  to  a  final  decision.  But  it  A^-as  so  taken 
up  and  put  down  at  the  last  session — taken  up  one  day,  when  a 
speech  was  prepared  for  delivery,  and  put  down  when  it  was  pronoun- 
ced, that  I  really  doubted  whether  there  existted  any  serious  inten- 
tion of  ever  putting  it  to  the  vote.  At  the  very  close  of  the  last  ses- 
sion, it  will  be  recollected  that  the  resolution  came  up, and  in  several 
quarters  of  the  Senate  a  disposition  was  maniCpsted  to  come  to  a  defi- 
nitive decision.  On  that  occasion,  I  offered  to  waive  my  right  to 
address  the  Senate,  and  silently  to  vote  upon  the  resolution  ;  but  it 
was  again  laid  upon  the  table,  and  laid  there  forever,  as  the  country 
supposed, and  as  I  believed.  It  is  however  now  revived  ;  and  sundry 
changes  having  taken  place  In  the  members  of  this  body,  it  would 
seem  that  the  present  design  is  to  bring  the  resolution  to  an  absolute 
conclusion. 

I  have  not  risen  to  repeat  at  full  length  the  argument  by 
wbich  the  firiends  of  the  reeolation  of  March,  1834,  sustained  it. 
That  argument  is  befiyre  tbe  world — ^was  unanswered  at  the  time* 


296  SPEECHES   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

and  is  unanswerable.  And  I  liere,  in  my  place,  in  the  presence  of 
my  country  and  my  God,  ai^er  the  fullest  consideration  and  delibera- 
tion of  which  my  mind  is  capable,  reassert  my  solemn  conviction  of 
the  truth  of  every  proposition  contained  in  that  resolution.  But 
it  is  not  my  intention  to  commit  such  an  infliction  upon  the  Senate  as 
that  would  be,  of  retracing  the  whole  ground  of  argument  formerly 
occupied,  1  desire  to  lay  before  it  at  this  time,  a  brief  and  true  state 
of  the  case.  Before  the  fatal  step  is  taken  of  giving  to  the  expunging 
resolution  the  sanction  of  the  American  Senate,  I  wish,  by  presenting 
a  faithful  outline  of  the  real  questions  involved  in  the  resolution  of 
1834,  to  make  a  last,  even  if  it  is  to  be  an  inefifectual  appeal  to  the 
sober  judgments  of  senators.  I  b^in  by  reasserting  the  truth  of  thai 
resolution. 

Our  British  ancestors  understood  perfectly  well  the  immense  im- 
portance of  the  money  power  in  a  representative  government.  It  is 
the  great  lever  by  which  the  crown  is  touched,  and  made  to  conform 
its  administration  to  the  interests  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  will  of  the 
people.  Deprive  parliament  of  the  power  of  freely  granting  of  with- 
holding supplies,  and  surrender  to  the  king  the  purse  of  the  nation, 
h  *  instantly  becomes  an  absolute  monarch.  Whatever  may  be  the 
form  of  government,  elective  or  hereditary,  denK>cratic  or  despotiC| 
that  person  who  commands  the  force  of  the  nation,  and  at  the  same 
time  has  uncontrolled  possession  of  the  purse  of  the  nation,  has  abso- 
lute power,  whatever  may  be  the  official  name  by  which  he  is  * 
called. 

Our  immediate  ancestors,  profiting  by  the  lessons  on  civil  liberty, 
which  had  been  taught  in  the  country  from  which  we  sprung,  endea- 
Tored  to  encircle  around  the  public  purse,  in  the  hands  of  Congress, 
every  possible  security  against  the  intrusion  of  the  executive.  With 
this  view.  Congress  alone  is  invested  by  the  Constitution  with  the 
power  to  lay  and  colUct  the  taxes.  When  collected,  not  a  cent  is  to 
be  drawn  from  the  public  treasury,  but  in  virtue  of  an  act  of  Congress. 
And  among  the  first  acts  of  this  government,  was  the  passage  of  a 
law  establishing  the  treasury  department,  for  the  safe  keeping  and 
the  legal  and  regular  disbursement  of  the  money  so  collected  ■  By 
that  act  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  placed  at  the  head  of  the  de- 
partment ;  and  varying  in  respect  from  all  the  other  departments,  he 
is  to  report,  not  to  the  President,  but  directly  to  Congress,  and  is  lia- 


oil   THK  EZPUNOrirO  RI80LUTI0N.  297 

ble  to  be  called  to  give  informatioB  in  person  before  Congress.  It  is 
impossible  to  examine  dispassionately  that  act,  without  coming  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  is  emphatically  the  agent  of  Congress  in  perform- 
ing the  duties  assigned  by  the  constitution  of  Congress.  The  act  fur- 
ther provides  that  a  treasurer  shall  be  appointed  to  receive  and  keep 
the  public  money,  and  none  can  be  drawn  from  his  custody  but  under 
the  authority  of  a  law,  and  in  virtue  of  a  warrant  drawn  by  the  sec- 
retary of  the  trecaury,  countersigned  by  the  comptroller,  and  recorded 
by  the  register.  Only  when  such  a  warrant  is  presented  can  the 
treasurer  lawfully  pay  one  dollar  from  the  public  purse.  Why  wai 
the  concurrence  of  these  four  officers  required  in  disbursements  of  the 
public  money  ?  Was  it  not  for  greater  security  ?  Was  it  not  intended 
that  each,  exercisiag  a  separate  and  independent  will,  should  be  a 
check  upon  every  other  ?  Was  it  not  the  purpose  of  the  law  to  con- 
sider each  of  these  four  oificers,  acting  in  his  proper  sphere,  not  as  a 
mere  automaton,  but  as  an  intellectual,  intelligent,  and  responsible 
person,  bound  to  observe  the  law,  and  to  stop  the  warrant,  or  stop 
the  money,  if  the  authority  of  the  law  were  wanting } 

Thus  stood  the  treasury  from  1789  to  1816.  During  that  long  time 
no  President  had  ever  attempted  to  interfere  with  the  custody  of  the 
public  purse.  It  remained  where  the  law  placed  it,  undisturbed,  and 
every  chief  magistrate,  including  the  father  of  his  country,  respected 
the  law. 

In  1^16  an  act  passed  to  establish  the  late  Bank  of  the  United 
States  for  the  term  of  twenty  years ;  and,  by  the  16th  section  of  the 
act,  it  is  enacted, 

'*  ThRt  the  d^poditcfl  of  th*;  money  of  the  United  States  in  places  in  which  the 
9aid  Bank  and  the  branches  thereof  may  be  establiilipd,  shall  be  made  in  raid  Bank 
or  branches  thereof,  nnless  ihe  &;rretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  at  at  any  lime  other- 
wise order  and  direct ;  in  which  cam  the  Secretary  of  the  TreaBnry  ehail  immedi* 
ately  lay  before  Congreas  if  in  seaaion,  and  If  not.  imoiediately  after  the  commoace- 
menc  of  the  next  aeraton,  the  reuona  of  snch  order  or  direction.** 

Thus  it  is  perfectly  manifest,  from  the  express  words  of  thp  law, 
that  the  power  to  make  any  order  or  direction  for  the  removal  of  the 
public  deposites,  is  confided  to  the  Secretary  alone,  to  the  absolute 
exclusion  of  the  President,  and  all  the  world  besides.  And  the  law, 
proceeding  upon  the  established  principle  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
treasury,  in  all  that  concerns  the  public  purse,  acts  as  the  direct  agent 
of  Congreasi  requirea,  in  the  event  of  hi$  ordering  or  directing  a  le- 


908  8PEECHS1   OP  HENRT    CLAT. 

moTal  of  the  deposites,  that  he  shall  immediately  lay  his 
therefor  before  whom  ?  the  President  ?    No  :  before  Congress. 

So  stood  the  public  treasury  and  the  public  deposites  from  the  yesr 
1816  to  September,  1833.  In  all  that  period  of  'seventeen  years, 
running  through  or  into  four  several  administrations  of  the  goTem- 
ment,  the  law  had  its  uninterrupted  operation,  no  chief  magistrate 
having  assumed  upon  himself  the  power  of  diverting  the  public  purse 
from  its  lawful  custody,  or  of  substituting  his  will  to  that  of  the  offi- 
cer to  whose  csae  it  was  exclusively  entrusted. 

In  the  session  of  Congress  of  1832—^3,  an  inquiry  had  been  insti- 
tuted by  the  House  of  Representatives  into  the  condition  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  It  resulted  in  a  conviction  of  its  entire  safety, 
and  a  declaration  by  the  House,  made  only  a  short  thne  before  the 
adjournment  of  Congress  on  the  fourth  of  March  1833,  that  the  pub- 
lic deposites  were  perfectly  secure.  This  declaration  was  probably 
made  in  consequence  of  suspicions  then'afioat  of  a  design  on  the  part 
of  the  executive  to  remove  the  deposites.  These  suspicions  were  de- 
nied by  the  press  fVicndly  to  the  administration.  Nevertheless,  the 
members  had  scarcely  reached  their  respective  homes,  before  meas* 
ores  were  commenced  by  the  executive  to  effect  a  removal  of  the 
deposites  from  that  very  place  of  safety  which  it  was  among  the 
last  acts  of  the  House  to  declare  existed  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
SUtes. 

In  prosecution  of  this  design,  Mr.  McLain,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  was  decidedly  opposed  to  such  a  measure,  was  pro- 
moted to  the  Departn^ent  of  State,  and  Mr.  Duane  was  appointed  to 
succeed  him.  But  Mr.  Duane  was  equally  convinced  with  his  pre- 
decessor that  he  was  forbidden  by  every  consideration  of  duty  to  ex- 
ecute the  power  with  which  the  law  had  entrusted  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  and  refused  to  remove  the  deposites ;  tehereupon  he 
was  dismissed  from  office,  a  new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  ap- 
pointed, and,  in  September,  1833,  by  the  command  of  the  President, 
the  measuie  was  finally  accomplished.  That  it  was  the  President^ 
act  was  never  denied,  but  proclaimed,  boasted,  defended.  It  fell 
upon  the  country  like  a  thunderbolt,  agitating  the  Union  from  one 
extremity  to  the  other.  The  stoutest  adherents  of  the  administra- 
tion T^ere  alaiined ,  and  all  thinking  men,  not  blinded  by  party  pre* 


OW  THE  BZFUIiaiNO  ElfOLUTION.  900 

judice,  beheld  in  the  act  a  bold  and  dangerous  exercise  of  power ;  and 
no  human  sagacity  can  now  foresee  the  tremendous  consequences 
which  will  ensue.  The  measure  was  adopted  not  long  before  the 
appro^hing  se^ution  of  Congress;  and,  as  the  concurrence  of  both 
branches  might  be  necessary  to  compel  a  restoration  of  the  deposites, 
the  object  was  to  take  the  chance  of  a  possible  division  between  them, 
and  thereby  defeat  the  restoration. 

And  where  did  the  President  find  the  power  for  this  most  extraor- 
dinary act  ?  4t  has  been  seen  that  the  constitution,  jealous  of  all 
executive  interference  with  the  treasury  of  the  nation,  had  confined  it 
to  the  exclusivp  care  of  Congress  by  every  precautionary  guard,  from 
the  first  imposition  of  the  taxes  to  the  final  disbursement  of  the  pub- 
lic money. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  language  of  the  sixteenth  section  of  the 
law  of  181 G,  is  express  and  free  from  all  ambiguity;  and  that  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  the  sole  exclusive  depository  of  the  au- 
thority which  it  confers. 

Those  who  maintain  the  power  of  the  President  have  to  support  it 
against  the  positive  language  of  the  constitution,  against  the  explicit 
words  of  the  statute,  and  against  the  genius  and  theory  of  all  our 
institutions. 

And  how  do  they  surmount  these  insuperable  obstacles  ?  By  a 
series  of  far-fetched  implications,  which,  if  every  one  of  them  were 
as  true  as  they  are  believed  to  be  incorrect  or  perverted,  would  stop 
hi  short  of  maintaining  the  power  which  was  exercised. 

The  first  of  these  implied  powers  is,  that  of  dismissal,  which  is 
claimed  for  the  President.  Of  all  the  questioned  powers  ever  exer- 
cised by  the  government,  this  is  the  most  questionable.  From  the 
first  Congress  down  to  the  present  administration,  it  had  never  been 
examined.  It  was  carried  then,  in  the  Senate,  by  the  casting  vote 
of  the  Vice  President.  And  those  who,  at  that  day  argued  in  behalf 
of  the  power,  contended  for  it  upon  conditions  which  have  been  ut- 
terly disregarded  by  the  present  Chief  Magistrate.  The  power  of 
dismissal  is  no  where  on  the  constitution  granted,  in  express  terms, 
to  the  President.   It  is  not  a  necessary  incident  to  any  granted  power ; 


.  900  .  tPBBCHBS  or  HBIfRT  CLAY. 

and  the  friends  of  the  power  have  never  been  able  to  agree  among 
themselves  as  to  the  precise  part  of  the  ponstitution  from  which  it 
springs  ? 

* 

But)  if  the  power  of  dismissal  was  as  incontestible  as  it  is  justly 

controvertable,  we  utterly  deny  the  consequences  deduced  from  it. 
The  argument  is,  that  the  President  has,  by  implication,  the  power 
of  dismissal.  Fiom  this  first  implication  another  is  drawn,  and  that 
is,  that  the  President  has  the  power  to  control  the  officer,  whom  he 
may  dismiss,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  in  all  cases  whatever  ; 
and  that  this  power  of  control  is  so  comprehensive  as  to  include  even 
the  case  of  a  specific  duty  expressly  assigned  by  law  to  the  desigD*- 
ted  officer. 

Now,  wc  deny  these  results  from  the  dismissing  power.  That 
power,  if  it  exists,  can  draw  after  it  only  a  right  of  general  superin- 
tendence. It  cannot  authorize  the  President  to  substitute  his  will  to 
the  will  of  the  officer  charged  with  the  performance  of  official  duties. 
Above  all,  it  cannot  justify  such  a  substitution  in  a  case  where  the 
law,  as  in  the  present  instance,  assigns  to  a  designated  officer  exclu- 
sively the  performance  of  a  particular  duty,  and  conunands  him  to 
report,  not  to  the  President,  but  to  Congress,  in  a  case  regarding  the 
|Hiblic  purse  of  the  nation,  committed  to  the  exclusive  control  of 
Congress. 

Such  a  consequence  as  tliat  which  I  am  contesting  would  concen- 
trate in  the  hands  of  one  man  the  entire  executive  power  of  the  na- 
tion, uncontrolled  and  unchecked. 

It  would  be  utterly  destructive  of  all  official  responsibility.  In- 
stead of  each  officer  being  responsible,  in  his  own  separate  sphere, 
for  his  official  acts,  he  would  shelter  himself  behind  the  orders  of  the 
President.  And  what  tribunal,  in  heaven  above  or  on  earth  below, 
could  render  judgment  against  any  officer  for  an  act,  however  atro- 
cious, performed  by  the  express  command  of  the  President,  which, 
according  to  the  argument,  he  was  absolutely  bound  to  obey  ? 

Whilst  all  official  responsibility  would  be  utterly  annihilated  in 
subordinated  officers,  there  would  be  no  practical  or  available  respon- 
sihility  in  the  President  himself. 


oir  THE  fvvaatna  k»olutioii.  <      301 

But  the  cace  baa  beea  luppoKd,  of  a  necesetty  for  the  remoTal  of 
the  deposites,  and  a  refusal  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treoaury  to  re- 
move them  ;  and  it  is  triumphaoUy  asked  if,  in  such  a  case,  the  Pre- 
sident may  not  remore  him^  and  command  the  deed  to  be  done.  That 
is  an  extreme  Casey  which  may  be  met  by  another.  Suppose  the 
President,  without  any  oecessily,  orders  the  removal  from  a  place  of 
safety  to  a  place  of  hazard.  If  there  be  danger  that  a  President  may 
neglect  his  duty,  there  is  equal  danger  that  a  President  may  abuse 
his  authority.  Infallibility  is  not  a  human  attribute.  And  there  ia 
more  security  for  the  pullic  in  boldiog  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
to  the  strict  performance  of  ao  ollicial  duty  specially  assigned  (o  him, 
uoder  all  his  ollicial  revpoasibility,  than  to  allow  the  President  to 
wrest  the  work  from  bis  banda,  annihilate  his  responsibility,  and 
stand  himself  practically  irresponsthle.  It  is  far  better  that  millions 
should  be  lost  by  the  neglect  of  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  than  to 
establish  the  monstrous  principle  that  all  the  checks  and  balances  of 
the  executive  goirernmeot  shall  be  broken  down,  the  whole  power 
absorbed  by  one  man,  and  his  will  become  the  supreme  rule.  The 
argument  which  I  am  combating  places  the  whole  treasuiy  of  the 
nation  at  the  mercy  of  the  executive.  It  is  io  vain  to  talk  of  appro- 
priations by  law,  and  the  fonnalitieB  of  warrants  upon  the  treasuiy. 
Assuming  the  argument  to  be  cOnect,  what  is  to  prevent  the  execu- 
tion of  an  order  from  the  President  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
to  issue  a  warrant,  without  the  sanction  of  a  previous  legal  appro- 
priation, to  the  Comptroller  to  countersign  it,  to  the  Register  to  re- 
gister it,  and  to  the  Treasurer  to  pay  it  ?  What  becomes  of  that 
quadruple  security  which  the  precaution  i^  the  law  provided  i  In- 
stead of  four  substantive  and  independent  wills,  acting  under  leffi 
obligations,  all  are  merged  in  the  executive. 

But  there  was  in  point  ot  fkct,  no  cause,  none  whatever  for  tbe 
measure.  Every  fiscal  consideration,  (and  no  other  had  the  Secr»- 
tary  or  the  President  a  right  to  entertain,)  required  the  deposiles  to 
be  left  undisturbed  in  the  place  of  perfect  safety  where  by  law  they 
were.  We  told  you  so  at  the  tinoe.  We  asserted  that  the  charges 
of  insecurity  and  insolvency  of  the  bank  were  without  the  slightest 
foundation.  And  time,  that  great  arbiter  of  human  controversies, 
has  confirmed  all  that  we  said.  The  Bank,  from  documents  submiU 
ted  to  C^gress  by  the  Secretary  of  tbe  Treasury  at  the  present  ae^ 
non,  appears  to  be  able  not  only  to  return  evny  dollar  of  the  stook 


802  SPKKCH18  OP   HBNRT  CLAT. 

held  in  its  capital  by  the  public,  but  an  addition  of  eleren  per  oent. 
beyond  it. 

Those  who  defend  the  executive  act,  have  to  maintain  not  only 
that  the  President  may  assume  upon  himself  the  discharge  of  a  du^ 
especially  assigned  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but  that  he  may 
remove  that  officer,  arbitrarily,  and  without  any  cause,  because  he 
refused  to  remove  the  public  deposites  without  cause. 

My  mind  conducts  me  to  a  totally  difierent  conclusion.  I  think,  I 
solemnly  believe,  that  the  President  ^'  assumed  upon  himself  authority 
and  power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  but  in  derogar 
tion  of  both,'*  in  the  language  of  the  resolution.  I  believed  then  m 
the  truth  of  the  resolution  ;  and  I  now  in  my  place,  and  under  all 
my  responsibility,  re^avQW  my  unshaken  conviction  of  it. 

But  it  has  been  contended  on  this  occasion,  as  it  was  in  the  debata 
which  preceded  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  of  1834,  that  the 
Senate  has  no  right  to  express  the  truth  on  any  question  which  by 
possibility,  may  become  a  subject  of  impeachment.  It  is  manifest, 
that  if  it  may,  there  is  no  more  usual  or  appropriate  form  in  which  it 
may  be  done  than  that  of  resolutions,  joint  or  separate,  orders,  or 
bills.  In  no  other  mode  can  the  collective  sense  of  the  body  be  ex- 
pressed. But  Senators  maintain  that  no  matter  what  may  be  the 
executive  encroachment  upon  the  joint  powers  of  the  two  Houses,  or 
the  separate  authority  of  the  Senate,  it  is  bound  to  stand  mute,  and 
not  breathe  one  word  of  complaint  or  remonstrance.  According  to 
the  argument,  the  greater  the  violation  of  the  constitution  or  the  law, 
the  greater  the  incompetency  of  the  Senate  to  express  any  opinion 
upon  it !  Further,  that  this  incompetency  is  not  confined  to  the  acts 
of  the  President  only,  but  extends  to  those  of  every  officer  who  is 
liable  to  impeachment  under  the  constitution.  Is  this  possible  .'  Can 
it  be  true  ?  Contrary  to  all  the  laws  of  nature,  is  the  Senate  the 
only  being  which  has  no  power  of  self-preservation — no  right  tocom^ 
plain  or  to  remonstrate  against  attacks  upon  its  very  existence  ? 

The  argument  is,  that  the  Senate,  being  the  constitutional  tribunal 
to  try  all  impeachments,  is  thereby  precluded  from  the  exercise  of 
the  right  to  express  any  opinion  upon  any  official  malfeasance,  except 
when  acting  in  its  judicial  character. 


oil  rux  £ZPV1K»I1I0  BEtOLUnON.  30S 

If  this  disqualification  exist,  it  applies  to  all  impeachable  officersi 
and  ought  to  have  protected  the  late  Postmaster  General  against  the 
resolution,  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Senate,  declaring  that  he  had 
borrowed  money  contrary  to  law.  And  it  would  disable  the  Senate 
from  considering  that  treasury  order,  which  has  formed  such  a  prom* 
ihent  subject  of  its  deliberations  during  the  present  session. 

And  how  do  Senators  maintain  this  obligation  of  the  Senate  to 
remain  silent  and  behold  itself  stript,  one  by  one,  of  all  constitutional 
powers,  without  resistance,  and  without  murmur  ?  Is  it  imposed  by 
the  language  of  the  constitution  ?  Has  any  part  of  that  instrument 
been  pointed  to  which  expressly  enjoins  it  ?  No,  no,  not  a  syllable. 
But  it  is  attempted  to  be  deduced  by  another  far-fetched  implication. 
Because  the  Senate  is  the  body  which  is  to  try  impeachments,  there- 
fore it  is  wferrtd  the  Senate  can  express  no  opinion  on  any  matter 
which  may  ferm  the  subject  of  impeachment.  The  constitution  does 
not  say  sb.     That  is  undeniable  :  but  Senators  think  so. 

The  Senate  acts  in  three  characters,  legislative,  executive  and  ju- 
dicial ;  and  their  importance  is  in  the  order  enumerated.  By  far  the 
most  important  of  the  three  is  its  legislative.  In  that,  almost  every 
day  that  it  has  been  in  session  from  1789  to  the  present  time,  some 
legislative  business  has  been  transacted  ;  whilst  in  its  judicial  cha- 
racter, it  has  not  sat  more  than  three  or  four  times  in  that  whole 
period. 

Why  should  the  judicial  function  limit  and  restrain  the  legislative 
function  of  the  Senate  more  than  the  legislative  should  the  judicial .' 
If  the  degree  of  imp6rtance  of  the  two  should  decide  which  ou^^ht  to 
impose  tlie  restraint,  in  cases  of  conflict  between  them,  none  can 
doubt  which  it  should  be. 

But  if  the  argument  is  sound,  how  is  it  possible  for  the  Senate  to 
perform  its  legislative  duties  ?  An  act  in  violation  of  the  constitu- 
tion or  laws  is  committed  by  the  President  or  a  subordinate  execu- 
tive officer,  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  correct  it  by  the  passage  of  a 
law.  The  very  act  of  the  President  in  question  was  under  a  law  to 
which  the  Senate  had  given  its  concurrence.  According  to  the  argu- 
ment, the  correcting  law  cannot  originate  in  the  Senate,  because  it 
would  have  to  pass  in  judgment  upon  that  act.    Nay,  more,  it  can- 


304  tPEBOHKS  or  H£NRY   CXJlT. 

.not  originate  in  the  House  and  be  sent  to  the  Senate,  for  the  sanae 
reason  of  incompetency  in  the  Senate  to  pass  upon  it. .  Suppose  the 
bill  contained  a  preamble  reciting  the  unconstitutional  or  illegal  act, 
to  which  the  legislative  corrective  is  applied,  according  to  the  argv- 
iiK^nt,  the  Senate  must  not  think  of  passing  it.  Pushed  to  its  legiti- 
male  consequence,  the  argument  requires  the  House  of  Representa* 
tives  itself  cautiously  to  abstain  from  the  expression  of  any  opinion 
upon  an  executive  act,  except  when  it  is  acting  as  the  grand  inquest 
of  the  nation,  and  considering  articles  of  impeachment. 

Assuming  that  the  argument  is  well  founded,  the  Senate  is  equally 
restrained  from  expressing  any  opinion  which  would  imply  the  inno- 
cence or  the  guilt  of  an  impeachable  officer,  unless  it  be  maintained 
thai  it  is  lawful  to  express  praise  and  approbation,  but  not  censure  or 
difference  of  opinion.  Instances  have  occurred  in  our  past  history, 
(the  case  of  the  British  minister,  Jackson,  was  a  memorable  one,) 
and  many  others  may  arise  in  our  future  progress,  when  in  reference 
to  foreign  powers,  it  may  be  important  for  Congress  to  approve  what 
has  been  done  by  the  executive,  to  present  a  firm  and  united  front, 
and  to  pledge  the  country  to  stand  by  and  support  him.  May  it  not 
do  that  ?  If  tlie  Senate  dare  not  entertain  and  express  any  opinion 
upon  an  executive  measure,  how  do  those  who  support  this  expunging 
resolution  justify  the  acquittal  of  the  President  which  it  proclaims? 

No  Senator  believed  in  1834  that,  whether  the  President  merited 
impeachment  or  not,  he  ever  would  be  impeached.  In  point  of  fact 
he  has  not  been,  and  wo  have  every  reason  to  suppose  that  he  never 
will  be  impeached.  Was  the  majority  of  the  Senate,  in  a  case  where 
it  believed  the  constitution  and  laws  to  have  been  violated,  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people  to  be  endangered  to  remain  silent,  and  to  re- 
frain from  proclaiming  the  truth,  because,  against  all  human  proba- 
bility, the  President  might  be  impeached  by  a  majority  of  his  political 
friends  in  the  House  of  Representatives  } 

If  an  impeachment  had  been  actually  voted  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, there  is  nothing  in  the  constitution  which  enjoins  silence 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate.  Jn  such  a  case,  it  would  have  been  a 
matter  of  propriety  for  the  consideration  of  each  Senator  to  avoid  the 
expression  of  any  opinion  on  a  matter  upon  which,  as  a  sworn  judge, 
he  would  be  called  to  act 


ON   THS  EXPUNGING   RESOLUTION.  305 

Hitherto  I  have  considered  the  question  on  the  supposition,  that 

ti:e  resolution  of  March,  1834,  implied  such  guilt  in  the  President, 
that  he  would  have  been  liable  to  conviction  on  a  trial  by  impeach- 
ment before  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  But  the  resolution,  in 
fact,  imported  no  such  guilt.  It  simply  afllrmed,  that  he  had  '^  as- 
sumed  upon  himself,  authority  and  power  not  conferred  by  the  con- 
stitution and  laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both."  It  imputed  no  crim- 
inal motives.  It  did  not  proft^ss  to  penetrate  into  the  heart  of  the 
President.  According  to  the  phra:>eology  of  the  resolution,  the  ex- 
ceptionable act  might  have  been  performed  with  the  purest  and  most 
patriotic  intention.  The  resolution  neither  affirmed^  his  innocence, 
nor  pronounced  his  guilt.  It  amounts  then,  say  his  friends  on  this 
floor,  to  nothing.  Not  so.  If  the  constitution  be  trampled  upon, 
and  the  laws  be  violated,  the  injury  may  be  equally  great,  whether  it 
has  been  done  with  good  or  bad  intentions.  There  may  be  a  differ- 
ence to  the  officer,  none  to  the  country.  The  country,  as  all  expe- 
rience demonstrates,  has  most  reason  to  apprehend  those  encroach- 
ments which  take  place  on  plausible  pretexts,  and  with  good  in- 
tentions. 

I  put  it,  Mr.  President,  to  the  calm  and  deliberate  consideration  of 
the  majority  of  the  Senate,  are  you  ready  to  pronounce,  in  the  face 
of  this  en]igtened  community,  for  all  time  to  come,  and  whoever  may 
happen  to  be  the  President,  that  the  Senate  dare  not,  in  language  the 
most  inoflfensive  and  respectful,  remonstrate  against  any  executive 
usurpation,  whatever  may  be  its  degree  or  danger  ? 

For  one,  I  will  not,  I  cannot.  I  believe  the  resolution  of  March, 
18'i4,  to  have  been  true ;  and  that  it  was  competent  to  the  Senate  to 
proclaim  the  truth.  And  I  solemly  believe  that  the  Senate  would 
have  been  culpably  neglectful  of  its  duty  to  itself,  to  the  constitution, 
and  to  the  country,  if  it  had  not  announced  the  truth. 

But  let  me  suppose  that  in  all  this  I  am  mistaken  ;  that  the  act  of 
the  President,  to  which  exception  was  made,  was  in  conformity  with 
the  spirit  of  our  free  institutions,  and  the  language  of  our  constitution 
and  laws ;  and  that,  whether  it  was  or  not,  the  Senate  of  1834  had 
no  authority  to  pass  judgment  upon  it ;  what  right  has  the  Senate  of 
1837,  a  component  part  of  another  Congress,  to  pronounce  judgment 
upoD  its  predecessor  ?  How  can  you  who.  venture  to  in^pote  to  tbxm 


306  tPECCHEB  or  HBNRT    CLAY. 

who  have  gone  before  you  an  unconstitutional  proceeding,  escape  m 
similar  imputation?  What  part  of  the  constitution  comrnonicatetf 
to  you  any  authority  to  assign  and  try  your  predecessors  ?  In  what 
article  is  contained  your  power  to  expunge  what  they  have  done  ? 
And  may  not  the  precedent  lead  to  a  perpetual  code  of  defacement 
and  restoration  of  the  transactions  of  the  Senate  as  consigned  to  the 
public  records  ? 

Are  you  not  only  destitute  of  all  authority,  but  positively  forbidden 
to  do  what  the  ^xpunging  resolution  proposes  ?  The  injunction  of 
the  constitution  to  keep  a  journal  of  our  proceedings  is  clear,  express 
and  emphatic.  It  is  free  from  ambiguity :  no  sophistry  can  pervert 
the  explicit  language  of  the  instrument ;  no  nrtful  device  can  elude 
the  force  of  the  obligation  which  it  imposes.  If  it  were  possible  to 
make  more  manifest  the  duty  which  it  requires  to  be  performed,  that 
was  done  by  the  able  and  eloquent  speeches,  at  the  last  session,  of 
the  Senators  from  Virginia  and  Louisiana,  (Messrs.  Leigh  and  Porter) 
and  at  this  of  my  collengue.  I  shall  not  repeat  the  argument.  But 
1  would  ask,  if  there  were  no  constitutional  requirement  to  keep  m 
journal,  what  constitutional  right  has  the  Senate  of  this  Congress  to 
pass  in  judgment  upon  the  Senate  of  another  Congress,  and  to  expunge 
from  its  journal  a  deliberate  act  there  recorded  ?  Can  an  unconsti- 
tutional act  of  that  Senate,  supposing  it  to  be  so,  justify  you  in  per- 
forming another  unconstitutional  act } 

But,  in  lieu  of  any  a^ment  upon  the  point  from  me,  I  beg  leave 
to  cite  for  the  consideration  of  the  Senate  two  precedents  :  one  drawn 
from  the  reign  of  the  most  despotic  monarch  in  modern  Europe,  under 
the  most  despotic  minister  that  ever  bore  sway  over  any  people :  and 
the  other  from  the  purest  fountain  of  democracy  in  this  country.  I 
quote  from  the  interesting  life  of  the  Cardinal  Richelieu,  written  by 
that  most  admirable  and  popular  author,  Mr.  James.  The  Duke  of 
Orleans,  the  brother  of  Louis  XIII.  had  been  goaded  into  rebellion  by 
the  wary  Richelieu.  The  king  issued  a  decree  declaring  all  the  sup- 
porters of  the  duke  guilty  of  high  treason,  and  a  copy  of  it  was  des- 
patched to  the  Parliament  at  Paris,  with  an  order  to  register  it  at 
once.  The  parliament  demurred,  and  proceeded  to  what  was  called 
an  arret  de  partage. 

**  SidieKea,  however,  eoald  bew  no  eoatridictia&  in  the  eovne  which  be  bad  leii 


ON  THE  XZPDHOXirO  RSIOLUTUnr.  307 


dowB  for  himeelf  ;'*  [how  strong  a  TMemfolanee  does  that  feature  of  h'w  character 
hear  to  one  of  an  ilhistrious  individoal  whom  I  wil!  not  further  describe !]  '*  and 
llurrviog  back  to  Paris  wiih  the  king,  he  sent,  in  the  monarch's  name,  a  command 
imr  the  members  of  the  Parliament  to  present  themselves  at  the  Liouvre  in  a  body 
and  en  foot.  He  was  obeyed  immediately  ;  and  the  king  KCeiving  them  with  great 
hanghimesfi,  the  keeper  of  the  seals  made  them  a  speech,  in  which  he  declared  that 
they  had  no  authority  todelibcrnte  upon  affairs  of  state  :  that  the  business  of  private 
individuals  they  might  discuss,  but  ttiat  the  will  of  the  monarch  in  other  matters 
they  were  alone  called  upon  to  register.  The  king  then  tort  with  hit  own  hand$  the 
page  of  tht  TcgUter  on  irhirh  the  arret  de  portage  had  been  in$rribed,  and  jnmitked 
witn  iuspenrionfrom  their  funrtion*  wonalof  the  member$  ef  the  varioiu  courti  com- 
poking  the  Parliament  cfParia.^' 


1* 


How  repeated  acts  of  the  exercise  of  arbitrary  power  are  likely  to 
subdue  the  spirit  of  liberty ,  and  to  render  callous  the  public  sensibility, 
and  the  fate  wliich  awaits  us,  if  we  had  not  been  recently  unhappily 
taught  in  this  country,  we  may  learn  from  the  same  author. 

*•  The  finances  of  the  Stale  were  exhausted,  new  impositions  were  devised,  snd 
a  vnmber  of  new  ollices  created  and  sold.  Against  the  last  named  abuse  the  Puv 
Hament  ventured  to  remonstmte :  but  the  government  of  the  Cardinal  had  for  its 
flfst  principle  dei<poti$>m,  and  the  refractory  megibtrrs  were  punished,  some  with 
exile,  some  with  suspension  of  their  functions.  AH  were  forced  to  comply  with  his 
win,  and  the  Parliament,  unable  to  resist,  yielded,  step  by  step,  to  his  exactions.** 

The  other  precedent  is  suspended  by  the  archives  of  the  democ- 
nfey  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1816,  when  it  was  genuine  and  unmixed  with 
any  other  ingredient. 

The  provisions  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of  Penn* 
•yWania,  in  regard  to  the  obligation  to  keep  a  journal,  are  subataD* 
tially  the  same.     That  of  the  United  States  requires  that, 

**  Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  from  time  to  time  md^ 
iiih  the  same,  except  such  parts  as  may  in  their  judgment  re<)uire  secrecy :  and  the 
ymm  and  nays  of  the  membere  of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desirs 
if  cme-fifth  of  the  members  present;  be  entered  on  the  journal." 

And  that  of  Pennsylvania  b ; 

'*  Elach  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  publish  them  weekly 
aseept  such  oarts  as  require  secrecy,  and  the  yeas  and  najrs  of  the  memben*,  on  any 
fieation  shall,  at  the  desire  of  any  two  of  them,  be  entered  on  the  journals.'* 

Whatever  inviolability,  therefore,  is  attached  to  a  journal,  kept  in 
conformity  with  the  one  constitution,  must  be  equally  stamped  on  that 
kept  under  the  other.  On  the  10th  of  February,  1S16,  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  Pennsylvania,  ^<  the  speaker  informed  the  House 
dbal  a  constitutional  question  being  involved  in  a  decision  by  him  yea- 


908  iPEECHBS  OF  HENRT  CLAT. 

terJay,  on  a  motion  to  expunge  certain  proceedings  from  the  joornaly 
he  was  desirous  of  having  the  opinion  of  the  House  on  that  decision, 
viz.:  that  a  majority  can  expunge  from  the  journal  any  proceedings 
in  which  the  yeas  and  nay$  have  not  bet-n  caVedy  Whereupon  Mr. 
Ilolgate  and  Mr  Smith  appealed  from  said  decision ;  and  on  the  ques- 
tion, Is  the  speaker  right  in  his  decision  ?  the  members  present 
voted  as  follows  :  yeas  three,  nays  seventy-eight.  Among  the  latter 
are  to  be  found  the  two  Senators  now  representing  in  this  body  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania.  On  the  same  day  a  motion  was  made  by  one 
of  them   ^Mr.  Buchanan)  and  Mr.  Kelly,  and  read  as  follows  : 


••  Resolved,  That  in  the  oninion  of  this  House  no  part  of  the  journals  of  the 
House  cun  be  expunged  even  by  uDttnmiouji  consent." 


The  Senate  observes  that  the  question  arose  in  a  case  where  there 
were  but  four  members  out  of  eighty-two  who  thought  it  was  compe- 
tent to  the  House  to  expungi^  it.  Had  the  yeas  and  nays  been  called 
and  recorded,  as  they  were  on  the  resolution  of  March,  1834,  there 
would  not  have  been  a  solitary  vote  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  Pennsylvania  in  support  of  the  power  of  expunging.  And  if  you 
can  expunge  the  resolution,  why  may  you  not  expunge  also  the  re* 
corded  yeas  and  nays  attached  to  it } 

But  if  the  matter  of  expunction  be  contrary  to  the  truth  of  the 
case,  reproachful  for  its  base  subserviency,  derogatory  from  the  jnsl 
and  necessary  powers  of  the  Senate,  and  repugnant  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  the  manner  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  ac- 
complish this  dark  deed,  is  also  highly  exceptionable.  The  expung- 
ing resolution,  which  is  to  blot  out  or  enshroud  the  four  or  five  lines 
in  which  the  resolution  of  1834  stands  recorded,  or  rather  the  recitals 
by  which  it  is  preceded,  are  spun  out  into  a  thread  .of  enormous  length. 
It  runs,  whereas,  and  whereas,  and  whereas,  and  whereas,  &c.,  into  t 
formidable  array  of  nine  several  whereases.  One  who  should  have 
the  courage  to  begin  to  read  them,  unaware  of  what  was  to  be  theii 
termination,  would  think  that  at  the  end  of  such  a  tremendous  dis- 
play he  must  find  the  very  devil.  It  is  like  a  kite  or  a  comet,  except 
that  the  order  of  nature  is  inverted,  and  the  tail,  instead  of  being  be- 
hind, is  before  the  body  to  which  it  is  appended. 

I  shall  not  trespass  on  the  Senate  by  inquiring  into  the  truth  of  all 
the  assertions  offset  and  of  principle,  contained  in  these  recitals.    Tt 


ov  i«K  EXPvmHiro  BBtoLunoir.  SCM- 

fPtmld  not  be  diffienlt  to  expose  them  all,  and  to  show  that  not  ono' 
of  them  has  more  than  a  colorable  fouifdation.  It  is  asserted  by  one^ 
of  them  that  the  President  was  pot  upon  his  trial  and  condemned| 
miheard,  by  the  Senate,  in  1834.  Was  that  true  ?  Was  it  a  trial  ?' 
Can  the  majonty  now  as^rt,  npcAi  their  oaths,  and  in  their  coii-' 
sciences,  that  there  was  any  trial  or  condemnation  ?  During  the' 
warmth  of  debate,  senators  might  endeavor  to  persuade  themselvei 
and  the  public  that  the  proceeding  of  1834  was,  in  its  effects  and 
consequences,  a  trial,  and  would  be  a  condemnation  of  the  President ; 
but  now,  after  the  lapse  of  near  three  years,  when  the  excitement 
arising  from  an  animated  discussion  has  passed  away,  it  is  marvelous 
that  any  one  should  be  prepared  to  assert  that  an  expression  of  tho 
opinion  of  the  Senate  upon  the  character  of  an  executive  act  was  an' 
amignment,  trial  and  conviction  of  the  President  of  the  Uoited' 
States] 

Another  fact,  asserted  in  one  of  those  recitals,  is,  that  the  resolih* 
tion  of  1834,  in  either  of  the  forms  in  which  it  was  originally  pre- 
sented, or  subsequently  modified  prior  to  the  final  shape  which  !t- 
assumed  when  adopted,  would  have  been  rejected  by  a  majority  of' 
the  Senate.     What  evidence  is  there  in  support  of  this  assertion  ?' 
Hone.     It  is,  I  verily  believe,  directly  contrary  to  the  fact.     In  either 
of  the  modifications  of  the  resolution,  I  have  not  a  doubt,  that  it 
would  have  passed !    They  weve  all  made  in  that  spirit  of  accommo^ 
dation  by  which  the  mover  of  the  resolution  has  ever  regulated  Ut* 
conduct  as  a  member  of  a  deliberative  body.     In  not  one  single  in-' 
stance  did  he  understand  from  any  senator  at  whose  request  he  made 
the  modification,  that,  without  it,  he  would  vote  against  theresolotion. 
How,  then,  can  even  the  senators,  who  were  of  the  minority  of 
]€34,  undertake  to  make  the  assertion  in  question  ?    How  can  the 
riew  senators,  who  have  come  here  ^ince,  pledge  themselves  to  the 
(act  asserted,  in  the  recital  of  which  they  could  not  have  had  any 
connusance  ?  But  all  the  members  of  the  majority — the  veterans  and 
the  raw  recrmts — the  six  years  men  and  six  weeks  men — are  requir- 
ed to  Concur  in  this  most  unfounded  assertion,  as  I  believe  it  to  be. 
I  submit  it  to  one  of  the  latter  (Ibokihg  toward  Mr.  Dana,  frolfl 
Maine,  here  by  a  temporary  appointment  firom  the  executive,)  whe- 
ther, instead  of  inundating  the  Senate  with  a  torrent  of  fulsome  and' 
revolting  adulation  poured  on  the  President,  it  would  not  be  wiser  atjd' 
more  patriotic  to  illustrate  the  brief  period  of  his  senatorial  existence 

•U 


310  tPKBCHBB  or  HKURT  CLAT. 

bif  some  great  me&Aure,  fraught  with  general  benefit  to  the  wbob 
Union  ?  Or,  if  he  will  not  er  cannot  elevale  himself  to  a  view  of 
the  interest  of  ihe  entire  country,  whether  he  had  not  better  dedicata 
hit  time  to  an  investigation  into  the  causes  of  an  alien  juiisdictMMl 
being  still  exercised  over  a  large  part  of  the  territory  of  the  Slalt 
which  he  represents  ?  And  why  the  American  carrying  trade  to  ihm 
British  coloneis,  in  which  his  state  was  so  deeply  interested,  has  becft 
lost  by  a  most  improvident  and  bungling  arrangement  ? 

Mr.  President,  what  patriotic  purpose  is  to  be  accomplished  by  this 
expunging  resolution  !  What  new  honor  or  fresh  laureb  will  it  wui 
(or  our  common  country  ?  Is  the  power  of  the  Senate  so  vast  thai 
it  ought  to  be  circumscribed,  and  that  of  the  President  so  restricted|t 
that  it  ought  to  be  extended  ?  What  power  has  the  Senate  ?  NoM 
aeperately.  It  can  only  act  jointly  with  the  other  House,  or  jointljr 
with  the  executive.  And  although  the  theory  of  the  constitution 
•apposes,  when  consulted  by  him,  it  may  freely  give  an  affinnathrt 
or  negative  response  according  to  the  practice,  as  it  now. exists,  it  bat 
lost  the  faculty  of  pronouncing  the  negative  monosyllable.  When 
the  Senate  expresses  its  deliberate  judgment,  in  the  form  of  resolu* 
tion,  that  resolution  has  no  compulsory  force,  but  appeals  only  to  the 
dispassionate  intelligence,  tlie  calm  reason,  and  the  sobeT  judgment 
of  the  community.  The  Senate  has  no  army,  no  navy,  no  patronagOi 
no  lucrative, offices,  nor  glittering  honors  to  bestow.  Around  at 
there  is  no  swarm  of  greedy  expectants^,  rendering  us  homage,  anUcH 
pating  our  wishes,  and  ready  to  execute  our  commands. 

How  is  it  with  the  President?  Is  he  powerless.  He  is  felt  {rom 
one  extremity  to  the  other  of  this  vast  republic.  By  means  of  prin* 
ciples  which  he  has  introduced,  and  innovations  which  he  has  mada 
in  our  institutions,  alas  !  too  much  countenanced  by  Congress  and  a 
eon6ding  people,  he  exercises  uncontrolled  the  power  of  the  State. 
In  one  hand  he  holds  the  purse,  and  in  the  other  brandishes  the 
•word  of  the  country.  Myriads  of  dependents  and  partizans,  scat* 
tered  over  the  land,  are  ever  ready  to  sing  hosannas  to  him,  and  to 
laud  to  the  skies  whatever  he  does.  He  has  swept  over  the  govern- 
ment, during  the  last  eight  years,  like  a  tropical  tornado.  Eveiy 
department  exhibits  traces  of  the  ravages  of  the  storm.  Take,  « 
one  example,  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.     No  institution  cooU 


OK  THK  KXrUMCIirG  BESOLUTION.  811 

have  been  more  popular  with  the  people,  with  Congress,  and  with 
State  Legislatures.  None  ever  better  fulfilled  the  great  purposes  of 
its  establishment.  But  it  unfortunately  incurred  the  displeasure  o{ 
Uie  President ;  he  spoke,  and  the  Bank  lies  prostrate.  And  those 
who  were  loudest  in  its  praise  are  now  loudest  in  its  condemnatioa* 
What  object  of  his  ambition  is  unsatisfied  ?  When  disabled  from  age 
any  longer  to  hold  the  sceptre  of  ppwer,  he  denignates  his  successofi 
and  transmits  it  to  his  favorite.  What  more  does  he  want.  Must 
we  blot,  deface  and  mutilate  the  records  of  the  country  to  punish 
the  presumptuousness  of  expressing  an  opinion  contrary  to  his  own. 

What  patriotic  purprse  is  to  be  accomplished  by  this  expunging 
resolution  ?  Can  you  make  that  not  to  be  which  has  been  ?  Can 
you  eradicate  from  memory  and  from  history  the  fact,  that  in  March, 
1834,  f  majority  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  passed  the  reso- 
lution which  excites  your  enmity  ?  Is  it  your  vain  and  wicked  object 
to  arrogate  to  youselves  that  power  of  annihilating  the  past  which 
has  been  denied  to  Omnipotence  itself?  Do  you  intend  to  thrust  yout 
hands  into  our  hearts,  and  to  pluck  out  the  deeply  rooted  conviction! 
which  are  there  ?  or  is  it  your  design  merely  to  stigmatize  us  ?  Yoq 
cannot  stigmatize  US. 

**  NeVr  yet  did  Imubc  dishonor  blur  our  name." 

Standing  securely  upon  our  conscious  rectitude,  and  bearing  aloft 
ihe  shield  of  the  constitution  of  our  country,  your  puny  eficirts  are 
fanpotent,  and  we  defy  ail  your  power.  Put  the  majority  of  1834  in 
oae  seale,  and  that  by  which  this  expunging  resolution  b  to  be  car* 
ried  in  the  other,  and  let  truth  and  justice,  in,  heaven  above  and  on 
tjie  earth  below,  and  liberty  and  patriotism  decide  the  preponderance. 

What  patriotic  purpose  is  to  be  accomplished  by  this  expunging  ? 
b  it  to  oppeaee  the  wrath,  and  to  heal  the  wounded  pi  ide  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate  ?  If  he  be  really  the  hero  that  his  friends  represent  him, 
be  must  despise  all  mean  condescension,  all  grovelling  sycophancy, 
all  self-degradation,  and  self-abasement.  He  would  reject  with  scorn 
and  contempt,  as  unworthy  of  his  fame,  your  black  scratches,  and 
your  baby  lines  in  the  fair  records  of  his  country.  Black  tines ! 
Black  lines  ?  Sir,  1  hope  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  will  preserve 
the  pen  with  which  he  may  inscribe  them,  and  present  it  to  that  Sen- 
ator of  the  minority  whom  he  nwy  select,  as  a  proud  trophy,  to  be 


81d  fFBGcms  OF  hsurt  glat. 

transmitted  to  his  descendants.  And  hereafter,  when  we  shall  lam 
ibe  forms  of  our  free  institutions,  all  that  now  remain  to  tm^someib- 
Inre  American  monarch,  in  gratitude  to  those  hy  whose  means  he  bat 
been  enabled,  upon  the  ruins  of  civil  liberty,  to  erect  a  throne,  and  to 
commemorate  especially  this  expunging  i^esolutton,  may  institute  m 
new  order  of  knighthood,  and  confer  on  it  the  appropriate  name  of  tba 
knight  of  the  black  lines. 

But  why  should  I  detain  the  Senate  or  needlessly  waste  my  breath 
in  fruitless  exertions.  The  decree  has  gone  forth.  It  is  one  of  m^ 
gency,  too.  The  deed  is  to  be  done — that  foul  deed,  like  the  blood- 
stained hands  of  the  guilty  Macbeth,  all  ocean's  waters  will  never 
wash  out.  Proceed,  then,  to  the  noble  work  which  lies  before  you, 
and  like  other  skilful  executioners^  do  it  quickly.  And  when  yOia 
have  perpetrated  it,  go  home  to  the  people,  and  tell  them  whs^  glori^ 
ens  honors  you  have  achieved  for  our  common  country.  Tell  them 
that  you  have  extinguished  one  of  the  brightest  and  purest  lights  thit 
ever  burnt  at  the  altar  of  civil  liberty.  Tell  them  that  you  have 
silenced  one  of  the  noblest  batteries  that  ever  thundered  in  defence 
of  the  constitution,  and  bravely  spiked  the  cannon.  Tell  them  thtt, 
henceforward,  no  matter  what  daring  or  outrageous  act  any  Presid^nC 
may  perform,  you  have  forever  hermetically  sealed  the  mouth  of  the 
Senate.  Tell  them  that  he  may  fearlessly  assume  what  power  he 
please»— snatch  from  its  lawful  custody  the  public  purse,  command  a 
military  detachment  to  enter  the  halls  of  the  capitol,  overawe  Co»- 
gresS)  trample  down  the  constitution,  and  raze  every  bulwark  dhv^ 
dom ;  but  that  the  Senate  must  stand  mute,  in  silent  submissioii^  and 
not  dare  to  raise  its  opposing  voice.  That  it  must  wait  until  a  Hooaa 
of  Representatives,  humbled  and  subdued  like  itself,  and  a  roajoti|y 
of  it  composed  of  the  partisans  of  the  President,  shall  prefer  articles 
of  impeachment.  Tell  them  finally,  that  you  have  restored  the  glo- 
rious doctrine  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance,  and,  if  the 
people  do  not  pour  out  their  indignation  and  imprecations,  I  hare  jal 
to  learn  the  character  of  American  freemen. 


ON  THE  SUB-TREASURY. 


Iv  TUK  Senate  of  the  United  States,  September  25  1837. 


[The  SutQ  Bank  Deposite  wyUtm  of  kef  ping  and  disbuTBioff  the  Public  Montjt 
having  ezploded  on  t|ie  genera]  suapeiiBion  of  Specie  Payments  by  the  Banki 
Ihroughont  the  Coontry  in  May,  1887,  leaving  the  government  nearly  deatitnte  «f 
pecuniary  means  or  financial  machinery,  Mr.  Vau  Bomur  (then  newly  inaugurated 
as  President)  promptly  summoned  the  new  Congress  to  m^et  in  Washington  on  the 
fint  Monday  of  September  of  that  year.  Although  the  Elections  alier  the  suspen- 
tlon  went  h^vtly  against  htm,  yet  the  previous  choice  of  members  from  one  half 
*iie  States,  indudng  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Viiginia,  and  Ohio,  had  secured  to 
.  his  Administration  a  decided  preponderance  in  each  House.  Congress  assembled  on 
the  4th,  and  the  Preadent  in  his  message  submitted  the  fiscal  plan  known  as  idle 
tvoBPEimtirT  TniAiunv  or  Sub-Treasury,  for  the  collection,  safe  keeping,  and  Sb- 
«ltaneroeBt  of  the  Public  Moneys  entirely  '  divorced*  from  Banks.  A  bill  embodyiag 
this  proposition  having  been  reported  to  the  Senate,  from  its  Committe  on  Finaaoe 
by  Mr.  Wrioht  of  New  York,  upon  its  consideration  >&.  Clat  addressed  the  Ses- 
ate  as  follows :] 

Fesltno  an  anxfoas  derire  to  see  some  efl^taal  plan  presented  to 
correct  the  disorders  in  the  cnrrency,  and  to  restore  the  prosperity  of 
the  conntry,  I  have  avoided  precipitating  myself  into  the  debate  now 
in  progress,  that  I  may  attentively  examine  every  remedy  that 
may  be  proposed,  and  impartially  weigh  every  consideration  ui^ged 
in  its  support.  No  period  has  ever  existed  in  this  coontry,  in  whldi 
the  future  was  covered  by  a  darker,  denser,  or  more  impenetrable 
g^oom.  None,  in  which  the  duty  was  more  imperative  to  discard  aO 
passion  and  prejudice,  all  party  ties,  and  previous  bias,  and  look  ex* 
dnsively  to  the  good  of  our  afflicted  country.  In  one  respect,  and  I 
think  it  a  fbrtimate  one — our  present  difficulties  are  distinguishabte 
ftom  former  domestic  trouble,  and  that  is  their  universality.  They 
sore  felt  it  is  true,  in  difierent  degrees,  but  they  reach  every  sectioai, 
every  State,  every  interest,  almost  every  man  in  the  Union.  AU 
ftel,  see,  hear,  know  their  existence.  As  they  do  not  turay,  like  o«r 
tinner  divisions,  one  portion  of  the  confederacy  against  another,  it  is 
U  be  hoped  that  commoti  snftriqgs  may  lead  to  oommott  sympstidiiaa 


814  fPECCHBS  OF    HCNRT   CLAT. 

wad  common  counsels,  and  that  we  shall,  at  no  distant  day,  be  able  to 
see  a  clear  way  of  deli verc nee.  If  the  present  state  of  the  countiy 
•were  produced  by  the  fault  of  the  people ;  if  it  proceeded  from  their 
wasteful  extravagance,  and  their  indulgence  of  a  reckless  spirit  of 
ruinous  speculation  ;  if  public  measures  had  no  agency  whatever  m 
bringing  it  about,  it  would  nevertheless  be  the  duty  of  government  to 
exert  all  its  energies  and  to  employ  all  its  legitimate  powers  to  deviao 
aB  efficacious  remedy.  But  if  our  present  deplorable  conditioo  hat 
sprung  from  our  rulers  ;  if  it  is  to  be  clearly  traced  to  their  acta  and 
operations,  that  duty  becomes  infinitely  more  obligatory  ;  and  gov 
ernment  would  be  faithless  to  the  highest  and  most  solemn  of  hunuui 
!trusts  should  It  neglect  to  perform  it.  And  is  it  not  too  true  that  tho 
evils  which  surround  us  are  to  be  ascribed  to  those  who  have  had 
the  conduct  of  our  public  afiiEurs  ? 

In  glancing  at  the  past,  nothing  can  be  further  from  my  intentkA 
than  to  excite  angry  feelings,  or  to  find  grounds  of  reproach.  U 
ifould  be  far  more  congenial  to  my  wishes  that,  on  this  occasion  wo 
should  forget  all  former  unhappy  divisions  and  animosities.  But  ia 
order  to  discover  how  to  get  out  of  our  difficulties,  we  must  anrrrtaia 
if  we  can  how  we  got  into  them. 

Prior  to  that  series  of  unfortunate  measures  which  had  for  its  ob- 
ject the  overthrow  of  the  £ank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  discontinu- 
ance of  its  fiscal  agency  for  the  government,  no  people  upon  earth  evar 
enjoyed  a  better  currency,  or  had  exchanges  better  regulated  than  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  Our  monetary  system  appeared  to  have 
attained  as  great  perfection  as  anything  human  can  possibly  reach. 
The  combination  of  United  States  and  local  Banks  preseuted  a  true 
Una^e  of  our  system  of  general  and  State  governments,  and  worked 
quite  as  well.  !Not  only  within  the  country  had  we  a  local  and  gco- 
eral  currency  perfectly  sound,  but  in  whatever  quarter  of  the  globe 
American  commerce  had  penetrated,  there  also  did  the  bills  of  the 
United  States  Bank  command  unbounded  credit  and  confidence.  Nov 
we  are  in  danger  of  having  fixed  upon  us,  indefinitely  as  to  time,  ths(t 
medium,  an  irredeemable  paper  currency,  which,  by  the  universal 
consent  of  the  commercial  world,  is  regarded  as  the  worst.  How 
has  this  reverse  come  upon  us  ?  Can  it  be  doubted  that  it  is  the  !»> 
ault  of  those  measures  to  which  1  have  adverted  ?  When,  at  the  veiy 
moment  of  adopting  them^  the  very  consequences  which  bave  faa^ 


Oir  TBS  tVB-TBBAtnBT.  S16 

jpened  were  foretold  at  ineTitable,  ii  it  necessafy  to  look  elsewhere 
fer  their  cause  ?  Never  waa  prediction  more  distinctly  made ;  neTer 
#as  fulfilment  more  literal  and  exact. 

Let  us  suppose  that  those  measures  had  not  been  adopted ;  that 
die  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  heen  rechartered  ;  that  the  public 
deposites  had  remained  undisturbed ;  and  that  the  treasury  order  had 
sever  issued :  is  there  not  every  reason  to  believe  that  we  should  be 
sow  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  sound  currency ;  that  the  public  deposites 
would  be  now  safe  and  forthcoming,  and  that  the  suspension  of  specie 
payments  in  May  last  would  not  have  happened  ? 

The  President's  message  asserts  that  the  suspension  has  poceeded 
from  over-action,  over*trading,  the  indulgence  of  a  spirit  of  speculation 
produced  by  bank  and  other  facilities.  I  think  this  is  a  view  of  the 
case  entirely  too  superficial.  It  would  be  quite  as  correct  and  just, 
10  the  instance  of  a  homicide  perpetrated  by  the  discharge  of  a  gun,  to 
•liege  that  the  leaden  ball,  and  not  the  man  who  levelled  the  piece, 
was  responsible  for  the  murder.  The  true  inquiry  is,  how  came  that 
excessive  over-trading  and  those  extensive  bank  facilities  which  the 
■aossage  describes  ?  Were  they  not  the  necessary  and  immediate 
consequences  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Bank,  and  the  removal  from  its 
custody  of  the  public  deposites  }  And  is  not  this  proven  by  the  vast 
flftultiplicalion  of  banks,  the  increase  of  the  line  of  their  discounts  and 
accommodations,  prompted  and  stimulated  by  Secretary  Taney,  and 
the  great  augmentation  of  their  circulation  which  ensued  ? 

What  occurred  in  the  State  of  Kentucky  in  consequence  of  the  veto 
of  the  recharter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  illustrates  its  efiects 
tfuroughout  the  Union.  That  State  had  suflered  greatly  by  banks.  It 
was  generally  opposed  to  the  re-esfablishment  of  them.  It  had  found 
the  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  answering  all  the  purposes 
of  a  sound  currency  at  home  and  abroad,  and  it  was  perfectly  con- 
tented with  them.  At  the  period  of  the  veto,  it  had  but  a  single 
bank  of  limited  capital  and  circulation.  After  it,  the  State,  reluctant 
to  engage  in  the  banking  system,  and  atill  cherishing  hopes  of  the 
creation  of  a  new  Bank  of  the  United  States,  encouraged  by  the  sup- 
porters of  the  late  President^  hesitated  about  the  incorporation  of  new 
tadiks.  But  at  length,  despairing  of  the  establishment  of  a  Bank  of 
tm  United  Statea,  and  fiodbg-  itself  expoeed  to  a  currency  in  beak 


Ifffi  fFSIGHES  or  BXMJIT  CLAT. 

jUptes  from  adjacent  States,  it  proceeded  to  establish  banks  of  its  owi; 
9X4  since  the  veto,  since  1S33,  has  incorporated  for  that  single  Stmfei 
bank  capital  to  the  amount  of  ten  millions  of  dollars — a  sum  eqiif)  It 
the  capital  of  the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States  created  for  the  whoU 
IJnion. 

Thai  the  local  banks,  to  which  the  deposites  were  transferred  fion 
tibe  Bank  of  the  United  States,  were  urged  and  stimulated  freelj  to 
discount  upon  them,  we  have  record  evidence  from  the  treasoiy  dfr- 
partment. 

The  message,  to  reconcile  us  to  our  misfortunes,  and  to  exonerala 
(be  measures  of  our  own  government  from  all  blame  in  producing  the 
present  state  of  things,  refers  to  the  condition  of  Europe,  and 
^ly  to  that  of  Great  Britain.     It  allcdges  that, 


«c 


In  both  countriet  we  hart  witnessed  the  same  redundancy  oi paper ^ 
•iher  facilities  of  credit :  the  snme  Sfiirit  of  iH>ccnlation  ;  the  tame  partial 
t^e  aame  dilficuUiesandTevcwes;  and,  at  length,  nearly  the  aame  oven 
catastrophe.** 

The  very  clear  and  able  argument  of  the  Senator  from  Geoq^ 
(Mr.  King)  relieves  me  fiom  the  nt^cessity  of  saying  much  upon  this 
part  of  the  subject.  It  appears  that  during  the  period  referred  to  fay 
the  message  of  1833-4-5,  there  was,  in  finct,  no  augmentation,  or  • 
Tery  trifling  augmentation,  of  the  circulation  of  the  country,  and  tlMl 
the  message  has  totally  misconceived  the  actual  state  of  things  a 
Great  Britain.  According  to  the  publications  to  which  1  have  had 
access,  the  Bank  of  England  in  fact  diminished  its  circulation,  com- 
p^ing  the  first  with  the  last  of  that  period,  about  two  and  a  half 
Billions  sterling ;  and  although  the  joint-stock  and  private  banks  in* 
pleased  theirs,  the  amount  of  increase  was  neutralized  by  the  amooal 
gf  diminution 

If  the  state  of  things  were  really  identical,  or  similar,  in  the  tWQ 
countries,  it  would  be  fitir  to  trace  it  to  similarity  of  causes.  But  is 
tbat  the  case  }  In  Great  Britain  a  sound  currency  was  presenred  hf 
ft  recharter  of  the  Bank  of  England  about  the  same  time  that  the  r^ 
charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  agitated  here.  In  thi 
United  States  we  have  not  preserved  a  sound  currency,  in  const* 
quence  of  the  veto.  If  Great  Britain  were  near  the  same  catastrapha 
(Iba  su^iensiun  of  specie  payments)  wbioh  occomd  liere,sbe  iift?«i» 


OK  TBI  WQ»^V9iMA»VMt.  Mf 

tfialess  ucaped  it;  and  this  di6fereiice  in  tke  condition  of  the  two 
countries  makes  all  the  diflference  in  the  world.  Great  Britain  has 
recovered  from  whatever  mercantile  diatreases  she  experienced ;  we 
have  not ;  and  when  shall  we  ?  All  is  bright^  and  cheerfol,  and  en- 
couraging in  the  prospects  which  lie  before  her ;  and  the  reverse  is 
our  unfortunate  situation. 


Great  Britain  has,  in  truth,  experienced  only  those  temporary 
barrassments  which  are  incident  to  commercial  transactions,  conduct- 
ed upon  the  scale  of  vast  magnitude  on  which  hecs  are  carried  ott- 
Prosperous  and  adverse  times,  action  and  reaction,  are  the  lot  of  all 
commercial  countries.  But  our  distresses  sink  deeper ;  they  reach 
the  heart,  which  has  ceased  to  perform  its  office  of  circulation  in  the 
great  conceriu  of  our  body  politic 


Whatever  of  embarrassment  Europe  hasxecently  experienced,  maf 
be  satii>factoriIy  explained  by  its  trade  and  connexions  with  thi 
United  States.  The  degree  of  embarrassment  has  been  marked,  in 
the  commercial  countries  there,  by  the  degree  of  their  connexion  with 
the  United  States.  All,  or  almost  all,  the  great  fiedlures  in  Europe 
have  been  of  houses  engird  in  the  American  trade.  Great  Britaiai 
which,  as  the  message  justly  observes,  m^ntains  the  closest  relationa 
with  us,  has  sufl^red  moat,  France  next,  and  so  on,  in  the  order  of 
their  greater  or  less  commercial  intercourse  with  us.  Most  truly 
was  it  said  by  the  Senator  from  Greorgia,  that  the  recent  embarraas- 
ments  of  Europe  were  the  embarraagments  of  a  creditor,  from  whom 
payment  was  withheld  by  the  debtor,  and  from  whom  the  preciooa 
metals  have  been  unnecessarily  withdrawn  by  thepdicy  of  the  aame 
4cJi)tor. 

Since  the  intensity  of  sufl)?iing,  and  the  disastrous  state  of  thioga  ia 
this  country,  have  far  transcended  anything  that  has  occurred  in 
Burope,  we  must  look  here  for  some  peculiar  and  more  potent  causes 
than  any  which  have  been  in  operation  there.  They  are  to  be  fonad 
in  that  seriea  of  measures  to  which  I  liave  already  adverted. 

lat.  The  veto  of  the  Bank. 

2A.  The  removal  of  the  depoaites,  with  the  uigent  injunction  of 
fltpwtaiy  Taney  iwon  the  banhe  to  enlaigif  their  apeommodatioMk 


•18  •rmwcnwB  or  RS5Bt  clat. 

'    3d.  The  gold  bill,  and  the  deoiftDd  of  gold  for  the  foreign  indeamiliei 
4th.  The  clmnt y  execution  of  the  deposite  law ;  and 

6th.  The  treasury  order  of  July,  1836. 

[Here  Mr.  CLAr  w^nt  into  an  eztminttioD  of  thesr  mparam  to  ihow  that  ths 
iallated  cond'uiun  oi  tlie  counUy,  the  wild  qiecnhftiiont,  which  had  ritea  to  iMv 
height  when  they  began  to  be  checked  by  the  |ire|>anition«  ol'  the  local  bank*  iieec» 
tarjr  to  meet  tbe  depoeite  law  of  Jud«*,  1S6,  the  final  auspension  of  specie  paymeBli^ 
•ad  the  eomeqaeiit  diaorden  in  the  eonmcy,  comrnetee,  and  general  buameaa  •f 
Ika  oouatiy,  were  all  to  be  traced  to  the  iotloence  of  the  measuieteoumrralcd.  Al 
iheae  caasca  operated  immediately,  directly,  and  powerfuUy  upon  ob,  and  ibeir 
tffecU  were  indirectly  felt  in  Europe.] 

The  message  imputes  to  the  deposite  law,  an  agency  in  prodociiig 
the  existing  embarrassments.  This  is  a  chai^  frequently  made  bj 
the  friends  of  the  administration  against  that  law.  It  is  true  thai 
the  Banks  having  increased  their  accommodations,  in  conformity  with 
die  orders  of  Secretary  Taney,  it  might  not  have  been  convenient  to 
recall  and  pay  them  over  for  public  use.  It  is  true,  also,  that  the 
manner  in  which  the  law  was  executed  by  the  treasury  departmeal^ 
transferring  large  sums  from  creditor  to  debtor  portions  of  the  coun- 
try, without  regard  to  the  commerce  or  business  of  the  country  migjhl 
have  aggravated  the  inconvenience.  But  what  do  those  who  object 
t6  the  law  think  ought  to  have  been  done  with  the  surpluses  which 
had  accumulated,  and  were  daily  augmenting  to  such  an  enormous 
amount  in  the  hands  of  the  deposite  banks  ?  Were  they  to  be  incor- 
porated with  their  capital,  and  remain  there  for  the  benefit  of  the 
stockholders  ?  Was  it  not  proper  and  just,  that  they  should  be  ap- 
plied to  the  uses  of  the  people  from  whom  they  were  collected.^ 
And  whenever  and  however  taken  from  the  deposite  banks,  would 
not  inconvenience  necessarily  happen  ? 

The  message  asserts  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  chartered 
by  Pennsylvania,  has  not  been  able  to  save  itself  or  to  chtrck  other 
institutions,  notwithstanding  **  the  still  greater  strength  it  has  beei 
■aid  to  possess  under  its  present  charter.''  That  Bank  is  now  a  mere 
State  or  local  institution.  Why  is  it  referred  to  mote  than  the  Bank 
of  Virginia,  or  any  other  local  institution  ?  The  exalted  station 
#hich  the  President  fills  forbids  the  indulgence  of  the  suppositioO| 
diat  the  aUution  has  been  neade  to  enable  the  administration  to  prafil 


OV  THB  SU»TRIAflUftT«  810 

4f  the  prejodices  vhich  have  been  excited  ngainst  it.  Wai  it  the 
Aity  of  that  baok,  more  than  any  other  State  Bank,  to  check  the 
local  institutiona  ?  Waa  it  not  even  under  1<*88  obligation  to  do  ao 
than  the  deposite  banka,  aelected  and  fixitered  bj  the  general  govem- 
nent? 

But  bow  could  tlie  meaiage  venture  to  asserti  that  it  haa  greater 
atrength  than  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  Stutea  poaaeayed  ?  What- 
ever may  be  the  liberality  of  the  conditiona  of  its  charter,  it  ia  impoa- 
^ble  that  any  aingle  State  could  confer  upon  it  (acuUiea  equal  to  those 
granted  to  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States — 6rat,  in  making  it  the 
aole  depository  of  the  revenue  of  the  United  States  ;  and  secondly,  in 
iMiking  its  notes  receivable  in  the  payment  of  all  public  dues.  If  a 
•Bank  of  the  United  States  had  existed,  it  would  bare  had  ample 
aotice  of  the  accumulation  of  public  moneys  in  the  local  banics,  aiMl, 
bfj  timely  measures  of  precaution,  it  could  have  prevented  the  specu- 
lative uses  to  which  they  were  applied.  Such  ao  inatitution  would 
fcave  been  bound  by  its  relations  to  the  government,  to  observe  its 
appropriations  and  financial  arrangement  and  wants,  and  to  hold  itaelf 
always  ready  promptly  to  meet  them.  It  would  have  drawn  together 
gradually,  but  certainly,  the  publk;  moneys,  however  dispersed.  Re-» 
aponsibility  would  have  been  concentrated  upon  it  alone,  instead  of 
being  weakened  or  lost  by  diffusion  among  some  eighty  or  nine^ 
local  banks,  despersed  throughout  the  country,  and  acting  without 
any  effective  concert 

A  subordinate  but  not  unimportant  cause  of  the  evils  which  al 
present  encompass  us,  has  been  the  course  of  the  late  administration 
towards  the  compromise  act.  The  great  principle  of  that  act,  in  re- 
qpect  to  our  domestic  industry,  was  its  stability.  It  was  intended 
aod  hoped  that,  by  withdrawing  the  tariff  from  their  annual  discus- 
afetti  in  Congress,  of  which  it  had  been  the  fruitfql  topic,  our  manu- 
fictures  would  have  a  certainty,  for  a  long  period,  as  to  the  measure 
af  protection,  extended  to  them  by  its  proviifions,  which  would  com- 
pensate any  reduction  in  the  amount  contained  in  prior  acts.  For  a 
year  or  two  after  it  was  adopted,  the  late  admini.Htration  manifested 
a  dispositkni  to  respect  it,  as  an  arrangement  which  was  to  be  invio- 
lable. But,  for  some  time  past,  it  haS  l>een  constantly  threatened  from 
that  quarter,  and  a  settled  purpose  has  been  displayed  to  disregard 
ks  conditions.    Those  who  had  an  agency  in  bringing  it  fiMrwvd,  ufd 


400  tPSBOHBS  OF  HEXmr  CLAT 

carrying  it  through  Congress,. bare  been  held  up  to  animadTenrioB ;  1} 
Jim  been  declared  by  memberiy  high  in  the  confidence  of  the  adniM- 
•Iralion  in  both  Houses,  to  possess  no  obligatory  force  beyond  ani^ 
«dinary  act  of  legislation,  and  new  adjustments  of  the  tariff  ha)f% 
been  proposed  in  both  Houses,  in  direct  contravention  of  the'  priMS* 
pies  of  the  compromise  ;  and,  at  the  last  session,  one  of  them  actii> 
ally  passed  the  Senate,  against  the  most  earnest  entreaty  and 
tftranee.  A  portion  of  the  Sooth  has  not  united  in  these  attacks 
4ie  compromise ;  and  I  take  pleasure  in  saying,  that  the  two  Senatan 
Aom  South  Carolina,  especially,  have  uniformly  exhibited  a  vesoh^ 
iM»  to  adhere  to  it  with  perfect  honor  and  fidelity. 

The  efSbct  of  those  constant  threats  and  attacks,  coming  fit>m  thoM 
high  in  power,  has  been  most  injurious.  They  have  shown  to  Ihii 
aaanufaotoriag  interest  that  no  certain  reliance  was  to  be  placed  opoa 
the  steadiness  of  the  policy  of  the  government,  no  matter  under  whai 
iaiemn  circumstances  it  was  adopted.  That  interest  has  taken  all 
aew  enterprises  have  been  arrested,  old  ones  curtailed ;  and  at 
■Kmient  it  is  the  most  prostrate  of  all  the  interests  in  the  oonnliy. 
One-half  in  amount,  as  I  have  been  informed,  of  the  manufiictami 
tfiiougbout  the  country  have  actually  suspended  operations, 
those  who  have  not,  chiefly  confine  themselves  to  working  np 
itock  on  hand. 

The  consequence  has  been,  that  we  have  made  too  little  at  home, 
and  purebred  too  much  abroad.  This  has  augmented  that  foreign 
fcbt,  the  existence  of  which  so  powetfully  contributed  to  the  sus- 
pension, and  yet  forms  an  obstacle  to  the  resumption  of  specie  pcf- 
nents. 

The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun)  attributed  Ite 
creation  of  the  sivrplos  revenue  to  the  tariflT  policy,  and  especially  ta 
the  acts  of  1824  and  1 828.  I  do  not  perceive  any  advantage,  on  Urn 
present  occasion,  in  reviving  or  alluding  to  th6  former  diasensioas 
which  prevailed  on  the  subject  of  that  policy.  They  were  all  settled 
and  quieted  by  the  great  healing  measure  (the  compromise)  to  wbieh 
1  have  referred.  By  that  act  I  have  been  willing  and  ready  to  abide. 
And  f  have  desired  only  that  it  should  be  observed  and  executed  imm 
spirit  of  good  faith  and  fidelity  similar  to  that  by  which  I  have 
ter  actuated  towards  it 


I 


mr  TBK  nrB-TREASUBT.  9M 

The  act  of  1828  was  no  mpasure  of  the  friends  of  the  mairafactu* 
ran.  Its  [Masage  was  forced  by  a  coalition  between  their  secret  and 
open  opponents.  But  the  system  of  protection  of  American  industry 
did  not  cause  the  surplus.  It  proceeded  from  the  extraordinary  rules 
of  the  public  lands.  The  receipts,  from  all  sources  other  than  that 
of  the  public  lands,  and  expenditures  of  the  years  1833-4-5-6,  (dar- 
ing which  the  surplus  was  accumulating)  both  amount  to  about 
eighty-s^ven  millions  of  dollars ;  thus  clearly  showiag  that  the  cus- 
toms only  supplied  the  necessary  means  of  public  disbursement,  and 
that  it  was  the  public  domain  that  produced  the  surplus. 

If  the  land  bill  had  been  allowed  to  go  into  operation,  it  would 
hare  distributed  generally  and  regularly  among  the  several  States 
the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  as  they  would  haye  been  received 
from  time  to  time.  They  would  have  returned  back  in  small  streams 
similar  to  those  by  which  they  have  been  collected,  animating,  and' 
improving,  and  fhictifying  the  whole  country.  There  would  have 
been  no  vast  surplus  to  embarrass  the  government;  no  removal 
of  deposites  from  the  Bank  of  .the  United  States  to  the  deposite 
banks,  to  disturb  the  business  of  the  country ;  no  accumulations  in 
the  deposite  banks  of  immense  sums  of  public  money,  augmented  by 
the  circuit  it  was  performing  between  the  land  offices  and  the  banks, 
and  the  banks  and  the  land  offices ;  no  occasion  for  the  Secfetary  of 
the  Treasury  to  lash  the  deposite  banks  into  the  grant  of  inordinate ' 
accommodations  ;  and  possibly  there  would  have  been  no  suspensioc 
of  specie  payments.  But  that  bill  was  suppressed  by  a  most  extras 
ordinary  and  dangerous  exercise  of  executive  power. 

The  cause  of  our  present  difficulties  may  be  stated  in  another  wbj. 
During  the  late  administration  we  have  been  deprived  of  the  practi- 
cal benefit  of  a  free  government ;  the  forms,  it  is  true,  remained  and 
were  observed,  but  the  essence  did  not  exist.  In  a  free,  or  self-gov* 
ernmcnt,  the  collected  wisdom,  the  aggregate  wisdom  of  the  whole,  or 
at  least  of  a  majority,  moulds  and  directs  the  course  of  public  affairs. 
In  a  despotbm  the  will  of  a  single  individual  governs.  In  a  practi- 
cally free  government,  the  nation  controls  the  chief  magistrate ;  in 
an  arbitrary  government,  the  chief  ma^trate  control!  the  nation. 
And  has  not  this  been  our  situation  in  the  period  mentioned  ?  Has 
not  one  man  forced  his  will  on  the  nation  ?  Have  not  all  these  dis* 
astrous  measures — the  veto  of  the  bank ;  the  removal  of  the  dep<^ 


) 


an  •PKECnn  OP  HI1VRT   CLAT. 

■iies ;  the  rejection  of  the  land  bill^  and  the  treasury  order,  whidi 
have  Jed  to  our  present  unfortunate  condition,  been  adopted,  in  spile 
of  the  wishes  of  the  country,  and  in  opposition,  probably,  to  tbom 
of  the  dominant  party  itself? 

Our  misfortune  has  not  been  the  want  of  wisdom,  but  of  finnneM. 
The  party  in  power  would  not  have  governed  the  country  very  ill^ 
if  it  had  been  allowed  its  own  way.  Its  fatal  error  has  been  to  lead 
its  sanction,  and  to  bestow  its  subsequent  applause  and  support  upos 
executive  acts  which,  in  their  origin,  it  previously  deprecated  or  con* 
demned.  We  have  been  shocked  and  grieved  to  see  whole  legisl^ 
live  bodies  and  commimities  approving  and  lauding  the  rejection  of 
the  very  measures  which  previously  they  had  unanimously  recon- 
mended  !  To  see  whole  States  abandoning  their  loog-cherisbed  poll- 
cy  and  best  interests  in  subserviency  to  the  executive  pleasure !  And 
the  numberless  examples  of  individuals  who  have  surrendered  their 
independence,  must  inflict  pain  in  every  patriot  bosom,  A  single  caM 
forces  itself  upon  my  recollection  as  an  illustration,  to  which  1  do  not 
advert  from  any  unkind  feelings  towards  the  gentleman  to  whom  I 
refer,  between  whom  and  myself  civil  and  courteous  relations  have 
ever  existed.  The  memorial  of  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
praying  for  a  recharter,  was  placed  in  his  hands,  and  he  presented  It 
to  the  Senate.  He  carried  the  recharter  through  the  Senate.  The  veld 
came  ;  and,  in  two  or  three  weeks  afterwards,  we  behold  the  same  Sea* 
ator  at  the  head  of  an  assembly  of  the  people  in  the  state-house  yard,  ia 
Philadelphia,  applauding  the  veto,  and  condemning  the  bank— ^os*- 
demning  his  own  act !  Motives  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  the  human  eye, 
and  it  does  not  belong  to  me  to  say  what  they  were  which  prompted 
this  self-casligation,  and  this  praise  of  the  destruction  of  his  owe 
work  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  overlook  the  fact  that  this  same  Sen^ 
tor,  in  due  time,  received  from  the  author  of  the  veto  the  giA  of  • 
splendid  foieign  mission ! 

The  moral  deducible  from  the  past  is,  that  our  free  institutiong  ert 
superior  to  all  others,  and  can  be  preserved  in  their  purity  and  excel- 
lence  only  upon  the  stern  condition  that  we  shall  for  ever  hold  Ibe 
obligations  of  patriotism  paramount  to  all  the  ties  of  party,  and  to  in- 
dividual dictation;  and  that  we  shall  never  openly  approve  what  we 
secretly  condemn. 


Id  this  rapid,  and  I  hope  not  faligaing  review  of  the  causes  which 
I  Ihiok  have  brought  upon  us  existing  embarrassments,  1  repeat  thai 
it  has  been  for  no  purpose  of  reproaching  or  criminating  those  who 
have  haJ  the  conduct  of  our  public  afikirs ;  but  to  discover  tha 
means  by  which  the  present  crisis  hss  been  produced,  with  a  view  to 
ascertain,  if  possible,  what  (which  b  by  far  much  more  important) 
should  be  done  by  Congress  to  avert  its  injurious  eflects.  And  thit 
brings  me  to  consider  the  remedy  proposed  by  the  administration. 

The  great  evil  under  which  the  country  labors  is  the  suspension  of 
the  banks  to  pay  specie  ;  the  total  derangement  in  all  domestic  ex- 
changes ;  and  the  paralysis  which  has  come  over  the  whole  busineia 
of  the  country.  In  regard  to  the  currency,  it  is  not  that  a  given 
amount  of  bank  notes  will  not  now  command  as  much  as  the  sam^ 
amount  of  specie  would  have  done  prior  to  the  suspension  ;  but  it  ia 
the  future,  the  danger  of  an  inconvertible  paper  money  being  in- 
definitely or  permanently  fixed  upon  the  people,  that  fills  them  with 
apprehensions.  Our  great  object  should  be  to  re-establish  a  sound  cur- 
rency, and  thereby  to  restore  the  exchanges,  and  revive  the  busineif 
of  thi  country. 

The  first  impression  which  the  measures  brought  forward  by  the 
administration  make,  is,  that  they  eoosist  of  temporary  expediently 
looking  to  the  supply  of  the  necessities  of  the  treasury  ;  or,  so  far  aa 
any  of  them  possess  a  permanent  character,  its  tendency  is  rathef  to 
aggravate  than  alleviate  the  suflerings  of  the  people.  None  of  them 
proposes  to  rectify  the  disorders  in  the  actual  currency  of  the  country ; 
but  the  people,  the  States,  and  their  banks,  are  left  to  shifl  for  them- 
selves as  they  may  or  can.  The  administration,  after  having  inter* 
vened  between  the  States  and  their  banks,  and  taken  thtm  into  their 
federal  service,  without  the  consent  of  the  States ;  after  having  pufied 
and  praised  them  ;  after  having  brought  them,  or  contributed  to  bnng 
them,  into  their  present  situation,  now  suddenly  turns  its  back  upoa 
them,  leaving  them  to  their  fate !  It  is  not  content  with  that ;  it  must 
absolutely  discredit  their  issues.  And  the  very  people  who  were  told 
by  the  administration  that  these  banks  would  supply  them  with  a 
better  currency,  are  now  left  to  Struggle  as  they  can  with  the  very 
currency  which  the  government  recommended  to  thorn,  but  which  it 
now  refuses  itself  to  receive ! 


884  ipncHM  OT  lunrmr  c&at. 

The  professed  object  of  the  tdministration  is  to  establish  what  it 
Imns  the  currency  of  the  constitutioa,  which  it  propose  to  aceom* 
{dish  by  restricting  the  federal  goTemment,  in  all  receipts  and  pay* 
ments,  to  the  exclosive  use  of  specie^  and  by  refusing  aii  bank  paper, 
whether  convertible  or  not.  It  disclaims  all  purposes  of  crippling  er 
putting  down  the  banks  of  the  States :  but  we  shall  better  detenniBa 
the  design  or  the  efiect  of  the  measures  recommended  by  conaideriag 
them  together,  as  one  system. 

1/  The  first  is  the  sub* treasuries,  which  are  to  be  made  the  depoai- 
tories  of  all  the  specie  collected  and  paid  out  for  the  service  of  llie 
general  government,  discrediting  and  relusing  all  the  notes  of  tlia 
States,  although  payable  and  paid  in  specie. 

2.  A  bankrupt  law  for  the  United  States,  teyelled  at  all  the  Stale 
banks,  and  authorizing  the  seizure  of  the  effects  of  any  one  cyf  then 
that  stop  payment,  and  the  administration  of  their  effects  under  lbs 
federal  autliority  exclusively* 

3.  A  particular  law  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  by  which  aft  tfaa 
corporations  and  people  of  the  District,  under  severe  pains  and  penal- 
tiea,  are  prohibited  from  circulating,  sixty  days  after  the  passage  of 
therlaw,  any  paper  whatever  not  convertible  into  specie  on  demaad| 
aod  are  made  liable  to  prosecution  by  indictment. 

4.  And  lastly,  the  bill  to  suspend  the  payment  of  the  fourth  instal- 
meat  to  the  States,  by  the  provisions  of  which  the  deposite  banks  in* 
debted  to  the  government  are  placed  at  the  discretion  of  the  Secretsij 
oC  the  Treasury. 

It  is  impossible  to  consider  this  system  without  perceiving  that  it 
if  aimed  at,  and,  if  carried  out,  must  terminate  in,  the  total  subver- 
skm  of  the  State  Banks ;  and  that  they  will  all  be  placed  at  the  mercy' 
of  the  federal  government.  It  is  in  vain  to  protest  that  there- existi 
usi^ketign  against  them.  The  effect  of  those  measures  cannot  be  m^ 
understood. 

And  why  this  new  experiment  or  untried  expedient  ?  The  people 
of  this  country  are  tired  of  experiments.  Ought  not  the  adminisCra* 
tion  itself  to  cease  with  them  ?    Ought  it  not  to  take  warning  frooi 


Oir  TH«  KUB-TKEAtTTRT.  996 

the  eveots  of  recent  elections  ?  Above  all,  rhonld  not  the  Senate, 
constituted  as  it  now  is,  be  the  last  body  to  lend  itself  to  further  ez-* 
peiiments  upon  the  business  and  happiness  of  this  great  people  ?  Ae» 
cording  to  the  latest  expression  of  public  opinion  in  the  several  Statei, 
the  Senate  is  no  longer  a  true  exponent  of  the  will  of  the  States  or 
of  the  people.  If  it  were,  there  would  be  thirtj*twoor  thirtj-fbur 
wbigs  to  eighteen  or  twenty  friends  of  the  administration. 

Is  it  desirable  to  banish  a  convertible  paper  medium,  and  to  substi- 
tute the  precious  metals  as  the  sole  currency  to  be  used  in  all  the 
vast  extent  of  varied  business  of  this  entire  country  ?  I  think  not* 
The  quantity  of  precious  metals  in  the  world,  looking  to  our  (air  dis- 
tributive share  of  them,  is  wholly  insufficient.  A  convertible  paper 
is  a  great  time-saving  and  labor-saving  instrument,  independent  of  its 
superior  advantages  in  transfers  and  remittances.  A  friend  no  longer 
ago  than  yesterday,  informed  me  of  a  single  bank  whose  pajrments 
and  receipts  in  ocTe  day  amounted  to  two  millions  of  dollars.  Whtt 
time  would  not  have  been  necessary  to  count  such  a  vast  sum  ?  The 
payments,  in  the  circle  of  a  year,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  wer#»  6§- 
timated  several  years  ago  at  fifteen  hundred  millions.  How  many 
men  and  how  many  days  would  be  necessary  to  count  such  a  sum  ?  A 
young,  growing,  and  enterprising  people,  like  those  of  the  United 
States,  more  than  any  other,  need  the  use  of  those  credits  which  vre 
Incident  to  a  sound  paper  system.  Credit  is  the  friend  of  indigent 
merit.  Of  all  nations,  Great  Britain  has  most  freely  used  the  credit 
system ;  and  of  all,  she  is  the  most  prosperous.  We  must  cease  to 
be  a  commercial  people ;  we  must  separate,  divorce  ourselves  from 
the  commercial  world,  and  throw  ourselves  back  for  centuries,  if  we 
restrict  our  business  to  the  exclusive  use  of  specie. 

It  is  objected  against  a  convertible  paper  system,  thst  it  is  liable  to 
expansions  and  contractions ;  and  that  the  consequence  is  the  rise  and 
fall  of  prices,  and  sudden  fortunes  or  sudden  ruin.  But  it  is  the  ini- 
portation  or  exportation  of  specie,  which  forms  the  basis  of  paper, 
that  occasions  these  fluctuations.  If  specie  alone  were  the  medium 
of  circulation,  the  same  importation  or  exportation  of  it  would  make 
it  plenty  or  scarce,  and  affect  prices  in  the  same  manner.  The  nomi- 
nal or  apparent  prices  might  vary  in  figures,  but  the  sensation  upon 
the  community  would  be  as  great  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other. 
These  alternations  do  not  result,  therefore,  from  the  nature  of  the  me- 


.$26  8PEBCHE8  OF  HENRY    CI^AT. 

diom^  Mrhether  that  be  specie  exclusive]  j,  or  paper  convertible  into  i 
cie,  but  from  the  operations  (^commerce.  It  is  commerce,  at  last,  that 
is  chargeable  with  expansions  and  contractions ;  and  against  commeioey 
and  not  its  instrument,  should  opposition  be  directed, 

• 

1  have  heard  it  urged  by  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr. 
Calhoun)  >¥ith  no  little  surprise,  in  the  course  of  this  debate,  that  m 
convertible  paper  would  not  answer  for  a  currency,  but  that  the  true 
.standard  of  value  was  to  be  found  in  a  paper  medium  not  convertible 
into  the  precious  metals.  If  there  be,  in  regard  to  currency,  one 
truth  which  the  united  experience  of  the  whole  commercial  world 
has  established,  I  had  supposed  it  to  be  that  emissions  of  paper 
money  constituted  the  very  worst  of  all  conceivable  sflecies  of  cur- 
rency. The  objections  to  it  are :  1st.  That  it  is  impracticable  to  a»> 
certain,  a  priori^  what  amount  can  be  issued  without  depreciation; 
and,  2d.  That  there  is  no  adequate  security,  and,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  none  can  exist,  i^ainst  excessive  issues.  *  The  paper  money 
of  North  Carolina,  to  which  the  Senator  referred,  according  to  the  in- 
(brnuttion  which  I  have  received,  did  depreciate.  It  was  called  Proc, 
an  abbreviation  of  the  authority  under  which  it  was  put  forth,  and  it 
took  one  and  a  half  and  sometimes  two  dollars  of  Proc.  to  purchase 
one  in  specie.  But  if  any  one  desires  to  understand  perfectly  the 
operation  of  a  purely  paper  currency,  let  him  study  the  history  of  the 
bank  of  the  commonwealth  of  Kentucky.  )t  was  established  about 
fifteen  or  sixteen  years  ago,  with  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  that  State.  It  is  winding  up  and  closin«:  it<«  career  with  the 
almost  unanimous  approbation  of  the  whole  people.  It  had  an  a(^> 
thority  to  issue,  and  did  issue,  notes  to  the  amount  of  about  two  mill* 
ions  of  dollars.  These  notes,  upon  their  face,  purported  an  obliga- 
tion of  the  bank  to  pay  the  holder,  on  demand,  the  amount  in  specie; 
but  it  was  well  known  that  they  would  not  be  so  paid.  Ag  a  secu- 
rity for  their  ultimate  payment,  there  were :  1st.  The  notes  of  indi- 
viduals supposed  to  be  well  secured,  every  note  put  out  by  the  bank 
being  represented  by  an  individual  note  discounted.  2d.  The  funds 
of  the  State  in  a  prior  Slate  bank,  amounting  to  about  half  a  million 
of  dollars.  3d.  The  proceeds  of  a  large  body  of  waste  lands  beloi^- 
hig  to  the  State.  And  4(h.  The  annual  revenue  of  the  State,  and 
public  dues,  all  of  which  were  payable  in  the  notes  of  the  C/oflunoD 
wealth  Bank 


OR  TBI  SUB-TREASURY.  397 

Notwithstanding  this  apparently  solid  provision  for  the  redemption 
of  the  notes  of  the  hank,  they  began  to  depreciate  shortly  afler  it  com- 
menced operation,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  they  sunk  af 
low  as  fifty  per  cent. — two  dollars  for  one  specie  dollar.  They  con- 
tinued depreciated  for  a  long  time,  until  after  large  amounts  of  them 
were  called  in  and  burned.  They  then  rose  in  value,  and  now,  when 
there  is  only  some  fifty  or  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  out,  they  have 
risen  to  about  par.  This  is  owing  to  the  demand  for  them,  created 
by  the  wants  of  the  remaining  debtors  to  the  bank,  and  their  receiva- 
bility  in  payment  for  taxes.  The  result  of  the  experiment  is,  that, 
although  it  is  possible  to  sustain  at  about  par  a  purely  paper  medium 
to  some  amount,  if  the  legislative  authority  which  creates  it  also  cre- 
ate a  demand  for  it,  it  is  impracticable  to  adjust  the  proportions  of 
supply  and  demand  so  as  to  keep  it  at  par,  and  that  the  tendency  ij 
always  to  an  excess  of  issue.  The  result,  with  the  people  of  Ken- 
tucky, has  been  a  general  conviction  of  the  mischiefs  of  all  issues  of 
an  irredeemable  paper  medium. 

Is  it  practicable  for  the  federal  government  to  put  down  the  State 
banks,  and  to  introduce  an  exclusive  metallic  currency  ?  In  the  oper- 
ations of  this  government,  we  bhould  ever  bear  in  mind  that  political 
power  is  distributed  between  it  and  the  States,  and  that,  while  our 
duties  are  few  and  clearly  defined,  the  gre.at  mass  of  legislative  au- 
thority abides  with  the  States.  Their  banks  exist  without  us,  inde- 
pendent of  us,  and  in  spite  of  us.  We  have  no  constitutional  power 
or  right  to  put  them  down.  Why,  then,  seek  their  destruction,  openly 
or  secretly,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  discrediting  their  issues,  and  by 
bankru])t  laws,  and  bills  of  pains  and  penalties.  What  are  these 
banks  now  so  descried  and  denounced  ?  Intruders,  aliens,  enemies 
that  have  found  their  way  into  the  bosom  of  our  country  against  our 
will.  Reduced  to  their  elements,  and  the  analysis  shows  that  they 
consist:  1st.  of  stockholders ;  2d.  debtors;  and  3d.  bill-holders  and 
other  creditors.  In  «omc  one  of  these  three  relations,  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  stand.  In  making  war  upon  the 
banks,  therefore,  you  wage  war  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  not  a  mere  abstraction  that  you  would  kick  and  cuff,  bankrupt 
nnd  destroy,  but  a  sensitive,  generous,  confiding  people,  who  are 
anxif  usly  turning  their  eyes  towards  you,  and  imploring  relief.  Every 
blow  that  you  inllict  upon  the  banki,  reaches  them.  Press  the  banks, 
ud  you  preM  ibem* 


98B  8PRCHC8  OF  HENBT   CLAT.  • 

True  wisdom,  it  seems  to  me,  requires  that  we  •houlcl  not  0eek 
after  if  we  could  discover  unattainable  abstract  perfection ;  but  ahonld 
look  to  what  is  practicable  in  human  affairs,  and  accommodate  our 
l^islation  to  the  irreversible  condition  of  things.  Since  the  States 
and  the  people  have  their  Banks  and  will  have  theqa,  and  since  we 
have  no  constitutional  authority  to  put  them  down,  our  duty  is  to 
come  to  their  relief  when  in  embarrassment,  and  to  exert  all  our 
legitimate  powers  to  retain  and  enable  them  to  perform,  in  the  mofi 
beneficial  manner,  the  purposes  of  their  institution.  We  should  em- 
bank, not  destroy,  the  fertilizing  stream  which  sometimes  thfy^^^Bf 
an  inundation. 

We  are  told  that  it  is  necessary  to  separate,  divorce  tbe  govern- 
ment from  the  banks.  Let  us  not  be  deluded  by  sounds.  Senaton 
might  as  well  talk  of  separating  the  government  from  the  States,  or 
from  the  people,  or  from  the  country.  We  are  all — People — States 
— Union — Banks,  bound  up  and  interwoven  together,  united  in  for- 
tune and  destiny,  and  all,  all  entitled  to  the  protecting  care  of  a  par- 
ental government.  You  may  as  well  attempt  to  make  the  govern- 
ment breathe  a  different  air,  drink  a  different  water,  be  lit  and  warm- 
ed by  a  different  sun  from  the  people !  A  hard  money  govemmeot 
and  a  paper  money  people !  A  government,  an  official  corps — ^the 
servants  of  the  people— flittering  in  gold,  and  the  people  themselves, 
their  masters,  buried  in  ruin,  and  surrounded  with  rags. 

No  prudent  or  practical  government,  will  in  its  measures  run 
counter  to  the  long-settled  habits  and  usages  of  the  people.  Religion, 
language,  laws,  the  established  currency  and  business  of  a  wliole 
country,  cannot  be  easily  or  suddenly  uprooted.  After  the  denom- 
ination of  our  coin  was  changed  to  dollars  and  cents,  many  years 
elapsed  before  the  old  method  of  keeping  accounts,  in  pounds,  shillings 
and  pence,  was  abandoned;  and,  to  this  day,  there  are  probably  some 
men  of  the  last  century  who  adhere  to  it.  If  a  fundamental  change 
becomes  necessary,  it  should  not  be  sudden,  but  conducted  by  slow 
and  cautious  degrees.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have  been 
always  a  paper  money  people.  It  was  paper  money  that  carried  ns 
through  the  revolution,  established  our  liberties,  and  made  us  a  free 
and  independent  people.  And,  if  tbe  experience  of  the  revolutiosaiy 
war  convinced  our  ancestors,  as  we  are  convinced,  of  the  evils  of  an 
irredeemable  paper  medium,  it  was  put  aside  only  to  .^fptve  plaea  la 


i 


mr  THS  $VB-TRXASURT.  3M 

that  conyertiUe  paper  which  has  so  power(ulIy  contributed  to  oar 
rapid  advancementy  prosperity,  and  greatness. 

The  proposed  substitute  of  an  exclusive  metallic  currency ,  to  tha 
mixed  medium  with  which  we  have  been  so  long  familiar,  is  forbid* 
den  by  the  principles  of  eternal  justice.  Assuming  the  currency  of 
the  country  to  consist  of  two-thirds  of  paper  and  one  of  specie ;  and 
assuming,  also,  that  the  money  of  a  country,,  whatever  may  be  its 
component  parts,  regulates  all  values,  and  expresses  the  true  amount 
which  the  debtor  has  to  pay  to  his  creditor,  the  eflfect  of  tho  change 
upon  that  relation,  and  upon  the  property  of  the  country^  would  be 
most  ruinous. — AH  property  would  be  reduced  in  value  to  ono-third 
of  its  present  nominal  amount,  and  every  debtoi  would,  in  effect, 
have  to  pay  three  times  as  much  as  he  had  contracted  for.  The  prea* 
sure  of  our  f  ireign  debt  would  be  three  times  as  great  as  it  is,  whikt 
the  six  hundred  millions,  which  is  about  the  sum  now  probably  don 
to  the  Banks  from  the  people,  would  be  multiplied  into  eighteen  hun* 
dred  millions. 

But  there  are  some  more  specific  objections  to  this  project  of  snb> 
treasuries,  which  deserve  to  be  noticed.  The  first  is,  its  msecurity. 
The  sub-treasurer  and  his  bondsmen  constitute  the  only  guamnty  for 
the  safety  of  the  immense  sums  of  public  money  which  pass  through 
his  hands.  Is  this  to  be  compared  with  that  which  is  possessed 
through  the  agency  of  Banlis  ?  The  collector,  who  is  to  be  sub- 
treasurer,  pays  the  money  to  the  bank,  and  the  bank  to  the  disburs* 
ifig  officer.  Here  are  three  checks ;  you  propose  to  distroy  two  of 
them  \  and  that  most  important  of  all,  the  bank,  with  its  machinery 
of  president,  directors,  cashier,  teller  and  cler«s,  all  of  whom  are  so 
many  sentinels.  At  the  very  moment,  when  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  tells  us  how  will  hit  sub-treasury  system  work,  he  baa 
communicated  to  Congress  a  circular,  signed  by  himself,  exhibiting 
his  distrust  in  it,  for  he  directs  in  that  circular  that  the  public  mo- 
neys, when  they  amount  to  a  large  sum,  shall  be  specially  deposited 
with  these  very  banks  which  he  wonld  repudiate.  Inthe  State  of  Ken^ 
tocky,  (other  gentlemen  can  speak  of  their  respective  States)  although 
it  has  existed  but  about  forty-five  years,  three  treasurers,  selected  by 
the  legislature  for  their  established  characters  of  honor  and  probity, 
proved  faithless.  And  the  history  of  the  delinquency  of  one,  is  tha 
hiitoiyofalL    It  coiBnieMedkkanianwcakjMsa>  yielding  to  eajwetl 


880  SPEtCHEt  OF  RERBT  CLAT. 

•olicitatioM  for  temporary  loans,  wiih  the  most  positive  assoranoefl 
of  a  punctual  return.  Id  no  instance  was  there  originallj  any  iDten- 
tion  to  defraud  the  public.  We  should  not  expose  poor  human  Da- 
tore  to  such  temptations.  How  easy  will  it  be,  as  has  been  done,  to 
indemnify  the  sureties  out  of  the  public  money,  and  squander  the 
residue? 

2.  Then  there  is  the  liability  to  favoritism.  In  the  receipts,  a  po- 
litical partisan  or  friend  may  be  accommodated  in  the  payment  of 
duties,  in  the  disbhrsement,  in  the  purchase  of  bills,  in  drafts  opoa 
oonvenient  and  favorable  offices,  and  id  a  thousand  ways. 

3.  The  fearful  increase  of  executive  patronage.  Hundreds  wni 
thousands  of  new  officers  are  to  be  created ;  for  this  bill  is  a  mere 
commencement  of  the  system,  and  all  are  to  be  placed  under  the  direet 
control  of  the  President. 

The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun)  thinks  that  the 
executive  is  now  weak,  and  that  no  danger  is  to  be  apprehended  from 
its  patronage.  I  wish  to  God  1  could  see  the  subject  in  the  same 
light  that  he  does.  I  wish  I  could  feel  free  from  that  alarm  at  ex- 
ecutive encroachments  by  which  he  and  I  were  so  recently  animated. 
Where  and  how,  let  me  ask,  has  that  power,  lately  so  fearful  and 
formidable,  suddenly  become  so  weak  and  harmless  ?  Where  is  that 
corps  of  one  hundred  thousand  office-holders  and  dependents,  whose 
organized  strength,  directed  by  the  will  of  a  single  man,  was  lately 
held  up  in  such  vivid  colors  and  powerful  language  by  a  report  made 
by  the  Senator  himself?  When  were  they  disbanded  ?  What  has 
become  of  proscription  ?  Its  victims  may  be  exhausted,  but  the  spirit 
and  the  power  which  sacrificed  them  remain  unsubdued.  What  of 
the  dismissing  power  ?  What  of  the  veto  ?  Of  that  practice  of 
withholding  bills  contrary  to  the  constitution,  still  more  reprehensi- 
ble than  the  abuses  of  the  veto  ?  Of  treasury  orders,  put  in  force 
and  maintained  in  defiance  and  contempt  of  the  legislative  authority  ? 
And  although  last,  not  least,  of  that  expunging  power  which  degra- 
ded the  Senate,  and  placed  it  at  the  feet  of  the  executive  ? 

Which  of  all  these  numerous  powers  and  pretensions  has  the  pree-' 
ent  chief  magistrate  disavowed  ?  So  far  fi'om  disclaiming  any  one 
of  them,  has  he  not  announced  his  intention  to  follow  in  the  veiy 


Oir  THS  IVl-TMBAf URT.  881 

fboteteps  of  his  predecessor  ?  And  fats  he  not  done  it  ?  Was  it  againsl 
the  person  of  Andrew  Jackson  that  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina^ 
so  ably  co«operated  with  us  ?  No,  sir,  no,  sir,  no.  It  was  against 
his  usurpations,  as  we  helieved  them,  ap^ainst  his  arbitrary  admin- 
istration,  above  all,  against  that  tremendous  and  frightful  augmenta- 
tion of  the  power  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government,  thai 
we  patriotically  but  vainly  contended.  The  person  of  the  chief  ma- 
gistrate is  changed  ;  but  there  stands  the  executive  power,  perpetci- 
ated  in  all  its  vast  magnitude,  undiminished,  re-asserted,  and  over-  . 
shadowing  all  the  other  departments  of  the  govemm«6t.  Every 
trophy  which  the  late  President  won  from  them,  now  decorates  the 
executive  mansion.  Every  power,  which  he  tore  from  a  bleeding 
constitution,  is  now  in  the  executive  armory,  ready,  as  time  and  oe- 
casion  may  prompt  the  existing  incumbent,  wherever  he  may  be,  to 
be  thundered  against  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  motives  of  the  course  of  others,  I 
owe  it,to  myself  and  to  truth  to  say,  that,  in  deprecating  the  election 
of  Greneral  Andrew  Jackson  to  the  office  of  Chief  Magistrate,  it  was 
not  from  any  private  considerations, but  because  I  considered  it  would 
be  a  great  calamity  to  my  country ;  and  that,  in  whatever  opposition 
I  made  to  the  measures  of  his  administration,  which  more  than  real* 
ized  my  very  worst  apprehensions,  I  was  guided  solely  by  a  sense  of 
public  duty.  And  I  do  now  declare  my  solemn  and  unshaken  convic- 
tion, that,  until  the  executive  power,  as  enlarged,  extended,  and  con- 
solidated by  him,  is  reduced  within  its  true  constitutional  limits, 
there  is  no  permanent  security  for  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  this 
people. 

4.  Lastly,  pass  this  hill,  and  whatever  divorce  its  fiiends  may  pro- 
fits to  be  its  aim,  that  perilous  union  of  the  purse  and  the  sword,  so 
justly  dreaded  by  our  British  and  revolutionary  ancestors,  beconoes 
absolute  and  complete.  And  who  can  doubt  it  who  knows  that  over 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  at  Washington,  and  every  sub-treasu- 
rer, the  President  claims  the  power  to  exercise  uncontrolled  sway- 
to  exact  implicit  obedience  to  his  will  ? 

The  BMtssage  states  that,  in  the  process  both  of  collection  and  dis- ' 
bnrsement  of  the  public  revenue,  the  officers  who  perform  it  act  under 
Ike  execQtive  conunaiids ;  and  it  argues  that,  thereANre,  the  custody^ 


SM  spncBM  or  hekrt  clat. 

flbo  of  the  ireasuiy  might  as  well  be  confided  to  the  ezecatiTe 
I  think  the  safer  condusion  is  directly  opposite.  The  possessios  oC 
10  much  power  over  the  national  treasure  is  just  cause  of  regrety  tiifl 
furnishes  a  strong  reason  for  diminishing  it^  if  possible,  but  none  for 
its  increase,  none  for  giving  the  whole  power  over  the  purse  to  tbi 
Chief  Magistrate. 

Hitherto  I  have  considered  this  scheme  of  sub-treasuries  as  if  it 
was  only  what  its  friends  represent  it — a  system  solely  for  the  pur> 
pose  of  collecting,  keeping,  and  disburseing  the  public  moneyi  in 
specie  exclusively,  without  any  bank  agency  whatever.  But  it  is 
manifest  that  it  is  destined  to  become,  if  it  be  not  designed  to  be,  a 
vast  and  ramified  connexion  of  government  banks,  of  which  the  prin- 
cipal will  be  at  Washington,  and  every  sub-treasury  will  be  a  branch. 
The  Secretary  is  authorized  to  draw  on  the  several  sub-treasurers  in 
payment  for  all  the  disbursements  of  government.  No  law  restricts 
him  as  to  the  amount  or  form  of  his  drafts  or  checks.  He  may  throw 
them  into  amounts  suited  to  the  purposes  of  circulation,  and  give 
them  all  the  appearance  and  facilities  of  bank  notes.  Of  all  the  bmnch- 
ea  of  this  system,  that  at  New  York  will  be  the  most  important,  since 
about  one  half  of  the  duties  is  collected  there.  Drafb  on  New  York 
are  at  par,  or  command  a  premium  from  every  point  of  the  Union.  It 
is  the  great  money  centre  of  the  country.  Issued* in  convenient  sums, 
thej  will  circulate  throughout  Uie  whole  Union  as  bank  notes  ;  and 
as  long  as  confidence  is  reposed  in  them,  will  be  preferred  to  the 
specie,  which  their  holders  have  a  right  to  demand.  Tbey  will  sup- 
ply a  general  currency,  fill  many  of  the  channels  of  circulation,  be  a 
substitute  for  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  supplant  to 
a  great  extent  the  use  of  bank  notes.  The  necessities  of  the  people 
will  constrain  them  to  use  them.  In  this  way  they  will  remain  a  long 
time  IB  circulation;  and  in  a  few  years  we  shall  see  an  immense  portion 
of  the  whole  specie  of  the  country  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the 
branch  bank — that  is,  the  sub-treasurer  at  New  York,  and  represent^ 
ed  by  an  equal  amount  of  government  paper  dispersed  throughout  the 
country.  The  responsibility  of  the  sub-treasurer  will  be  consequent^ 
greatly  increased,  and  the  government  will  remain  bound  to  guaran- 
tee the  redemption  of  all  the  drafts,  checks,  or  notes  (whatever  may 
be  their  deiK)mination,)  emitted  upon  the  faith  of  the  money  in  his 
custody,  and,  of  course,  will  be  subject  to  the  hazard  of  the  loss  ef 
the  amount  of  specie  in  the  hands  of  the  sub-treasurer.    If,  in  tba 


09  TBI  SUB-na4MimT*  3tt 

^tmnifiicenieirt  of  this  tyitem,  ihie  holders  of  this  gorermnent  paper 
shall  be  required  to  present  it  for  payment  in  coin,  within  a  specified 
ttme,  it  will  be  foand  inconvenient  or  impracticable  to  enforce  the  i^ 
strictioni  and  it  will  be  ultimately  abandoned| 

Is  the  Senate  prepared  to  consent  to  place  not  only  all  the  qpeoie 
that  may  be  collected  for  the  rerenue  of  the  country  at  the  will  of  the 
President,  or  which  is  the  same  thing,  in  the  custody  of  persons  act- 
ing in  obedience  to  his  will,  but  to  put  him  at  the  head  of  the  mosi 
powerful  and  influential  system  of  government  banks  that  ever  existed. 

It  ia  said,  in  the  message,  that  government  is  not  bound  to  supply 
the  country  with  the  exchanges  which  are  necessary  to  the  transac- 
tion of  its  business.  But  was  that  the  language  held  during  the  pfO» 
gress  of  the  contest  with  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States  ?  Wae 
not  the  expectation  held  out  to  the  people  that  they  would  be  sup* 
plied  with  a  better  currency!  and  with  better  regulated  exchange? 
And  did  not  both  the  late  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treats 
ury  dwell,  with  particular  satisfaction,  in  several  messages  and  reports 
upon  the  improvement  of  the  currency,  the  greater  amount  in  ex>* 
change,  and  the  reduction  of  the  rates,  under  the  operation  of  the 
State  bank  system,  than  existed  under  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  ? 
Ipstead  of  fulfilling  his  promises  then  held  out,  the  government  now 
wraps  itself  up  in  its  dignity — ^tells  the  people  that  they  expect  too 
much  of  it ;  that  it  is  not  its  business  to  furnish  exchanges ;  and  that 
they  may  look  to  Europe  for  the  manner  in  which,  through  the 
agency  of  private  bankers,  the  commerce  and  business  of  its  countries 
are  supplied  with  exchange.  We  are  advised  to  give  up  our  Ameri- 
can mode  of  transacting  business  through  the  instrumentality  of 
hanking  corporations,  in  which  the  interests  of  the  rich  and  the  poor 
a^  happily  blended,  and  to  establish  bankers  similar  to  the  Hopca, 
the  Barings,  the  Rothschilds,  the  Hotinguers,  of  Europe ;  houses 
which  require  years  of  ages  to  form  and  to  put  in  successful  opcrar 
lion,  and  whose  vast  overgrown  capitals,  possessed  by  the  rich  ex- 
clusively of  the  poor,  control  the  destiny  of  naUonS|  and  detecmintf 
the  fate  of  empires. 


Having,  I  think,  Mr.  President,  shown  that  the  project  of  the  ad* 
ministration  is.neither  desirable  nor  practicable,  nor  within  theconi^ 
snittttAonal  power  of  the  general  flOTStoaieatftBoriMit^  ^thal  kii 


884  iPBICBSf  OP  BKIfRT  CLAT. 

contrary  to  the  habiti  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  if  daii- 
geroutt  to  their  liberties.-  1  might  here  clozie  my  remarks  ;  but  1  con- 
ceive  it  to  be  the  duty  of  a  patriotic  opposition  not  to  confine  itself 
merely  to  urging  objections  against  measures  to  promote  the  general 
prosperity  brought  forward  by  those  in  power.  It  has  further  and 
higher  duties  to  perform.  There  may  be  circumstances  in  which  the 
opposition  is  bound  formally  to  present  such  measures  as,  in  its  judg* 
ment,  are  demanded  by  the  exigency  of  the  times  ;  but  if  it  had  just 
reason  to  believe  that  they  would  be  unacceptable  to  those  who  ahm 
can  adopt  them  and  give  them  effect, the  opposition  will  discharge  its 
duty  by  suggesting  what  it  believes  ought  to  be  done  for  the  public 
good. 

1  know,  sir,  that  T  have  friends  whose  partiality  has  induced  them 
to  hope  that  1  would  be  able  to  bring  forward  some  healing  measure 
for  the  disorders  which  unhappily  prevail,  that  might  prove  accepta- 
ble. I  wish  to  God  that  1  could  realize  this  hope,  but  I  cannot.  The 
disease  is  of  such  an  alarming  character  as  to  require  more  skill  than 
I  possess ;  and  1  regret  to  be  compelled  to  fear  that  there  is  no  efiec- 
tual  remedy  but  that  which  is  in  the  hands  of  the  suffering  patient 
himself. 

Still,  under  a  deep  sense  of  the  obligation  to  which  I  have  referredi 
I  declare  that,  after  the  most  deliberate  and  anxious  consideration  of 
which  1  am  capable,  I  can  conceive  of  no  adequate  remedy  which 
does  not  comprehend  a  national  Bank  as  an  essential  part.  It  ap- 
pears to  me  that  a  National  Bank,  with  such  modifications  as  experi- 
enee  has  pointed  out,  and  particularly  such  as  would  limit  its  profits, 
exclude  foreign  influence  in  the  government  of  it,  and  give  publici^ 
to  its  transactions,  is  the  only  safe  and  certain  remedy  that  can  be 
adopted.  The  great  want  of  the  country  is  a  general  and  uniform 
corrency ,  and  a  point  of  union,  a  sentinel,  a  regulator  of  the  issues  of 
the  local  banks,  and  that  would  be  supplied  by  such  an  institution. 

I  am  not  going  now  to  discuss,  as  an  original  question,  the  const! 
totional  power  of  Congress  to  establish  a  National  Bank.  In  human 
afiiiirs  there  are  some  questions,  and  1  think  this  is  one,  that  ought  to 
be  held  as  terminated.  Four  several  decisions  of  Congress  affirming 
the  power,  the  concurrence  of  every  other  department  of  the  govem- 
ment,  the  approbation  of  the  people,  the  concurrence  of  both  the  groat 


OH  THS  IirB-TBEAlURr.  385 

ptrties  into  which  the  country  has  been  divided,  and  forty  years  of 
prosperous  experience  with  such  a  bank,  appear  to  me  to  settle  the 
controversy,  if  any  controversy  is  ever  to  be  settled.  Twenty  years 
ago  Mr.  Madison,  whose  opposition  to  the  first  Bank  of  the  United 
States  is  well  known,  in  a  message  to  Congress  said : 

"  Waiving  the  qnettion  of  the  coutilutional  authority  of  the  legislature  to  etC»> 
bllsh  an  incor|K>rHte(l  bank,  as  being  precluded,  in  my  judement,  by  re|Hrttt«'d  recog- 
nitions, under  varied  circumataoceif,  of  ih"  validity  orsuch  an  inHtttuiitm,  in  nctii  of 
the  l^-gialalive,  executive  and  judicinl  branches  of  ibe  govemnieiil,  accoiii|>anied  by 
iadicaiionH,  in  ditTervnt  modes,  of  a  corretitondence  of  ihe  general  will  of  the  na- 
tion ;  the  pro|H)aed  bank  does  not  ajipeur  lo  be  cnleulnted  to  onbwer  (he  purposes  of 
reviving  the  public  credit,  of  providing  a  national  m  'ditimof  circulitioii,  and  of  aid- 
ing the  treasury  by  facilitating  the  iiidiaiiensable  anticipationa  of  revenue,  aad  bf 
aoording  to  the  public  more  durable  loanr  " 

To  all  the  considerations  upon  which  he  then  relied,  in  treating  it 
•8  a  settled  question,  are  now  to  be  added  two  distinct  and  distant 
tabsequent  expressions  of  the  deliberate  opinion  of  a  Republican 
Congress ;  two  solemn  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  twen^  years  of  successful  experience  and  disastrous  conse- 
quences quickly  following  the  discontinuance  of  the  Bank. 

I  have  been  present,  as  a  member  of  Congress  on  the  occasion  of 
the  termination  of  the  charters  of  both  the  Banks  of  the  United  States; 
took  part  in  the  discussion  to  which  they  gave  rise,  and  had  an  op- 
portunity of  extensively  knowing  the  opinions  of  members;  and  I^ 
declare  my  deliberate  conviction  that,  upon  neither  was  there  one- 
third  of  the  members  in  either  house  who  entertained  the  opinion  that 
Congress  did  not  possess  the  constitutional  power  to  charter  a  Bank. 

But  it  is  contended  that,  however  indispensable  a  Bank  of  the 
United  States  may  be  to  the  restoration  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
country,  the  President's  opinion  against  it  opposes  an  insuperable  ob- 
stacle to  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution. 

It  will  indeed  be  unfortunate  if  the  only  meastiVe  which  can  bring 
relief  to  the  people  should  be  prevented  by  the  magistrate  whose 
elevated  station  should  render  him  the  most  anxious  man  in  the  na- 
tion to  redress  existing  grievances. 

The  opinion  of  the  President  which  is  relied  upon  is  that  contained 
in  his  celebrated  letter  to  S.  Williams,  and  that  which  is  expressed 
in  the  message  before  us.     I  must  say,  with  all  proper  deference, 


986  ipncHif  OP  HsirBT  clay. 

that  no  man,  prior  to  or  after  his  election  to  the  chief  magistral 
has  a  right  to  say,  in  advance,  that  he  would  not  approve  of  a  paiticu* 
lar  bill,  if  it  were  passed  by  Congress.  An  annunciation  of  audi  m 
purpose  is  premature,  and  contrary  to  the  spirit,  if  not  the  ezpreas 
letter  of  the  constitution.  Accoiding  to  that  instiument,  the  partici- 
pation of  the  President  in  the  legislative  power — his  right  to  pass 
upon  a  bill — is  subsequent  and  not  previous  to  the  deliberatiotts  of 
Congress.  The  constitutional  provision  is,  that  when  a  bill  shall 
have  passed  both  Houses,  it  shall  be  presented  to  the  President  jbr 
his  approval  or  rejection.  His  right  to  pass  upon  it  results  from  the 
presentation  of  the  bill,  and  is  not  acquired  until  it  is  presented. 
What  would  be  thought  of  the  judge  who,  before  a  cause  is  brought 
before  the  court,  should  announce  his  intention  to  decide  in  favor  of  a 
named  party  ^  Or  of  the  Senate,  which  shares  the  appointing  powier^ 
if  it  should,  before  the  nomination  of  a  particular  individual  ib  made 
for  an  office,  pass  a  resolution  that  it  would  not  approve  the  nomiiift* 
tion  of  that  individual  ?  * 

It  is  clear  that  the  President  places  his  repugpaance  to  a  Bank  of 
the  United  States  mainly  upon  the  ground  ihat  the  popular  will  hat 
been  twice  ^^  solemnly  and  unequivocally  expressed"  against  it.  lo 
this  I  think  the  President  is  mistaken.  The  two  occasions  to  which 
he  is  understood  to  refer,  are  the  election  of  General  Andrew  Jack* 
son  in  1832,  and  his  own  election  in  1836.  Now,  as  to  the  first, 
there  was  not,  before  it  took  place,  any  unequivocal  expression  of  tho 
opinion  of  the  late  President  against  a  National  Bank.  There  waa, 
in  fact,  a  contrary  expression.  In  the  Veto  Message,  President 
Jackson  admitted  the  public  convenience  of  a  Bank  ;  stated  that  be 
did  not  find  in  the  renewed  charter  such  modifications  as  could  se* 
core  his  approbation,  and  added  that  if  he  had  been  appli^  to,  he 
could  have  furnished  the  model  of  a  Bank  that  would  answer  ifae 
purposes  of  such  an  institution.  In  supporting  his  re-election,  there* 
fore,  the  people  did  not  intend,  by  the  exercise  of  their  suffrage,  to 
deprive  themselves  of  a  National  Bank.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  with- 
in my  own  knowledge,  that  many  voted  for  him  who  believed  in  the 
necessity  of  a  Bank  quite  as  much  as  1  do.  And  1  am  perfectly  per- 
suaded that  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  sustained  his  re-election 
under  the  full  expectation  that  a  National  Bank  would  be  established 
during  his  second  term. 


•V  TBB  tUB-TRIAtUKT.  8S7 

^for,  sir,  can  I  think  that  the  ele^ion  of  the  present  chief  magit> 
trate  ought  to  be  taken  as  evidence  that  the  people  are  against  m 
Bank.  The  most  that  can  be  asserted  is,  that  he  was  elected,  the 
expression  of  his  opinion  in  the  letter  to  Mr.  Williams  notwithstand- 
ing.  The  question  of  the  election  of  a  chief  magistrate  is  a  complex 
question,  and  one  of  compensations  and  comparison.  All  his  opinions, 
all  his  qualifications  are  taken  into  consideration,  and  compared  with 
those  of  his  competitors.  And  nothing  more  b  decided  by  the  people 
than  that  the  person  elected  is  preferred  among  the  several  candidates. 
They  take  him  as  a  man  takes  his  wife,  for  better  or  for  worse,  with 
all  the  good  and  bad  opinions  and  qualities  which  he  possesses.  Yoa 
might  as  well  argue,  that  the  election  of  a  particular  person  to  the 
chief  magistracy  implies  that  his  figure,  form  and  appearance  exhilut 
the  standard  of  human  perfection,  as  to  contend  that  it  sanctions  and 
approves  every  opinion  which  he  may  have  publicly  expressed  on 
public  affair^  It  is  somewhat  ungrateful  to  the  people  to  suppose  that 
the  particular  opinion  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  in  regard  to  a  Uni^  States 
Bank,  constituted  any,  much  less  the  chief  recommendation  of  him 
to  their  suffrages.  It  would  be  more  honorable  to  him  and  to  them, 
to  suppose  that  it  proceeded  from  his  eminent  abilities,  and  his  dis- 
tinguished services  at  home  and  abroad.  If  we  are  to  look  beyond 
them  and  beyond  him,  many  believe  that  the  most  influential  cause 
of  his  election  was  the  endorsement  of  that  illustrious  predecessor, 
fai  whose  footsteps  he  stands  pledged  to  follow. 

No,  sir,  no ;  the  simple  and  naked  question  of  a  Bank  or  no  Bank 
of  the  United  States  was  not  submitted  to  the  people  and  ^^  twice 
folemnly  and  unequitocally^^  decided  against  by  them.  I  firmly  be- 
lieve, that  if  such  a  question  were  now  submitted  to  them,  the  re- 
sponse of  a  vast  majority  would  be  in  the  affirmative.  I  hope,  how- 
ever, that  no  Bank  will  be  established  or  proposed,  unless  there  shall 
he  a  clear  and  undisputed  majority  of  the  people  and  of  the  States  m 
favor  of  such  an  institution.  If  there  be  one  wanted,  and  an  une- 
quivocal manifestation  be  made  of  the  popular  will  that  it  is  desired, 
a  Bank  will  be  established.  The  President's  opposition  to  it  is  found- 
ed principally  upon  the  presumed  opposition  of  the  people.  Let  them 
demonstrate  that  he  is  mistaken,  and  he  will  not  separate  himself 
from  them.  He  is  too  good  a  democrat,  and  the  whole  tenor  of  his 
life  shows  that,  whatever  other  divorces  he.may  recommend,  the  least 
that  he  would  deatM^  would  k%  one  between  him  and  the  peofile 


938  •PElCRIt  OF  HBlfRT  CLAT. 

Should  this  not  prove  to  he  the  case,  and  if  a  majority  shofild  not 
exist  sufiicienlly  large  to  pass  a  Bank  Charter  in  spite  of  the  retOf 
the  uliimate  remedy  will  remain  to  the  people  to  change  their  nilesr 
if  their  rulers  will  not  change  their  opinions. 

But,  during  this  debate  it  has  been  contended  that  the  establish 
ment  of  a  new  Bank  of  the  United  States  would  aggravate  existing 
distresses ;  and  that  the   specie    necessary  to  put  it  in  operatton 
could  not  be  obtained  wictiout  prejudice  to  the  local  Banks. 

What  is  the  relief  for  which  all  hearts  are  now  so  anxiously  throb- 
bing ?  It  is  to  put  the  Banks  again  in  motion  ;  to  restore  exchanges 
ausd  revive  the  drooping  business  of  the  country.  And,  what  are  the 
obstacles  ?  They  are,  first,  the  foreign  debt,  and,  secondly^a  want 
of  confidence.  If  the  banks  were  to  re-open  their  vaults,  it  is  appre- 
hended that  the  specie  would  be  immediately  exported^o  Europe  to 
discharge  our  foreign  debt.  Now,  if  a  Bank  of  the  United  States 
were  established,  with  a  suitable  capital,  tne  stock  of  that  Bank  itself 
would  form  one  of  the  best  subjects  of  remittance  ;  and  an  amount  of 
It  equal  to  what  remains  of  the  foreign  debt  would  probably  he  remit- 
ted, retaining  at  home,  or  drawing  from  abroad  the  equivalent  in 
specie. 

A  great,  if  not  the  greatest  existing  evil  is  the  want  of  confidence, 
not  merely  in  the  government,  but  in  distant  Banks,  and  between  the 
Banks  themselves.  There  are  no  ties  or  connexion  binding  them  to- 
gether, and  they  are  often  suspicious  of  each  other.  To  this,  want 
of  confidence  among  the  Banks  themselves,  is  to  be  ascribed  tliat  ex- 
traordinary derangement  in  the  exchanges  of  the  country.  How 
otherwise  can  we  account  for  the  fact,  that  the  paper  of  the  Banks 
of  Mississippi  cannot  now  be  exchanged  against  the  paper  of  the 
Banks  of  Louisiana,  without  a  discount  on  the  f6rmer  often  or  fifteen 
per  cent. ;  nor  that  of  the  Banks  of  Nashville,  without  a  discount  ol 
eight  or  ten  per  cent,  against  the  paper  of  the  Banks  of  the  adjoining 
State  of  Kentucky  ?  It  is  manifest  that,  whatever  may  be  the  me- 
dium of  circulation,  whether  it  be  inconvertible  pa[>er,  or  convertible 
paprr  and  specie,  supposing  confidence  to  exist,  the  rates  of  ex- 
change in  both  cases  ought  to  be  nearly  the  same.  But,  in  times  liks 
ibese,  no  Bank  will  allow  its  funds  to  accumulate,  by  the  operations 
of  exchange,  at  points  where  no  present  use  can  be  made  of  them. 


OM  THB  ■U^-nUUSORT.  389 

Now,  if  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  were  established,  with  a 
fffoper  capital,  and  it  were  made  the  sole  depository  of  the  public 
moneys,  and  its  notes  were  receivable  in  all  government  dues,  it 
migl^t  commence  operations  forthwith,  with  a  small  amount  of  specie^ 
perhaps  not  more  than  two  millions,  lliat  sum  would  probably  be 
drawn  from  the  community,  when  it  is  now  hoarded  and  dormant , 
or  if  it  were  taken  even  from  the  local  banks,  they  would  be  more 
than  compensated  in  the  security  which  they  would  enjcj ,  by  the 
remittance  of  the  stock  of  the  new  Bank  to  Europe,  as  a  substitato 
for  their  specie. 

Such  a  new  Bank,  once  commencing  business,  would  form  a  rally- 
ing point ;  confidence  would  revive,  exchanges  be  again  regulated, 
and  the  business  and  prosperity  of  the  country  be  restored.  And  it 
is  by  no  means  certain  that  there  would  be  any  actual  augmentation 
oi  the  banking  capital  of  the  country,  for  it  is  highly  probable  that 
the  aggregate  amount  of  unsoiyid  Banks,  which  can  never  resuma 
specie  payments,  would  be  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  new  Bank. 

An  auxiliary  resolution  might  be  adopted  with  salutary  efiect,  sim- 
ilar to  that  which  was  edopted  in  IS  16,  offering  to  the  State  Banks, 
as  a  motive  to  lesurne  specie  payments,  that  their  paper  should  be 
received  for  the  p'jblic  dues  ;  or,  as  their  number  has  since  that  pe- 
riod greatly  increased,  to  make  the  motive  more  operative,  the  offer 
might  be  confined  to  one  or  two  Banks  in  each  State  known  to  be 
tiu::tworthy.  Let  them  and  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  commence 
specie  payments,  and  all  the  other  sound  banks  would  be  constrained, 
by  the  united  force  of  public  opinion  and  the  law,  to  follow  the  ex- 
am]>le. 

If,  in  contrasting  the  two  periods  of  1817  and  1837,  some  advan* 
tages  for  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  existed  at  the  former 
epoch,  others  which  distinguish  the  present,  greatly  preponderate. 
At  the  first  there  were  none  except  the  existence  of  a  public  debt, 
and  a  smaller  number  of  banks.  But  then  an  exhausting  war  had 
wasted  our  moans.  Now  we  have  infia*tely  greater  wealth,  our  re- 
sources are  vastly  more  developed  and  increased,  our  population  near- 
ly doubled,  our  knowledge  of  the  disease  much  better,  and,  what  if 
of  the  utmost  importance,  a  remedy,  if  applied  now,  would  be  admin- 
istered in  a'much  earlier  stage  of  the  disorder. 


%VI  SFUCHlt  or  BEmT   CLAT* 

A  general  currencj  of  sound  and  uniform  ralue  A  necessary  to  the 
well-being  of  all  parts  of  the  confederacy,  but  it  bindispensableto  the 
interior  States.  The  seaboard  States  have  each  of  them  Banksi 
whose  paper  freely  circulates  within  their  respective  limits,  and  serves 
all  the  purposes  of  their  business  and  commerce  at  their  capitals,  and 
throughout  their  whole  extent.  The  variations,  in  the  value  of  this 
paper,  in  passing  through  those  States,  from  one  commercial  metro- 
polis to  another,  are  not  ordinarily  very  great.  But  how  are  we  of 
the  interior  to  come  to  the  Atlantic  cities  to  purchase  our  supplies  of 
foreign  and  domestic  commodities,  without  a  general  medium  ?  llie 
paper  of  our  own  Banks  will  not  be  received  but  at  an  enormous  dis- 
count. We  want  a  general  currency,  which  will  serve  at  home  and 
enable  us  to  carry  on  our  accustomed  trade  with  our  brethren  of  the 
Atlantic  States.    And  such  a  currency  we  have  a  right  to  expect. 

I  do  not  arrogate  to  myself  a  right  to  speak  for  and  in  behalf  of  dl 
the  western  states ;  but  as  a  Senator  from  one  of  them,  I  am  entitled 
to  be  heard.  This  union  was  formed  to  secure  certain  general,  but 
highly  important  objects,  of  which  the  common  defence,  commerce, 
and  a  uniform  cunency  were  the  leading  ones.  To  the  interior 
States  none  is  of  more  importance  than  that  of  currency.  Nowhen 
is  the  attachment  to  the  union  more  ardent  than  in  those  States ;  but 
if  this  government  should  neglect  to  perform  its  duty,  the  vahie  of 
the  union  will  become  impaired,  and  its  very  existence  in  process  of 
time  may  become  endangered.  I  do  believe,  that  between  a  sound 
general  currency,  and  the  preservation  of  itself,  in  full  vigor  and  per- 
fisct  safety,  there  is  the  most  intimate  connection. 

If,  Mr.  President,  the  reiAedies  which  I  have  suggested  were  sue* 
cessful,  at  a  former  period  of  our  history,  there  is  every  reason  to 
hope,  that  they  would  again  prove  efficacious ;  but  let  me  suppose 
(hat  they  should  not,  and  that  some  unknown  cause,  which  could 
not  then,  should  now,  thwart  their  operation,  we  should  have,  in  any 
event,  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  we  had  endeavored  to  pro6t 
by  the  lessons  of  experience,  and  if  they  failed,  we  should  stand  ac- 
quitted m  the  judgment  of  the  people.  They  are  heartily  tired  of 
visionary  schemes  and  wild  experiments.  They  wish  to  eet  out  of 
the  woods,  into  which  they  have  been  conducted,  back  to  the  pkin, 
beaten,  wide  road^  which  they  had  before  trod. 


Off  TRI  •UB-TRIAf URT.  Sfl 

How,  and  when,  without  such  measures  as  I  have  suggested,  dre 
the  State  Bankn  to  resume  specie  payments  ?  They  never  can  le* 
'•ume  without  concert;  and  concert  springs  from  confidence;  and 
confidence  from  knowledge.  But  what  knowledge  can  eight  hundred 
hanks,  scattered  over  our  own  vast  territory,  have  of  the  actual  con- 
dition of  each  other  ?  It  is  in  vain  that  statements  of  it  be  periodi- 
cally published.  It  depends  at  last,  mainly  upon  the  solvency  of  the 
debtors  to  the  bank ;  and  how,  whenever  their  names  are  not  known, 
can  that  be  ascertained  ? 

Instead  of  coming  to  the  aid  of  these  prostrate  institutions,  and 
assisting  them  by  a  mild  and  parental  exercise  of  your  power,  in  a 
mode  sanctioned  and  approved  by  experience,  you  projiotie  to  aban- 
don them  and  the  country  to  their  fate.  You  propose  worse,  to  di»- 
credit  their  paper,  to  distrust  them  even  as  special  doposiioiies,and  to 
denounce  agiunst  them  all  the  pains  and  penalties  of  bankruptcy. 

How,  and  when  will  they  resume  specie  payments  ?  Never,  as  far 
as  my  information  extends,  have  exertions  been  greater  thnn  those 
which  the  banks  have  generally  made  to  open  again  their  vaults. 
It  is  wonderful  that  the  community  should  have  been  able  to  bear, 
with  so  much  composure  and  resignation,  the  prodigious  curtail 
ments  which  have  been  made.  Confidence  re-established,  the  for- 
eign debt  extinguished,  and  a  national  institution  created,  most  of 
them  could  quickly  resume  specie  payments,  some  of  them,  urged  by 
a  high  sense  of  probity,  and  smart  ing  under  severe  reproaches,  will 
no  doubt  make  the  experiment  of  resuming  end  continuing  s])ecie 
payments.  They  may  even  go  on  a  while;  but  without  (he  co-ope- 
ration of  the  State  Banks  generally ,  and  without  the  co-operation  of  a 
National  Bank,  it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  they  will  be  ngain  seized 
with  a  paralysis.  It  is  my  deliberate  conviction  that  the  preservi^ 
lion  of  the  existence  of  the  State  Bank^  themselves,  dejx-nds  upon 
the  institution  of  a  National  Bank.  It  is  as  necessary  to  them  as  the 
union  is  to  the  welfare  of  the  States  in  our  political  system.  Without 
it,  no  human  being  can  foresee  when  we  shall  emerge  from  the  diffi- 
culties which  surround  us.  It  has  been  my  fortune  several  times  to 
see  the  country  involved  in  great  danger ;  but  never  before  have  I 
beheld  it  encompassed  with  any  more  menacing  and  portentous. 

UntertBining  the  views  which  I  hare  presented,  it  may  be  asked, 

•W 


842  ariuccHBi  or  hbsirt  clay. 

why  I  do  not  at  once  propose  the  establishment  of  a  National  Bank. 
1  have  already  adverted  to  the  cause,  constituted  as  Ck>ngre8S  bow  u, 
1  know  that  such  a  proposition  would  be  defeated  ;  and  that  it  would 
be,  therefore,  useless  to  make  it.  I  do  not  desire  to  force  upon  the 
Senate,  or  upon  the  country,  against  its  will,- if  I  could,  my  opinion, 
however  sincerely  or  strongly  entertained.  If  a  National  Bank  be 
established,  its  stability  and  its  utility  will  depend  upon  the  general 
conviction  which  is  full  of  its  necessity.  And  until  such  s  conviction 
is  deeply  impressed  upon  the  people,  and  clearly  manifested  by  them, 
it  would  in  my  judgment,  b^  unwise  even  to  propose  a  Bank 

Of  the  scheme  of  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Rives)  I  think 
now  as  I  thought  in  1834, 1  do  not  believe  that  any  practicable  con- 
nection of  State  Banks  can  supply  a  general  currency,  be  a  safe  de- 
pository of  the  public  moneys,  or  act  efficiently  as  a  fiscal  agent  of 
the  general  Government.  I  was  not  then  opposed  to  the  State  Banks 
in  their  proper  sphere.  I  thought  that  they  could  not  be  relied  uptm 
to  form  exclusively  a  Banking  System  for  the  country,  although  they 
were  essential  parts  of  a  general  system. 

The  amendment  of  the  Senator,  considered  as  a  measure  ic  bring 
aoout  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  so  much  desired,  I  think 
must  fail.  The  motive  which  it  holds  out  of  the  receivability  in  all 
payments  to  the  government  of  the  paper  of  such  banks  as  may  re- 
sume at  a  given  day,  coupled  with  the  conditions  proposed,  is  wholly 
madequate.  It  is  an  oflTer  to  eight  hundred  banks  ;  and  the  revenue, 
payment  of  which  in  their  notes  is  held  out  as  the  inducement, 
amounts  to  some  twenty  or  twenty-five  millions.  To  entitle  tliem 
to  the  inconsiderable  extension  of  their  circulation  which  would  result 
from  the  credit  given  by  government  to  the  paper  of  all  of  them,  they 
are  required  to  submit  to  a  suppression  of  all  notes  below  five  dollars, 
and  at  no  very  distant  period,  to  all  below  twenty.  The  enlaige- 
ment  of  their  circulation,  produced  by  making  it  receivable  by  govern- 
ment, would  be  much  less  than  the  contraction  which  would  arise 
from  the  suppression  of  the  prohibited  notes.  Besides,  if  the  quality 
proposed  again  to  be  attached  to  the  notes  of  these  local  banks  was 
insufficient  to  prevent  the  suspension,  how  can  it  be  efficacious  enough 
to  stimulate  a  resumption  of  specie  payments  ? 

I  shall^  nevertheless,  if  called  upon  to  give  a  vote  between  the  pro- 


ON  THE  SUB-TRBAIUftT. 


343 


ject  of  the  administration  and  the  amendment  of  the  Senator  from 
Virginia,  vote  for  the  latter,  because  it  is  harmless,  if  it  effects  no 
good,  and  looks  to  the  preservation  of  the  State  Banks ;  whilst  the 
other  is  fraught  with  mischiefs,  as  I  believe,  and  tends,  if  it  be  not 
designed,  to  the  utter  destruction  of  those  institutions.  But,  prefer- 
ing  to  either,  the  postponement  moved  by  the  Senator  from  Georgiai 
I  shall  in  the  first  instance,  vote  for  that. 

Such,  Mr.  President,  are  the  views  which  I  entertain  on  the  pre- 
sent state  of  our  public  affiurs.  It  is  with  the  deepest  regret  that  I 
can  perceive  no  remedy,  but  such  as  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people 
themselves.  Whenever  they  shall  impress  upon  Congress  a  convic- 
tion of  that  which  they  wish  applied,  they  will  obtain  it,  and  not 
before.  In  the  mean  time,  let  us  go  home,  and  mix  with  and  couauh 
our  constituents.  And  do  not,  I  entreat  you,  let  us  carry  with  us 
the  burning  reproach,  that  our  measures  here  display  a  selfish  solici- 
tude for  the  government  itaelf,  but  a  cold  and  heartless  insensibility  to 
the  sufferings  of  a  bleeding  people. 


[The  bill  passed  the  Senate,  by  a  vote  of  26  to  20 ;  but,  on  reaehiog  die 
It  was,  after  a  vehement  struggle,  latd  ^ifon  Uu  tabU  for  the  seMion,  bf  a  vote  of 
UO  to  107.1 


ON  fHE  SUB-TREASURY. 


In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  February  79, 18SS. 


[The  Sub-TreaMiry  or  Tnr^eprndfnt  Troaswry  scheme  of  Finanr**,  cfpfcp.trd  9t  tilt 
Extra  SfSKion  of  1837,  was  again  Mm»^;?ly  recominend'*<l  by  PrHi«i(l«  iit  Vafi  Eubu^ 
on  the  rea»M'n>blii)g  of  Con{fr«'6i)  in  regular  eeselon,  in  I>c<>mber  o<'  tliut  year,  And 
ft  bill  topstabliah  it  ugiin  r^p  rird  lo  the  Senate,  by  Hon.  SIL^s  Wright,  i'rom  tht 
Finance  Cunimiiiee<  In  the  cour^^e  of  tlie  debate  oji  that  bill.  Mi.  Clat  addreased 
ibe  Senate  as  follows :] 

1  HAVB  seen  some  public  service,  passed  through  many  troubled 
times,  and  often  addressed  public  assemblies,  in  this  rapitol  and  else* 
where ;  hut  neviT  brfon;  havo  1  risen  in  a  deliberative  body,  uodor 
more  oppressed  feelings,  or  with  a  deeper  sense  of  auful  responbibil- 
ity.  Never  before  have  I  ris<*n  to  express  my  opinions  upon  any 
pubhc  measure  frauglit  with  such  tremendous  consequmres  to  (he 
"welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  country,  and  so  perilo'is  to  ihe  liberties  - 
of  the  people,  as  I  solemnly  believe  the  bill  under  consideration  will 
be.  If  you  knew,  sir,  what  sl(*(|)less  hours  reflection  upon  it  haf 
cost  me  ;  if  you  knew  with  what  f^Tvor  and  sincerity  I  have  implored 
Divine  assistance  to  strfni^lhcn  and  sustain  n\e  in  \ny  ()|>p(»sitioh  to  it, 
Ishouhl  have  credit  with  you,  at  least,  for  the  sincerity  «)f  my  convic- 
tions, if  I  shall  be»  so  unfortunate  as  not  to  have  vour  concurrence  as 
to  the  dan^t'rrus  character  of  ihe  measure.  And  1  havr  : hanked  my 
God  that  he  has  prolonii'.'d  my  life  until  the  pres(  nl  time,  to  enable 
me  to  <'xert  myself  i?.i  the  service  of  my  country,  aj];ainsl  a  project  far 
transcend in<j;,  in  pernicious  tendency,  an}'  that  I  have  cvit  had  occa- 
sion to  consider.  1  thank  him  for  the  heullh  I  am  permiitetl  lo  enjoy; 
I  thank  him  for  the  so^t  and  sweet  repose  w!  ich  I  experienced  last 
night ;  I  thank  him  for  the  brighl  and  glorious  sun  which  shint!s  upon 
U8  this  day. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  at  this  time,  Mr.  Pre:i!dent,  to  go  at  large  into 
a  consiileration  of  the  causes  which  have  led  lo  the  pre>eni  most  dis- 
astrous state  of  public  afilurs.     1  hat  duty  vras  ix^formed  by  olhers« 


on  THE  80B-TREA8URT.  845 

and  myself,  at  the  extra  session  of  Congress.  It  was  then  /l^arlj 
shown  that  it  sprang  from  the  ill-advised  and  unfortunate  measures 
of  executive  administration.  I  now  will  content  niyself  with  saying 
that,  on  tlie  4lh  day  of  March,  1829,  Andrew  Jackson,  not  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  was  made  President  of  the  United  Stales  ;  that  the 
country  then  was  eminently  prosperous ;  that  its  currency  was  as 
sound  and  safe  as  any  that  a  people  were  ever  blessed  with  ;  (nat, 
throughout  the  wide  extent  of  this  whole  Union,  it  possessed  a  uni- 
form value  ;  and  that  exchanges  were  conducted  with  such  regularity 
and  perfection,  that  funds  could  be  transmitted  from  one  extremity 
of  the  Union  to  the  other,  with  the  least  possible  risk  or  loss.  In 
this  encduraging  condition  of  the  business  of  the  country,  it  remained 
for  several  years,  until  aAer  the  war,  wantonly  waged  against  the 
late  Bank  of  the  United  States,  was  complf.iely  successful,  by  the 
overthrow  of  that  invaluable  institution.  What  our  present  situation 
is,  it  is  as  needless  to  describe  as  it  is  painful  to  contemplate.  First 
felt  in  our  great  commercial  marts,  distress  and  embarrassment  have 
penetrated  into  the  interior,  and  now  pervade  almost  the  entire  Union. 
It  has  been  justly  remarked,  by  one  of  the  soundest  and  most  practi- 
cal writers  that  I  have  had  occasion  to  consult,  that ''  all  convulsions 
m  the  circulation  and  commerce  of  every  country  must  originate  in 
the  operation  of  the  government,  or  in  the  mistaken  views  and  erro 
neous  measures  of  those  possessing  the  power  of  influencing  credit 
and  circulation ;  for  they  are  not  otherwise  susceptible  of  convulsion^ 
and,  if  left  to  themselves,  they  will  find  their  own  level,  and  flow 
nearly  in  one  uniform  stream. *' 

Yes,  Mr.  President,  we  all  have  but  too  melancholly  a  conscious- 
ness of  the  unhappy  condition  of  our  country.  We  all  too  well  know 
that  our  noble  and  gallant  ship  lies  helpless  and  immovable  upon 
breakers,  dismasted,  the  surge  beating  over  her  venerable  sides,  and 
the  crew  threatened  with  instantaneous  destruction.  How  came  she 
there  }  Who  was  the  pilot  at  the  helm  when  she  was  stranded  ? 
The  pb'ty  m  power  !  The  pilot  was  aided  by  all  the  science  and  skill, 
by  all  the  charts  and  instruments  of  such  distinguished  navigators  as 
Washington,  the  Adamses,  Jefferson,  Madison  and  Monroe  ;  and  yet 
he  did  not,  or  could  not,  save  the  public  vessel.  She  was  placed  in 
her  present  miserable  condition  by  his  bungling  navigatiou,  or  by  his 
want  of  skill  and  judgment.  It  is  impossible  for  him  to  escape  from 
one  or  the  other  horn  of  that  dilemma.  I  leave  him  at  liberty  to 
choose  between  theai. 


346  SPEECHES  OF  HENRT   CLAT. 

• 

I  shall  endeavour,  Mr.  President)  in  the  course  of  the  address  I  am 
about  making,  to  establish  certain  propositions,  which  I  believe  to  be 
incontestible ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  I  will  state  them 
severally  to  the  Senate.     I  shall  contend — 

1st.  That  it  was  the  deliberate  purpose  and  fixed  design  of  the  late 
Administration  to  establish  a  government  bank — a  treasury  bank — to 
be  administered  and  controlled  by  the  executive  department. 

2d.  That  with  the  view,  and  to  that  end,  it  was  its  aim  and  inten- 
tion  to  overthrow  the  whole  banking  system,  as  existing  in  the  United 
States,  when  the  administration  came  into  power,  beginning  with  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  ending  with  the  State  Banks. 

'3d  That  the  attack  was  first  confined,  from  consideration?  of  poli- 
cy, to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ;  but  that,  after  its  o^  erthrow 
was  accomplished,  it  was  then  directed,  and  has  since  been  continued^ 
•gainst  the  State  Banks. 

4.  That  the  present  administration,  by  its  acknowledgements^ 
emanating  from  the  highest  and  most  authentic  source,  has  succeeded 
to  the  principles,  plans  and  policy  of  the  preceding  administration^ 
and  stands  solemnly  pledged  to  complete  and  perfect  them. 

And,  5th.  That  the  bill  under  consideration  is  intended  to  execute 
the  pledge,  by  establishing,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  late  Bank  of  tha 
United  States,  and  the  State  Banks,  a  government  Bank,  to  be  roan* 
aged  and  controlled  by  the  treasury  department,  acting  under  th^ 
conunands  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

I  believe,  solemnly  believe  the  truth  of  every  one  of  these  ^ve 
propositions.  In  the  support  of  them  I  shall  not  rely  upon  any  gratu- 
'itous  surmises  or  vague  conjectures,  but  upon  proofs,  clear,  positive, 
undeniable,  and  demonstrative.  To  establish  the  first  four  I  shaL 
adduce  evidence  of  the  highest  possible  authenticity,  or  facts  admitted 
or  undeniable,  and  fair  reasoning  founded  on  them.  And  as  to  the 
last,  the  measure  under  consideration,  I  think  the  testimony  intrinsic 
3nd  extrinsic,  on  which  I  depend,  stamps,  beyond  all  doubt,  its  true 
character  as  a  government  bank,  and  ought  to  carry  to  the  mind  of 
^.he  Senate  the  conviction  which  I  entertain,  and  in  which  1  feel  per- 
fectly confident  the  whole  country  will  share. 


OH  THB  •UB-TEEAf  URY  34^^ 

1.  My  first  propocition  is,  that  it  was  the  deliberate  'purpose  and 
fixed  design  of  the  late  administration  to  establish  a  govemmeiU 
bank,  a  treasury  bank,  to  be  administered  and  controlled  by  the  ex- 
ecutive department.  To  establish  its  troth,  the  first  prool  which  i 
offer  is  the  following  extract  from  President  Jackson's  annual  mes* 

sage  of  December,  1829  : 

« 

**  The  Charter  of  the  Bank  of  tb  JnHed  States  ei^iret  in  1896,  and  its  stoekhoM- 
ers  will  most  probably  ap(>ly  for  a  renewal  of  their  pnvileges.  In  order  to  avoid  the 
eTib  resulting  from  precipitancy,  in  a  measure  inrolvins  such  important  principles, 
and  such  deep  pecuniary  interests,  I  feel  that  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  the  parties  inter- 
ested, too  soon  present  it  to  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature  and  the  people. 
Both  the  constitutionahty  and  the  expediency  of  the  law  creatini;  this  bank,  are  tttll 
^uettioned  by  a  large  portion  qfourftUotts-citizent ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  by  dU^  that 
It  has  failedfin  the  great  end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  currency. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  if  such  an  institution  is  deemed  essential  to  the  fiscal 
operations  of  the  government,  J  submit  to  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature,  whether  a  na- 
tional one,  founded  VL[tou  the  credit  of  the  government  and  its  revenues,  niifht  not  be 
devised  which  would  avoid  all  constitutional  diificultieii,  an^  at  the  same  time  secure 
all  (he  advantages  to  the  government  and  the  country  that  were  expected  to  result 
from  the  present  Bank." 

This  was  the  first  open  declaration  of  that  implacable  war  against 
the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  was  afterwards  waged  with 
00  much  ferocity.  It  was  the  sound  of  the  distant  bugle  to  collect 
together  the  dispersed  and  scattered  forces,  and  prepare  for  battle. 
The  country  saw  with  surprise  the  statement  that  ^^  the  constitution- 
ality and  expediency  of  the  law  creating  this  bank  are  well  question- 
ed 6y  a  iarge  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens,"  when,  in  truth  and  in 
&ct,  it  was  well  known,  that  but  few  then  doubted  the  constitution- 
ality, and  none  the  expediency  of  it.  And  the  assertion  excited  much 
greater  surprise  that  ^^  it  must  be  admitted  by  all  that  it  has  failed  in 
the  great  end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  currency."  In  this 
message,  too,  while  a  doubt  is  intimated  as  to  the  utility  of  such  an 
institution,  President  Jackson  clearly  first  discloses  his  object  to  es- 
tablish a  national  one,  founded  upon  the  credit  of  the  government  and 
itt  revenues.  His  language  is  perfectly  plain  and  unequivocal.  Such 
a  bank,  founded  «pon  the  credit  of  the  government  and  its  revenues, 
would  secure  all  the  advantages  to  the  government  and  the  country, 
he  tells  us,  that  were  expected  to  result  from  the  present  bank. 

In  his  annual  message  of  the  ensuing  year,  the  late  President  says : 

**  The  importance  of  the  principles  involved  in  the  •»iquiry,  whether  it  will  be 
pios«er  to  recnarter  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  requires  that  I  should  again  call 
ih'?  r.Uention  of  Congress  to  the  nbjject.    Nothing  has  occurred  to  lessen  in  nni  da 


S48  tPESCnt  OP  BBIIRT  CL4T. 

tree  the  danfeiB  wfateh  many  of  our  citizens  tpprehendod  from  thti  inetitntioB,  m 

at  jtmtnt  organized.  lu  the  8i>lrit  of  improvrnient  and  compromise  which  dimio- 
giiitihesour  country  and  its  institutions  it  bpcomcw  lui  to  iminirc,  tehrtlur  U  6c  iMf 
poaibU  10  tecur*  tfu  advantages  afforded  by  the  pretent  bank  through  the  agtnr^  tfa 
Bank  of  the  Unih^d  States,  so  modified  in  its  princiyies  as  to  obviate  consiitaliOflAl 
aod  other  objeciions. 

"  It  is  thought  practicable  to  organize  such  a  bank,  with  the  necessary  o(BceTV,ai 
a  branch  of  the  Treasury  department,  based  on  the  public  and  individaal  depoaitc^ 
without  power  to  make  lotinn  or  puichusse  nroperiy,  which  ^hali  remit  the  funds  ol 
the  government ;  and  the  exiM^n-^e  ol  which  may  be  paid,  il  thought  advisable,  hj 
allowing  its  otiicers  to  sell  biUs  of  exduinge  to  private  ludividoals  at  a  modeiate  pft- 
mium.  Not  being  a  corporate  body,  having  nu  stockholders,  debtors,  and  nroperty, 
and  but  lew  ollicer?^  it  would  not  be  obnoxious  to  the  conctilutiooal  oVjectiou 
which  are  ui^ed  sgaiiisi  the  present  bank  \  and  having  no  iiieaos  to  operate  oa  tha 
hopes,  fean».  or  interests  of  large  masses  ot  the  commuuity,  it  would  be  shorn  of  tke 
influence  which  makes  that  buuk  formidable.'* 

In  this  message,  President  Jackson,  after  again  adverting  to  the 
imaginary  dangei^  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  recurs  to  hii  fit- 
▼orite  project,  and  inquires  '^  whether  it  be  not  possible  to  secure  the 
advantages  afforded  by  the  present  bank  through  the  agency  of  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  so  modified  in  its  principles  and  structme 
as  to  obviate  constitutional  and  other  objectioas.^'  And  to  dispel  all 
doubts  of  the  timid,  and  to  confirm  the  wavering,  he  declares  that  it 
is  thought  practicable  to  organize  such  a  bank,  with  the  necessary 
officers,  as  a  branch  of  the  treasury  department.  As  a  branch  of  tki 
inaavry  department!  The  very  scheme  now  under  consideration. 
And,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  such  an  anomalous  institution,  he 
suggests  that  the  officers  of  the  treasury  department  may  turn  bank- 
eta  and  brokers,  and  sell  bills  of  exchange  to  private  individuals  at  a 
moderate  premium ! 


In  his  annual  message  of  the  year  1S31  upon  this  subject,  he 
brief  and  somewhat  covered  in  his  expressions.  But  the  6xed  pur- 
pose which  he  entertained  is  sufficiently  disclosed  to  the  attentiTe 
reader.     He  announces  that, 

*'  Entertaining  the  opinion  heretofore  expressed  in  relation  to  the  Bank  of  th« 
United  States,  as  at  present  organized,  I  felt  it  my  duty,  in  my  former  roesBage, 
to  disclose  then),  in  order  that  the  attention  of  the  legislature  add  the  people  sbovM 
be  seasonably  directed  to  that  important  subject,  andf  that  it  might  be  considered, 
and  finally  disposed  of  in  a  manner  b^st  calculated  to  promote  the  ends  of  the  con- 
stitution, and  subserve  the  public  interests." 

What  were  the  opinions  ^  heretofore^  expressed  in  relation  to  tbe 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  at  present  organized,  that  is  to  say,  an 
organization  with  any  independent  corporate  government ;  and  in  fa- 
vor of  a  national  bank,  which  should  be  so  constituted  as  to  be  nib- 
ject  to  exclusive  executive  control. 


m  THt  tUB-TtSAIVKr.  841 

At  the  session  of  1831-'2,  the  question  of  the  recharter  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  came  np ;  and  although  the  attention  of  Congress 
and  the  country  had  heeii  repeatedly  and  deliberately  before  invited 
to  the  consideration  of  it  by  President  Jackson  himself,  the  agitation 
of  it  was  now  declared  by  him  and  his  partisans  to  be  precipitate 
and  premature.  Nerertheless,  the  country  and  Congress,  consciooi 
of  the  value  of  a  safe  and  sound  uniform  currency,  conscious  that 
rfuch  a  currency  had  been  eminently  supplied  by  the  Bank  of  th^ 
United  States,  and  unmoved  by  all  the  outcry  raised  against  that  ad 
mirable  institution,  the  recharter  commanded  large  majorities  in  both 
houses  of  Congress.  Fatally  for  the  interests  of  this  country,  the 
stern,  self-will  of  Qcncral  Jackson  prompted  him  to  risk  every  thing 
upon  its  overthrow.  On  the  10th  of  July,  1832,  the  bill  was  return- 
ed with  his  veto :  from  which  the  following  extract  is  submitted  to 
the  attentive  consideration  of  the  Senate : 


'*  A  bank  of  the  United  StfttM  is,  in  many  rtgpectB,  cooTenient  for  the  govenroeal 
aod  oB^lul  to  the  people.    EutertHinins  thia  opiaioo,  and  deeply  iinpreased  with  the 
t>eUef  that  some  of  the  powe»  and  privileges  poqpKflaed  by  the  eiisting  bank  are 
ananthorized  by  the  constitution,  subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  Stales,  and  danjger 
OQS  to  tho  libenics  of  the  people.  I  felt  it  my  duty,  at  an  early  period  of  my  adminia 
tration,  to  call  the  attention  of  Congren  to  the  practicability  of  organizinfi^  and  insti- 
tution combining  all  its  advantages,  and  obviating  these  objecttons.    I  sincerely  re- 
gret that,  in  the  act  before  m^,  I  can  perceive  none  of  those  modiflcatiooe  of  the 
Baok  Charter,  which  are  necessary,  in  my  o^nnion,  to  make  it  compatible  with  (QB 
tiee,  with  sound  policy,  or  with  the  constitution  ol  our  country." 

*'  That  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  competent  to  all  the  duties  which  may  be 
required  by  government,  might  be  so  oiganized  as  not  to  infringe  upon  our  own  da- 
legated  powers,  or  the  reaerved  rights  of  the  Stares,  I  do  not  entertain  a  doubt.  Had 
the  executive  been  called  upon  to  furnish  ihgprqfect  cftufh  an  inatitution,  tlu^  dtUp 
would  fuive  been  cheerfully  performed.  In  the  absence  of  such  a  call,  it  is  obviously 
proper  that  he  thoakf  conflne  hinaself  to  pointiug  out  those  prominent  featores  in  tha 
act  presented,  which,  in  his  opinion,  make  it  incompatible  with  the  constitution  and 
sonnd  policy.'' 

President  Jackson  admits  in  the  citation  which  has  just  been  made, 
that  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  is,  in  many  respects,  convenient  for 
the  government ;  and  reminds  Congress  that  he  had,  at  an  early  pe- 
riod of  his  administration,  called  its  attention  to  the  practicability  of 
so  organizing  such  an  institution  ais  to  secure  all  its  advantages  with- 
out the  defects  of  the  existing  bank.  It  is  perfectly  manifest  that  he 
alludes  to  his  previous  recommendations  of  a  government — a  treasury 
bank.  In  the  same  message  he  tells  Congress  that  if  he  had  been 
called  upon  to  furnish  the  project  of  such  an  institution,  the  duty 
would  have  been  cheerfully  performed.  Thus  it  appears  that  he  had 
not  only  settled  in  his  mind  the  general  principle,  but  had  adjusted 


360  SPBSCHBi  Of   HSNftT  CLAT. 

the  details  of  a  government  bank  to  be  subjected  to  executire  con- 
trol ;  and  Congress  is  even  chided  for  not  calling  upon  him  to  present 
them.  The  bill  now  under  consideration,  beyond  all  controversy,  la 
the  very  project  which  h  e  had  in  view,  and  is  to  consummate  the 
work  which  he  began.  I  think,  Mr.  President,  that  you  must  now 
concur  with  me  in  considering  the  first  proposition  as  fully  maintained. 
I  pass  to  the  second  and  third,  which,  on  account  of  their  intimate 
connection,  I  will  consider  together. 

2*  That,  with  a  view  of  establishing  a  government  bank,  it  was 
the  settled  aim  and  intention  of  the  late  administration  to  overthrow 
the  whole  banking  system  of  the  United  States  when  that  adminis- 
tration came  into  power,  beginning  with  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  ending  with  the  State  Banks. 

3.  That  the  attack  was  first  confined,  from  consideratious  of  policy, 
to  the  Bank  of  \he  United  States  ;  but  that,  after  its  overthrow  was 
accomplished,  it  was  then  directed,  and  has  since  continued,  against 
the  Stale  Banks. 

We  are  not  bound  to  inquire  into  the  motives  of  President  Jackson 
for  desiring  to  subvert  the  established  monetary  and  financial  system 
which  he  found  in  operation  ;  and  yet  some  examination  into  those 
which  probably  influenced  his  mind  is  not  without  utility.  These 
are  to  be  found  in  his  peculiar  constitution  and  character.  His  egotism 
and  vanity  prompted  him  to  subject  everything  to  his  will;  to 
change,  to  remould,  and  retouch  everything.  Hence  the  proscription 
which  characterized  his  administration,  the  universal  expulsion  from 
office,  at  home  and  abroad,  of  all  who  were  not  devoted  to  him,  and 
the  attempt  to  render  the  executive  department  of  government,  to 
iise  a  favorite  expression  of  his  own,  a  complete  ^^  unit."  Hence  bis 
seizure  of  the  public  deposites  m  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and 
his  desire  to  unite  the  purse  with  the  sword.  Hence  his  attack  upon 
all  the  systems  of  policy  which  he  found  in  practical  operation — on 
that  of  internal  improvements,  and  on  that  of  the  protection  of  nation- 
al industry.  He  was  animated  by  the  same  sort  of  ambition  which 
induced  the  master-mind  of  the  age.  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  to  impress 
his  name  upon  every  thing  in  France.  When  I  was  in  Paris,  the 
sculptors  were  busily  engaged  chisseling  out  the  famous  N.,  so  odious 
«  the  Bourbon  line,  which  had  been  conspicuously  carved  in  the 


ON  THI  8UB-TRBA8URT.  351 

palace  oi  the  Tuilleries,  and  on  other  public  edifices  and  monuments 
in  the  proud  capital  of  France.  When,  Mr.  President,  shall  we  see 
effaced,  all  traces  of  the  ravages  committed  by  the  administration  of 
Andrew  Jackson  ?  Society  has  been  uprooted,  virtue  punished,  vice 
rewarded,  and  talents  and  intellectual  endowments  despised  ;  brutal- 
ity,  vulgarism,  and  loco-focoism,  upheld,  cherished,  and  countenanced. 
Ages  will  roll  around  before  the  moral  and  political  ravages  which 
have  been  committed,  will  I  fear,  cease  to  be  discernable.  General 
Jackson's  ambition  was  to  make  his  administration  an  era  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  American  government,  and  he  has  accomplished  that  ob- 
ject of  his  ambition  ;  but  I  trust  that  it  will  be  an  era  to  be  shunned 
as  sad  and  lamentable,  and  not  followed  and  imitated  as  supplying 
sound  maxims  and  principles  of  administration. 

I  have  heard  his  hostility  to  Banks  ascribed  to  some  collision  which 
he  had  with  one  of  them,  during  the  late  war,  at  the  city  of  New 
Orleans  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  may  have  had  some  influence  upon 
his  mind.  The  immediate  cause,  more  probably,  was  the  refusal  of 
that  perverse  and  unaccommodating  gentleman,  Nick  Biddle,  to  turn 
out  of  the  office  of  President  of  the  New  Hampshire  branch  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  at  the  instance  of  his  excellency  Isaac 
Hill,  in  the  summer  of  1829,  that  giant-like  person,  Jeremiah  Mason 
— giant  in  body,  and  giant  in  mind.  War  and  strife,  endless  war  and 
strife,  personal  or  national,  foreign  or  domestic,  were  the  aliment  of 
the  late  President's  existence.  War  against  the  Bank,  war  against 
France,  and  strife  and  contention  with  a  countless  number  of  individ* 
uals.  The  wars  with  Black  Hawk  and  the  Seminoles  were  scarcely 
a  luncheon  for  his  voracious  appetite.  And  he  made  his  exit  from 
public  life,  denouncing  war  and  vengeance  against  Mexico  and  tht 
State  Banks. 

My  acquaintance  with  that  extraordinary  man  commenced  in  this 
city,  in  the  fall  of  1815  or  1816.  It  was  short,  but  highly  respectful, 
and  mutually  cordial.  I  beheld  in  him  the  gallant  and  successful 
general,  who,  by  the  glorious  victory  of  New  Orleans,  had  honorably 
closed  the  second  war  of  our  independence,  and  1  paid  him  the  homp* 
age  due  to  that  eminent  service.  A  few  years  after,  it  became  my 
painful  duty  to  animadvert,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  with 
the  independence  which  belongs  to  the  Representative  character,  upoji 
some  of  his  proceedings  in  the  conduct  of  the  Seminole  war,  which  . 


353  •PEBCHES  OP  HBNRT  CLIT. 

thoaght  illegal  and  contrary  to  the  constitution  and  thclawof  natiow 
A  non-intercourse  Ix^ween  us  ensued,  liihich  continued  until  the  fall 
of  1824,  \i^hen,  he  being  a  mcniber  of  the  Senate,  an  accommodatioD 
between  us  was  sought  to  he  brought  about  by  the  principal  pait  of 
the  delegation  from  his  own  State.  For  that  purpose,  we  were  in- 
▼ited  to  dine  with  them  at  Claxton's  boarding  housc^  on  'Capitol  Hill, 
where  my  venerable  friend  from  Tennessee,  (Mr-  While)  and  his 
colleague  on  the  Spanish  commission,  were  both  present.  1  retired 
early  from  dinner,  and  was  followed  to  the  door  by  General  Jackson 
and  the  present  minister  of  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  Madrid. 
They  pressed  me  earnestly  to  take  a  seat  with  them  in  their  carriage. 
My  faithful  servant  and  friend,  Charle.s,  was  standing  at  the  door 
waiting  for  me,  with  my  own.  I  yielded  to  their  urgent  politeness, 
directed  Charles  to  follow  with  my  carriage,  and  they  set  me  down 
at  my  own  door.  We  afterwards  frequently  met,  with  mutual  re- 
spect  and  cordiality  ;  dined  several  times  together,  and  reciprocated 
the  hospipality  of  our  respective  quarters.  This  friendly  intercourse 
'  continued  until  the  election,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  of  a 
President  of  the  United  States  came  on  in  February,  1825.  I  gave 
the  vote  which,  in  the  contingency  that  happened,  I  told  my  col- 
league, (Mr.  Crittenden,)  who  sits  before  me,  prior  to  my  departure 
from  Kentucky,  in  November,  1824,  and  told  others,  that  I  should 
give.  AU  intercourse  ceased  between  General  Jackson  and  myselL 
We  have  never  since,  except  once  accidentally,  exchanged  saluta- 
tions, nor  met,  except  on  occasions  when  we  were  performing  the 
last  offices  towards  deceased  members  of  Congress,  or  other  officers  of 
government.  Immediately  after  my  vote,  a  rancorous  war  was  com- 
menced against  me,  and  all  the  barking  dogs  let  loose  upon  me.  I 
shall  not  trace  it  during  its  ten  years'  bitter  continuance.  But  I  thank 
my  God  that  1  stand  here,  firm  and  erect,  unbent,  unbroken,  unsub- 
dued, unawed,  and  ready  to  denounce  the  mischievous  measures  of 
this  administration,  and  ready  to  denounce  this  its  legitimate  offspring, 
the  most  pernicious  of  them  all. 

His  administration  consisted  of  a  succession  of  astounding  mear 
sures,  which  fell  on  the  public  ear  like  repeated  bursts  of  loud  and 
appalling:  thunder.  Before  the  reverberations  of  one  peal  had  ceased, 
another  and  another  came,  louder  and  louder,  and  more  terrifying. 
Or  rather,  it  was  like  a  volcanic  mountain,  emitting  frightful  erup- 
tions of  burning  lava.     Before  one  was  cold  and  crusted,  before  the 


on  THE  tUB^TRBASURT.  868 

voice  of  the  iDhabitants  of  buried  villages  and  cities  were  hushed  id 
eternal  silence,  anoLher,  more  desolatinjiTy  wtis  vomited  forth,  extend- 
ing wider  and  wider  the  circle  of  death  and  destruction. 

Mr.  President,  this  is  no  unnecessary  digression.  The  personal 
character  of  such  a  chief  as  I  have  been  descri^hing,  his  passions,  his 
propensities,  the  character  of  his  miud,  should  be  all  thnrou«rhly 
studied,  to  comprehend  clearly  his  measures,  and  his  adniinistratioo. 
But  I  will  now  proceed  to  more  direct  and  strict  proofs  of  my  second 
and  third  propositions.  That  he  was  resolved  to  Uvvnk  down  the 
Bank  of  the  UujUmI  States,  is  proven  by  the  same  citations  from  his 
messages  which  I  have  made,  to  exhibit  his  purpose  to  establish  a 
treasury  bank,  is  proven  by  his  veto  message,  and  by  the  fact  that  he 
did  destroy  it.  The  war  against  all  other  Imnks  was  not  originally 
announced,  because  he  wished  the  State  Banks  to  be  auxiliaries  in 
overthrowing  the  Bank  of  the  United  Stales,  and  because  such  an 
annunciation  would  have  been  too  rash  and  shocking  upon  the  people 
of  the  United  States  for  even  his  tremendous  influence.  It  was 
necessar}'  to  proceed  in  the  work  wilh  caution,  and  to  begin  with 
that  institution  against  which  could  be  embodied  the  greatest  amount 
of  prejudice.  The  refusal  to  recharter  the  Bank  of  the  United  Stateg 
was  followed  by  a  determination  to  remove  from  its  custody  the 
public  money  of  the  United  States.  That  determination  was  first 
whispered  in  this  place,  denied,  again  intimated,  and  fmally,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1832,  executed.  The  agitation  of  the  American  public  \\  hich 
ensued,  the  warm  and  animated  discussions  in  the  country  and  in 
Congress,  to  which  that  unconstitutional  measure  gave  rise,  are  all 
fresh  in  our  recollection.  It  was  necessary  to  quiet  the  public  mindy 
and  to  reconcile  the  people  to  what  had  been  done,  before  President 
Jackson  seriously  entered  upon  his  new  career  of  hostility  to  the 
State  Banks.  At  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  Congress,  in 
1834,  he  imagined  a  sufficient  calm  had  been  produced,  and,  in  hig 
annual  message  of  that  year,  the  war  upon  the  State  Banks  was 
opened.     In  that  message  he  says : 

"  It  secniR  due  to  the  safety  ot  the  public  funds  remnining  in  that  bank,  and  to 
the  honor  of  the  Americnn  |M?opIe,  ihut  inewFiireH  be  Uikrn  to  ttepHmte  ihc  govern.- 
ment  eniirelv  from  an  institution  «»  minehievoiw  to  the  pnblir  prosperity,  and  so 
regHrdl»;w  of  the  consiimiion  and  Inw?.  Kv  irHn^rerring  ih**  |)«il»ltc  dfposiieg,  by 
appoititing  olher  pension  aRents,  h8  far  as  it  had  the  power,  by  orderir./s:  ihc  discern* 
tinu.inoe  of  the  ri'cei|»i  of  Iwnk  rher  ka  In  payment  ol  ilie  public  dues  afier  the  flnt 
day  ol  Jrtunary  next,  the  executive  haa  exerted  aM  its  lawful  authority  to  sever  the 
fonoexum  betweeo  the  sovernm«ot  and  this  raiihiesB  eviporauoo." 


\-^ 


354  SPEKCHES  OF  HBNRT  CLAT. 

In  this  quotation  it  will  be  seen  that  the  first  germ  is  contained  of 
that  separation  and  divorce  of  the  government  from  banks,  which  has 
recently  made  such  a  conspicuous  figure.  It  relates,  it  is  true,  to  the 
late  Bank  of  the  United  Stales,  and  he  speaks  of  separatiag  and  sev- 
erhig  the  connexion  between  the  government  and  that  institution. 
But  the  idea,  once  developed,  was  easily  susceptible  of  application  to 
all  banking  institutions.  In  the  message  of  the  succeeding  year,  his 
meditated  attack  upon  the  State  Banks  is  more  distinctly  disclosed. 
Speaking  of  a  sound  currency,  he  says : 

*'  Iq  considerini^  the  means  of  obtaining  bo  important  an  end,  {.that  is,  a  aound 
currency.]  we  miut  set  aside  all  calculations  of  temporary  convenience,  and  be  in- 
fluencea  oy  those  only  that  are  in  harmony  with  the  true  character  ana  permanent 
interests  of  the  Republic.  We  must  recur  to  the  first  principlea,  and  see  what  it  is 
that  has  prevented  the  legislation  of  Cong[rc8s  and  the  States  on  the  subject  ot  cur- 
rency from  satisfying  the  public  expectation,  and  realizing  results  corresponding  to 
those  which  have  attended  the  action  of  our  system  when  truly  consistent  with  the 
great  principle  of  equality  upon  which  it  rests,  and  with  that  spirit  of  forbearance 
and  mutual  concession  and  generous  patriotism  which  was  originally,  and  mast  eret 
continue  to  be,  the  vital  element  of  our  Union. 

"  On  this  subject,  I  am  sure  that  I  cannot  be  mistaken  in  ascribing  our  want  of 
success  to  the  undue  countenance  which  has  been  afforded  to  the  spirit  of  monopohr. 
All  the  serious  dangers  which  our  system  has  yet  encountered  may  be  traced  to  the 
resort  to  imphed  powers,  and  the  use  of  corporations  clothed  with  privileges,  ths 
effect  of  which  b  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  few  at  the  txpense  of  the  many. 
We  have  felt  but  one  class  of  those  dangers,  exhibited  in  the  contest  waged  by  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  against  the  government  for  the  last  four  years.  Happily, 
they  have  been  obviated  for  the  present  by  the  indignant  resistance  of  the  people  ; 
but  we  should  recollect  that  the  principle  whence  they  sprang  is  an  ever-active  one, 
which  will  not  fail  to  renew  its  efforts  in  the  same  ana  in  other  forms,  to  long  as 
there  is  a  hope  of  success,  founded  either  on  the  inattention  of  Uie  people,  or  the 
treachery  of  their  representatives  to  the  subtle  progress  of  its  influence."  •  •  • 
"  We  are  now  to  see  whether,  in  the  present  favorable  condition  of  the  country,  we 
cannot  take  an  effectual  stana  against  this  tn^'int  of  monopoly,  and  practically  prove, 
in  respect  to  the  currency,  as  well  as  other  important  interests,  that  there  is  no  ne> 
cessity  for  so  extensive  a  resort  to  it  as  that  which  has  been  heretofore  practised.** 
•  ♦  ♦  ♦  "  It  has  been  seen  that  without  the  agency  of  a  great  moneyed  monop- 
oly the  revenue  can  be  collected,  and  conveniently  and  safely  applied  to  all  the  pur- 
poses of  the  public  expenditure.  It  is  also  ascertained  that,  instead  of  being  neces- 
sarily made  to  promote  the  evils  of  an  unchecked  paper  system,  the  management  of 
the  revenue  can  be  made  auxiliary  to  the  reform  which  the  legislature  of  several  of 
the  Stales  have  already  commenced  in  regard  to  the  suppression  of  small  biUs;  and 
which  has  only  to  be  fostered  by  proper  regulations  on  the  part  of  Congress,  to  semro 
a  practical  return,  to  the  extent  required  for  the  security  of  the  currency,  to  the  con- 
stitutional medium." 

As  in  the  instance  of  the  attack  upon  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
the  approach  to  the  State  Banks  is  slow,  cautious,  and  insidious.  He 
reminds  Congress  and  the  country  that  all  calculations  of  temporaiy 
convenience  must  he  set  aside ;  that  we  must  recur  to  first  princi* 
pies  ;  and  that  we  must  see  what  it  is  that  has  prevented  legislatioA 
of  Congress  and  the  States  on  the  subject  of  the  currency  from  satif- 
fying  public  expectation.    He  declares  bis  conviction  thai  the  want 


ON   TKE  ftJB-TBEASURY.  355 

ot  success  has  proceeded  from  undue  countenance  which  has  been 
afibrded  to  the  spirit  of  monopoly.  All  ihe  serious  dangers  which 
•ui  system  has  yet  encounterd,  may  be  traced  to  the  resort  to  implied 
powers,  and  to  the  uso  of  corporations.  We  have  fe]t,  he  says,  but 
one  class  of  those  dangers  in  the  contest  with  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  he  Clearly  intimates  that  the  other  class  is  the  State 
Banks.  We  are  now  to  see,  he  proceeds,  whether,  in  the  present 
favorable  condition  of  the  country,  we  cannot  take  an  effectual  stand 
against  the  spirit  of  monopoly.  Reverting  to  his  favorite  scheme  of 
a  government  bank,  he  says  it  is  ascertained  that,  instead  of  being 
made  necessary  to  promote  the  evils  of  an  unchecked  paper  system, 
the  management  of  the  revenue  can  be  made  auxiliary  to  the  reform 
which  he  is  desirous  to  introduce.  The  designs  of  President  Jackson 
against  the  State  Banks  are  more  fully  developed  and  enlarged  upon 
in  his  annual  message  of  1836,  from  which  I  beg  leave  to  quote  the 
following  passages :  ^  - 

*'  I  beg  l«nve  to  call  your  attention  to  another  subject  intimately  aiBociated  with 
the  preceding  one — ^the  currency  of  the  country. 

"  It  is  apparent,  from  the  whole  context  of  the  constitution,  as  well  as  the  historf 
of  the  times  that  gare  birth  to  it,  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  convention  to  estab* 
lish  a  currency  consisting  of  the  precious  metals.^  xhese,  from  their  peculiar  proper- 
tiesw  which  rendered  them  the  standard  of  value  in  all  other  countries,  were  adopted 
m  this,  as  well  to  establib'h  its  commercial  standard,  in  reference  to  foreign  countries, 
by  a  permanent  rule,  as  to  exclude  the  use  of  a  mutable  medium  of  exchange,  such 
as  of  certain  agricultural  commodities,  recognized  by  the  statutes  of  some  States  m 
a  tender  for  debts,  or  the  still  more  pernicious  expedient  of  a  paper  currency. 

**  Variableness  must  ever  be  the  characteristic  of  a  currency  of  which  the  precious 
metals  are  not  the  chief  ingredient,  or  which  can  be  expanded  or  contracted  without 
regard  to  the  principles  that  regulate  the  value  of  those  metals  as  a  standard  in  die 
general  trade  of  the  world.  With  us,  bank  issues  constitute  such  a  currency,  and 
must  evf'r  do  so,  until  they  are  made  dependent  on  those  just  proportions  of  gold  and 
idJver^  as  a  circulating  medium,  which  experience  has  proved  to  be  necessary,  not 
only  in  this,  but  in  all  other  commercial  countries,  where  those  proportions  are 
not  infused  into  the  circulation,  and  do  not  control  it,  it  is  manifest  that  prices  must 
vary  according  to  the  tide  of  bank  issues,  and  the  value  and  stability  of  property 
must  stand' exposed  to  all  the  uncertainty  which  attends  the  administration  of  insU- 
tutions  that  are  constantly  liable  to  the  temptation  of  an  interest  distinct  from  that 
of  the  community  in  which  they  are  establiahed.'*. 

*'  But.  althouf|[h  various  dangers  to  our  republican  institutions  have  been  obviated 
by  the  failure  ot  the  bank  to  extort  from  the  government  a  renewal  of  its  charter, 
it  is  obvious  that  little  has  been  accomplished,  except  a  salutary  change  of  publie 
opinion,  towards  restoring  to  the  country  the  sound  currency  provided  for  m  the 
constitution.  In  the  acts  of  several  of  the  States  prohibiting  the  circulation  of  small 
notes,  and  the  auxiliary  enactments  of  Congress  at  their  last  session,  forbidding  their 
reception  or  pavment  on  public  account,  the  true  policy  of  the  country  has  been  ad- 
vanced, and  a  larger  portion  of  the  precious  metals  infused  into  our  circulating  me- 
dium. These  mensures  will  probably  be  followed  up  in  due  time  by  the  enactment 
of  State  laws,  banishing  from  circulation  bank  notes  of  still  higher  denominations  t 
ud  the  object  may  be  materially  promoled  by  farther  acts  of  CoogreM,  foibidd«f 


35^  8PBBCHI8  OF  KEMRT    CLAT. 

the  employment,  is  fiacal  af^enti*,  of  such  banks  as  iasup  notea  of  low  donominmtioaf 
and  throw  intpeaiments  in  the  way  of  the  circulation  of  gold  and  ailver.*' 

**  The  «*frects  of  an  extention  of  bank  credils  and  ovcr-iannra  of  hank  paper,  hmwe 
been  Ktriki*igly  iiluatrated  in  the  8a!;*8  of  ihf*  public  lands.  From  the  rt*tnrns  made  by 
th**  various  n-gislers  and  ivceivens  in  the  eailv  phrt  oCiart  pummfr,  it  wa^»pr^ce^red 
th.il  th'  receipts  arising  from  the  Siiles  of  public  lands  \vfn»  incip>i»«inj(  to  an  anpre- 
ced»"nicd  amonnt.  In  elfect,  however,  th«*s«*  recei|>t-»  amonnt  to  noihin?  more  thaa 
crediu*  ill  bank".  The^  b.mks  lent  out  th-ir  notes  to  j:pr»cnl:«t(>r8  :  th**y  were  paid  la 
receivprei,  and  imm**diate!y  retnmed  to  the  banks,  to  be  lent  ont  ai^ain  and  again, 
being  mere  inMruni^nta  to  iranstfer  to  fftecula.or^  ine  most  vuiunhle  public  land,  and 
pay  \\v:  government  by  a  credit  on  the  hooka  of  the  bunks  IMiose  credits  on  the 
Dook^  o\  some  of  the  western  banks,  nsually  calle<l  d«'posite»,  w»*re  alrendy  greatlr 
beyond  iheir  immedinie  means  of  Uciyment,  and  were  ra(>idly  increasing  Indeeo, 
eaeh  speculation  furnished  means  for  another;  for  no  poon»»r  hud  one  iuilividual  or 
comi»uny  paid  in  th**  notes,  th.m  they  were  lent  to  anoth'r  fora  like  purpa>;e  ;  and 
the  bank"*  were  extending  ih"ir  husineps  and  rh-ir  iKsni'P  so  lnrg«'Iv  us  to  >ilurm  con- 
wder<it»*  men.  and  render  it  doubtful  whether  thcfr  hank  nrditf,  iffHrmitted  to  arm- 
muhle^  icoulfi  uHinuitcly  (hi  of  the  leant  valm  to  the  gnrernmeiit  The  spirit  of  expan> 
tion  and  pperutuiion  was  not  confined  to  the  dcpo^ite  b;ink8,  but  pervaded  the  whoia 
multitude  of  bunks  ihroughout  the  Union,  and  was  giving  riaa  to  new  institulkoM 
to  aggravate  the  evil. 


**  The  safety  of  the  public  funds,  and  the  interest  of  the  people  generally^  required 
that  tht^RC  openuions  should  be  ch»*cked ;  and  it  became  the  duty  of  every  orancbof 
th**g"nr»ral  and  Stale  governmenifl  to  adopt  all  lei»iriniate  and  proper  mean*  to  pro- 
duce ih  It  salui.irv  elf'-et.  Under  this  vi'Av  of  my  duly,  I  dir»'cted  llie  inauing  of  the 
orl  'r,  wUieh  will  be  1  lid  befon*  you  by  the  St'cretary  of  the  Trpasur>',  requiring  pay- 
ment of  the  public  lands  Fold  to  be  made  in  s|>ecip,  with  an  exception  notil  the  fff> 
teenih  oftbe  prrgenl  month  in  favor  of  actual  neitlers  This  measure  hasprodaoed 
many  salutary  coni»equ^nct»8  It  checked  the  caref»r  of  the  western  bank**,  and  gave 
theiri  additional  strength  in  antii'ipation  of  th»*  pres^nre  which  bus  since  pervaded 
ourea^teni  as  well  ns  the  European  commercial  cili*»s.  By  prevpntini^  the  exMa- 
nouofthe  credit  8yj»tem,  it  measurably  cut  ort' th"  mean?  of  *fperu!ation,  andr^ 
tard^il  its  progress  in  monopolizing  the  moM  valuable  of  the  i^nblic  lands.  It  baa 
tend*"!  ii»  wave  the  new  States  from  a  non-resident  propria  to  rfihi|i — one<»f  the  nrat- 
eat  oU>i.i^;l"8to  the  advancement  of  a  new  conntry  and  the  pro^p»»rity  of  an  old  one. 
It  has  tended  to  k«'epoj»en  the  public  lands  for  entry  by  emiarrants  at  gnvemment 
pries,  in>»t»'ad  of  their  neina  compelled  iopureh-^«e  offp^rulutorsat  double  or  treble 
pric  M.  And  it  Ih  conveying  into  the  interior  large  s'lins  in  Vilver  and  gold,  there  to 
enr-'r  permanr^ntly  into  the  curr»'ncv  of  the  country,  and  plac*  it  on  a  firmer  foan- 
dation  It  is  confidently  believed  that  the  country  will  (iiid,  in  the  motives  which 
indiic<-d  that  order,  and  the  happy  consequences  which  have  ensued,  much  to  oom- 
mend  and  nothing  to  condemn." 

It  is  seen  that  he  again  calls  the  attention  of  Cono^ress  to  the  cor^ 
rency  of  the  country,  alleilges  that  it  was  apparent  from  the  whole 
context  uf  the  constitution,  as  well  as  the  history  of  the  tinoes  that 
gave  birth  to  it,  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  convention  to  establish 
a  curn^ncy  consisting  of  the  precious  metnb  ;  imput(»8  variablenesi 
and  a  liability  to  inordinate  contraction  and  expansion  to  the  existing 
paper  system,  and  denounces  bank  issues  as  being  an  uncertain  stand- 
ard. Me  felicitates  himself  upon  the  dangers  which  have  i>eeo  ob- 
viated by  the  overthrow  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  but  de- 
clares that  little  has  been  yet  done,  except  to  produce  n  salutary 
change  of  public  opinion  towards  restoring  to  the  country  the  soond 
currency  provided  far  in  the  constitution,     1  will  here  say,  in  paaslDg, 


«■  turn  tu»-TBKAtuMr.  857 

that  all  lhi8  outcry  about  the  precious  metals,  gold,  and  the  consti- 
tuliooal  currency,  has  been  put  forth  to  delude  the  people,  and  to  use 
the  precious  metals  as  an  instrument  to  break  down  the  banking  insti- 
tutions of  the  States,  and  to  thus  pa%*e  the  way  for  the  ultimate  estab- 
lishment of  a  great  government  bank.  In  the  present  advanced  state 
of  civilization,  in  the  present  condition  of  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
and  in  the  actual  relations  of  trade  and  intercourse  between  the  differ- 
ent  nations  of  the  world,  it  is  perfectly  chimerical  to  suppose  that  the 
currency  of  the  United  States  should  consist  exclusively,  or  princi- 
pally, of  the  precious  metals. 

In  the  quotations  which  I  have  made  from  the  last  annual  message 
of  General  Jackson,  he  speaks  of  the  extension  of  bank  credits,  and 
the  overissues  of  bank  paper,  in  the  operations  upon  the  sales  of 
public  lands.  In  his  message  of  only  the  preceding  year,  the  vast 
amount  of  those  sales  had  been  dwelt  upon  with  peculiar  complaisance, 
as  illustrating  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country,  and  as  proof  of 
the  wisdom  of  his  administration.  But  now  that  which  had  been  an* 
aounc^d  as  a  blessing  is  deprecated  as  a  calamity.  Now,  his  object 
being  to  assail  the  banking  institutions  of  the  States,  and  to  justify 
that  fatal  treasury  order,  which  I  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to 
notice,  he  expresses  his  apprehension  of  the  danger  to  which  we  are 
exposed  of  losing  the  public  domain,  and  getting  nothing  for  it  but 
bank  crediia.  He  describes,  minutely,  the  circular  process  by  which 
the  notes  of  the  banks  passed  out  of  those  institutions  to  be  employed 
in  the  purchase  of  the  public  lands,  and  returned  again  to  them  in  the 
form  of  credits  to  the  government.  He  foists  that  Mr.  Secretary 
Taney,  to  reconcile  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  the  daring 
measure  of  removing  the  public  deposites,  had  stimulated  the  banks 
to  the  exercise  of  great  liberality  in  the  grant  of  loans.  He  informs 
OB,  in  that  message,  that  the  safety  of  the  public  funds,  and  the  in- 
l^^ts  of  the  people  generally,  required  that  these  copious  issues  of 
the  banks  should  be  checked,  and  that  the  conversion  of  the  public 
lands  into  mere  bank  credits  should  be  arrested.  And  his  measure 
to  accomplish  these  objects  was  that  famous  treasury  order,  already 
adverted  to.  Let  us  pause  here  for  a  moment,  and  contemplate  the 
drcumstaaces  under  which  it  was  issued.  The  principle  of  the  order 
had  been  proposed  and  discussed  in  Congress.  But  one  Senator,  as 
fSsur  as  I  know,  in  this  branch  of  the  Legislature,  and  not  a  solitary 

•X 


308  SPEBCHBt  or  BEVRT  CLAT. 

in  favor  of  it.  And  yet,  in  about  a  week  after  the  adjournment  of 
Congress,  the  principle,  which  met  with  no  countenance  from  the 
legislative  authority  was  embodied  in  the  form  of  a  treasury  edict, 
and  promulgated  under  the  executive  aulhority,  to  the  astonishmeiit 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

1  f  we  possessed  no  other  evidence  whatever  of  the  hostility  of  Pre- 
sident Jackson  to  the  State  Banks  of  the  United  States,  that  order 
would  supply  conclusive  proof.  Bank  notes,  bank  issues,  bank  credits, 
were  distrusted  and  denounced  by  him.  It  was  proclaimed  to  the 
people  that  they  were  unworthy  of  confidence.  The  government 
could  no  longer  trust  in  their  security.  And  at  a  moment  when  the 
banking  operations  were  extended,  and  stretched  to  their  utmost  ten- 
sion ;  when  they  were  almost  all  tottering  and  ready  to  fall,  for  the 
want  of  that  metallic  basis  on  which  they  all  rested,  the  executive 
announces  its  distrust,  issues  the  treasury  order,  and  enters  the  mar- 
ket for  specie,  by  a  demand  of  an  exfraordinary  amount  to  supply  the 
means  of  purchasing  the  public  lands.  If  the  sales  had  continoed  in 
the  same  ratio  they  had  been  made  during  the  previous  year,  that  is, 
at  about  the  rate  of  twenty-four  millions  per  annum,  this  unprece* 
dented  demand  created  by  government  for  specie  must  have  exhausted 
the  vaults  of  most  of  the  banks,  and  produced  much  sooner  the  ca^ 
tastrophe  which  occurred  in  May  last.  And,  what  is  more  extraor* 
dinary,  this  wanton  demand  for  specie  upon  all  the  banks  of  the  com- 
mercial capitals,  and  in  the  busy  and  thickly  peopled  portions  of  the 
country,  was  that  it  might  be  transported  into  the  wilderness,  and, 
afler  having  been  used  in  the  purchase  of  public  lands,  deposited  to 
the  credit  of  the  government  in  the  books  of  western  banks,  in  aome 
of  which,  according  to  the  message,  there  were  already  credits  to  the 
government  '^  greatly  beyond  their  immediate  means  of  payment.** 
Government,  therefore,  did  not  itself  receive,  or  rather  did  not  retain, 
the  very  specie  which  it  professed  to  demand  as  the  only  medium 
worthy  of  the  public  lands.  The  specie,  which  was  so  uselessly  ex- 
acted, was  transferred  from  one  set  of  banks,  to  the  derangement  of 
the  commerce  and  business  of  the  country,  and  placed  in  the  Taulti 
of  another  set  of  banks  in  the  interior,  forming  only  those  bank  credits 
to  the  government  upon  which  President  Jackson  placed  so  slight  a 
value. 

FinaUyi  when  Gmieral  Jackson  was  about  to  retire  from  the 


0*  THE  tUB-TRtAaURT.  399 

of  government,  he  favored  his  coantrymen  with  a  farewell  address. 
The  solemnity  of  the  occasion  gives  to  any  opinions  which  he  has 
escpressed  in  that  document  a  claim  to  peculiar  attention.  It  will  be 
seen,  on  perusing  it,  that  he  denounces,  more  emphatically  than  in 
any  of  his  previous  addresses,  the  bank  paper  of  the  country,  corpo- 
rations, and  what  he  chooses  to  denominate  the  spirit  of  monopoly. 
The  Senate  will  indulge  me  in  calling  its  attention  to  certain  parts 
of  that  address  in  the  following  extracts : 

'*  The  conetitation  of  the  United  Statra  nnqvestionably  intemled  to  secure  to  the 
people  a  circuluting  inediuni  of ^oldsand  silver.  But  the  eftabli^hinent  of  a  National 
Bank  by  Congrera,  with  the  privilege  of  ii«ning  paper  monry  receivab!**  in  payment 
of  the  public  dues,  and  the  unfortunate  cour>c  of  legislation  in  the  Bevcrai  Statea 
apon  the  same  (^object,  drove  from  general  circulation  the  constitutional  currency, 
•uid  aubinitted  one  of  p^per  in  its  place.'* 

**The  mischief  springs  from  the  power  which  the  moneyed  interest  derives  from 
a  paper  currency,  which  they  are  able  to  control ;  from  the  mn It iiude  of  corpora- 
tions, with  exclusive  privileges,  which  they  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  in  the  dif- 
ferent States,  and  which  are  employed  ahogether  for  their  benefit ;  and  unless  you 
become  more  watchful  in  your  .Slater,  and  check  this  spirit  of  mono|K)Iy  and  thirst 
for  exclusive  privileges,  you  will  in  the  end,  tlnd  that  the  most  imporiani  powers  of 
fovemment  have  be«n  given  or  bartered  away,  and  the  control  over  your  demiest 
interests  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  these  corporations." 

•*  But  it  will  require  steady  and  persevering  exertions  on  your  part  torrid  your- 
Klves  of  the  iniouities  and  mischiefs  of  the  fiaper  system,  and  check  the  spirit  of 
monopoly  and  otner  abuses  which  have  sprung  up  with  it,  and  of  which  it  is  the  main 
support.  So  many  interests  are  united  to  resist  all  reform  on  this  subject,  that  yon 
must  not  hope  that  the  conflict  will  be  a  short  one^  nor  huccoss  easy.  ^Iy  humble 
^flbrts  have  not  been  spared,  during  mv  administration  of  the  government,  to  restore 
the  constitutional  currency  of  gold  and  silver :  and  somethinf^,  I  trust,  has  been  done 
towards  the  accomitllshmenl  of  this  moat  desinible  object,  liut  enough  yet  remains 
to  reouire  all  your  energy  and  perseverance.  The  power,  however,  is  in  your  hands, 
and  tne  remedy  must  and  will  be  applied,  if  you  determine  upon  it." 

The  mask  is  now  thrown  off,  and  ho  boldly  says  that  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  unquestionably  intended  to  secure  to  the 
people  a  circulating  medium  of  gold  and  silver.  They  have  not  en- 
joyed, he  says,  that  benefit,  because  of  the  establishment  of  a  National 
Bank,  and  the  unfortunate  course  oj  legislation  in  the  several  States. 
He  does  not  limit  his  condemnation  of  the  past  policy  of  this  country 
to  the  federal  government,  of  which  he  had  just  ceased  to  be  the 
chief,  but  he  extends  it  to  the  States  also,  as  if  they  were  incompe- 
tent to  judge  of  the  interests  of  their  respective  citizens.  He  tells  us 
that  mischief  springs  from  the  power  which  the  monied  interest  de- 
rives from  a  paper  curtency,  which  they  are  able  to  control,  and  the 
muldtude  of  corporations ;  and  he  stimulates  the  people  to  become 
more  Watchful  in  their  several  States,  to  chtvk  this  spirit  of  monop- 
olar.   To  ihrigorate  their  IWtftvBei  M  Mlitf  the  ^leople  that  it  wiR ' 


360  fPBlCIUt  or  HUTRT    CLAT. 

require  steady  and  persevering  exeitions,  on  their  part,  to  rid  them 
selves  of  the  iniquities  and  mischiefs  of  the  paper  system,  and  to 
check  the  spirit  of  monopoly.  They  must  not  hope  that  the  conflict 
will  be  a  short  one,  nor  success  easy.  His  humble  efforts  have  not 
been  spared,  during  his  administration,  to  restore  the  constit*]tioiia« 
currency  of  gold  and  silvery  and,  although  he  has  been  able  to  dc 
something  towards  the  accomplishment  of  that  object,  enough  gtt 
remains  to  require  all  the  energy  and  perseverance  of  the  people. 

Such,  Mr.  President  are  the  proofii  and  the  argument  on  which  I 
rely  to  establish  the  second  and  third  propositions  which  I  have  been 
considering.  Are  they  not  successfully  maintained  ?  Is  it  possible 
that  any  thing  could  be  more  conclusive  on  such  a  subject  ?  I  pass  to 
the  consideration  of  the  fourth  proposition. 

4.  That  the  present  administration,  by  acknowledgments  emana 
ting  from  the  highest  and  most  authentic  source,  has  succeeded  to  tha 
principles,  plans,  and  policy  of  the  preceding  administration,  and 
stand  solemnly  pledged  to  complete  and  perfect  them.      * 

1  ne  proofs  on  this  subject  are  brief;  but  they  are  clear,  direct  and 
plenary.  It  is  impossible  for  any  unbiassed  mind  to  doubt  for  a  bkh 
ment  about  them^  You,  sir,  will  be  surprised,  when  I  shall  aira^ 
them  before  you,  at  their  irresistible  force.  The  first  that  I  shall  oSsr 
IS  an  extract  from  Mr.  Van  Buren's  letter  of  acceptance  of  the  nomi 
nation  of  the  Baltimore  convention,  dated  May  23d,  1835.  In  that 
letter  he  says : 


honored  with  the  choice  of  the  Americmn  i^eople,  endeavor  generallv  to  follow  is 
the  footsteps  of  President  Jackson,  happy  if  I  shal  be  able  to  jfttftct  Uu  work  which 
he  has  so  gloriously  began.** 


Mr.  Van  Buren  announces  that  he  was  the  honored  instrument  se- 
lected by  his  friends  of  the  present  administration,  to  carry  out  its 
principles  and  policy.  The  honored  instrument !  That  word,  accord- 
ing to  the  most  approved  definition,  means  tool  He  was  then,  the 
honored  tool — to  do  what  ?  to  promote  the  honor,  and  advance  the 
welfare  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  to  add  to  the  gloiy  of 
the  country  ?  No,  no ;  his  country  was  not  in  his  thoughts.  Party, 
partji  filled  the  place  in  his  boaooi|  which  country  should  have  oc- 


I  Oir  TRC  tUB-TRBAtUST.  361 

cupied.    He  was  the  honored  tool  to  carry  out  the  principles  and 
policy  of  General  Jackson ^s  adniinistration  ;  and  if  elected,  he  should, 
as  well  from  inclination  as  from  duty,  endeavor,  generally,  to  tread  in 
the  footsteps  of  General  Jackson — happy,  if  he  should  he  ahle  to  per- 
fect the  work  which  he  had  so  gloriously  begun.     Duty  to  whom  > 
to  the  country,  to  the  whole  people  of  the  Untted  States  ?    No  such 
thing  ;  but  duty  to  the  friends  of  the  then  administration  ;  and  that 
duty  required  him  to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  his  illustrious  predeces- 
sor, and  to  perfect  the  work  which  he  had  begun  !   Now,  the  Senate 
will  bear  in  mind,  that  the  most  distinguishing  features  of  General 
Jackson's  administration  related  to  the  currency ;  that  he  had  de* 
nounced  the  banking  institutions  of  the  country  ;  that  he  bad  over- 
thrown the  Bank  of  the  United  States ;  that  he  had  declared,  when 
that  object  was  accomplished,  only  one  half  the  work  was  completed  ; 
that  he  then  commenced  a  war  against  the  State  Banks,  in  order  to 
finish  the  other  half  *,  that  he  cof^stantly  persevered  in,  and  never 
abandoned,  his  favorite  project  of  a  great  government  treasury  Bank ; 
and  that  he  retired  from  the  office  of  Chief  Magistrate,  pouring  out, 
in  his  farewell  address,  anathemas  against  paper  money,  corporations, 
and  the  spirit  of  monopoly.     When  the^e  things  are  recollected,  it  is 
impossible  not  to  comprehend  clearly  what  Mr.  Van  Buren  means 
by  carrying  out  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  late  administration 
No  one  can  mistake  that  those  principles  and  that  policy  require  biro 
to  break  down  the  local  institutions  of  the  States,  and  to  discredit 
and  destroy  the  paper  medium  which  they  issue.     No  one  can  be  at 
A  loss  to  understand  that,  in  following  in  the  footsteps  of  President 
Jackson,  and  in  perfecting  the  work  which  he  begun,  Mr.  Van  Buren 
means  to  continue  attacking,  systematically,  the  Banks  of  the  States, 
and  to  erect  on  their  ruins  that  great  government  Bank,  begun  by  his 
predecessor,  and  which  he  is  the  honored  instrument  selected  to  com- 
plete.    The  next  proof  which  I  shall  offer  is  supplied  by  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  inaugural  address,  from  which  I  request  permission  of  the 
Senate  to  r^ad  the  following  extract : 

"  Id  receiving  from  the  people  the  sacred  tmst  twice  confided  to  my  illufttrioos 
predecesror,  and  which  he  has  discharged  00  faithrully  and  so  well,  I  know  that  I 
cannot  exiiect  to  perform  the  arduous  tusk  with  ec^ual  ability  and  success.  But. 
united  as  I  have  been  in  /)(%roitnw/«,  a  daily  wilnAss  ol  his  exclusive  and  unjutrpassea 
devotion  to  his  country^s  welfare,  agreeing  with  him  in  sentiments  which  his  coun- 
trymf^n  have  warmly  supported,  and  permitted  to  partake  larfrefv  <>f  his  confidence. 
I  may  hope  that  tonfewhat  of  toe  same  cheering  approbation  will  be  found  to  attena 
apon  my  path  T" 


96d  SPEECHES  OF  HENRT  CLA,T. 

Here  we  find  Mr.  Van  Boren  distinctly  avowing,  what  the  Ameri- 
can people  well  knew  before,  that  he  had  been  united  in  the  councils 
of  General  Jackson  ;  that  he  had  agreed  with  him  in  sentiments,  and 
that  he  had  partaken  largely  of  his  confidence.  This  intimacy  and 
confidential  intercourse  could  not  have  existed  without  the  concur- 
rence of  Mr.  Van  Buren  in  all  those  leading  and  prominent  measures 
of  his  friend,  which  related  to  the  establishment  of  a  government 
bank,  the  overthrow  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the  attack 
upon  the  State  institutions,  and  the  denunciation  of  the  paper  cur- 
rency, the  spirit  of  monopoly,  and  corporations.  Is  it  credible  that 
General  Jackson  should  have  aimed  at  the  accomplishment  of  all 
those  objects,  and  entertained  all  these  sentiments,  without  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  participation  ? 

I  proceed  to  another  point  of  powerful  evidence^  in  the  conduct 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  in  respect  to  the  famous  treasury  order.  That 
order  had  been  promulgated,  originally,  in  defiance  of  the  opinion  <^ 
Congress,  had  been  continued  in  operation  in  defiance  of  the  wishes 
and  will  of  the  people,  and  had  been  repealed  by  a  bill  passed  at  the 
last  ordinary  session  of  Congress,  by  overwhelming  majorities.  The 
fate  of  that  bill  is  well  known.  Instead  of  being  returned  to  the 
House  in  which  it  originated,  according  to  the  requirement  of  the 
constitution,  it  was  sent  to  one  of  the  pigeon-holes  of  the  department 
of  state,  to  be  filed  away  with  an  opinion  of  a  convenient  Attorney 
General,  always  ready  to  prepare  one  in  support  of  executive  en- 
croachment. On  the  fifth  of  March  last  not  a  doubt  was  entertained, 
as  far  as  my  knowledge  or  belief  extends,  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  would 
rescind  the  obnoxious  order.  I  appeal  to  the  Senator  from  Missouri, 
who  sits  near  me,  (Mr.  Linn,)  to  the  Senator  from  Mississippi,  who 
sits  i^rthest  from  me,  (Mr.  Walker,)  to  the  Senator  from  Alabama, 
(Mr.  King,)  and  to  the  whole  of  the  administration  Senators,  if  such 
was  not  the  expectation  of  all  of  them.  Was  there  ever  an  occasion 
in  which  a  new  administration  had  so  fine  an  opportunity  to  signalize 
its  commencement  by  an  act  of  grace  and  wisdom,  demanded  by  the 
best  interests  and  most  anxious  wishes  of  the  people  ?  But  Mr.  Van 
Buren  did  not  think  proper  to  embrace  it.  He  had  shared  too  largely 
in  the  confidence  of  his  predecessor,  agreed  toQ  fully  with  him  in  his 
councils,  to  rescind  an  order  which  constituted  so  essential  a  part  of 
the  system  which  had  been  deliberately  adopted  to  overthrow  tbt 
State  Banks. 


ON   THE  SUB-TRKASURT.  363 

Another  course  pursued  by  the  adniiDistratioD,  aAer  the  catastrophe 
of  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks,  demonstrates  the 
hostile  purposes  towards  them  of  the  present  administration.   When  a 
similar  event  had  occurred  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison, 
did  he  discredit  and  discountenance   the   i2>sues  of  the  banks  by 
refusing  to  receive  them  in  payment  of  the  public  dues  ?    Did  th« 
State  governments,  upon  the  former  or  the  late  occasion,  refuse  to 
receive  them  in  payment  of  the  dues  to  them,  respectively  ?     And  if 
irredeemable  bank  notes  are  good  enough  for  State  governments  and 
the  people,  are  they  not  good  enough  for  the  federal  government  of 
tbe  same  people  ?    By  exacting  specie,  in  all  payments  to  the  gene- 
ral government,  that  government  presented  itself  in  the  market  as  a 
powerful  and  formidable  competitor  with  the  Banks,  demanding  spe? 
cic  at  a  moment  when  the  Banks  were  making  unexampled  struggle* 
to  strengthen  themselves,  and  prepare  for  the  resumption  of  specie 
payments.     The  extent  of  this  government  demand  for  specie  does 
not  admit  of  exact  ascertainment ;  but  when  we  reflect  that  the  an- 
nual expenditures  of  the  government  were  at  the  rate,  including  the 
post-office  department,  of  about  thirty-three  millions  of  dollars,  and 
that  its  income,  made  up  either  of  taxes  or  loans,  must  be  an  equal 
sum,  making  together  an  aggregate  of  sixty-six  millions,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  amount  of  specie  required  for  the  use  of  government 
must  be  immensely  large.      It  cannot  be  precisely  determined,  but 
would  not  be  less  probably  than  fifteen  or  twenty  millions  of  dollars 
per  annum.    Now,  how  is  it  possible  for  the  banks,  coming  into  the 
specie  market,  in  competition  with  all  the  vast  power  and  influence 
of  the  government,  to  provide  themselves  with  specie  in  a  reasonable 
time  to  resume  specie  payments  ?    That  competition  would  have 
been  avoided,  if  upon  the  stoppage  of  the  Banks,  the  notes  of  those 
of  whose  solidity  there  was  no  doubt,  had  been  continued  to  be  re- 
ceived in  payment  of  the  public  dues,  as  was  done  in  Mr.  Madison's 
administration.   And,  why,  Mr.  President,  should  they  not  have  been  ? 
Why  should  not  this  government  receive  the  same  description  of  me- 
dium which  is  found  to  answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  several  State 
governments  ?     Why  should  they  have  resorted  to  the  expedient  of 
issuing  an  inferior  paper  medium,  in  the  form  of  treasury  notes,  and 
refusing  to  receive  the  better  notes  of  safe  and  solid  banks  ?    Do  not 
misunderstand  me,  Mr.  President.  No  man  is  more  averse  than  I  am  to 
a  permanent  inconvertible  paper  medium.     It  would  have  been  as  a 
temporary  measure  only  that  I  should  have  thought  it  expedient  to 


864  SPEECHES  OP  HSNRT  CLAT. 

receive  the  notes  of  good  local  banks.  If,  along  with  that  measnre,  the 
treasur}'  order  had  been  repealed,  and  other  measures  adopted  to  en*^ 
courage  and  coerce  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  we  should  have 
been  much  nigher  that  desirable  event  than,  I  fear,  we  now  are.  In- 
deed, I  do  not  see  when  it  is  possible  for  the  banks  to  resume  specie 
payments,  as  long  as  the  government  is  in  the  field  making  war  upon 
them,  and  in  the  market  demanding  specie. 

Another  conclusive  evidence  of  the  hostility  to  the  State  Banks, 
on  the  part  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  is  to  be  found  in  that  extraordinary 
recommendation  of  a  bankrupt  law,  contained  in  his  message  at  the 
extra  session.  According  to  all  the  principles  of  any  bankrupt  syB^ 
tem  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  the  Banks,  by  the  stoppage  of 
specie  payments,  had  rendered  themselves  liable  to  its  operation.  If 
the  recommended  law  had  been  passed,  commissions  of  bankruptcy 
could  have  been  immediately  sued  out  against  all  the  suspended 
banks,  their  assets  seized,  and  the  administration  of  them  traiisferredi 
from  the  several  corporations  to  which  it  is  now  entrusted,  to  commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  President  himself.  Thus,  by  one  blow, 
would  the  whole  of  the  State  Banks  have  been  completely  prostrated, 
and  the  way  cleared  for  the  introduction  of  the  favorite  Treasury 
Bank ;  and  is  it  not  in  the  same  spirit  of  unfriendliness  to  those  banks, 
and  with  the  same  view  of  removing  all  obstacles  to  the  establish- 
ment  of  a  government  bank,  that  the  bill  was  presented  to  the  Senate 
a  few  days  ago  by  the  Senator  from  Tennesee  (Mr.  Grundy)  against 
the  circulation  of  the  notes  of  the  old  Bank  of  the  United  States  ? 
At  a  time  when  there  is  too  much  want  of  confidence,  and  when 
every  thing  that  can  be  done,  should  be  done  to  revive  and  strengthen 
it,  we  are  called  upon  to  pass  a  law  denouncing  the  heaviest  penalty 
and  ignominious  punishment  against  all  who  shall  re-issue  the  notes 
of  the  old  Bank  of  the  United  States,  of  which  we  are  told  that  aboat 
seven  millions  of  dollars  are  in  circulation  ;  and  they  constitute  the 
best  portion  of  the  paper  medium  of  the  country,  the  only  portion  of 
it  which  has  a  credit  everywhere,  and  which  serves  the  purpose  of 
a  general  circulation  ;  the  only  portion  with  which  a  man  can  travel 
from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other  ;  and  I  do  not  doubt  that 
the  Senator  who  has  fulminated  those  severe  pains  and  penalties 
against  that  best  part  of  our  paper  medium,  provides  himself  with  a 
sufficient  amount  of  it,  whenever  he  leaves  Nashville,  to  take  him  t» 
Washington. 


OH  TBI  SUB-TUAtUMT.  806 

(Here  Mr.  Gnmdy  roee,  and  remarked  t  No,  sir ;  I  always  trsTel  on  apecie.l 

Ah !  my  old  friend  is  always  specious,  I  am  quite  sure  that  menr. 
bers  from  a  distance  in  the  interior  generally  find  it  indispensable  to 
supply  themselves,  on  commencing  their  journey,  with  an  adequate 
amount  of  these  identical  notes  to  defray  their  expenses.  Why,  sir, 
will  any  man  in  his  senses  deny  that  these  notes  are  far  better  than 
those  which  have  been  issued  by  that  government  banker,  Levi 
Woodbury,  aided  though  he  be  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
(I  beg  his  pardon,  I  mean  the  ex-Chancellor,)  the  Senator  from  New 
York,  (Mr.  Wright  ?)  I  am  not  going  to  stop  here  to  inquire  into 
the  strict  legality  of  the  re-issue  of  these  notes ;  that  question,  to- 
gether with  the  power  of  the  government  to  pass  the  proposed  bill, 
will  be  taken  up  when  it  is  considered.  I  am  looking  into  the  mo- 
tive of  such  a  measure.  Nobody  doubts  the  perfect  safety  of  the 
notes  ;  no  one  can  believe  that  they  will  not  be  fairly  and  fully  paid. 
What,  then,  is  the  design  of  the  bill  ^  It  is  to  assail  the  only  sure 
general  medium  which  the  people  possess.  It  is  because  it  may 
come  in  competition  with  treasury  notes,  or  other  government  paper. 
Sir,  if  the  bill  had  not  been  proposed  by  my  old  friend  from  Tennes- 
see, I  would  say  its  author  better  deserved  a  penitentiary  punishment 
than  those  against  whom  it  is  directed.  I  remember  to  have  heard 
of  an  illustrious  individual,  now  in  retirement,  having  on  some  oc- 
casion, burst  out  into  the  most  patriotic  indignation,  because  of  a 
waggish  trick  played  off  upon  him,  by  putting  a  note  of  the  late 
Bank  of  the  United  States  into  his  silk  purse  with  his  gold. 

But  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  longer  on  the  innumerable  proofs  of 
the  hostility  against  the  State  Banks,  and  the  deliberate  purpose  c 
those  in  power  to  overthrow  them.    We  hear  and  see  daily  through- 
oat  the  country  among  their  partisans  and  presses,  denunciations 
•gainst  banks,  corporations,  rag  barons,  the  spirit  of  monopoly,  &c. ' 
and  the  howl  for  gold,  hard  money,  and  the  constitutional  currency 
and  no  one  can  listen  to  the  speeches  of  honorable  members,  friends 
of  the  administration,  in  this  house  and  the  other,  without  being  m 
pressed  with  a  perfect  conviction  that  the  destruction  of  the  State 
Banks  is  meditated.     I  have  fulfilled  my  promise,  Mr.  President,  to 
sustain,  the  first  four  propositions  with  which  I  set  out.     I  now  pro- 
ceed to  the  fifth  proposition* 


866  IPKBCHIS  OF   HBNET  CLAT. 

5.  Tbat  the  bill  under  consideration  is  intended  to  execate  Mr. 
Van  Barents  pledge  to  complete  and  perfect  the  principles,  plans  and 
policy  of  the  past  administration,  by  establishing  upon  the  ruios  of 
the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  State  Banks,  a  govern- 
ment  Bank,  to  be  managed  and  controlled  by  the  treasury  depart- 
ment, acting  under  the  commands  of  the  President  of  the  United 
SUtes. 

The  first  impression  made  by  the  perusal  of  the  bill,  is  the  prodigal 
and  boundless  discretion  which  it  grants  to  the  Secretary  of  Uie 
Treasury,  irreconcileable  with  the  genius  of  our  free  institutions,  and 
contrary  to  the  former  cautious  practice  of  the  government.  As  ori- 
ginally reported,  he  was  authorized  by  the  bill  to  allow  any  number 
of  clerks  he  thought  proper  to  the  various  Receivers  Greneral,  and  to 
fix  their  salaries.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  is  the  mere  com- 
mencement of  a  system ;  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that,  if  put  into 
operation,  the  number  of  Receivers  General  and  other  depositaries  of 
the  public  money  would  be  rodefinitely  multiplied.  He  is  allowed  to 
appoint  as  many  examiners  of  the  public  money,  and  to  fix  their  sal- 
aries as  he  pleases  ;  he  is  allowed  to  erect  at  pleasure,  costly  build- 
ings ;  there  is  no  estimate  for  any  thing ;  and  all  who  are  conversant 
with  the  operations  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government,  know 
the  value  and  importance  of  previous  estimates.  There  is  no  other 
check  upon  wasteful  expenditure  but  previous  estimates,  and  that 
was  a  point  always  psrticuhtrly  insisted  upon  by  Mr.  Jefierson.  The 
Senate  will  recollect  that,  a  few  days  ago,  when  the  salary  of  the 
Receiver  General  at  New  York  was  fixed,  the  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Finance  rose  in  his  place  and  stated  that  it  was  suggested  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  it  should  be  placed  at  three  tnoo- 
■and  dollars ;  and  the  blank  was  accordingly  so  filled.  There  was  no 
statement  of  the  nature  or  extent  of  the  duties  to  be  performed,  of  the 
time  that  he  would  be  occupied,  of  the  extent  of  his  responsibility,  or 
the  expense  of  living  at  the  several  points  where  they  were  to  oe  lo- 
cated ;  nothing  but  the  svggestion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  that  was  deemed  all-sufficient  by  a  majority.  There  is  no  iimit 
upon  the  appropriation  which  is  made  to  carry  into  effect  the  jill, 
contrary  to  all  former  usages,  which  invariably  prescribed  a  sum  noC 
to  be  transcended. 

A  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  bill,  is  that  to  which  I  have  a/- 


ON  THS  8VB-TREAtVRr»  387 

ready  called  the  atteDtion  of  the  Senate,  and  of  which  no  satisfactory 
explanation  has  been  given.  It  is  that  which  proceeds  upon  the  idea 
that  the  treasury  is  a  thing  distinct  from  the  treasure  of  the  United 
States,  and  gives  to  the  treasury  a  local  habitation  and  a  name,  in  the 
new  building  which  is  being  erected  for  the  treasury  department  in 
the  city  of  Washington.  In  the  treasury,  so  constituted,  is  to  be 
placed  that  pittance  of  the  public  revenue  which  is  gleaned  from  the 
District  of  Columbia.  All  else,  that  is  to  say,  nine  hundred  and  ninety* 
nine  hundredths  of  the  public  revenue  of  the  United  States  is  to  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Receivers  General,  and  the  other  deposits 
arics  beyond  the  District  of  Columbia.  Now,  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  provides  that  no  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  public 
treasury  but  in  virtue  of  a  previous  appropriation  by  law.  That  tri- 
fling  portion  of  it,  therefore,  which  is  within  the  District  of  Columbia, 
will  be  under  the  safeguard  of  the  constitution,  and  all  else  will  be  at 
the  arbitrary  disposal  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

It  was  deemed  necessary,  no  doubt,  to  vest  in  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  this  vast  and  alarming  discretionary  power.  A  new  and 
immense  government  bank  is  about  to  be  erected.  How  it  would 
work  in  all  its  parts,  could  not  be  anticipated  with  certainty ;  and  it 
was  thought  proper,  therefore,  to  bestow  a  discretion  commensurate 
with  its  novelty  and  complexity,  and  adapted  to  any  exigencies  which 
might  arise.  The  tenth  section  of  the  bill  is  that  in  which  the  power 
to  create  a  bank  is  more  particularly  conferred.  It  is  short,  and  I  will 
read  it  to  the  Senate. 

"  Pko.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Sf'crclary  of 
the  Treasury  tcftransfor  ihe  moneys  in  the  hands  of  any  denositaiy  hereby  constitu- 
ted, to  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  ;  to  the  mint  at  Philadelphia  ;  to  the  branch 
mint  at  New  Oileans ;  or  to  the  oilices  of  either  of  the  Keceivers  General  of  public 
moneys,  by  this  act  directed  to  be  appointed  ;  to  be  there  safety  kept,  according  to 
the  provisions  of  this  act ;  and  alio  to  tranrfer  moneys  in  the  hands  of  any  one  depotit' 
«try,  constituted  by  this  act,  to  any  other  depositary  constituted  by  the  same,  at  ins  ms- 
cRcnoif,  and  astne  safety  of  the  publie  monevs,  and  the  convenience  of  the  public  ser- 
vice,  shall  seem  to  him  to  require.  And,  for  trie  purpose  of  payments  on  the  public 
account,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  said  Secretary  to  draw  upon  any  of  the  said  depoeita- 
net.  as  A«  may  think  most  conducive  to  the  public  ini^ests,  or  to  the  convenience  of  the 
public  creditors,  or  both." 


It  will  he  seen  that  it  grants  a  power,  perfectly  undefined,  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  shift  and  transfer  the  public  money,  from 
depositary  to  depositary,  as  he  pleases.  He  is  expressly  authorized 
to  transfer  moneys  in  the  hands  of  any  one  depositary,  constituted  faj 
the  aety  to  any  other  depositary  constitiited  by  it,  al  Ms  dUcrtiimj 


368  SPKSCHBS  OP  HBSIRT  CLAT. 

and  as  the  safety  of  the  public  moneys,  and  the  ccntemence  of  the 
public  service^  shall  seem  to  him  to  require.  There  is  no  specifica- 
tion of  any  contingency  or  contingencies  on  which  he  is  to  act.  All 
is  left  to  his  discretion.  He  is  to  judge  "when  the  public  service  (and 
more  indefittite  tenns  could  not  have  been  employed)  shall  seem  to 
him  to  require  it.  It  has  been  said  that  this  is  nothing  more  than  the 
customary  power  of  transfer,  exercised  by  the  treasury  department 
firom  the  origin  of  the  government.  I  deny  it,  utterly  deny  it.  It  is 
a  totally  different  power  from  that  which  wras  exercised  by  the  cau- 
tious Gallatin,  and  other  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury — a  power,  by 
the  by,  which,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  has  been  controverted, 
and  which  is  infinitely  more  questionable  than  the  power  to  establish 
a  bank  of  the  United  States.  The  transfer  was  made  by  them  raiely, 
in  large  sums,  and  were  left  to  the  banks  to  remit.  When  payments 
were  made,  they  were  effected  in  the  notes  of  banks  with  which  the 
public  money  was  deposited,  or  to  which  it  was  transferred.  The 
rates  of  exchange  were  regulated  by  the  state  of  the  market,  and  un- 
der the  responsibility  of  the  banks.  But  here  is  a  power  given  to 
transfer  the  public  moneys,  without  limit  as  to  sum,  place  or  time, 
leaving  everything  to  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
the  Receivers  General,  and  other  depositaries.  What  a  scope  is  al- 
lowed in  the  fixation  of  the  rates  of  exchange,  whether  of  premium 
or  discount,  to  regulate  the  whole  domestic  exchanges  of  the  country, 
to  exercise  favoritism !  These  former  transfers  were  not  made  for 
disbursement,  but  as  preparatory  to  disbursement;  and,  when  dis- 
bursed, it  was  generally  in  bank  notes.  The  transfers  of  this  bill  are 
immediate  payments,  and  payments  made,  not  in  bank  notes,  but  in 
specie.  ^ 

The  last  paragraph  in  the  section  provides  that,  for  the  purpose  of 
payments  on  the  public  account,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Secretary 
to  draw  upon  any  of  the  said  depositaries^  as  he  may  think  most  con* 
ducive  to  the  public  interest,  ot  to  the  convenience  of  the  public  credi- 
tors, or  both.  It  will  be  seen  that  no  limit  whatever  is  imposed  upon 
the  amount  or  form  of  the  draft,  or  as  to  im  depositary  upon  which 
it  is  drawn.  He  is  made  the  exclusive  judge  of  what  is  *'  most  con- 
ducive to  the  public  interests."  Now  let  us  pause  a  moment,  and 
trace  the  operation  of  the  powers  thus  vested.  The  government  has 
a  revenue  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  millions.  The  Secretary  may 
draw  it  to  any  one  or  more  points,  as  he  pleases.     More  than  a 


on  THB  fUB-TRBASUBT. 

■ 

moiety  of  the  revenae  arising  from  customs  is  receivable  at  the  port 
of  New  York,  to  which  point  the  Secretary  may  draw  all  portions  of 
it,  if  he  thinks  it  conducive  to  the  public  interest.  A  man  has  to  re- 
eeive,  under  an  appropriation  ]aw,  $10,000,  and  applies  to  Mr.  Sec- 
retary for  payment.  Where  will  you  receive  it  ?  he  is  asked.  On 
New  York.  How  ?  In  drafts  from  $5  to  $500.  Mr.  ^cretary 
will  give  him  these  drafts  accordingly,  upon  bank  note  paper,  im- 
pressed like  and  simulating  bank  notes,  having  all  suitable  embla- 
zonry, signed  by  my  friend  the  Treasurer,  (whose  excellent  practical 
sense,  and  solid  and  sound  judgment,  if  he  had  been  at  the  head  of 
the  treasury,  instead  of  Mr.  Levi  Woodbury,  when  the  suspension  of 
specie  payments  took  place,  would  have  relieved  or  mitigated  the 
pecuniary  embarrassments  of  the  government  and  the  people,)  and 
countersigned  by  the  Comptroller,  and  filled  up  in  the  usual  way  olf 
bank  notes.     Here  is  one  of  them  ! 


[He  here  held  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  Senate  a  treasury  note,  having  all  the  appoaranea 
of  a  bank  note,  colored,  engraved,  and  executed  like  any  other  bank  note,  for  #00.] 


This  is  a  govemment  pof/-note,  put  into  circulation,  paid  out  as 
money,  and  prepared  and  sent  forth,  gradually  to  accustom  the  peo- 
ple of  this  country  to  government  paper.  s 

I  have  supposed  $10,000  to  be  received,  in  the  mode  stated,  by  a 
person  entitled  to  receive  it  under  an  appropriation  law.  Now,  let 
us  suppose  what  he  will  do  with  it.  Anywhere  to  the  south  or  west 
it  will  command  a  premium  of  from  two  to  five  per  cent.  Nowhere 
in  the  United  States  will  it  be  under  par.  Do  you  suppose  that  the 
holder  of  these  drafts  would  be  fool  enough  to  convert  them  into  spe- 
cie, to  be  carried  and  transported  at  his  risk.  Do  you  think  that  be 
would  not  prefer  that  this  money  should  be  in  the  responsible  custody 
of  the  govemment,  rather  than  in  his  own  insecure  keeping  ?  Do 
you  think  that  he  will  deny  to  himself  the  opportunity  of  realizing 
the  premium  of  which  he  may  be  perfectly  sure  ?  The  greatest  want 
of  the  country  is  a  medium  of  general  circulation,  and  of  uniform  value 
everywhere.  That,  especially,  is  our  want  in  the  western  and  inte- 
rior States.  Now,  here  is  exactly  such  a  medium  ;  and,  supposing 
the  govemment  bank  to  be  honestly  and  faithfully  administered,  it 
will,  during  troch  an  administration,  be  the  best  convertible  paper 
BMMiqr  in  the  wocld^  for  two  leagont     The  first  iti  thai  every  doQw 


S70  8PXBCHU  OP  HENRT   CLAT. 

of  paper  out  will  be  the  representative  of  a  dollar  of  specie  in  tlie 
hands  X)f  the  Receivers  General,  or  other  depositaries  ;  and,  secondly, 
if  the  Receivers  General  should  embez/le  the  public  money,  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  government  to  pay  the  drafts  issued  upon  the  bans 
of  that  money  would  remain  unimpaired.  'The  paper,  therefore, 
would  bo^as  far  superior  to  the  paper  of  any  private  corporation  as 
the  ability  and  resources  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  are 
superior  to  those  of  such  corporations. 

The  banking  capacity  may  be  divided  into  three  fi^ulties— de- 
posites,  discount  of  bills  of  exchange,  and  promissory  notes,  or  either, 
and  circulation.  This  government  hank  would  combine  them  all, 
except  that  it  would  not  discount  private  notes,  nor  receive  j^vate 
deposites.  In  payments  for  the  public  lands,  indeed,  individuals  are 
allowed  to  make  deposites,  and  to  receivecertificatesof  their  amount 
To  guard  against  their  negotiability,  a  clause  has  been  introduced  to 
render  them  unassignable.  But  bow  will  it  be  possible  to  maintain 
such  an  inconvenient  restriction,  in  a  country  where  every  descrip- 
tion of  paper  imposing  an  obligation  to  pay  money  or  deliver  property 
is  assignable,  at  law  or  in  equity,  from  the  oommercial  nature  and 
trading  character  of  our  people  ? 

Of  all  the  faculties  which  I  have  stated  of  a  bank,  that  which  cre- 
ates a  circulation  is  the  most  important  to  the  community  at  large.  li 
is  that  in  which  thousands  may  be  interested,  who  never  obtained  a 
discount  or  made  a  deposite  with  a  bank.  Whatever  a  government 
agrees  to  receive  in  payment  of  the  puclic  dues,  as  a  medium  of  cir- 
culation, is  money,  current  money,  no  matter  what  its  form  may  be, 
treasury  notes,  drafts  drawn  at  Washington  by  the  treasurer,  on  the 
Receiver  General  at  New  York,  or,  to  use  the  language  employed  in 
various  parts  of  this  bill, ''  such  notes,  bills  or  paper  issued  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States."  These  various  provisions  were 
probably  inserted  not  only  to  cover  the  case  of  treasury  notes,  but 
that  of  these  drafls,  in  due  season.  But  if  there  were  no  express  pro- 
vision of  law,  that  these  drafts  should  be  receivable  in  payment  of 
public  dues,  they  would,  necessarily,  be  so  employed,  from  their  owi 
intrinsic  value. 

The  want  of  the  community  of  a  general  circulation  of  uniixa 
value  everywhere  in  the  United  States,  wonld  occacion  vast 


of  the  species  of  drafts  which  I  have  described  to  remain  in  (yrcula- 
tion.  The  appropriations  this  year  will  probably  fall  not  much  short 
of  thirty  millions.  Thirty  millions  of  treasury  drafts  on  Receivers 
Geneial,of  cverjdenomination  and  to  any  amount,  may  he  issued  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  What  amount  would  remain  in  Circu- 
lation cannot  be  determined  a  prioriy  I  suppose  not  less  than  ten  or 
fifteen  millions ;  at  the  end  of  another  year  some  ten  or  fifteen  mill- 
ions more ;  they  would  fill  all  the  channels  of  circulation.  The  war 
between  the  government  and  State  Banks  continuing,  and  this  mam- 
moth government  bank  being  in  the  market,  constantly  demanding 
specie  for  its  varied  and  ramified  operations,  confidence  would  be  loft 
in  the  notes  of  the  local  banks,  their  paper  would  gradually  cease  to 
circulate,  and  the  banks  themselves  would  be  crippled  and  broken. 
The  paper  of  the  government  bank  would  ultimately  fill  the  vacuum, 
as  it  would  instantly  occupy  the  place  of  the  notes  of  the  late  Bank 
of  the  United  States. 

I  am  aware,  Mr.  President,  that  the  25th  section  of  the  bill,  in  or- 
der to  disguise  the  purpose  of  the  vast  machinery  which  we  are  about 
constructing,  provides  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  to  issue  and  publish  regulations  to  enforce  the  speedy 
presentation  of  all  government  drafts  for  payments  at  the  place  where 
payable,  &c.  Now,  what  a  tremendous  power  is  here  vested  in  the 
Secretary  !  He  is  to  prescribe  rules  and  regulations  to  enforce  the 
speedy  presentation  of  all  government  drafts  for  payment  at  the  place 
where  payable.  The  speedy  presentation  !  In  the  case  I  have  sup 
posed,  a  man  has  his  $10,000  in  drafts  on  the  Receiver  General  at 
New  Yoirk.  The  Secretary  is  empowered  to  enact  regulations  re- 
quiring him  speedily  to  present  them,  and,  if  he  do  not,  the  Secretary 
may  order  them  to  be  paid  at  St.  Louis.  At  New  York  they  may 
be  worth  a  premium  of  five  per  cent. ;  on  St.  Louis  they  may  be 
liable  to  a  discount  of  five  per  cent.  Now,  in  a  free  government,  who 
would  ever  think  of  subjecting  the  property  or  money  of  a  citizen  to 
the  exercise  of  such  a  power  by  any  Secretary  of  the  Treasury? 
What  opportunity  does  it  not  afford  to  reward  a  partisan  or  punish  an 
opponent  ?  It  will  be  impossible  to  maintain  such  an  odious  and  use- 
less  restriction  for  any  length  of  time.  Why  should  the  debtor  (aa 
the  government  would .  be  in  the  case  of  such  drafts  as  I  have  sup- 
posed) require  his  creditor  (as  the  holder  of  the  draft  would  be)  to 
applj  within  a  prescribed  time  fitf  his  payment  ?    No,  sir ;  the  tji^ 


A 


373  tPnCHll  OP  HBNRT  CUkT. 

tern  v[Ould  control  you  ;  you  could  not  control  the  i^stem-     But,  it 
SQch  a  ridiculous  restriction  could  not  be  so  continutni,  the  drafts 
would,  nevertheless,  while  they  were  out,  be  the  time  long  or  short 
perform  the  office  of  circulation  and  money. 

liCt  us  trace  a  little  further  the  operation  of  this  fi^vemmen^  banlu 
and  follow  it  out  to  its  final  explosion.  1  have  supposed  the  appro 
propriation  of  some  thirty  millions  of  dollars  annually  by  the  govern- 
ment, to  be  disbursed  in  form  of  drafts,  issued  at  Washington  by  the 
treasury  department,  upon  ,the  depositaries.  Of  that  amount  some 
ten  or  fifteen  millions  would  remain,  the  first  year,  in  circulation ;  at 
the  end  of  one  year,'  a  similar  amount  would  continue  in  circulation ; 
and  so  on,  from  year  to  year,  until,  at  the  end  of  a  series  of  some  five 
or  six  years,  there  would  be  in  circulation,  to  supply  the  indispensa- 
ble wants  of  commerce  and  of  a  general  medium  of  uniform  value, 
not  less  than  some  sixty  or  eighty  millions  of  drafts  issued  by  the  gov- 
ernment. These  drafts  would  be  generally  upon  the  Receiver  General 
at  New  York,  because  on  that  point  they  would  be  preferred  over  all 
others,  as  they  would  command  a  premium,  or  be  at  par,  throughout 
the  whole  extent  of  the  United  States ;  and  we  have  seen  that  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  invested  with  ample  authority  to  con- 
centrate at  that  poiat  the  whole  revenue  of  the  United  States 

All  experience  has  demonstrated,  that  in  banking  operations  a 
much  larger  amount  of  paper  can  be  kept  in  circulation  than  the  spe- 
cie which  it  is  necessary  to  retain  in  the  vaults  to  meet  it  when  pre- 
sented for  payment.  The  proportions  which  the  same  experience 
has  ascertained  to  be  entirely  safe,  are  one  of  specie  to  three  of  paper. 
If,  therefore,  the  executive  government  had  sixty  millions  of  dollars 
accumulated  at  the  port  of  New  York,  in  the  hands  of  the  Receiver 
Creneral,  represented  by  sixty  millions  of  government  drafb  in  circu- 
lation, it  would  be  known  that  twenty  of  that  sixty  millions  would  be 
sufficient  to  retain  to  meet  any  amount  of  drafts  which,  in  ordinary 
times,  would  be  presented  for  payment.  There  would  then  remain 
forty  millions  in  the  vaults,  idle  and  unproductive,  and  of  which  no 
practical  use  could  be  made.  Well,  a  great  election  is  at  hand  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  result  of  which  will  seal  the  fate  of  an  exist- 
ing admmistration.  If  the  application  of  ten  millions  of  that  dormant 
capital  could  save,  at  some  future  day,  a  corrupt  executive  from 
overthrow,  can  it  be  doubted  that  the  ten  milliont  would  be  applied 


Off  TRX  S0B-TftXAfURT.  873 

I 

to  preserve  it  in  power  ?  Again :  let  us  suppose  some  great  exigen- 
cj  to  arise,  a  season  of  war,  creating  severe  financial  pressure  and 
embarrassment.  Would  not  an  issue  of  paper,  founded  upon  and  ex- 
ceeding the  specie  in  the  vaults,  in  some  such  proportions  as  experi- 
ence had  demonstrated  might  be  safely  emitted,  be  authorised? 
Finally,  the  whole  amount  of  specie  might  be  exhausted,  and  then,  as 
it  is  easier  to  engrave  and  issue  bank  notes  than  to  perform  the  un- 
popular office  of  imposing  taxes  and  burdens,  the  discovery  would  be 
made  that  the  credit  of  the  government  was  a  sufficient  basis  where- 
on to  make  emissions  of  paper  money,  to  be  redeemed  when  peace 
and  prosperity  returned.  Then  we  should  have  the  days  of  conti- 
nental money  and  of  assignats  restored  !  Then  we  should  have  that 
government  paper  medium,  which  the  Senator  from  South  Carolinai 
(Mr.  Calhoun)  considers  the  most  perfect  of  all  currency  ! 

Meantime,  and  during  the  progress  of  this  vast  government  ma- 
chine, the  State  Banks  would  be  all  prostrated.  Working  well,  as  it 
may,  if  honestly  administered,  in  the  first  period  of  its  existence,  it 
will  be  utterly  impossible  for  them  to  maintain  the  unequal  competi- 
tion. They  could  not  maintain  it,  even  if  the  government  were  ac- 
tuated by  no  unfriendly  feelings  towards  them.  But,  when  we  know 
the  spirit  which  animates  the  present  executive  towards  them,  who 
can  doubt  that  they  must  fall  in  the  unequal  contest  ?  Their  issues 
will  be  discredited  and  discountenanced ;  and  that  system  of  bank- 
ruptcy which  the  President  would  even  now  put  into  operation  against 
them,  wil\,  in  the  sequel  be  passed  and  enforced  without  difficulty. 

Assuming  the  downfall  of  the  local  banks,  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  the  operations  of  this  great  government  bank ;  assuming,  as 
I  have  shown  would  be  the  case,  that  the  government  would  mono- 
polize tlic  paper  issues  of  the  country,  and  obtain  the  possession  of 
a  great  portion  of  the  specie  of  the  country,  we  should  then  behold  a 
combined  and  concentrated  moneyed  power,  equal  to  that  of  all  the 
existing  banks  of  the  United  States,  with  that  of  the  late  bank  of  the 
United  States  superadded.  This  tremendous  power  would  be  wield- 
ed by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  acting  under  the  immediate  com- 
mands of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Here  would  be  a  per- 
fect union  of  the  sword  and  purse ;  here  would  be  no  imaginary,  but 
an  actual,  visible,  tangible,  consolidation  of  the  moneyed  power.  Who 
or  what  could  withstiuid  it  ?    The  States  thexnaelves  would  become 

•Y 


374  •PUBCRXS  OP  HRNRT   C|^T. 

ffOj^liants  at  the  feet  of  the  executive  for  a  portion  of  those  papor 
emissions,  of  the  power  to  issue  which  the/ had  been  strippedy  and 
which  he  now  exclusively  posssessed. 

Mr.  President,  my  observation  and  experience  have  satisfied  me 
that  the  safety  of  liberty  and  prosperity  consists  in  the  division  of 
power,  whether  political  or  pecuniary.  In  our  federative  system, our 
security  is  to  be  found  in  that  happy  distribution  of  power  which  ex- 
ists between  the  Federal  government  and  the  Slate  governments.  In 
oar  monetary  system,  as  it  lately  existed,  its  excellence  resulted  from 
that  beautiful  arrangement  by  which  the  States  had  their  instilutioni 
for  local  purposes,  and  the  general  government  its  institution  for  the 
more  general,  purposes  of  the  whole  Union.  There  existed  the  great- 
est congeniality  between  all  the  parts  of  this  admirable  system.  All 
was  homogeneous.  There  was  no  separation  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment from  the  States  or  from  the  people.  There  was  no  attempt  to 
execute  practically  that  absurdity  of  sustaining,  among  the  same  peo- 
ple, two  different  currencies  of  unequal  value.  And  how  admirably 
did  the  whole  system,  during  the .  forty  years  of  its  existence  move 
and  work  !  And  on  the  two  unfortunate  occasions  of  its  ceasing  to 
exist,  how  quickly  did  the  business  and  transactions  of  the  country 
run  into  wild  disorder  and  utter  confusion. 

Hitherto  I  have  considered  this  new  project  as  it  is,  according  to 
its  true  nature  and  character,  and  what  it  must  inevitably  become. 
I  have  not  examined  it  as  it  is  not,  but  as  its  friends  would  represent 
it  to  be.  They  hold  out  the  idea  that  it  is  a  simple  contrivance  to 
collect,  to  keep  and  disburse  the  public  revenue.  In  that  view  of  it, 
every  consideration  of  safety  and  security  recommends  the  agency  of 
responsible  corporations,  rather  than  the  employment  of  particular  in- 
dividuals. It  has  been  shown,  during  the  course  of  this  debate,  that 
the  amount  which  has  been  lost  by  the  defalcation  of  individuals  has 
exceeded  three  or  four  times  the  amount  of  all  that  has  been  lost  by 
the  local  banks,  although  the  sums  confided  to  the  care  of  individoals 
have  not  been  probably  one-tenth  part  of  the  amount  that  has  been  is 
the  custody  of  the  local  banks.  And  we  all  know  that,  durin<r  the 
forty  years  of  the  existence  of  the  two  banks  of  the  United  Stales, 
■ot  one  cent  was  lost  of  the  public  revenue. 

I  have  been  curious  Mr.  President,  to  know  whence  this  idea  of 


, 


4m  THB  «OB-TRfiA8URT.  876 

Receiyers  General  was  derived.  It  has  been  supposed  to  have  been 
borrowed  from  France.  It  required  all  the  power  of  that  most  ez* 
iraordinary  man  that  ever  lived,  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  when  he  was 
in  his  meridian  greatness,  to  displace  the  Farmers  General,  and  to 
iubstilute  in  their  place  the  Receivers  General.  The  new  system 
requires,  I  think  I  have  heard  it  stated,  something  like  100,000  em- 
ployees to  have  it  executed.  And  notwithstanding  the  modesty  of 
the  infant  promise  of  this  new  project,  1  have  no  doubt  that  ulti- 
mately we  shall  have  to  employ  a  number  of  persons  approximating 
to  that  which  is  retained  in  France.  That  will  undoubtedly  be  the 
case  whenever  we  shall  revive  the  system  of  internal  taxation.  In 
France,  what  reconciled  them  to  the  system  was,  that  Napoleon  firsts 
and  the  Bourbons  afterwards,  were  pleased  with  the  immense  patro- 
nage which  it  gave  them.  They  liked  to  have  100,000  dependents 
to  add  strength  to  the  throne,  which  had  been  recently  constructed 
or  re-ascended. 

I  thought,  however,  that  the  learned  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Finance  must  have  had  some  other  besides  the  French  model  for 
bis  Receivers  General ;  and  accordingly,  upon  looking  into  Smith's 
history  of  his  own  state,  I  found  that,  when  it  was  yet  a  colony  some 
centyry  and  a  half  ago,  and  when  its  present  noble  capital  still  re- 
tained the  name  of  New  Amsterdam,  the  historian  says  : 

"Among  the  principal  laws  enacted  at  this  session,  we  mav  mention  that  tor  e«> 
tftblishinK  the  revenue,  which  was  drawn  into  precedent,  llie  sums  raised  by  it 
were  made  payable  into  the  hands  of  Receivers  General,  and  Lwied  bv  the  Gover> 
nor's  warrant.  By  this  means  the  Governor  became,  for  a  season,  independent  of 
the  people,  and  hence  we  find  frequent  instances  of  the  assemblies  contending  widi 
him  for  the  discharge  of  debts  to  private  pemons  contracted  on  the  faith  of  the  gor 
▼cmment." 

The  then  Governor  of  the  colony  was  a  man  of  great  violence  of 
temper,  and  arbitrary  in  his  conduct.  How  the  sub-treasury  system 
of  that  day  operated,  the  same  historian  informs  us  in  a  subsequent 
part  of  his  work. 

« 

*  The  revenue,**  he  says,  "  established  the  1a<it  year,  was  at  this  sc83ion  continued 
five  years  longer  than  w.is  onjinallv  intended.  This  was  rend<?rin?  the  Governor 
independent  of  the  people.  For,  at  that  dar,  the  Assembly  had  no  treasure,  but  the 
amount  of  all  taxes  went,  of  conrap,  into  the  hands  o\'  the  Kecciver  General,  who 
was  appointed  by  thp  crown.  Out  of  the  fund,  moneys  were  only  issuable  by  the 
Governor's  wamint;  so  that  every  officer  in  the  government,  from  Mr.  Blaithwait, 
wlio  drew  Mnnually  five  per  cent,  out  of  the  revenne,  as  Auditor  General,  down  to 
the  meanest  servant  of  the  public,  became  deiiendent,  solely,  on  the  Governor.  Aiijt 
hence  we  Ann  the  house,  at  the  close  of  every  seftioa,  hambiy  aduiesaiog  ais  ezctlr 
Nttsjr  for  tlie  ^Ifang  wates  <tf  liMir  aim«l«ia*'* 


376  SPEECHES   OF  HEIfRT    CLAY. 

And,  Mr.  President,  if  the  measure  should  unhappily  pass,  the  daj 
may  come  when  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  will  have  hambly  to 
implore  some  future  President  of  the  United  States  to  grant  it  money 
to  pay  the  wages  of  its  own  sergeant-at-arms  and  dooi keeper. 

Who,  Mr.  Presideut,  are  the  most  conspicuous  of  those  who  pef  • 
severingly  pressed  this  bill,  upon  Congress  and  the  American  peo- 
ple ?  Its  drawer  is  the  distinguished  gentleman  in  the  White  House 
not  far  off,  its  endorser  is  the  distinguished  Senator  firom  South 
Carolina,  here  present.  What  the  drawer  thinks  of  the  endorser, 
his  cautious  reserve  and  stifled  enmity  prevent  us  from  knowing. 
But  the  frankness  of  the  endorser  has  not  left  us  in  the  same  igno- 
rance with  respect  to  his  opinion  of  the  drawer.  He  has  often  ex- 
pressed it  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  On  an  occasion  not  very 
distant,  denying  him  any  of  the  nobler  qualities  of  the  royal  bekst  of 
the  forest,  he  attributed  to  him  those  which  belong  to  the  most  crafty, 
most  skulking,  and  one  of  the  meanest  of  the  quadruped  tribe.  Mr. 
President,  it  is  due  to  myself  to  say  that  I  do  not  altogether  share 
with  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  in  this  opinion  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  I  have  always  found  him,  in  his  man- 
ners and  deportment,  civil,  courteous,  and  gentlemanly  ;  and  he  dis- 
penses, in  the  noble  mansion  which  he  now  occupies,  one  worthy  the 
residence  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  people,  a  generous  and 
liberal  hospitality.  An  acquaintance  with  him  of  more  than  twenty 
years^  duration  has  inspired  me  with  a  respect  for  the  man,  although 
I  regret  to  be  compelled  to  say,  I  detest  the  magistrate. 

The  eloquent  Senator  from  South  Carolina  has  intimated  that  the 
course  of  my  friend^  and  myself,  in  opposing  this  bill,  was  unpatriotic, 
and  that  we  pught  to  have  followed  in  his  lead  ;  and,  in  a  late  letter 
of  his,  he  has  spoken  of  his  alliance  with  us,  and  of  his  motives  for 
quitting  it.  I  cannot  admit  the  justice  of  his  reproach.  We  united, 
if  indeed,  there  were  any  alliance  in  the  case,  to  restrain  the  enor- 
mous expansion  of  executive  power ,  to  arrest  the  progress  of  cor- 
ruption ;  to  rebuke  usurpation  ;  and  to  drive  the  Goths  and  Va^als 
from  the  capital ;  to  expel  Brennus  and  his  horde  from  Rome,  who, 
when  he  threw  his  sword  into  the  scale,  to  augment  the  ransom  de- 
manded from  the  mistress  of  the  world,  showed  his  preference  for 
gold  ;  that  he  was  a  hard-money  Chieftain.  It  was  by  the  much 
more  valuable  metal  of  iron  that  he  was  driven  from  her  gates.  And 


Off  THB  aVB-TSSAf UBT.  377 

I 

how  often  hare  we  witnessed  the  Seoator  from  South  Carolina,  with 
woful  countenance,  and  in  doleful  stiains,  pouring  forth  touching  and 
mournful  eloquence  on  the  degeneracy  of  the  times,  and  the  down- 
ward tendency  of  the  republic  ?  Day  after  day,  in  the  Senate,  hare 
we  seen  the  displays  of  his  lofty  and  impassioned  eloquence.  Al- 
though I  shared  largely  with  the  Senator  in  hb  apprehension  for  the 
purity  of  our  institutions,  and  the  perminancy  of  our  civil  liberty, 
disposed  always  to  look  at  the  brighter  side  of  human  affiurs,  I  was 
sometimes  inclined  to  hope  that  the  vivid  imagination  of  the  Senator 
had  depicted  the  dangers  by  which  we  were  encompassed  in  some- 
what stronger  colors  than  they  justified.  The  arduous  contest  in 
which  we  were  so  long  engaged  was  about  to  terminate  in  a  glorious 
victory.  The  very  object  for  which  the  alliance  was  formed  was 
about  to  be  accomplished.  At  this  critical  moment  the  Senator  left 
us ;  he  left  us  for  the  very  purpose  of  prc^venting  the  success  of  the 
common  cause.  He  took  up  his  musket,  knapsack,  and  shot-pouch, 
and  joined  the  other  party.  He  went,  horse,  foot,  and  dragoon,  and 
he  himself  composed  the  whole  corps.  He  went,  as  his  present  most 
distinguished  ally  commenced  with  his  expunging  resolution,  solitaiy 
and  alone.  The  earliest  instance  recorded  in  history,  within  my  re- 
collection, of  an  ally  drawing  off  his  forces  from  the  combined  army, 
was  that  of  Achilles  at  the  siege  of  Troy.  He  withdrew,  with  all 
his  troops,  and  remained  in  the  neighborhood,  in  sullen  and  dignified 
inactivity.  But  he  did  not  join  the  Trojan  forces  ;  and  when,  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  siege,  his  fiuthfiil  fiiend  fell  in  battle,  he  rais- 
ed his  avenging  arm,  drove  the  Trojans  back  into  the  gates  of  Troy, 
and  satiated  his  vengeance  by  slaying  Priam's  noblest  and  dearest 
son,  the  finest  hero  in  the  immortal  Illiad.  But  Achilles  had  been 
wronged,  or  imagined  himself  wronged  in  the  person  of  the  fair  and 
beautiful  Briseis.  We  did  no  wrong  to  the  disinguished  Senator  from 
South  Carolina.  On  the  contrary,  we  respected  him,  confided  in  his 
great  and  acknowledged  ability,  his  uncommon  genius,  his  extensive 
experience,  his  supposed  patriotism ;  above  all,  we  confided  in  his 
stem  and  inflexible  fidelity.  Nevertheless,  he  left  us,  and  joined  our 
co^pnon  opponents,  distrusting  and  distrusted.  He  left  us,  as  he 
tells  tt9  in  the  Edgefield  letter,  because  the  victory  which  our  com* 
mon  arms  were  about  to  achieve,  was  not  to  enure  to  him  and  his 
party,  but  exclusively  to  the  benefit  of  his  allies  and  their  cause.  I 
thought  that,  actuated  by  patriotism — ^that  noblest  of  human  virtues 
-*-we  had  been  amtending  together  finr  one  common  coontry,  for  htr 


378  9PBCCHU  OV  HBtTBT   CLAT. 

violated  rights,  her  threatened  liberties,  her  prostrate  comtitotiim. 
Never  did  I  suppose  that  personal  or  party  considerations  entered  idId 
our  views.  Whether,  if  victory  shall  ever  again  be  about  lo  perch 
upon  the  standard  of  the  spoils  party, — the  denomination  "which  the 
Senator  from  South  Carolina  has  so  often  given  to  his  present  allies— 
he  will  not  feel  himself  constrained,  by  the  principles  c  n  which  he  ha» 
acted,  to  leave  them  because  it  may  not  enure  to  the  benefit  of  hiift- 
self  and  his  party,  1  leave  to  be  adjusted  between  themselves. 

The  speech  of  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  was  plausible,  in- 
genious, abstract,  metaphysical,  and  generalizing.  It  did  not  appear 
to  me  to  be  adapted  to  the  bosoms  and  business  of  human  life.  H 
was  aerial,  and  not  very  high  up  in  the  air,  Mr.  President,  either, 
not  quite  as  high  as  Mr.  Clayton  was  in  his  last  ascension  in  hisbft- 
loon.  The  Senator  announced  that  there  was  a  single  alternative, 
and  no  escape  from  one  or  the  other  branch  of  k.  He  stated  that  we 
must  take  the  bill  under  consideration,  or  the  substitute  proposed  by 
the  Senator  from  Virginia.  I  do  not  concur  in  that  statement  of  the 
case.  There  is  another  course  embraced  in  neither  branch  of  the 
Senator's  alternative  ;  and  that  course  is  to  do  nothing ;  always  the 
wisest  when  you  are  not  certatn  what  you  ought  to  do.  Let  us  sup- 
pose that  neither  branch  of  the  alternative  is  accepted,  and  that  noth- 
ing is  done.  What,  then,  would  be  the  consequence  ?  There  would 
be  a  restoration  of  the  law  of  1789,  with  all  its  cautious  provisions 
and  securities,  provided  by  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors,  which  has 
been  so  trampled  upon  by  the  late  and  present  administrations.  By 
that  law,  establishing  the  treasury  department,  the  treasure  of  the 
United  States  is  to  be  received,  kept,  and  disbursed,  by  the  treasurer, 
under  a  bond  with  ample  security,  under  a  large  penalty  fixed  by 
law,  and  not  left,  as  this  bill  leaves  it,  to  the  uncertain  discretion  of  a 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  If,  therefore,  we  were  to  do  nothing, 
that  law  would  be  revived  ;  the  treasurer  would  have  the  custody, 
as  he  ought  to  have,  of  the  public  money,  and  doubtless  he  would 
make  special  depositcs  of  it  in  all  instances,  with  safe  and  sound 
State  Banks,  as  in  some  cases  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  ipw 
obliged  to  do.  Thus,  we  should  have  in  operation  that  very  special 
deposite  system,  so  much  desired  by  some  gentlemen,  by  which  the 
public  money  would  remain  separate  and  unmixed  with  the  monej 
of  banks.  There  is  yet  another  course,  unembraced  by  either  branch 
of  the  alternative  presented  by  the  Senator  from.  South  Carolina ;  and 


Qir  THV  8VB-TB«A8(mT.  87t- 

that  is  to  establish  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  constituted  according 
to  the  old  and  approved  method  of  forming  such  an  institution,  tested 
and  sanctioned  by  experience ;  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  which 
should  blend  public  and  private  interests,  and  be  subject  to  public  and 
private  control,  united  together  in  such  a  manner  as  to  present  safb 
and  salutary  checks  against  all  abuses.  The  Senator  mistakes  hif 
own  abandonment  of  that  institution  as  ours.  1  know  that  the 
party  in  power  has  barricaded  itself  against  the  establishment  of  such 
a  bank.  It  adopted,  at  the  last  extra  session,  the  extraordinary  and 
unprecedented  resolution,  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  should 
not  have  such  a  bank,  although  it  might  be  manifest  that  there  was  a 
clear  majority  of  them  demanding  it.  But  the  day  may  come^  and  I 
trust  is  not  distant,  when  the  will  of  the  people  must  prevail  in  the 
councils  of  her  own  government;  and  when  it  does  arrive,  a  bank 
will  be  established. 

The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  reminds  us  that  we  denounced 
the  pet  bank  system  ;  and  so  we  did,  and  so  we  do.  But  does  it 
therefore  follow  that,  bad  as  that  system  was,  we  must  be  driven  into 
the  acceptance  of  a  system  infinitely  worse  ?  He  tells  us  that  the 
bill  under  consideration  takes  the  public  funds  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
executive,  and  places  them  in  the  hands  of  the  law.  It  docs  no  such 
thing.  They  are  now  without  law,  it  is  true,  in  the  custody  of  the 
executive  ;  and  the  bill  proposes  by  law  to  confirm  them  in  that  cus- 
tody, and  to  convey  new  and  enormous  powers  of  control  to  the  ex« 
ecutive  over  them.  Every  custodary  of  the  public  funds  provided  by 
the  bill  is  a  creature  of  the  executive,  dependent  upon  his  breath,  and 
subject  to  the  same  breath  for  removal,  whenever  the  executive,  from 
caprice,  from  tyranny,  or  from  party  motives,  shall  choose  to  order 
it.  What  safety  is  there  for  the  public  money,  if  there  were  a  hund- 
red su1x)rdinate  executive  officers  charged  with  its  care,  while  the 
docrine  of  the  absolute  unity  of  the  whole  executive  power,  promul- 
gated by  the  last  administration,  and  persisted  in  by  this,  remains 
unrevoked  and  unrebuked  ? 

While  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  professes  to  be  the  friend - 
of  State  Banks,  he  has  attacked  the  whole  banking  system  of  the 
United  States.  He  is  their  friend  ;  he  only  thinks  they  are  all  un- 
constitutional !  Why  ?  Because  the  coining  power  is  possessed  by 
the  general  government,  and  that  coining  power,  he  argues,  was  io* 


360  8PEBCHKS  or  HKMRT    CLAY. 

tended  to  supply  a  currency  of  the  precious  metals ;  but  the  State 
Banks  absorb  the  precious  metals,  and  ivithdraw  them  from  circtila- 
tion,  and,  therefore,  are  in  conflict  with  the  coining  power.  That 
power,  according  to  my  view  of  it,  is  nothing  but  a  naked  authority 
ta  stamp  certain  pieces  of  the  preciotios  metals,  in  fixed  proportions  of 
alloy  and  pure  metal  prescribed  by  law,  so  that  their  exact  value  be 
known.  When  that  office  is  performed,  the  power  Isfunctm  offido^ 
the  money  passes  out  of  the  mint,  and  becomes  the  lawful  properly 
of  those  who  legally  acquire  it.  They  may  do  with  it  as  they  please, 
throw  it  into  the  ocean,  bury  it  in  the  earth,  or  melt  it  in  a  crucible, 
without  violating  any  law.  When  it  has  once  left  the  vaults  of  the 
mint,  the  law  maker  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,  but  to  protect  it  against 
those  who  attempt  to  debase  or  counterfeit,  and  subsequently,  to  pass 
it  as  lawful  money.  In  the  sense  in  which  the  Senator  supposes  the 
banks  to  conflict  with  the  coining  power,  foreign  commerce,  and  es- 
pecially our  commerce  with  China,  conflicts  with  it  much  more  ex- 
tensively. That  is  the  great  absorbent  of  the  precious  metals,  and  is 
therefore  much  more  unconstitutional  than  the  State  Banks.  For* 
eign  commerce  sends  them  out  of  the  country  ;  banks  retain  them 
within  it.  The  distmguished  Senator  is  no  enemy  to  the  banks ;  he 
merely  thinks  them  injurious  to  the  morals  and  industry  of  the  coon* 
try.  He  likes  them  very  well,  but  he  nevertheless  believes  that  they 
levy  a  tax  of  twenty-five  millions  annually  on  the  industry  of  the 
country  !  Let  us  examine,  Mr.  President,  and  see  how  this  enor- 
mous assessment  is  made,  according  to  the  argument  of  the  Senator 
firom  South  Carolina.  He  states  that  there  is  a  mass  of  debt  due  from 
the  community  to  the  banks,  amounting  to  $475,000,000,  the  inter- 
est upon  which,  constituting  about  the  sum  of  $25,000,000,  forms 
the  exceptionable  tax.  Now,  this  sum  is  not  paid  by  the  whole  com- 
munity, but  only  by  those  individuals  who  obtain  discounts  from  the 
banks.  They  borrow  money  at  six  per  cent,  interest,  and  invest  it 
in  profitable  adventures,  or  otherwise  employ  it.  They  would  not 
borrow  if  they  did  not  suppose  they  could  make  profit  by  it.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  there  being  any  loss  in  the  operation,  there  is  an  actual 
gain  to  the  community,  by  the  excess  of  profit  made  beyond  six  per 
cent,  interest,  which  they  pay.  What  are  banks }  They  are  meie 
organized  agencies  for  the  loan  of  money  and  the  transaction  of  mone- 
tary business ;  regulated  agencies  acting  under  the  prescriptions  of 
law,  and  subject  to  a  responsibility,  moral  and  legal,  far  transcendiisfg 
that  under  which  any  private  capitalist  operates.    A  number  of  per- 


•»  IBM  tOB-TEBiUnJET.  981 

ij  not  choosiog  to  lend  out  their  j^onej  privately,  associate  to- 
gether, bring  their  respective  capitals  into  a  common  stock,  which  is 
controlled  and  managed  by  the  corporate  government  of  a  bank.  If 
no  association  whatever  had  been  formed,  a  large  portion  of  this  capi- 
tal, therefore,  of  that  very  debt  c^  $475,000,000,  would  stiU  exist,  in 
the  shape  of  private  loans. 

The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  might  as  well  connect  the  aggre- 
gate amount  of  all  the  mortgages,  bonds,  and  notes,  which  have  been 
executed  in  the  United  States  for  loans,  and  assert  that  the  interest 
paid  upon  the  total  sum  constituted  a  tax  levied  upon  the  community. 

In  the  liquidation  of  the  debt  due  to  the  banks  from  the  community, 
and  from  the  banks  to  the  community,  there  would  not  be  as  much 
difficulty  as  the  Senator  seems  to  apprehend.  From  the  mass  of 
debts  due  to  the  banks  are  to  be  deducted,  first,  the  amount  of  sub- 
scriptions which  constitute  their  capitals ;  secondly,  the  amount  of 
deposites  to  the  credit  of  individuals  in  their  custody ;  and,  thirdly, 
the  amount  of  their  notes  in  circulation.  How  easily  these  mutual 
debts  neutralise  each  other !  The  same  person,  in  numberless  instan- 
ces, will  combine  in  himsdf  the  relations  both  of  creditor  and  debtor* 

The  only  general  operation  of  banks  beyond  their  discounts  and  de- 
posites, which  pervades  the  whole  community,  is  that  of  fhmbhing  a 
cifculatios  in  redeemable  paper,  beyond  the  amount  of  specie  to  re- 
deem it  in  their  vaults.  And  can  it  be  doubted  that  this  additional 
supply  of  money  furnishes  a  powerful  stimulus  to  industry  and  pro- 
duction, fully  compensating  any  casual  inconvenience,  which  some- 
times, though  rarely,  occurs  ?  Banks  reduce  the  rate  of  interest,  and 
repress  inordinate  usury.  The  salutary  influence  of  banking  opera- 
tions is  demonstrated  in  countries  and  sections  of  country  where  they 
prevail,  when  contrasted  with  those  in  which  they  are  not  found.  In 
the  former,  all  is  bustle,  activity,  general  prosperity.  The  country 
is  beautified  and  adorned  by  the  noble  works  of  internal  improve- 
ments; the  cities  are  filled  with  splendid  edifices,  and  the  wharves 
covered  with  the  rich  productions  of  our  own  and  of  foreign  climates. 
In  the  latter,  all  is  sluggishness,  slothfulness,  and  inaqtivity.  Eng- 
land, in  modem  times,  illustrates  the  great  advantages  of  banks,  of 
credit,  and  of  stimulated  industry.  Contrast  her  with  Spain,  desti- 
tute of  all  those  advantages.    In  ancient  times,  Athens  would  present 


382  SPEECHES  or  heitrt  clat. 

an  image  of  full  and  active  employment  of  all  the  energies  of  nuui^ 
carried  to  the  highest  point  of  civilization,  while  her  neighbor,  Sparta, 
with  her  iron  money,  affords  another  of  the  boasted  benefits  of  ma* 
tallic  circulation. 

The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  would  do  the  banks  no  hann ; 
but  they  are  deemed  by  him  highly  injurious  to  the  planting  interest! 
According  to  lilm,  they  inflate  prices,  and  the  poor  planter  sells  his 
productions  for  hard  money,  and  has  to  purchase  his  supplies  at  the 
swollen  prices  produced  by  a  paper  medium.     Now  I  must  dissent 
altogether  from  the  Senator's  statement  of  the  case.     England,  the 
principal  customer  of  the  planter  is  quite  as  much,  if  not  more,  a  par- 
per  country  than  ours.    And  the  paper-money  prices  of  the  one  coun- 
try are  neutralized  by  the  paper-money  prices  of  the  other  country. 
If  the  argument  were  true  that  a  paper-money  trades  disadvantage- 
ously  with  a  hard-money  country,  we  ought  to  continue  to  employ  a 
paper  medium,  to  counter-balance  the  paper  medium  of  England. 
And  if  we  were  to  banish  our  paper,  and  substitute  altogether  a  me^ 
tallic  currency,  we  should  be  exposed  to  the  very  inequality  which 
has  been  insisting  upon.     But  there  is  nothing  in  that  view  of  the 
matter  which  is  presented  by  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina.     I^ 
as  he  asserts,  prices  were  always  inflated  in  this  country  beyond  their 
standard  in  England,  the  rate  of  exchange  would  be  constantly  against 
us.    An  examination,  however,  into  the  actual  state  of  exchange  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  evinces  that  it  has 
generally  been  in  our  favor.     In  the  direct  trade  between  England 
and  this  country,  I  have  no  doubt  there  is  a  large  annual   balance 
against  us ;  but  that  balance  is  adjusted  and  liquidated  by  balances 
in  our  favor  in  other  branches  of  our  foreign  trade,  which  have  been 
finally  concentrated  in  England,  as  the  great  centre  of  the  commer- 
cial world. 

Of  all  the  interests  and  branches  of  industry  in  this  country,  none 
has  profited  more  by  the  use  and  employment  of  credit  and  capital, 
derived  from  the  banks  and  other  sources,  than  the  planting  intei^^sts. 
It  habitually  employs  credit  in  all  countries  where  planting  ao;rica]* 
turo  prevails.  •  The  States  of  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and 
Louisiana,  have  almost  sprung  into  existence,  as  it  were  by  magic,  or 
at  least,  have  been  vastly  improved  and  extended  under  the  influence 
of  the  credit  system.     Lands,  slaves,  utensils,  beasts  of  burden,  and 


ON  THE  SUB-TRCASURT.  888 

other  supplies,  have  been  constantly  bouglit,  and  still  continue  to  be 
purchased,  upon  credit;  and  bank-agency  is  all-cssential  to  give  the 
most  beneficial  operation  to  these  credits.  But  the  argument  of  the 
Senator  from  South  Carolina,  which  I  am  combating,  would  not  be 
correct,  if  it  were  true  that  we  have  inflated  prices  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  without  a  corresponding  inflation  of  price  on  the  other  side ; 
because  the  planter,  generally  selling  at  home,  and  buying  at  home, 
the  proceeds  of  his  sale,  whatever  they  may  be,  constitute  the  means 
by  which  he  effects  his  purchases,  and  consequently  neutralizes  each 
other.  In  what  do  we  of  the  West  receive  payment  for  the  immense 
quantity  of  live  stock  and  other  produce  of  our  industry,  which  we 
annually  sell  to  the  South  and  Southwest,  but  that  paper-medium 
now  so  much  decried  and  denounced  ?  The  Senator  from  South 
Carolina  is  very  fond  of  the  State  banks ;  but  he  thinks  there  is  no 
legitimate  currency  except  that  of  the  constitution.  He  contends 
that  the  power  which  the  government  possesses  to  impose  taxes  re-* 
stricts  it,  in  their  payment,  to  the  receipt  of  the  precious  metals.  Bat 
the  constitution  does  not  say  so.  The  power  is  given  in  broad  and 
unrestricted  terms ;  and  the  government  is  lefl  at  liberty  to  collect  the 
taxes  in  whatever  medium  or  commodity  from  the  exigencies  of  the 
case,  it  can  collect  them.  It  is,  doubtless,  much  the  most  convenient 
to  collect  them  in  money,  because  that  represents,  or  can  command, 
every  thing,  the  want  of  which  is  implied  by  the  power  of  taxation. 
But  suppose  there  was  no  money  in  the  country,  none  whatever,  to 
be  extorted  by  the  tax  gatherer  from  an  impoverished  people  ?  Is 
the  power  of  jrovernment  to  cease,  and  the  people  to  be  thrown  back 
into  a  state  of  nature  ?  The  Senator  asks  if  taxes  could  be  levied 
and  collected  on  tobacco  in  cotton  and  other  commodities  ?  Undoubt- 
edly they  could,  if  the  necessity  existed  for  such  an  inconvenient  im- 
position. Such  a  case  of  necessity  did  exist  in  the  colony  of  Virginia, 
and  other  colonies,  prior  to  the  revolution,  and  taxes  were  accord- 
ingly levied  in  tobacco  or  other  commodities,  as  wolf-scalps,  even  at 
this  day,  compose  a  part  of  the  revenue  of  more  than  one  State. 

The  argument,  then,  of  the  Senator  against  the  right  of  the  govern- 
ment to  receive  bank  notes  in  payment  of  public  dues,  a  practice  co- 
eval wilh  the  existence  of  the  government,  does  not  seem  to  me  to 
be  sound.  It  is  not  accurate,  for  another  reason.  Bank  notes,  when 
convertible  at  the  will  of  the  holder  into  specie,  are  so  much  counted 
or  told  specie,  like  the  specie  which  is  counted  and  pat  in  marked 


384  tPEECHCS  07  HKNRY  CLAY. 

k^  denoting  the  quantity  of  their  contents.  The  Senator  tells  m 
that  it  has  been  only  within  a  few  days  that  he  has  discovered  that 
it  is  illegal  to  receive  bank  notes  in  payment  of  public  dues.  Doea 
he  think  that  the  usage  of  the  government,  under  all  its  adminiatrar 
tions,  and  with  every  party  in  power,  which  has  prevailed  for  nig^ 
fifty  years,  ought  to  be  set  aside  by  a  novel  theory  of  his,  just  dream- 
ed into  existence,  even  if  it  possesses  the  merit  of  ingenuity  ?  The 
bill  under  consideration,  which  has  been  eulogized  by  the  Senator  aa 
perfisct  in  its  structure  and  details,  contains  a  provision  that  bank 
notes  shall  be  received  in  diminished  proportions,  during  a  term  >of 
six  years.  He  himself  introduced  the  identical  principle.  It  is  the 
only  part  of  the  bill  that  is  emphatically  his.  How  then  can  he  con- 
tend that  it  is  unconstitutional  to  receive  bank  notes  in  payment  of 
public  dues  ?  I  appeal  from  himself  to  himself.  The  Senator  iurthtt 
contends  that  general  deposites  cannot  be  made  with  banks,  and  be 
thus  confounded  with  the  general  mass  of  the  funds  on  which  they 
tiaasact  business.  The  argument  supposes  that  the  money  collected 
for  taxes  must  be  [Kreserved  in  identity ;  but  that  is  impossible  often 
to  do.  May  not  a  collector  give  the  small  change  which  he  has  re- 
ceived fix>m  one  tax-payer  to  another  tax-payer  to  enable  him  to  eflfect 
his  payment  ?  May  he  not  change  gold  for  silver,  or  vice  oersa,  or 
both,  if  he  be  a  distant  collector,  to  obtain  an  undoubted  remittance  to 
the  public  tfeasury  ?  What  Mr.  President,  is  the  process  of  making 
deposites  with  banks  ?  The  deposite  is  made,  and  a  credit  is  entered 
for  its  amount  to  the  government.  That  credit  is  supposed  to  be  the 
exact  equivalent  of  the  amount  deposited,  ready  and  forthcoming  to 
the  government  whenever  it  is  wanted  for  the  purposes  of  disburse 
ment.  It  is  immaterial  to  the  government  whether  it  receives  hack 
again  the  identical  money  put  in,  or  other  money  of  equal  value.  All 
that  it  wants  is  what  it  put  in  the  bank,  or  its  equivalent ;  and  that, 
in  ordinary  times,  with  such  prudent  banks  as  alone  ought  to  be  se» 
lected,  it  is  sure  of  getting  Again :  the  treasury  has  frequently  to 
make  remittances  to  foreign  countries,  to  meet  the  expenditure  neces- 
sary there  for  our  naval  squadrons  and  other  purposes.  They  are 
made  to  the  bankers,  to  the  Barings  or  the  Rothschilds,  m  the  fimn 
of  bills  of  exchange,  purchased  in  the  market  by  the  agents  of  the 
government  here,  with,  money  drawn  out  of  the  treasury.  Here  is 
one  conversion  of  the  money  received  from  the  tax-gatherer  into  the 
treasury.  The  bills  are  transmitted  to  the  bankers,  honored,  paid, 
and  the  amount  credited  by  them  to  the  United  States.     Are  thu 


OH  TOB  SUB-TREAtUlir.  3S6 

bankers  bound  to  retain  the  proceeds  of  tho  hills  in  identity  P  Are 
they  bound  to  do  more  than  credit  the  government  for  an  equal 
amount  for  which  they  stand  responsible  whenever  it  is  wanted  P  If 
they  should  happen  to  use  any  portion  of  those  very  proceeds  of  bills 
remitted  to  them  in  their  banking  operations,  would  it  be  drawing 
money  from  the  treasury  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  constitu- 
tion ? 

The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  contends  that  there  is  no  consti- 
tutional power  to  contract  with  the  twenty-five  selected  banks,  as 
proposed  in  the  substitute  ;  yet  the  deposite  act  of  1836,  which  ob- 
tained the  hearty  approbation  of  that  Senator,  contained  a  similar 
provision  ;  and  the  very  bill  under  consideration,  so  warmly  support- 
ed by  him,  provides,  under  certain  contingencies,  for  contracts  to  be 
made  with  State  Banks,  to  receive  deposites  of  the  public  money 
upon  compensation.  He  objects  to  the  substitute,  that  it  converts 
twenty- five  State  Banks  into  a  system  of  federal  institutions;  but  the 
employment  of  State  institutions  by  the  federal  authority  no  more 
makes  them  federal,  than  the  employment  of  federal  institutions  by 
the  states  converts  them  int<r  State  institutions.  This  mutual  aid, 
and  this  reciprocal  employment  of  the  several  institutions  of  the 
general  and  particular  governments,  is  one  of  the  results  and  beauties 
of  our  admirable  though  complex  system  of  government.  The  gene- 
ral government  has  the  use  of  the  capital,  court-houses,  prisons,  and 
penitentiaries,  in  the  several  States.  Do  they,  therefore^  cease  to 
appertain  to  the  States  ?  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that,  although  the 
Slate  Banks  may  occasionally  be  used  by  the  federal  authority,  iheiv 
legal  responsibility  to  the  several  States  remains  unimpaired.  They 
continue  to  be  accountable  to  them  and  their  existence  can  only  be 
terminated  or  prolonged  by  the  state  authority.  And  being  governed, 
as  they  are,  by  corporate  authority,  emanating  from,  and  amenable 
to,  state  jurisdiction,  and  not  under  the  control  of  the  executive  of 
the  United  States,  constitutes  at  once  a  greater  security  for  the  public 
money,  and  more  safety  to  the  public  liberty.  It  has  been  argued 
that  a  seperation  of  the  government  from  the  banks  will  diminish  the 
executive  power.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  custody  of  the  pub- 
lic money  in  various  banks,  subject  to  the  control  of  state  authority, 
furnishes  some  check  upon  the  possible  abuses  of  the  executive  gor- 
emment.  But  the  argument  maintains  that  the  executive  has  leart 
power  when  it  has  most  complete  poaiession  of  the  poblic  treasury ! 


686  tPfiECHES  OF   HS^iRT   CLAY. 

The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  contends  that  the  separation  in  q^ 
tion  being  once  effected,  the  relation  of  the  federal  governtneBt  and 
the  State  Banks  will  be  antagonisticul.  1  believe  so,  Mr.  President. 
This  is  the  very  thing  I  wish  to  prevent.  I  want  them  to  live  in  peace, 
harmony  and  friendship.  If  they  are  antagonists,  how  is  it  possible 
that  the  State  Banks  can  maintain  their  existence  against  the  tiemen- 
dous  influence  of  the  government  ?  Especially,  if  this  goverament 
should  be  backed  by  such  a  vast  treasury  bank  as  I  verily  believe 
this  bill  is  intended  to  create  ?  And  what  becomes  of  the  argument 
urged  by  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  and  the  abolition  reso- 
lutions, offered  by  hi^pn  at  an  early  period  of  tbe  session,  asserting  that 
the  general  government  is  bound  to  protect  the  domestic  institutioiw 
of  the  several  States  ? 

• 

The  substitute  is  not,  I  think,  what  the  welfare  of  the  country  re- 
quires. It  may  serve  the  purpose  of  a  good  half-way  house.  Its 
accommodations  appear  fair,  and,  with  the  feelings  of  a  wearied 
traveler,  one  may  be  tempted  to  stop  awhile  and  refresh  himself 
there.  I  shall  vote  for  it  as  an  amendment  to  the  bill,  because  I  be- 
lieve it  the  least  of  two  evils,  if  it  should,  indeed,  inflict  any  evil ;  or 
rather,  because  1  feel  myself  in  the  position  of  a  patient  to  whom  the 
physician  presents  in  one  hand  a  cup  of  arsenic,  and  in  the  other  a  cup 
of  ptisan;  I  reject  the  first,  because  of  the  instant  death  with  which 
it  is  charged ;  I  take  the  latter  as  being,  at  the  most,  harmless,  and 
depend  upon  the  vis  medicatrix  natura.  It  would  have  been  a  great 
improvement,  in  my  opinion,  if  the  mode  of  bringing  about  the  re- 
sumption of  specie  payments,  contained  in  the  substitute,  were  re- 
versed :  that  is  to  say,  if,  instead  of  fixing  on  the  first  of  July,  for 
resumption,  it  had  provided  that  the  notes  of  a  certain  number  of  safe, 
sound  and  unquestionable  Banks  to  be  selected,  should  be  forthwith 
received  by  the  general  government,  in  payment  of  all  public  dues  ; 
and  that  if  the  selected  Banks  did  not  resume,  by  a  future  designated 
day,  their  notes  should  cease  to  be  taken.  Several  immediate  effects 
would  follow :  1st.  The  government  would  withdraw  from  the  mar- 
ket as  a  competitor  with  the  banks  for  specie,  and  they  would  be  left 
undisturbed  to  strengthen  themselves.  And,  2dly,  confidence  would 
be  restored  by  taking  off  the  discredit  and  discountenance  thrown 
upon  all  Banks  by  the  government.  And  why  should  these  notes 
not  be  so  received  ?  They  are  as  good  as  treasury  notes,  if  not  bet- 
ter.   They  answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  State  governments  and  the 


OR   THB  lUB-TRBABUftr.  387 

pciople.  They  now  would  buy  as  much  as  specie  could  have  com- 
manded at  the  i>eriod  of  suspension.  They  could  be  disbursed  by  the 
government.     And  finally,  the  measure  would  be  temporary. 

But  the  true  and  only  efficacious  and  permanent  remedy,  I  solemn- 
ly believe,  is  to  be  found  in  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  properly 
organized  and  constituted.  We  are  told  that  i^uch  a  bank  is  fraught 
with  indescribable  danger,  and  that  the  government  must,  in  the  se- 
quel, get  possession  of  the  bank,  or  the  bank  of  the  government.  I 
oppose  to  these  iniaginary  terrors  the  practical  experience  of  foxty 
years.  I  oppose  to  them  the  issue  of  the  memorable  contest,  com- 
menced  by  the  late  President  of  the  United  States,  against  the  late 
Bank  of  the  United  States.  The  administration  of  that  bank  had  been 
without  serious  fault.  It  had  given  no  just  offence  to  governnoent, 
towards  which  it  had  faithfully  performed  every  financial  duty.  Un- 
der its  able  and  enlightened  President,  it  had  fulfilled  every  anticipa- 
tion which  had  been  formed  by  those  who  created  it ;  Prebidcnt  Jack- 
son pronounced  the  edict  that  it  must  fall,  and  it  did  fall,  agaiubt  the 
wishes  of  an  immense  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  ; 
against  the  convictions  of  its  utility  entertained  by  a  large  majority 
of  the  States  ;  and  to  the  prejudice  of  the  best  interests  of  the  whole 
country.  If  an  innocent,  unoffending  and  highly  bencfisial  institu- 
tion could  be  thus  easily  destroyed  by  the  power  of  one  man,  where 
would  be  the  difficulty  of  crushing  it,  if  it  liad  given  any  real  cause 
lor  just  animadversion  ?  Finally,  I  oppose  to  these  imaginary  terrors 
the  example  deducible  from  English  history.  There  a  bank  has  ex- 
isted since  the  year  1694,  and  neither  has  the  bank  got  possession  of 
the  government,  nor  the  government  of  the  bank.  They  have  existed 
in  harmony  together,  both  conducing  to  the  prosperity  of  that  great 
country  ;  and  they  have  so  existed,  and  so  contributed,  because  each 
has  avoided  cherishing  towards  the  other  that  wanton  and  unneces- 
sary spirit  of  hostility  whicn  was  unfortunately  engendered  in  the 
late  President  of  the  United  States. 

lam  admonished,  pir, by  my  exhausted  strength,  and  by,  I  fear, 
your  more  exhausted  patience,  to  hasten  to  a  close.  Mr.  President, 
8  great,  novel,  and  untried  measure  is  perseveringly  urged  upon  the 
acceptance  of  Congress.  That  it  is  pregnant  with  tremendous  con* 
sequences,  for  good  or  evil,  is  undeniable,  and  admitted  by  all.  We 
firmly  believe  that  it  will  be  fatal  to  Ibe  best  interests  of  this  country, 


388  IPBECHM  OP   HKNRT  CLAY. 

and  ultimately  stibyersiye  of  its  liberties.  You,  who  havB  been 
greatly  disappointed  in  other  measures  of  equal  piromisey  can  onlj 
hope,  in  the  doubtful  and  uncertain  future,  that  its  operation  may 
prove  salutary.  Since  it  was  first  proposed  at  the  extra  session,  the 
whole  people  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  passing  in  judgment 
upon  it  at  their  elections.  As  far  as  they  have,  they  have  expressed 
their  unqualified  disapprobation.  From  Maine  to  the  State  of  Mis- 
sissippi, its  condemnation  has  been  loudly  thundered  forth.  In  every 
intervening  election,  the  administration  has  been  defeated,  or  its  for- 
mer majorities  neutralized.  Maine  has  spoken ;  New  York,  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island,  Mississippi  and  Michigan; 
all  these  States,  in  tones  and  tenns  not  to  be  misunderstood,  have 
denounced  the  measure.  The  key-stone  State  (God  bless  her)  has 
twice  proclaimed  her  rejection  of  it,  once  at  the  polls,  and  onoe 
through  her  legislature.  Friends  and  foes  of  the  administration  have 
united  in  condemning  it.  And,  at  the  very  moment  when  I  am  ad- 
dressing you,  a  large  meeting  of  the  late  supporters  of  the  adminis- 
tration, headed  by  the  distinguished  gentleman  who  presided  in  the 
electoral  college  which  gave  the  vote  of  that  patriotic  State  to  Presi- 
dent Van  Buren,  are  assembling  in  Philadelphia,  to  protest  solenmly 
against  the  passage  of  this  bill.  Is  it  right  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances, it  should  be  forced  upon  a  reluctant  but  free  and  intelligent 
people .'  Is  it  right  that  this  Senate,  constituted  as  it  now  is,  should 
give  its  sanction  to  the  measure  ?  I  say  it  in  no  disrespectful  or 
taunting  sense,  but  we  are  entitled,  according  to  the  latest  expres- 
sions of  the  popular  will,  and  in  virtue  of  manifestations  of  opinion 
deliberately  expressed  by  State  Legislatiires,  to  a  vote  of  thirty-five 
against  the  bill ;  and  I  am  ready  to  enter,  with  any  Senator  friendly 
to  the  administration,  into  details  to  prove  the  assertion.  Will  the 
Senate,  then,  bring  upon  itself  the  odium  of  passing  this  bill  ?  I  im- 
plore it  to  forbear,  forbear,  forbear !  I  appeal  to  the  instructed  Sen- 
ators. Is  this  government  made  for  us,  or  for  the  people  and  the 
States,  whose  agents  we  are  ^  Are  we  not  bound  so  to  administer 
it  as  to  advance  their  welfare,  promote  their  prosperity,  and  give  gen- 
eral satisfaction  ?  Will  that  sacred  trust  be  fulfilled,  if  the  known 
sentiments  of  large  and  respectable  conrmiunities  are  despised  and  con- 
demned by  those  whom  they  have  sent  here  ?  I  call  upon  the  hon- 
orable Senator  firom  Alabama,  (Mr.  King)  with  whom  I  hHveso  long 
stood  in  the  public  councils,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  bearing  up  the 
honor  and  the  glory  of  this  great  people,  to  come  now  to  their  rescue. 


OV   THE  SUB^TREASURT. 


389 


I  call  upon  all  the  Senators ;  let  us  bary,  deep  and  forever,  the  cha- 
racter of  the  partisan,  rise  up  patriots  and  statesmen,  break  the  yile 
chains  of  party,  throw  the  fragments  to  the  winds,  and  feel  the  proud 
satisfoction  that  we  have  made  but  a  small  sacrifice  to  the  paramount 
obligations  which  we  owe  our  common  country. 


[This  bill  a^ain  failed,  the  Specie  exaction  having  been  fint  struck  out  in  the 
Senate,  (SI  to  21)  when  Mr.  Cauioun  voted  against  it,  but  it  peiBed  uevertheleai, 
by  25  to  17.  On  reaching  the  House,  however,  it  was  instantly  met  by  Mr.  Pattost, 
of  Virginia,  with  a  motion  that  it  do  lie  on  the  tahU,  which  prevailed ;  Yeas  106 ; 
Nays  98.  It  was  likewise  defeated  at  the  next  session)  and  only  became  a  law  oa 
the  fomth  trial,  July,  1840,  after  the  illegal  admianoa  ojf  the  rab-lreaaiiiy  ckiiniali 
Irom  New  Jenwy  to  seats  in  the  House.] 

•z 


OUTLINE  OP  A  NATIONAL  BANK. 


In  THE  Senate  or  the  United  States,  Mat  21, 1838. 


[Mr.  Ciar,  OB  pteaentiiig  a  petition  asking  CongresB  to  establish  a  Bank  of  tha 
United  States,  spoke  briefly  as  follows :] 

I  WISH  to  present  a  petition,  confided  to  my  care,  signed  by  » 
number  of  persons,  praying  for  the  establishment  of  a  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  similar  to  several  other  petitions  which  haye 
been  presented  to  the  Senate  or  to  the  House,  during  the  present  ses- 
sion, praying  for  the  same  object.  They  afford  evidence  of  a  deep 
and  returning  conviction  among  the  people  of  the  utility  of  such  an 
institution. 

While  I  am  up,  with  the  permission  of  the  Senate,  I  beg  leave  to 
submit  a  few  observations  upon  this  subject.  There  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  much  honest  misconception,  and  some  misrepresentaUon 
prevail  in  regard  to  it,  which  I  wish  to  correct.  It  has  been  supposed 
that  those  who  are  desirous  of  seein^c  a  Bank  of  the  United  States 
established,  are  anxious  that  a  charter  should  be  granted  to  an  exist- 
ing State  institution,  which  has  an  eminent  individual  at  its  head,  and 
that  this  was  the  sole  object  of  all  their  exertions.  Now,  I  wish  for 
one  to  say,  that  I  have  no  such  purpose  in  view.  I  entertain  for  that 
gentleman  very  high  respect.  I  believe  him  uncommonly  able,  pro- 
foundly skilled  in  finance,  and  truly  patriotic.  There  is  but  one  other 
person  connected  with  the  banking  institutions  of  the  country,  in 
whose  administration  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  I  should  have 
equal  confidence  with  Mr.  Biddie,  and  that  is  Albert  Gallatin,  who,  1 
am  glad  to  learn,  at  an  advanced  age,  retains  in  full  vigor  the  &cqI* 
ties  of  his  extraordinary  mind.  There  may  be  other  citizens  eqoafl^ 
competent  with  those  two  gentlemen,  but  I  do  not  know  theniiOr 
am  not  acquainted  with  their  particular  qualifications. 

Bat  it  is  not  for  any  existing  State  Bank,  or  any  particular  indi* 


ooTun  or  a  hatiohal  bank.  391 

• 

▼idaal'at  its  head,  that  I  am  coDtending.  I  believe  the  establishmeDt 
of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  required  by  the  common  good  of 
the  whole  country ;  and  although  1  might  be  willing,  if  it  were  prae* 
ticablc,  to  adopt  an  existing  bank  as  the  basis  of  such  an  institution, 
under  all  circumstances,  1  think  it  most  expedient  that  a  new  bank 
with  power  to  establish  branches,  be  created  and  chartered  under  the 
authority  of  Congress.  My  friends  (as  far  as  I  know  their  opinions,) 
and  I,  are  not  particularly  attached  to  this  or  that  individual,  to  this 
or  that  existing  bank,  but  to  principles,  to  the  thing  itself,  to  the  in- 
stitution, to  a  well  organized  Bank  of  the  United  States,  under  the 
salutary  operation  of  which,  the  business  of  the  country  had  so  greatly 
prospered,  and  we  had  every  reason  to  hope,  would  again  revive  and 
prosper.  And,  presuming  upon  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate,  I  wiQ 
now  take  the  liberty  to  suggest  for  public  consideration,  some  of  those 
suitable  conditions  and  restrictions  under  which  it  appears  to  me  that 
it  would  be  desirable  to  establish  a  new  bank. 

1.  The  capital  not  to  be  extravagantly  large,  but  at  the  same  time, 
amply  sufficient  to  enable  it  to  perform  the  needful  financial  duties  for 
the  government;  to  supply  a  general  currency  of  uniform  value 
throughout  the  Union,  and  to  facilitate  as  nigh  as  practicable,  the 
equalization  of  domestic  exchange.  I  suppose  that  about  fifty  mill- 
ions would  answer  all  those  purposes.  The  stock  might  be  divided 
between  the  general  government,  the  States  according  to  their  federal 
population  and  individual  subscribers.  The  portion  assigned  to  tha 
latter,  to  be  distributed  at  auction,  or  by  private  subscription. 

2.  The  corporation,  in  the  spirit  of  a  resolution,  recently  adopted 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State,  one  of  whose  Senators  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  to  receive  such  an  organization  as  to  blend,  in  fiur 
proportions,  public  and  private  control,  and  combining  public  and  pri- 
vate interests.  And,  in  order  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  the  oxer^ 
cise  of  all  foreign  influence,  non-resident  foreigners  to  be  prohibited 
not  only  from  any  share  in  the  administration  of  the  corporation,  but 
from  holding,  directly,  or  indirectly,  any  portion  of  its  stock.  M- 
'though.  I  do  not  myself  think  this  latter  restriction  necessary,  I  would 
make  it,  in  deference  to  honest  prejudices,  sincerely  entertained,  and 
which  no  practical  statesman  ought  entirely  to  disregard.  The  bank 
would  thus  be,  in  its  origin,  and  continue,  through  its  whole  exist- 
^WDOy  a  genuine  American  imtitnlkm. 


B92  ffPKECHBS   OF   HENRY    CLAY. 

3.  Ad  adequate  portion  of  the  capital  to  be  set  apart  in  productive 
stocks,  and  placed  in  permanent  security  beyond  the  reach  of  the  cor- 
poration, (with  the  exception  of  the  accruing  profits  on  those  stocks) 
sufficient  to  pay  promptly,  in  any  contingency,  the  amount  of  til 
such  paper,  under  whatever  form,  that  the  bank  shall  put  forth  as  a 
part  of  the  general  circulation.  The  bill  or  note  holders,  in  other 
words,  the  mass  of  the  community,  ought  to  be  protected  against  the 
possibility  of  the  failure  or  the  suspension  of  a  bank.  The  aupply  pf 
the  circulating  medium  of  a  country,  is  that  faculty  of  a  bank,  tlie 
propriety  of  the  exercise  of  which  may  be  most  controverted.  The 
dealing  with  a  bank,  of  those  who  obtain  discounts,  or  make  deposites, 
are  voluntary  and  mutually  advantageous,  and  they  are  comparatively 
few  in  number.  But  the  reception  of  what  is  issued  and  used  as  a 
part  of  the  circulating  medium  of  the  country,  is  scarcely  a  voluntary 
act,  and  thousands  take  it  who  have  no  other  concern  whatever  with 
the  bank.  The  many  ought  to  be  guarded  and  secured  by  the  care 
of  the  legislative  authority ;  the  vigilance  of  the  few  will  secure  them 
against  loss.  I  'think  this  provision  is  a  desideratum  in  our  American 
banking,  and  the  credit  of  first  embodying  it  in  a  legislative  act  is  due 
to  the  Sutc  of  New  York. 

4.  Perfect  publicity  as  to  the  state  of  the  bank  at  all  times,  inclu- 
ding, besides  the  usual  heads  of  information,  the  names  of  every  debt- 
or to  the  bank,  whether  as  drawer,  endorser,  or  surety,  periodically 
exhibited,  and  open  to  public  inspection ;  or  if  that  should  be  found 
inconvenient,  the  right  to  be  secured  to  any  citizen  to  ascertain  at  the 
bank  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  responsibility  of  any  of  its  custom- 
ers. There  is  no  necessity  to  throw  any  veil  of  secrecy  around  the 
ordinary  transactions  of  a  bank-  Publicity  will  increase  responsibili- 
ty, repress  favoritism,  insure  the  negotiation  of  good  paper,  and  whea 
individual  insolvency  unfortunately  occurs,  will  deprive  the  bank  of 
undue  advantages  now  enjoyed  by  banks  practically  in  the  distribotioii 
of  the  cfects  of  the  insolvent. 

5.  A  Ihnitation  of  the  dividends  so  as  not  to  authorize  more  than 
—  per  cent  to  be  struck.  This  will  check  undue  expansion  in  the 
circulating  medium,  and  restrain  improper  extension  of  bu«neta  ia 
the  administration  of  the  bank. 

6.  A  prospective  reduction  in  the  tate  of  interest  so  as  to  nsCriet 


OUTLtlTB  or  A  HATIONAL  BAKK. 

the  bank  to  six  per  cent,  simply,  or  if  practicable,  to  only  five  per 
cent.  Banks  now  receive  at  the  rate  of  near  six  and  a  half  per  cent., 
by  demanding  the  interest  in  advance,  and  by  charging  for  an  addi- 
tional day.  The  reduction  may  be  effected  by  forbearing  to  exact 
any  bonus,  or  when  the  profits  are  likely  to  exceed  the  prescribed 
limit  of  the  dividends,  by  requiring  that  the  rate  of  interest  shall  be 
so  lowered  as  that  they  shall  not  pass  that  limit. 

7.  A  restriction  upon  the  premium  demanded  upon  post  notes  and 
checks  used  for  remittances,  so  that  the  maximum  should  not  be  mcMre 
than  say  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  between  any  two  of  the  remotest 
points  of  the  Union.  Although  it  may  not  be  practicable  to  regulate 
foreign  exchange,  depending  as  it  does  upon  commercial  causes  not 
within  the  control  of  any  one  government,  I  think  that  it  is  otherwise 
with  regard  to  domestic  exchange. 

8.  Every  practicable  provision  against  the  exercise  of  improper 
mfluence,  on  the  part  of  the  executive,  upon  the  bank,  and,  on  the 
part  of  the  bank,  upon  the  elections  of  the  country.  The  late  Bank 
of  the  United  States  has  been,  I  believe,  mosf  unjustly  charged  with 
interference  in  the  popular  elections.  There  is,  among  the  public 
documents  evidences  of  its  having  scrupulously  abstained  from  such 
interference.  It  never  did  more  than  to  exercise  the  natural  right  of 
self-defence  by  publishing  such  reports,  speeches,  and  documents,  as 
tended  to  place  the  institution  and  its  administration  in  a  fair  point  of 
view  before  the  public.  But  the  people  entertain  a  just  jealousy 
against  the  danger  of  any  interference  of  a  bank  with  the  elections  of 
the  country,  and  every  precaution  ought  to  be  taken  strictly  to  guard 
against  it. 

This  is  a  brief  outline  of  such  a  new  Bank  of  the  Vnited  States  as 
1  think,  if  established,  would  greatly  conduce  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
country.  Perhaps  on  full  discussion  and  consideration,  some  of  the 
conditions  which  I  have  suggested  might  not  be  deemed  expedient, 
or  might  require  modification,  and  important  additional  ones  may  be 
proposed  by  others. 

I  will  only  say  a  word  or  two  on  the  constitutional  power.  I  think 
that  it  ought  no  longer  to  be  regarded  as  an  open  question.  There 
ought  to  be  some  bounds  to  human  controversy  •    Stability  is  a  neces- 


904  tFBICHIf  or  HSITRT  OLAT. 

•arj  want  of  society.  Among  those  who  deny  the  power,  there  aro 
many  who  admit  the  bene6t4i  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Foot 
times,  and  under  the  sway  of  all  the  political  parties,  have  Congress 
deliberately  affirmed  its  existence.  Every  department  of  the  govern* 
ment  has  again  and  again  asserted  it.  Forty  years  of  acquiescence  by 
the  people ;  uniformity  every  where  in  the  value  of  the  currency ; 
Deu^ility  and  economy  in  domestic  exchanges,  and  unexampled  proa- 
perity  in  the  general  business  of  the  country,  with  a  Bank  of  the 
United  States  ;  and,  without  it,  wild  disorder  in  the  currency,  ruinous 
irregularity  in  domestic  exchange,  and  general  prostration  in  the  com* 
merce  and  business  of  the  nation,  would  seem  to  put  the  question  at 
rest,  if  it  is  not  to  be  perpetually  agitated.  The  power  has  been  sus^ 
tained  by  Washington,  the  Father  of  his  Country  ;  by  Madison,  the 
Father  of  the  Constitution  ;  and  by  Marshall,  the  Father  of  the  Ju- 
diciary. If  precedents  are  not  to  be  blindly  followed,  neither  ought 
they  to  be  wantonly  despised.  They  are  the  evidence  of  troth  ;  and 
tho  force  of  the  evidence  is  in  proportion  to  the  integrity,  wisdom, 
and  patriotism,  of  those  who  establish  them,  i  tliink  that  on  no  occa* 
sion  could  there  be  an  array  of  greater  or  higher  authority.  For  one^ 
I  hope  to  be  pardoned  for  yielding  to  it,  in  preference  to  submitting 
my  judgment  to  the  opinion  of  those  who  now  deny  the  power,  hoir 
ever  respectable  it  may  be. 

[No  action  was  at  this  time  taken  on  these  safgeetioni  f 


ON  ABOLITION  PETITIONS. 


fur  THE  Senate  of  the  United  States,  February  7, 1839 


(From  the  relations  of  the  Federal  Government  and  of  the  People  of  the  Free 
^atee  to  Slavery,  8i>rinf  the  most  perplexing  and  df^licate  r^uestioni)  which  have  ariaen 
under  our  complex  PoUiical  System— questions  exciting  acrimony,  irritation  and 
alarm  in  the  Southern  States,  and  requiring  of  the  North  conventional  action  in  re- 
gard to  the  Right  of  those  held  in  bondage,  adverse  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Free  Government,  on  which  the  Institutions  of  the  Free  States  are  based.  The  pro- 
per di^poe^ition  of  the  Petitions  poured  in  u)K>n  Congresn  asking  action  adverse  to 
the  existence  of  Slavery,  is  one  of  the  related  topics  which  has  at  times  arrested  the 
action  of  Congress  and  threatened  the  existence  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Clat,  having 
received  one  of  these  Petitions,  with  a  request  that  he  present  it  to  the  body  of 
which  he  was  a  Member  sooke  as  follows :] 

I  HAVE  received,  Mr.  President,  a  petition  to  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  which  I  wish  to  present  to 
the  Senate.  It  is  signed  by  several  hundred  inhabitants  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Cohimbia,  and  chiefly  of  the  city  of  Washington.  Among 
them  I  recognize  the  name  of  the  highly  esteemed  Mayor  of  the  city, 
and  other  respectable  names,  some  o$  which  are  personally  and  well 
known  to  me.  They  express  their  regret,  that  the  subject  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery  within  the  District  of  Columbia,  continues  to  be 
pressed  upon  the  consideration  of  Congress  by  inconsiderate  and  mis* 
guided  individuals  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States.  They  state 
that  they  do  not  desire  the  abolition  of  slavery  within  the  district, 
even  if  Congress  possesses  the  very  questionable  power  of  abolishing 
it,  without  the  consent  of  the  people  whose  interests  would  be  im- 
mediately and  directly  affected  by  the  measure ;  that  it  is  a  question 
solely  between  the  people  of  the  District  and  their  only  constitutional 
legislature,  purely  municipal,  and  one  in  in  which  no  exterior  influ- 
ence or  interest  can  justly  interfere  ;  that,  if  at  any  future  period  the 
people  of  this  District  should  desire  the  abolition  of  slavery  within  it, 
they  will  doubtless  make  their  wishes  known,  when  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  take  the  matter  into  consideration ;  that  they  do  not,  on 
this  occasion,  present  themselves  to  Congress  because  they  are  slave- 


396  tPKBCBXS  OF  HBaiRT  CLAT. 

holders — ^many  of  them  are  not ;  some  of  them  are  conscientioiuly 
opposed  to  slavery — but  they  appear  because  they  justly  respect  the 
rights  of  those  who  own  that  description  of  property,  and  because 
they  entertain  a  deep  conviction  that  the  continued  agitation  of  the 
question  by  those  who  have  no  right  to  interfere  with  it,  has  an  in- 
jurious influence  on  the  peace  and  tranquility  of  the  community,  and 
upon  the  well-being  and  happiness  of  those  who  are  held  in  subjec- 
tion ;  they  finally  protest  as  well  against  the  unauthorized  investiga- 
tion of  which  they  complain,  as  against  any  legislation  on  the  part  of 
Congress  in  compliance  therewith.  But,  as  I  wish  these  respectable 
petitioners  to  be  themselves  heard,  I  request  that  their  petition  may 
be  read. 

lit  WB8  read  accordingly,  and  Mr.  Clay  proceeded.] 

I  am  informed  by  the  Committee  which  requested  me  to  ofier  this 
petition,  and  believe,  that  it  expresses  the  almost  unanimous  senti* 
ments  of  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  performance  of  this  service  affords  me  a  legitimate  oppor- 
tunity, of  which,  with  the  permission  of  the  Senate,  I  mean  now  to 
avail  myself,  to  say  something,  not  only  on  the  particular  objects  of 
the  petition,  but  upon  the  great  and  interesting  subject  with  which  it 
is  intimately  associated. 

It  is  well  known  to  the  Senate,  that  I  have  thought  that  the  most 
judicious  course  with  abolition  petitions  has  not  been  of  late  pursued 
by  Congress.  I  have  believed  that  it  would  have  been  wisest  to 
have  received  and  referred  them,  without  opposition,  and  to  have 
reported  against  their  object  in  a  calm  and  dispassionate  and  argu- 
mentative appeal  to  the  good  sense  of  the  whole  community.  It 
has  been  supposed,  however  by  a  majority  of  Congress,  that  it  was 
most  expedient  either  not  to  receive  the  petitions  at  all,  or,  if  formally 
received,  not  to  act  definitively  upon  them.  There  is  no  substantial 
difference  between  these  opposite  opinions,  since  both  look  to  an  ab- 
solute rejection  of  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners.  But  there  is  a  great 
difference  in  the  form  of  proceeding ;  and,  Mr.  President,  some  ex- 
perience in  the  conduct  of  human  affairs  has  taught  me  to  believe 
that  a  neglect  to  observe  established  forms  is  often  attended  with 
more  mischievous  consequences  than  the  infliction  of  a  positive  injury. 


OH  ABOUTIOW  PETITlONt.  897 

We  all  know  that,  even  in  private  life,  a  violation  of  the  existing 
usages  and  ceremonies  of  society  cannot  take  place  without  serioas 
prejudice.  I  fear,  sir,  that  the  abolitionists  have  acquired  a  consider- 
able apparent  force  by  blending  with  the  object  which  they  have  In 
view  a  collateral  and  totally  different  question  arising  out  of  an  al- 
ledged  violation  of  the  right  of  petition.  I  know  full  well,  and  take 
great  pleasure  in  testifying,  that  nothing  was  remoter  from  the  inten- 
tion of  the  majority  of  the  Senate,  from  which  I  differed,  than  to 
violate  the  right  of  petition  in  any  case  in  which,  according  to  its 
judgment,  that  right  could  be  constitutionally  exercised,  or  where 
the  object  of  the  petition  could  be  safely  or  properly  granted.  Still, 
it  must  be  owned  that  the  abolitionists  have  seized  hold  of  the  fact  of 
the  treatment  which  their  peti|ions  have  received  in  Congress,  and 
made  injurious  impressions  upon  the  minds  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
community.  This,  I  think,  might  have  been  avoided  by  the  course 
which  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  seen  pursued. 

And  I  desire  now,  Mr.  President,  to  advert  to  some  of  those  topics 
which  I  think  might  have  been  usefully  embodied  in  a  report  by  a 
Committee  of  the  Senate,  and  which,  I  am  persuaded  would  have 
checked  the  progress,  if  it  had  not  altogether  arrested  the  efforts  of 
abolition.  I  am  sensible,  sir,  that  this  work  would  have  been  ac 
complished  with  much  greater  ability  and  with  much  happier  effect, 
under  the  auspices  of  a  committee,  that  it  can  be  by  me.  But,  anx- 
ious as  I  always  am  to  contribute  whatever  is  in  my  power  to  the 
harmony,  concord,  and  happiness  of  this  great  people,  I  feel  myself 
irresistably  impelled  to  do  whatever  is  in  my  power,  incompetent  as  I 
feel  myself  to  be,  to  dissuade  the  public  from  continuing  to  agitate  a 
subject  fraught  with  the  most  dreadful  consequences^ 

There  are  three  classes  of  persons  opposed,  or  apparently  opposed, 
to  the  continued  existence  of  slavery  in  the  United  States.  The  first 
are  those  who,  from  sentiments  of  philanthropy  and  humanity,  are 
conscienciously  opposed  to  the  existence  of  slavery,  but  who  are  no 
less  opposed,  at  the  same  time,  to  any  disturbance  of  the  peace  and 
tranquillity  of  the  Union,  or  the  infringement  of  the  powers  of  the 
States  composing  the  confederacy.  In  this  class  may  be  comprehend- 
ed that  peaceful  and  exemplary  society  of  "  Friends,"  one  of  whose 
established  maxims  is,  an  abhorrepce  of  war  in  all  its  forms,  and  the 
cultivation  of  peace  and  good-will  amoDg  mankind.    The  next  claM 


898  IPKECHES  OF  HXITRT    CULT. 

coDsuitfl  of  appareDt  abolitionists — that  is,  those  who,  having  been 
persuaded  that  the  right  of  petition  has  been  violated  by  Congre8i| 
co-operate  with  the  abolitionists  for  the  sole  purpose  of  asserting  and 
vindicating  that  right.     And  the  third  class  are  the  real  ultra-aboli- 
tionistSy  who  are  resolved  to  persevere  in  the  pursuit  of  their  object 
at  all  hazards,  and  without  regard  to  any  consequences,  however 
calamitous  they  may  be.     With  them  the  right  of  property  is  noth- 
ing J  the  deficiency  of  the  powers  of  the  general  government  is  noth- 
ing ;  the  acknowledged  and  incontestible  powers  of  the  States  are 
nothing ;  a  civil  war,  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  the  overthrow 
of  a  government  in  which  are  concentrated  the  fondest  hopes  of  the 
civilized  world,  are  nothing.     A  single  idea  has  taken  possession  o£ 
their  minds,  and  onward  they  pursue  it,  overlooking  all  barriers,  and 
regardless  of  all  consequences.     With  this  class,  the  immediate  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  in  the  territory  of 
Florida,  the  prohibition  of  the  removal  of  slaves  from  State  to  State, 
and  the  refusal  to  admit  any  new  State,  comprising  within  its  limits 
the  institution  of  domestic  slavery,  are  but  so  many  means  conducing 
to  the  accomplishment  of  the  ultimate  but  perilous  end  at  which  they 
avowedly  and  boldly  aim .;  are  but  so  many  short  stages  in  the  long 
and  bloody  road  to  the  distant  goal  at  which  they  would  finally  ar- 
rive.    Their  purpose  is  abolition,  universal  abolition,  peaceably  if 
they  can,  forcibly  if  they  must.     Their  object  is  no  longer  concealed 
by»the  thinnest  veil ;  it  is  avowed  and  proclaimed.     Utterly  destitute 
of  constitutional  or  other  rightful  power,  living  in  totally  distinct 
communities,  as  alien  to  the  communities  in  which  the  subject  on 
which  they  would  operate  resides,  so  far  as  concerns  political  power 
over  that  subject,  as  if  they  lived  in  Africa  or  Asia,  they  nevertheless 
promulgate  to  the  world  their  purpose  to  be  to  manumit  forthwith, 
and  without  compensation,  and  without  moral  preparation,  three  mill- 
ions of  negro  slaves,  under  jurisdictions  altogether  separated  from 
those  under  which  they  live.     I  have  said  that  immediate  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  territory  of  Floridai 
and  the  exclusion  of  new  States,  were  only  means  towards  the  at 
tainment  of  a  much  more  important  end.     Unfortunately,  they  are 
not  the  only  means.     Another,  and  much  more  lamentable  one  is  that 
which  this  class  is  endeavoring  to  employ,  of  arraying  one  portion 
against  another  portion  of  the  Union.     With  that  view,  in  all  their 
leading  prints  and  publications,  the  alledged  horrors  of  slavery  are 
depicted  in  the  most  glowing  and  exaggeiated  colorS|  to  excite  the 


OH  ABOUTION  PETITION!.  3M 

tnuiginations  and  stimulate  the  rage  of  the  people  in  the  free  States 
sgainst  the  people  in  the  slave  States.  The  slave-holder  is  held  up 
and  represented  as  the  most  atrocious  of  human  beings.  Advertise- 
ments of  fugitive  slaves  and  of  slaves  to  t)e  sold,  are  carefully  collect- 
ed and  blazoned  forth,  to  infuse  a  spirit  of  detestation  and  hatred 
against  one  entire  and  the  largest  section  of  the  Union.  And  like  a 
notorious  agitator  upon  another  theatre,  tbey  would  hunt  down  and 
proscribe  from  the  pale  of  civilized  society  the  inhabitants  of  that  en« 
tire  section.  Allow  me,  Mr.  President,  to  say,  that  while  I  recognize 
in  the  justly  wounded  feelings  of  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at 
the  Court  of  St.  James,  much  to  excuse  the  notice  which  he  was  pro- 
voked to  take  of  that  agitator,  in  my  humble  opinion,  he  would  have 
better  consulted  the  dignity  of  his  station  and  of  his  country  in  treat- 
ing it  with  contemptuous  silence.  He  would  exclude  us  from  Euro* 
pean  society — he  who  himself  can  only  obtain  a  contraband  admission^ 
and  is  received  with  scornful  repugnance  into  it !  If  he  be  no  more 
desirous  of  our  society  than  we  are  of  his,  he  may  rest  assured  tha^ 
a  state  of  eternal  non-intercourse  will  exist  between  us.  Yes,  sir,  a 
think  the  American  minister  would  have  best  pursued  the  dictates  of 
true  dignity  by  regarding  the  language  of  the  member  of  the  British 
House  of  Commons  as  the  malignant  ravings  of  the  plunderer  of  hia 
own  country,  and  the  libeller  of  a  foreign  and  kindred  people. 

But  the  means  to  which  I  have  already  adverted,  are  not  the  only 
(Mies  which  this  third  class  of  ultra-abolitionists  are  employing  to 
efl^t  their  ultimate  end.  They  began  their  operations  by  professing 
to  employ  only  persuasive  means  in  appealing  to  the  humanity,  and 
enlightening  the  understandings  of  the  slave^holding  portion  of  the 
Union.  If  there  were  some  kindness  in  this  avowed  motive,  it  nuist 
be  acknowledged  that  there  was  rather  a  presumptuous  display  also 
of  an  assumed  superiority  in  intelligence  and  knowledge.  For  some 
time  they  continued  to  make  these  appeals  to  our  duty  and  our  inter- 
est ;  but  impatient  with  the  slow  influence  of  their  logic  upon  our 
minds,  they  recently  resolved  to  change  their  system  of  action.  To 
the  agency  of  their  powers  of  persuasion,  they  now  propose  to  substi- 
tute the  poweis  of  the  ballot  box ;  and  he  must  be  blind  to  what  is 
passing  t)efore  us,  who  does  not  perceive  that  the  inevitable  tendency 
of  their  preceedings  is,  if  these  should  be  found  insufficient,  to  invokei 
finally,  the  more  potent  powers  of  the  bayonet. 


400  8PBBGHB8  OF  HIHBT  CLAT. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  at  this  alarmiDg  stage  of  the  proceediogi  of  the 
ultra-abolitionists  that  I  would  seriously  invite  every  considerate  Dua 
in  the  country  solemnly  to  pause,  and  deliberately  to  reflect,  not 
merely  on  our  existing  posture,  but  upon  that  dreadful  precipice  down 
which  they  would  hurry  us.  It  is  because  these  ultra-abolitionists 
have  ceased  to  employ  the  instruments  of  reason  and  persuasion,  have 
made  their  cause  political,  and  have  appealed  to  the  ballot  box,  that 
I  am  induced,  upon  this  occasion,  to  address  you. 

There  have  been  three  epochs  in  the  history  of  our  countiy  at 
which  the  spirit  of  abolition  displayed  itself.  The  first  was  immedi- 
ately after  the  formation  of  the  present  federal  government.  When 
the  constitution  was  about  going  into  operation,  its  powers  were  not 
well  understood  by  the  community  at  large,  and  remained  to  be  ac- 
curately interpreted  and  defined.  At  that  period  numerous  abolition 
societies  were  formed,  comprising  not  merely  the  society  of  Friends, 
but  many  other  good  men.  Petitions  were  presented  to  Congress, 
praying  for  the  abolition  of  slavery.  They  were  received  without 
serious  opposition,  referred,  and  reported  upon  by  aconunittee.  The 
report  stated  that  the  general  government  had  no  power  to  abolish 
slavery  as  it  existed  in  the  several  States,  and  that  these  States  them* 
selves  had  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  subject.  The  report  was 
generally  acquiesced  in,  and  satisfaction  and  tranquillity  ensued ;  the 
abolition  societies  thereafter  limiting  their  exertions,  in  respect  to  the 
black  population,  to  offices  of  humanity  within  the  scope  of  existing 
laws. 

The  next  period  when  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  abolition  inci* 
dentally,  were  brought  into  notice  and  discussion,  was  that  on  the 
memorable  occasion  of  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Missouri  into  the 
Union.  The  struggle  was  long,  strenuous,  and  fearful.  It  is  too  re- 
cent to  make  it  necessary  to  do  more  than  merely  advert  to  it,  and  to 
say,  that  it  was  finally  composed  by  one  of  those  compromises  charac- 
teristic of  our  institutions,  and  of  which  the  constitution  itself  is  the 
most  sifi;nal  instance. 

The  third  is,  that  in  which  we  now  find  ourselves.  Various  causesi 
l^Ir.  President,  have  contributed  to  produce  the  existing  excitement 
on  the  subject  of  abolition.  The  principal  one,  perhaps,  is  the  exam* 
pie  of  British  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  the  islands  adjacent  t« 


am  AWurKw  PBTmcnm.  401 

our  coQDtiy.  Such  is  the  similarity  in  laws,  id  hmgiiage,  in  institi^- 
tions,  and  in  common  origin,  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  that  no  great  measure  of  national  policy  can  be  adopted  in  the 
one  country  without  producing  a  considerable  degree  of  influence  in 
the  other.  Confounding  the  totally  different  cases  together,  of  the 
powers  of  the  British  parliament  and  those  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  totally  different  situations  of  the  Kitish  Wes 
India  Islands,  and  the  the  slaves  in  the  sovereign  and  independent 
fStates  of  this  confederacy,  superficial  men  have  inferred  from  the 
undecided  British  experiment,  the  practicability  of  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  these  States.  The  powers  of  the' British  parliament  are 
unlimited,  and  are  oflcn  described  to  be  omnipotent.  The  powers  of 
the  American  Congress,  on  the  contraiy,  are  few,  cautiously  limited, 
scrupulously  excluding  all  that  are  not  granted,  and  above  all,  care* 
fully  and  absolutely  excluding  all  power  over  the  existence  and  con* 
tinuance  of  slavery  in  the  several  States.  The  slaves,  too,  upon 
which  British  legislation  operated,  were  not  in  the  bosom  of  the  king- 
dom, but  in  remote  and  feeble  colonies  having  no  voice  in  parliament. 
The  West  India  slaveholder  was  neither  represented  nor  representa- 
tive in  that  parliament.  And  while  I  most  fervently  wish  complefo 
success  to  the  British  experiment  of  West  India  emancipation,  I  con- 
fiess  that  I  have  fearful  forebodings  of  a  disastrous  termination  of  it. 
Whatever  it  may  be,  I  think  it  must  be  admitted  that,  if  the  British 
parliament  had  treated  the  West  India  slaves  as  freemen,  it  also  treat- 
ed the  West  India  freemen  as  slaves.  If,  instead  of  these  slaves  being 
separated  by  a  wide  ocean  from  the  parent  country,  three  or  four 
millions  of  African  negro  slaves  had  been  dispersed  over  England, 
Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland,  and  their  owners  had  been  members  of 
the  British  parliament— «  caae  which  would  have  presented  some 
analogy  to  that  of  our  country — does  any  one  believe  that  it  would 
have  been  expedient  or  practicable  to  have  emancipated  them,  leav- 
mg  them  to  remain,  with  all  their  embittered  feelings,  in  the  United 
kingdom,  boundless  as  the  powers  of  the  British  parliament  are  ? 

Other  causes  have  conspired  with  dife  British  example  to  produce 
the  existing  excitement  from  abolition.  I  say  it  with  profound  regret, 
but  with  no  intention  to  occasion  irritation  here  or  elsewhere,  that 
there  are  persons  in  both  parts  of  the  Union  who  have  sought  to 
mingle  abolition  with  politics,  and  to  array  one  porticm  of  the  Union 
against  the  other*    Itis  theaiisfiifftiuieinfiDBeooiinlriesthal|inhi|^ 


409  KBCBSf  or  animT  clat. 

party  times,  a  disposition  too  often  prevails  to  seise  hold  of  eveiy 
thing  which  can  strengthen  the  one  side  or  weaken « the  other. 
Charges  of  fostering  abolition  designs  have  been  heedlessly  and  un- 
justly made  by  one  party  against  the  other.  Prior  to  the  late  electioD 
of  the  President  of  the  United,  he  was  charged  with  being  an  aboli- 
tionist, and  abolition  designs  were  imputed  to  many  of  his  supporten. 
Much  as  I  was  opposed  to  his  election,  and  am  to  his  administratioD, 
I  neither  shared  in  making  nor  believing  the  truth  of  the  charge.  He 
was  scarcely  installed  in  office  before  the  same  charge  was  directed 
against  those  who  opposed  his  election. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  not  true,  and  I  rejoice  that  it  is  not  true,  that 
either  of  the  two  great  parties  in  this  country  has  any  designs  or  aim 
at  abolition.  I  should  deeply  lament  if  it  were  true.  I  should  con- 
sider, if  it  were  true,  that  the  danger  to  the  stability  of  our  syvtem 
would  be  infinitely  greater  than  any  which  does,  I  hope,  actually 
exist.  While  neither  party  can  be,  I  think,  justly  accused* of  aiy 
abolition  tendency  or  purpose,  both  have  profited,  and  both  have  been 
injured  in  particular  localities,  by  the  accession  or  abstraction  of  abo- 
lition support.  If  the  account  were  fairly  stated,  I  believe  the  party 
to  which  I  am  opposed  has  profited  much  more,  and  been  injured 
much  less,  than  that  to  which  1  belong.  But  I  am  far,  for  that  reason, 
firom  being  disposed  to  accuse  our  adversaries  of  being  abolitionists. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  allow  me  to  consider  the  several  cases  in 
which  the  authority  of  Congress  is  invoked  by  these  abolition  peti- 
tioners upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery.  The  first  relates  to  it 
as  it  exists  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  following  b  the  provi- 
sion of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  in  reference  to  that 
matter : 

*'  To  exercise  exclnsiTe  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever  over  such  district  l»et 
exceeding  ten  miles  square^  as  may  by  ceBeiion  of  particular  Statee>,  and  the  accept- 
ance of  Congress,  become  tne  seat  of  government  of  the  United  States.*' 

This  provision  preceded,  in  point  of  time,  the  actual  cessions  which 
were  made  by  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia.  The  object  of 
the  cession  was,  to  establish  a  seat  ofgovemmefU  of  Ike  United  Stalm; 
and  the  grant  in  the  constitution  of  exclusive  legislation  muat  be  m- 
derstood,  and  should  be  always  interpreted,  as  having  relation  to  th^ 
Qiqeot  of  the  ceHnon.    It  was  with  a  hill  knowledge  of  thia  etapa  id 


OH  ABOUTfOlf  PSTITIOm.  418 

the  oonttitatioD  that  those  two  States  ceded  to  the  general  goyern- 
nent  the  ten  miles  square,  constituting  the  district  of  Columbia.  In 
making  the  cession,  they  supposed  that  it  was  to  be  applied,  and  ap- 
plied solely,  to  the  purposes  of  a  seat  of  government,  for  which  it 
was  asked.  When  it  was  made,  slavery  existed  in  both  those  com- 
monwealths, and  in  the  ceded  territory,  as  it  now  continues  to  exist 
in  all  of  them.  Neither  Maryland  nor  Virginia  could  have  anticipa- 
ted that,  while  the  institution  remained  within  their  respective  limits, 
its  abolition  would  be  attempted  by  Congress  without  their  consent. 
Neither  of  them  would  probably  have  made  an  unconditional  cession, 
if  they  could  have  anticipated  such  a  result. 

From  the  nature  of  the  provision  in  the  constitution,  and  the  avow- 
ed object  of  the  acquisition  of  the  territory,  two  duties  arise  on  the 
part  of  Congress.     The  first  is,  to  render  the  district  available,  com- 
fortable, and  convenient,  as  a  seat  of  government  of  the  whole  Union ; 
the  other  is  to  govern  the  people  within  the  district  so  as  best  to  pro- 
mote their  happiness  and  prosperity.     These  objects  are  totally  dis- 
'tinct  in  their  nature,  and  in  interpreting  and  exercising  the  grant  of 
the  power  of  exclusive  legislation,  that  distinction  should  be  con- 
stantly borne  ito  mind.     Is  it  necessary,  in  order  to  render  this  place 
a  comfortable  seat  of  the  general  government,  to  abolish  slavery  with- 
in its  limits  ?    No  one  can  or  will  advance  such  a  proposition.     The 
government  has  remained  here  near  forty  years  without  the  slightest 
inconvenience  from  the  presence  of  domestic  slavery.    Is  it  necessary 
to  the  well-being  of  the  people  of  the  Di.^itrict  that  slavery  should  be 
abolished  from  among  them  ?    They  not  only  neither  ask  nor  desire, 
bat  are  almost  unanimously  opposed  to  it.     It  exists  here  in  the 
inildest.and  most  mitigated  form.     In  a  population  .of  39,834,  there 
vere,  at  the  last  enumeration  of  the  population  of  the  United  States, 
bat  6,119  slaves.     The  number  has  not  probably  much  increased 
nnce.    They  are  dispersed  over  the  ten  miles  square,  engaged  in  the 
quiet  pursuits  of  husbandry,  or  in  menial  offices  in  domestic  life.     IC 
it  were  necessary  to  the  efficiency  of  this  place,  as  ^seat  of  the  gen- 
eral government,  to  abolish  slavery,  which ^s  utterly  denied,  the  abo- 
lition should  be  confined  to  the  necessity  which  prompts  it,  that  is,  to 
the  limits  of  the  City  of  Washington  itself.    Beyond  those  limits,  pcr- 
•oos  concerned  in  the  government  df  the  United  States,  have  no  moie 
to  do  with  the  Inhabitants  of  the  District  than  they  have  with  t^e 
WifbitmiitB  of  the  aiy^ieeBtooiutiei  of  Maryland  «nd  Virginia  whkSi 
^b^TMid  tho  DiftfioC* 


404  8PIICHI8  OF  HKVmT  CLAT. 

To  aboliih  slavery  within  the  District  of  Colambia,  while  it  remaiw 
in  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  situated,  as  that  District  is,  withiD  the 
very  heart  of  those  States,  wonld  expose  them  to  great  practical  in- 
convenience and  annoyance.  The  District  would  become  a  place  of 
refuge  and  escape  for  fugitive  slaves  from  the  two  States,  and  a  place 
from  which  the  spirit  of  discontent,  insubordination,  and  insurrection 
might  be  fostered  and  encouraged  in  the  two  States.  Suppose,  as 
was  at  one  time  under  consideration,  Pennsylvania  had  granted  ten 
miles  square  within  its  limits,  for  the  purpose  of  a  seat  of  the  genenl 
government ;  could  Congress  without  a  violation  of  good  faith,  have 
introduced  and  established  slavery  within  the  bosom  of  that  commoo- 
wealth,  in  the  ceded  territory,  after  she  had  abolished  it  so  long  ago 
as  the  year  1780  ?  Yet  the  inconvenience  to  Pennsylvania  in  the  ' 
case  supposed,  would  have  been  much  less  than  that  to  Virginia  and 
Maryland  in  the  case  we  are  arguing 

It  was  upon  this  view  of  the  subject  that  the  Senate,  at  its  last 
session,  solemnly  declared  that  it  would  be  a  violation  of  implied 
faith,  resulting  from  the  transaction  of  the  cession,  to  abolish  slavery 
within  the  District  of  Columbia.  And  would  it  not  be  ?  By  implied 
&ith  is  meant,  that,  when  a  grant  is  made  for  one  avowed  and  de- 
clared purpose,  known  to  the  parties,  the  grant  should  not  be  pervert- 
ed to  another  purpose,  unavowed  and  undeclared,  and  iojurious  to 
the  grantor.  The  grant,  in  the  case  we  are  considering,  of  the  terri- 
tory of  Columbia,  was  for  a  secU  of  government.  Whatever  power  is 
necessary  to  accomplish  that  object,  is  carried  along  by  the  grant. 
But  the  abolition  of  slavery  is  not  necessary  to  the  enjoyment  of  tUs 
site  as  a  seat  of  the  general  government.  The  grant  in  the  constita 
tion,  of  exclusive  power  of  legislation  over  the  District,  was  made  to 
ensure  the  exercise  of  an  exclusive  authority  of  the  general  govern- 
ment to  render  this  place  a  safe  and  secure  seat  of  government,  and 
to  promote  the  well  being  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Dintrict  The 
power  granted  ought  to  be  interpreted  and  exercised  solely  to  the  end 
for  which  it  was  granted.  The  language  of  the  grant  was  neceaari^ 
broad,  comprehensive,  and  exclusive,  because  all  the  exigencies  whidi 
might  arise  to  render  this  a  secure  seat  of  the  general  government, 
could  not  have  been  foreseen  and  provided  for.  The  language  nuj 
possibly  be  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  include  a  power  of  abolition, 
l^t  it  would  not  at  all  thence  follow  that  the  power  could  be  right- 
folly  exercised.    Thrr  ft¥f  mirjtm  nwrtmHrd  ttr  that  trf  a  plnnippUn 


Oir  ABOLmOlf  PBTITIOlfS.  405 

tlary  iDvested  with  a  plenary  power,  but  who,  at  the  same  time  hat 
pofiilive  instructions  from  his  government  as  to  the  kind  of  treaty 
which  he  is  to  negotiate  and  conclude.  If  he  violates  those  instruc- 
tions, and  concludes  a  different  tre«ty,  this  government  is  not  bound 
by  it.  And,  if  the  foreign  government  is  aware  of  the  violation,  it 
acts  in  bad  faith.  Or  it  may  be  illustrated  by  an  example  drawn  from 
private  life.  I  am  an  endorser  for  my  friend  on  a  note  discounted  in 
bank.  He  applies  to  me  to  endorse  another  to  renew  it,  which  I  do 
in  blank.  ?Now  this  gives  him  power  to  make  any  other  use  of  my 
note  which  he  pleases.  But,  if  instead  of  applying  it  to  the  intended 
purpos^',  he  goes  to  a  broker  and  sells  it,  thereby  doubling  my  respon- 
sibility for  him,  he  commits  a  breach  of  trust,  and  a  violation  of  th» 
good  faith  implied  in  the  whole  transaction. 

But,  Mr.  President,  if  this  reasoning  were  an  erroneous  one  as  I 
believe  it  to  be  correct  and  conclusive,  is  the  affair  of  the  liberation 
of  six  thousand  negro  slaves  in  this  District,  disconnected  with  the 
three  millions  of  slaves  in  the  United  States,  of  sufficient  magnitude 
to  agitate,  distract  and  embitter  this  great  confederacy  ? 

The  next  case  in  which  the  petitioners  ask  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  Congress,  relates  to  slavery  in  the  Territory  of  Florida. 

Florida  is  the  extreme  southern  portion  of  the  United  States.  It 
is  bounded  on  all  its  land  sides  by  slave  states,  and  is  several  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  nearest  free  state.  It  almost  extends  within  the 
tropics,  and  the  nearest  important  island  to  it  on  the  water  side  is 
Cuba,  a  slave  island.  This  simple  statement  of  its  geographical  po- 
sition should  of  itself  decide  the  question.  When,  by  the  treaty  of 
1819  with  S()ain,  it  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  slavery  existed 
within  it.  By  the  terms  of  that  treaty,  the  effects  and  property  of 
the  inhabitants  are  secured  to  them,  and  they  are  allowed  to  remove 
and  take  them  away,  if  they  think  proper  to  do  so,  without  limitation 
as  to  lime.  If  it  were  expedient,  therefore,  to  abolish  slavery  in  it, 
it  could  not  be  done  consistently  with  the  treaty,  without  granting  to 
the  ancient  inhabitants  a  reasonable  time  to  remove  their  slaves. 
But  further :  By  the  compromise  which'  took  place  on  the  passage  of, 
the  act  for  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  in  the  year 
1820,  it  was  agreed  and  understood  that  the  line  of  36  deg.  30  min. 
of  north  latitude  should  mark  the  boundary  between  the  free  $\mM 

•AA 


406  8PBSCHS8  or  BBNRT   CLAT. 

and  the  slave  states  to  be  created  in  the  territories  of  the  United 
States  ceded  by  the  treaty  of  Louisiana;  those  situated  aouth  of 
it  being  slave  states,  and  those  north  of  it,  free  states.  But  Florida 
18  south  of  that  line,  and  consequently,  according  to  the  ^spirit  of 
the  understanding  which  prevailed  at  the  period  alluded  to,  should 
be  a  slave  state.  It  may  be  true  that  the  compromise  does  not  la 
terms  embrace  Florida,  and  that  it  is  not  absolutely  binding  and  obliga- 
tory ;  but  all  candid  and  impartial  men  must  agree  that  it  ought  not 
to  be  disregarded  without  the  most  weighty  consideratic^,  and  that 
nothing  could  be  more  to  be  deprecated  than  to  open  anew  the  bleed- 
ing wounds  which  were  happily  bound  up  and  healed  ny  that  com- 
promise. Florida  is  the  only  remaining  territory  to  be  admitted  into 
the  Union  with  the  institution  of  domestic  slavery,  while  Wisconsin 
and  Iowa  are  now  nearly  ripe  for  admission  without  it. 

The  next  instance  in  which  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  Congress 
is  solicited,  is  that  of  prohibiting  what  is  denominated  by  the  peti- 
tioners the  slave  trade  between  the  states,  or,  as  it  is  described  in 
abolition  petitions,  the  trafic  in  human  beings  between  the  States. 
This  exercise  of  the  power  of  Congress  is  claimed  under  that  clause 
of  the  constitution  which  invests  it  with  authority  to  regulate  com- 
merce with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  states,  and  with  the 
Indian  tribes.  The  power  to  regulate  commerce  among  the  several 
States,  like  other  powers  in  the  constitution,  has  hitherto  remained 
dormant  in  respect  to  the  interior  trade  by  land  between  these  states. 
It  was  a  power  granted  like  all  the  other  powers  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment, to  secure  peace  and  harmony  among  the  states.  Hitherto 
it  has  not  been  necessary  to  exercise  it.  All  the  cases  in  which, 
during  the  progress  of  time  it  may  become  expedient  to  exert  the 
general  authority  to  regulate  commerce  between  the  states,  cannot  be 
conceived.  We  may  easily  imagine,  however,  contingencies  which, 
if  they  were  to  happen,  might  require  the  interposition  of  the  com- 
mon authority.  If,  for  example,  the  State  of  Ohio  were,  by  law,  to 
prohibit  any  vessel  entering  the  port  of  Cincinnati,  from  the  port  of 
Louisville,  in  Kentucky,  if  that  case  be  not  already  provided  for  by 
the  laws  which  regulate  our  coasting  trade,  it  would  be  competent  to 
the  general  government  to  annul  the  prohibition  emanating  from  state 
authority.  Or,  if  the  State  of  Kentucky  were  to  prohibit  the  intro- 
duction, within  its  limits,  of  any  articles  of  trade,  the  productioD  of 
the  industry  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  the  general  gov- 


OK   ABOUTION   PETITIONS.  407 

«nuiieiit  miglit  by  its  authority,  supersede  the  state  enactment  But 
I  deny  that  the  general  government  has  any  authority  whatever,  from 
the  constitution,  to  abolish  what  is  called  the  slave  trade,  or,  in  other 
words  to  prohibit  the  removal  of  slaves  from  one  slave  state  to  ano- 
ther slave  state. 

The  grant  in  the  constitution  is  of  a  power  of  regulation,  and  not 
prohibition.  It  is  conservative,  not  destructive.  Regulation  ez  m 
ienmni  implies  the  continued  existence  or  prosecution  of  the  thing 
regulated.  Prohibition  implies  total  discontinuance  or  annihilation. 
The  regulation  intended  was  designed  to  facilitate  and  accommodate, 
not  to  obstruct  and  incommode  the  commerce  to  be  regulated.  Can 
it  be  pretended  that,  under  this  power  to  regulate  commerce  among 
the  States,  Congress  has  the  power  to  prohibit  the  transportation  of 
live  stock  which,  in  countless  numbers,  are  dai^y  passing  from  the 
western  and  interior  States  to  the  southern,  southwestern,  and  Atlan- 
tic States  ?  The  moment  the  incontestible  fact  is  admitted  that  ne- 
gro slaves  are  property,  the  law  of  moveable  property  irresistibly 
attaches  itself  to  them,  and  secures  the  right  of  carrying  them  from 
one  to  another  State,  where  they  are  recognized  as  property,  without 
any  hindrance  whatever  from  Congress. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  will  not  detain  the  Seni^  longer  on  the 
subjects  of  slavery  within  the  District  and  in  Florida,  and  of  the  riglil 
of  Congress  to  prohibit  the  removal  of  slaves  from  one  State  to  ano- 
ther. These,  as  I  have  already  Intimated,  with  ultra  abolitionists, 
are  but  so  many  masked  batteries,  concealing  the  real  and  ultimate 
point  of  attack.  That  point  of  attack  is  the  institution  of  c/omestic 
slavery  as  it  exists  in  these  States.  It  is  to  liberate  three  millions  of 
slaves  held  in  bondage  within  them.  And  now  allow  me.  Sir,  to 
glance  at  the  insurmountable  obstacles  which  lie  in  the  way  of  the 
aecomplishment  of  this  end,  and  at  some  of  the  conse<]uences  which 
would  ensue  if  it  were  possible  to  attain  it. 

The  first  impediment  is  the  utter  and  absolute  want  of  all  power  on 
the  part  of  the  general  government  to  ftfkct  the  purpose.  The  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  civ;<i«m  m  limited  government,  compri- 
sing comparatively  few  powers,  and  leaving  the  residuary  mass  of 
political  power  in  the  possession  of  the  several  States.  It  is  we& 
known  that  the  subject  of  slaveiy  interposed  one  of  the  greatest  diffi- 


406  8PBSCHE8  OP  HKlfRT  CLAT. 

ealties  id  the  fonnation  of  the  constitation.  It  was  happily  conpn^ 
mised  and  adjusted  in  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  patriotism.  According 
to  that  compromise,  no  power  whatever  was  granted  to  the  general 
government  in  respect  to  domestic  slavery,  but  that  which  relatei  to 
taxation  and  representation,  and  the  power  to  restore  fugitive  slavca 
to  their  lawful  owners.  All  other  power  in  regard  to  the  institution 
of  slavery,  was  retained  exclusively  by  the  States,  to  be  exfsrciied  by 
them  severally,  according  to  their  respective  views  of  their  own  pe 
Cttliar  interest.  The  constitution  of  the  United  States  never  could 
have  been  formed  upon  the  principle  of  investing  the  general  govern- 
ment with  authority  to  abolish  the  institution  at  its  pleasure.  It 
never  can  be  continued  for  a  single  day  if  the  exercise  of  such  a  pow 
er  be  assumed  or  usurped. 

But  it  may  bo  contended  by  these  ultra  abolitionists  that  their  qIk 
]ect  is  not  to  stimulate  the  action  of  the  general  government,  bat  to 
operate  upon  the  States  themselves  in  which  the  institution  of  domes- 
tic slavery  exists.  If  that  be  their  object,  why  are  these  abolition 
societies  and  movements  all  confmed  to  the  free  States  ?  Why  ars 
the  slave  States  wantonly  and  cruelly  assailed  ?  Why  do  the  aboli- 
tion presses  teem  with  publications  tending  to  excite  hatsed  and  ani- 
mosity on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  free  States  against  those 
of  the  slave  States  ^  Why  is  Congress  petitioned  ?  The  firee  States 
have  no  more  power  or  r^ht  to  interfere  with  institutions  in  the  slave 
States,  confided  to  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  those  States,  than 
they  would  have  to  interfere  with  institutions  existing  in  any  foreign 
country.  What  would  be  thous^ht  of  the  formation  of  societies  in 
Great  Britain,  the  issue  of  numerous  inflammatory  publications,  and 
the  sending  out  of  lecturers  throughout  the  kingdom,  denouncing  and 
aiming  nt  the  destruction  of  any  of  the  institutions  of  Fiance  }  W*ould 
they  he  ret];ardod  as  proceedings  warranted  by  good  neighborhood  ? 
Or  what  would  be  thought  of  the  formation  of  societies  in  the  slave 
States,  the  i.^suing  of  violent  and  inflammatory  tracts,  and  the  depu- 
tation of  mi.ssionaries,  pouring  out  impassioned  denunciations  against 
institutions  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the  free  States  ?  Is  their 
pariK>se  to  appeal  to  our  understandings,  and  to  actuate  our  human- 
ity ?  And  do  they  expect  to  accomplish  that  purpose  by  boldii^^  us 
up  to  the  scorn,  and  contempt,  and  detestation  of  the  the  peopV^of  (he 
free  Slates,  and  the  whole  civilized  world  ?  The  slavery  which  ex- 
ists among  us,  is  our  affair  not  theirs  ;  and  they  have  no  more  jost 


oil  ABOunoir  piriTiom.  408 

concern  with  it  than  they  have  with  slavery  as  it  exists  throughout 
the  world.  Why  not  leave  it  to  us,  as  the  common  constitution  of 
our  country  has  left  it,  to  be  dealt  with,  under  the  guidance  of  Provi- 
dence, as  best  we  may  or  can  ? 

The  next  obstacle  in  the  way  of  abolition  arises  out  of  the  fact  of 
the  presence  in  the  slave  States  of  three  millions  of  slaves.  They  are 
there^  dispersed  throughout  the  land,  part  and  parcel  of  our  popula- 
tion. They  were  brought  into  the  country  originally  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  parent  government  whilst  we  were  colonies,  and  their 
importation  was  continued  in  spite  of  all  the  remonstrances  of  our 
ancestors.  If  the  question  were  an  original  question,  whether,  there 
being  no  slaves  within  the  country,  we  should  introduce  them,  and 
incorparate  them  into  our  society,  that  would  be  a  totally  different 
question.  Few,  if  any  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  would  be 
found  to  favor  their  introduction.  No  man  in  it  would  oppose,  npon 
that  supposition,  their  admission  with  more  determined  resolution 
and  conscientious  repugnance  than  I  should.  But  that  is  not  thA 
question.  The  slaves  are  here ;  no  practical  scheme  for  their  removal 
or  separation  from  us  has  been  yet  devised  or  proposed  ;  and  the  true 
inquiry  is,  what  is  best  to  be  done  with  them.  In  human  affairs  we 
are  often  constrained,  by  the  force  of  circumstances  and  the  actual 
state  of  things,  to  do  what  we  would  not  do  if  that  state  of  things  did 
not  exist.  The  slaves  are  here,  and  here  must  remain,  in  some  con- 
dition ;  and,  1  repeat,  how  are  they  to  be  best  governed  ?  What  is 
best  to  be  done  for  their  happiness  and  our  own  ?  In  the  slave 
States  the  alternative  is,  that  the  white  man  must  govern  the  black, 
or  the  black  govern  the  white.  In  several  of  those  States,  the  num- 
ber of  the  slaves  is  greater  than  that  of  the  white  population.  Ad 
immediate  abolition  of  slavery  in  them,  as  these  ultra  abolitionists 
propose,  would  be  followed  by  a  desperate  struggle  for  immediate  as- 
cendancy of  the  block  race  over  the  white  race,  or  rather  it  would  be 
followed  by  instantaneous  collisions  between  the  two  races,  which 
would  break  out  into  a  civil  war  that  would  end  in  the  extermination 
or  subjugation  of  the  one  race  or  the  other.  In  such  an  alternative, 
who  can  hesitate  ?  Is  it  not  better  for  both  parties,  that  the  existing 
state  of  things  should  be  preserved,  instead  of  exposing  them  to  the 
horrible  strifes  and  contests  which  would  inevitably  attend  an  imoie- 
diate  abolition  ?  This  is  our  true  gronml  of  defence  for  the  continued 
existence  of  slavery  in  our  country.    It  is  that  which  our  revoiotion- 


410  tPKXCHXB  or  HKITRT  CLAT. 

aiy  ancestors  assumed.     It  is  that  which,  in  my  opinion,  fonns 
justification  in  the  eyes  of  all  Christendom. 

A  third  impediment  to  immediate  abolition  is  to  be  found  in  the 
immense  amount  of  capital  which  is  invested  in  slave  property.  The 
total  number  of  slaves  in  the  United  States,  according  to  the  last 
enumeration  of  the  population,  was  a  little  upwards  of  two  miUioiis. 
Assuming  their  increase  at  a  ratio,  which  it  probably  is,  of  five  per 
cent,  per  annum,  their  present  number  would  be  three  millions.  The 
average  value  of  slaves  at  this  time  is  stated  by  persons  well  informed 
to  be  as  high  as  five  hundred  dollars  each.  To  be  certainly  within 
the  mark,  let  us  suppose  that  it  is  only  four  hundred  dollars.  The 
total  value,  then,  by  that  estimate,  of  the  slave  property  in  the  United 
States,  is  twelve  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  This  [property  is  diifiiaed 
throughout  all  classes  and  conditions  of  society.  It  is  owned  by 
widows  and  orphans,  by  the  aged  and  infirm,  as  well  as  the  sound  and 
vigorous.  It  is  the  subject  of  mortgages,  deeds  of  trust,  and.iamily 
settlements.  It  has  been  made  the  basis  of  numerous  debts  contracted 
upou  its  fiuth,  and  is  the  sole  reliance,  in  many  instances,  of  creditors 
within  and  without  the  slave  States,  for  the  payment  of  debts  due  to 
them.  And  now  it  is  rashly  proposed,  by  a  single  fiat  of  legislation, 
to  annihilate  this  immense  amount  of  property !  To  annihilate  it 
without  indemnity  and  without  compensation  to  its  owners  !  Does 
any  considerate  man  believe  it  to  be  possible  to  etkct  such  an  object 
without  convulsion,  revolution,  and  bloodshed  ? 

• 

I  know  that  there  is  a  visionary  dogma,  which  holds  that  negro 
slaves  cannot  be  the  subject  of  property.  I  shall  not  dwell  long  on 
this  speculative  abstraction.  That  is  property  which  the  law  de- 
clares to  be  property.  Two  hundred  years  of  legislation  have  sanc- 
tioned and  sanctified  negro  slaves  as  property.  Under  all  the  forms 
of  government  which  have  existed  upon  this  continent  during  that 
long  space  of  time — under  the  British  government — under  the  colo- 
nial government — ^under  all  the  State  constitutions  and  governments 
— and  under  the  federal  government  itself — ^they  have  been  deliber- 
ately and  solemnly  recognized  as  the  legitimate  subjects  of  property. 
To  the  wild  speculations  oC  theorists  and  innovators  stands  opposed 
the  hctj  that  in  an  uninterrupted  period  of  two  hundred  years'  dura- 
tion, under  every  form  of  human  legislation,  and  by  all  the  depart- 
ments of  human  government,  African  negro  slaves  have  been  held 


OK   ABOLITION  PETITIONS.  411 

and  respected,  have  descended  and  been  transferred,  as  lawful  and 
indisputable  property.  Tbey  were  treated  as  property  in  tbe  very 
British  example  which  is  so  triumj^antly  appealed  to  as  worthy  of 
our  imitation.  Although  the  West  India  planters  bad  no  voice  in  the 
united  parliament  of  the  British  Isle,  an  irresistible  sense  of  justice 
extorted  from  that  legislature  the  grant  of  twenty  millions  of  pounds 
sterling  to  compensate  the  colonists  for  their  loss  of  property. 

If,  therefore,  these  ultra-abolitionists  are  seriously  determined  to 
pursue  their  immediate  scheme  of  abolition,  they  should  at  once  set 
about  raising  a  fund  of  twelve  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  to  indem- 
nify  the  owners  of  slave  property.  And  the  taxes  to  raise  that  enor- 
mous amount  can  only  be  justly  assessed  upon  themselves  or  upon  the 
free  States,  if  they  can  persuade  them  to  assent  to  such  an  assess- 
ment ;  for  it  would  be  a  mockery  of  all  justice  and  an  outrage  against 
all  equity  to  levy  any  portion  of  the  tax  upon  the  slave  States  to  pay 
for  their  own  unquestioned  property. 

If  the  considerations  to  which  I  have  already  adverted  are  not  suf- 
ficient to  dissuade  the  abolitionists  from  further  perseverance  in  their 
designs,  the  interest  of  the  very  cause  which  they  piofess  to  espouse 
ought  to  check  their  career.  Instead  of  advancing,  by  their  efforts, 
that  cause,  they  have  thrown  back  for  half  a  century  the  prospect  of 
any  species  of  emancipation  of  the  African  race,  gradual  or  immediate, 
in  any  of  the  States.  They  have  done  more ;  they  have  increased  the 
rigors  of  legislation  against  slaves  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  slave 
States.  Forty  years  ago  the  question  was  agitated  in  the  State  of 
Kentucky  of  a  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves  within  its  limits. 
By  gradual  emancipation,  I  mean  that  slow  but  safe  and  cautious 
liberation  of  slaves  which  was  first  adopted  in  Pennsylvania  at  the 
instance  of  Dr.  Franklin,  in  the  year  1780,  and  according  to  which, 
the  generation  in  being  were  to  remain  in  slavery,  but  all  their  off- 
spring born  after  a  specified  day  were  to  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
eight,  and,  in  the  meantime,  were  to  receive  preparatory  instruction 
to  qualify  them  for  the  enjoyment  of  freedom.  That  was  the  species 
of  emancipation  which,  at  the  epoch  to  which  I  allude,  was  discussed 
in  Kentucky.  No  one  was  rash  enough  to  propose  or  think  of  imme- 
diate abolition.  No  one  was  rash  enough  to  think  of  throwing  loose 
upon  the  community,  ignorant  nod  unprepared,  the  untutored  slaves 
of  the  State.     Many  thought,  and  I  among  them,  that  as  each  of  the 


413  iFHOHES  OF  HBITRT  CLAT. 

tUre  States  had  a  right  exclusively  to  judge  for  itself  in  respect  to 
the  institution  of  domestic  slavery,  the  proportion  of  slaves  compared 
with  the  white  population  in  that  State,  at  that  time,  was  so  incoo- 
ttderable  that  a  system  of  gradual  emancipation  might  have  been 
safely  adopted  without  any  hazard  to  the  security  and  interests  of  tlie 
oommonwealth.  And  I  still  think  that  the  question  of  such  emanci- 
pation in  the  fanning  States  is  one  whose  solution  depends  upon  the 
relative  numbers  of  the  two  races  in  any  given  State.  If  I  had  been 
a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  when  Franklin's  plan  was 
adopted,  1  should  have  voted  for  it,  because  by  no  possibility  could 
the  black  race  ever  acquire  the  ascendancy  in  that  State.  But  if  I 
had  been  then,  or  were  now,  a  citizen  of  any  of  the  planting  States — 
the  southern  or  southwestern  States — I  should  have  opposed,  and 
would  continue  to  oppose,  any  scheme  whatever  of  emancipation, 
gradual  or  immediate,  because  of  the  danger  of  an  ultimate  ascendancy 
of  the  black  race,  or  of  a  civil  contest  which  might  terminate  in  the 
extinction  of  one  race  or  the  other. 

The  proposition  in  Kentucky  for  a  gradual  emancipation  did  not 
prevail,  but  it  was  sustained  by  a  large  and  respectable  minority. 
That  minority  had  increased  and  was  increasing,  until 'the  abolition- 
ists commenced  their  operations.  The  effect  has  been  to  dissipate  all 
prospects  whatever  for  the  present,  of  any  scheme  of  gradual  or  other 
emancipation.  The  people  of  that  Stale  have  been  shocked  and 
alarmed  by  these  abolition  movements,  and  the  number  who  would 
now  favor  a  system  even  of  gradual  emancipation,  is  probably  less 
than  it  was  in  the  years  1798-^9.  At  the  session  of  the  legislature 
held  in  lS37-'8,  the  question  of  calling  a  Convention  was  submitted 
to  the  consideration  of  the  people  by  a  law  passed  in  conformity  with 
the  constitution  of  the  State.  Many  motives  existed  for  the  passage 
of  the  law,  and  among  them  that  of  emancipation  had  its  influence. 
When  the  question  was  passed  upon  by  the  people  at  their  last  annu- 
al election,  only  about  one-fourth  of  the  whole  voters  of  the  State 
supported  a  call  of  a  Convention.  The  apprehension  of  the  danger 
of  abolition  was  the  leading  consideration  among  the  people  for  oppo- 
sing the  call.  But  for  tbat->but  for  the  agitation  of  the  question  of 
abolition  in  States  whose  population  had  no  right,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  people  of  Kentucky  to  interfere  in  the  matter,  the  vote  for  a  Con- 
vention would  have  been  much  larger,  if  it  had  not  been  carried.  I 
felt  myself  constrained  to  take  immediate,  bold,  and  decided  ground 
against  it. 


09  ABOLinoir  pinTiovt*  41S 

Prior  to  the  agilatioD  of  this  subject  of  abolition,  there  was  a  pro 
gressive  melioration  in  ihe  condition  of  slaves  throughout  all  the  slave 
States.  In  some  of  them,  schools  of  instruction  were  opened  by  hu- 
mane and  religious  persons.  These  are  all  now  checked,  and  a  spirit 
of  insubordination  having  shown  itself  in  some  localities,  traceable, 
it  io  believed,  to  abolition  movements  and  exertions,  the  legislative 
.authority  has  found  it  expedient  to  infuse  fresh  vigor  into  the  police^ 
and  laws  which  regulate  the  conduct  of  the  slaves. 

And  noW|  Mr.  President,  if  it  were  possible  to  overcome  the  in- 
surmountable obstacles  which  lie  in  the  way  of  immediate  abolition, 
let  us  briefly  contemplate  some  of  the  consequences  which  would  in- 
evitably ensue.  One  of  these  has  been  occasionally  alluded  to  in  the 
progress  of  these  remarks.  It  is  the  struggle  which  would  instanta- 
neously arise  between  the  two  races  in  most  of  the  southern  and 
southwestern  States.  And  what  a  dreadful  struggle  would  it  not  be! 
£Imbittered  by  all  the  jrecollections  of  the  past,  by  the  unconquerable 
prejudices  which  would  prevail  between  two  races,  and  stimulated  by 
all  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the  future,  it  would  be  a  contest  in  whieh 
the  extermination  of  the  blacks,  or  their  ascendancy  over  the  whites, 
would  be  the  sole  alternative.  Pri<Mr  to  the  conclusion,  or  during  the 
progress  of  such  a  contest,  vast  numbers,  probably  of  the  black  race 
would  migrate  into  the  free  States ;  and  what  effect  would  such  a 
migration  have  upon  the  laboring  classes  in  those  States ! 

Now  the  distribution  of  labor  in  the  United  States  is  geographical ; 
the  free  laborers  occupying  one  side  of  the  line,  and  the  slave  laborers 
the  other ;  each  class  pursuing  its  own  avocations  almost  altogether 
unmixed  with  the  other.  But  on  the  supposition  of  immediate  aboli- 
tion, the  black  class,  migrating  into  the  free  States,  would  enter  into 
competition  with  the  white  class,  diminishing  the  wages  of  their  labor, 
and  augmenting  the  hardships  of  their  condition. 

This  is  not  all.  The  abolitionists  strenuously  oppose  all  separation 
of  the  two  races.  1  confess  to  you,  sir,  that  I  have  seen  with  regret, 
grief,  and  astonishment,  their  resolute  opposition  to  the  project  of 
colonization.  No  scheme  was  ever  presented  to  the  acceptance  of 
man,  which,  whether  it  be  entirely  practicable  or  not,  is  character- 
ised by  more  unmixed  humanity  and  benevolence  than  that  of  tri|n»- 
porting,  with  their  own  consent,  the  free  people  of  color  in  the 


414  SPfiBCKSS  OF   HENRT  CLAT. 

States  to  the  land  of  their  ancestors.  It  has  the  powerful  reconuiieD- 
dation  that  whatever  it  does  is  good  ;  and,  if  it  affects  npthhig,  it  in- 
flicts no  one  evil  or  mischief  upon  any  portion  of  our  society.  There 
ii  no  necessary  hostility  between  the  objects  of  colonization  and  abo- 
lition. Ck>lonization  deals  only  with  the  free  man  of  color,  and  that 
with  his  own  free  voluntary  consent.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  sla- 
very. It  disturbs  no  man's  property,  seeks  to  impair  no  power  in  the 
slave  States,  r.or  to  attribute  any  to  the  general  government.  All  its 
action,  and  all  its  ways  and  means  are  voluntary,  depending  upon  the 
blessing  of  Providence,  which  hitherto  has  graciously  smiled  upon  it. 
And  yet,  beneficent  and  harmless  as  colonization  is,  no  poition  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  denounce  it  with  so  much  persevering 
zeal  and  such  unmixed  bitterness  as  do  the  abolitionists. 

They  put  themselves  in  direct  opposition  to  any  separation  what^ 
ever  between  the  two  races.  They  would  keep  them  for  ever  pent 
up  together  within  the  same  limits,  perpetuating  their  animosities, 
and  constantly  endangering  the  peace  of  the  conununity.  They  pro- 
claim, indeed,  that  color  is  nothing ;  that  the  organic  and  character- 
istic differences  between  the  two  races  ought  to  be  entirely  overlook- 
ed and  disregarded.  And,  elevated  themselves  to  a  sublime  but  im- 
practicable philosophy,  they  would  teach  us  to  eradicate  all  the  re- 
pugnances of  our  nature,  and  to  take  to  our  bosoms  and  our  boards 
the  black  man  as  we  do  the  white,  on  the  same  footing  of  equal  social 
condition.  Do  they  not  perceive  that  in  thus  confounding  all  the 
distinctions  which  God  himself  has  made,  they  arraign  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  Providence  itself  ?  It  has  been  his  divine  pleasure 
to  make  the  black  man  black,  and  the  white  man  white,  and  to  dis- 
tinguish them  by  other  repulsive  constitutional  differences.  It  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  maintain,  nor  shall  I  endeavor  to  prove,  that  it 
was  any  part  of  his  divine  intention  that  the  one  race  should  be  held 
in  perpetual  bondage  by  the  other ;  but  this  I  will  say,  that  those 
whom  he  has  created  different,  and  has  declared,  by  their  physical 
structure  and  color,  ought  to  be  kept  asunder,  should  not  be  brought 
together  by  any  process  whatever  of  unnatural  anudgamation. 

But  if  the  dangers  of  the  evil  contest  which  I  have  supposed  could 
be  avoided,  separation  or  amalgamation  is  the  only  peaceful  alterna- 
tive, if  it  were  possible  to  effectuate  the  project  of  abolition.  Hie 
abolitionists  oppose  all  colonization,  and  it  irresistibly  follows,  what- 


Oir  ABOLITION  VtTITfOiri.  415 

ever  they  maj  protest  or  declare,  that  they  are  in  favor  of  amalga* 
mation.  And  who  are  to  bring  aboat  this  amalgamation  ?  I  have 
heard  of  none  of  these  ultra  abolitionists  furnishing  in  their  own  fam- 
ilies or  persons  examples  of  intermarriage.  Who  is  to  begin  it  ?  Is 
it  their  purpose  not  only  to  create  a  pinching  competition  between 
black  labor  and  white  labor,  but  do  they  intend  also  to  contaminate 
the  industrious  and  laboring  classes  of  society  at  the  north,  by  a  re-^ 
volting  admixture  of  the  black  element? 

It  is  frequently  asked,  what  is  to  become  of  the  African  race  among 
us  ?  Are  they  for  ever  to  remain  in  bondage  ?  That  question  was 
asked  more  than  half  a  century  ago.  It  has  been  answered  by  fifty 
3rcars  of  prosperity,  but  little  chequered  from  this  cause.  It  will  be 
repeated  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  hence.  The  true  answer  is,  that 
the  same  Providence  who  has  hitherto  guided  and  governed  us,  and 
averted  all  serious  evils  from  the  existing  relation  between  the  two 
races,  will  guide  and  govern  our  posterity.  Sufficient  to  the  day  is 
the  evil  thereof.  We  have  hitherto,  with  that  blessing,  taken  care  of 
ourselves.  Posterity  will  find  the  means  of  its  own  preservation  and 
prosperity.  It  is  only  in  the  most  direful  event  which  can  befal  this 
people  that  this  great  interest,  and  all  other  of  our  greatest  interests, 
would  be  put  in  jeopardy.  Although  in  particular  districts  the  black 
population  is  gaining  upon  the  white,  it  only  constitutes  one  fifth  of 
the  whole  population  of  the  United  States.  And  taking  the  aggre- 
gates of  the  two  races,  the  European  is  constantly,  though  slowly, 
gaining  upon  the  African  portion.  This  fact  is  demonstrated  by  the 
periodical  returns  of  our  population.  Let  us  cease,  then,  to  indulge 
in  gloomy  forebodings  about  the  impenetrable  future.  But,  if  we 
may  attempt  to  lift  the  veil,  and  contemplate  what  lies  beyond  it,  I, 
too,  have  ventured  on  a  speculative  theory,  with  which  I  will  not 
now  trouble  you,  but  which  has  been  published  to  the  world.  Ac- 
cording to  that,  in  the  progress  of  time,  some  one  hundred  and  fifty 
or  two  hundred  years  hence,  but  few  vestiges  of  the  black  race  will 
remain  among  our  posterity.  * 

Mr.  President,  at  the  period  of  the  formation  of  our  constitution, 
and  afterwards,  our  patriotic  ancestors  apprehended  danger  to  the 
Union  from  two  causes.  One  was,  the  Alleghany  mountains,  divid- 
ing the  waters  which  flow  into  the  Atlantic  ocean  from  those  which 
found  their  outlet  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.    They  seemed  to  present  a 


416  tPISCHBS  OF  HEHBT    CLAT. 

natural  separation.  That  danger  has  vanished  before  the  noble 
achievements  of  the  spirit  of  internal  improvement,  and  the  immortal 
genius  of  Fulton.  And  now,  no  where  is  found  a  more  loyal  attache 
tnent  (o  the  Union  than  among  those  very  western  people,  whiO|  it 
was  apprehended,  would  be  the  first  to  burst  its  ties. 

The  other  cause,  domestic  slavery,  happily  the  sole  remaining 
cause  which  is  likely  to  disturb  our  harmony,  continues  to  exist.  It 
was  this  which  created  the  greatest  obstacle  and  the  most  anxious 
solicitude  in  the  deliberations  of  the  convention  that  Adopted  the  gen- 
eral constitution.  And  it  is  this  subject  that  has  ever  been  regarded 
with  the  deepest  anxiety  by  all  who  are  sincerely  desirous  of  the  per- 
manency of  our  Union.  The  &ther  of  bis  country,  in  his  last  afiect- 
ing  and  solemn  appeal  to  his  fellow-citizens,  deprecated,  as  a  moat 
calamitous  event,  the  geographical  divisions  which  it  might  produce. 
The  convention  wisely  left  to  the  several  states  the  power  over  the 
institution  of  slavery,  as  a  power  not  necessary  to  the  plan  of  union 
which  it  devised,  and  as  one  with  which  the  general  government 
could  not  be  invested  without  planting  the  seeds  of  certain  destruc- 
tion.   There  let  it  rem^n  undisturbed  by  any  unhallowed  hand. 

Sir,  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  speaking  lightly  of  the  possibility  of 
dissolving  this  happy  Union.  The  Senate  knows  that  1  have  depre- 
cated allusions,  on  ordinary  occasions,  to  that  direful  event.  The 
country  will  testify  that,  if  there  be  any  thing  in  the  history  of  my 
public  career  worthy  of  recollection,  it  is  the  truth  and  sincerity  of 
my  ardent  devotion  to  its  lasting  preservation.  But  we  should  be 
false  in  our  allegiance  to  it,  if  we  did  not  discriminate  between  the 
imaginary  and  real  dangers  by  which  it  may  be  assailed.  Abolition 
should  no  longer  be  regarded  as  an  imaginary  danger.  The  aboli- 
tionists, let  me  suppose,  succeed  in  their  present  aim  of  uniting  ibe 
inhabitants  of  the  free  states  as  one  man,  against  the  inhabitants  of 
the  slave  states.  Union  on  the  one  side  will  beget  union  on  the  other 
And  this  process  of  reciprocal  consolidation  will  be  attended  with  all 
the  violent  prejudices,  embittered  passions,  and  implacable  animosi 
ties  which  ever  degraded  or  deformed  human  nature.  A  virtual  dis- 
solution of  the  Union  will  have  taken  place,  while  the  forms  of  its 
existence  remain.  The  most  valuable  element  of  union,  mutual  kind- 
ness, the  feelings  of  sympathy,  the  fraternal  bonds,  which  now  hap> 
pily  unite  us,  will  have  been  extinguished  for  ever.  One  section  will 


oil   ABOUTIOIV   PBTI110RS.  417 

ttand  in  menacing  and  hostile  array  against  the  other.  The  coUisioB 
of  opinion  will  be  quickly  followed  by  the  clash  of  arms.  I  will  not 
attcuipt  to  dt*8cribe  scenes  which  now  happily  lie  concealed  from  our 
view.  Abolitionists  themselves  would  shrink  hack  in  dismay  and 
horror  at  the  comtemplation  of  desolated  fields,  conflagrated  cities, 
murdered  inhabitants,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  fairest  fabric  of  hu- 
man government  that  ever  rose  to  animate  the  hopes  of  civilized  man. 
Nor  should  these  abolitionists  flatter  themselves  that,*  if  they  can 
8ucce?*d  in  their  object  of  uniting  the  people  of  the  free  states,  they 
will  enter  the  contest  with  numerical  superiority  that  must  ensure 
victory.  .  AH  history  and  experience  proves  the  hazard  and  uncer- 
tainty of  war.  And  we  are  admonished  by  holy  writ  that  the  race 
is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong.  But  if  they  were  to 
conquer,  whom  would  they  conquer  ?  A  foreign  foe — one  who  had 
insulted  our  flag,  invaded  our  shores,  and  laid  our  country  waste  r 
No,  sir  :  no,  sir.  It  would  1^;  a  conquest  without  laurels,  without 
glory — a  self,  a  suicidal  conquest — a  conquest  of  brothers  over  bro- 
thers, achifved  by  one  over  another  portion  of  the  descendants  of 
common  ancestors,  who  nobly  pledging  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and 
their  sacred  honor,  had  fought  and  hied,  side  by  side,  in  many  a  hard 
battle  on  land  and  ocean,  severed  our  country  from  the  British  crown, 
and  established  our  national  independence. 

« 

The  inhabitants  of  the  slave  states  are  sometimes  accused  by  their 
oorthern  brethren  with  displaying  too  much  rashness  and  sensibility 
to  the  operations  and  proceedings  of  abolitionists.  But,  before  they 
can  be  rightly  judged,  there  should  be  a  reversal  of  conditions.  Let 
me  stjppose  that  the  people  of  the  slave  states  were  to  form  societies, 
subsidize  presses,  moke  large  pecuniary  contributions,  send  for  the  nu- 
merous missionaries  throughout  all  their  own  borders,  and  enter  into 
machinations  to  burn  the  beautiful  capitols,  destroy  the  productive 
manufactories,  and  sink  in  the  ocean  the  gallant  ships  of  the  northern 
States.  Would  these  incendiary  proceedings  be  regarded  as  neigh- 
bor) v  and  friendlv,  and  consistent  with  the  fraternal  sentiments  which 
should  ever  he  cherished  by  one  portion  of  the  Union  towards  ano- 
ther ?  WoulJ  they  excite  no  emotion  ?  Occasion  no  manifestations 
of  dissatisfaction,  nor  lead  to  any  acts  of  retaliatory  violence  ?  But 
the  supposed  rase  falls  far  short  of  the  actual  one  in  a  most  essential 
circumstance.    In  no  contingency  could  these  capitols,  manufactories, 


418  ffPBBCHES  OF  HEHBT  CLAT. 

ind  ships  rise  in  rebellion  and  massacre  the  Inhabitants  of  the  north- 
ern States. 

I  am,  Mr.  President,  no  friend  of  slavery.  The  searcher  of  all 
hearts  knows  that  every  pulsation  of  mine  beats  high  and  strong  m 
the  cause  of  civil  liberty.  Wherever  it  is  safe  and  practicable,  1  d«» 
sire  to  see  every  portion  of  the  human  family  in  the  enjoyment  of  it. 
But  I  prefe^the  liberty  of  my  own  country  to  that  of  any  other  peo- 
pie ;  and  the  liberty  of  my  own  race  to  that  of  any  other  race.  The 
liberty  of  the  descendants  of  Africa  in  the  United  States  is  incompat- 
ible with  the  safety  and  liberty  of  the  European  descendants.  Their 
slavery  forms  an  exception — an  exception  resulting  from  a  stem  and 
inexorable  necessity — to  the  general  liberty  in  the  United  States. — 
We  did  not  originate,  nor  are  we  responsible  for,  this  necessity. 
Their  liberty,  if  it  were  possible,  could  only  be  established  by  viola- 
ting the  incontestable  powers  of  the  States,  and  subverting  the  Union. 
And  beneath  the  ruins  of  the  Union  would  be  buried,  sooner  or  later, 
the  liberty  of  both  races. 

But  if  one  dark  spot  exists  on  our  political  horizon,  is  it  not  ob- 
scured by  the  bright  and  effulgent  and  cheering  light  that  beams  all 
around  us  ?  Was  ever  a  people  before  so  blessed  as  we  are,  if  true 
to  ourselves  ?  Did  ever  any  other  nation  contain  within  its  bosom  so 
many  elements  of  prosperity,  of  greatness,  and  of  glory  }  Our  only 
real  danger  lies  ahead,  conspicuous,  elevated,  and  visible.  It  was 
clearly  discerned  at  the  commencemen^,  and  distinctly  seen  through- 
out our  whole  career.  Shall  we  wantonly  run  upon  it,  and  destroy 
all  the  glorious  anticipations  of  the  high  destiny  that  awaits  us  ?  I 
beseech  the  abolitionists  themselves,  solemnly  to  pause  in  their  mad 
and  fatal  course.  Amid  the  infinite  variety  of  objects  of  humanity 
and  benevolence  which  invite  the  employment  of  their  energies,  let 
them  select  some  one  more  harmless,  that  does  not  threaten  to  deluge 
our  country  in  blood.  I  call  upon  that  small  portion  of  the  clergy, 
which  has  lent  itself  to  these  wild  and  ruinous  schemes,  not  to  forget 
the  holy  nature  of  the  divine  mission  of  the  Founder  of  our  religion, 
and  to  profit  by  his  peaceful  examples.  I  entreat  that  portion  of  my 
countrywomen  who  have  given  their  countenance  to  abolition,  to  re 
member  that  they  are  ever  most  loved  and  honored  when  moving  in 
their  own  appropriate  and  delightful  sphere ;  and  to  reflect  that  the 
ink  which  they  shed  in  subscribing  with  their  fair  hands  abolition 


on  ABOunoir  petitioits. 


41» 


petitions  may  prove  bot  the  {wekide  to  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of 
their  brethren.  I  adjure  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  free  states  to  rebuke 
and  discountenanee,  by  their  opinion  and  their  example,  measures 
which  must  inevitably  lead  to  the  most  calamitous  consequences. 
And  let  us  all  as  countrymen,  as  friends,  and  as  brothers,  cherish  in 
unfading  memory  the  motto  which  bore  our  ancestors  triumphantly 
through  all  the  trials  of  the  revolution,  as,  if  adhered  to,  it  will  con- 
duct their  posterity  through  all  that  may,  in  the  dispensations  of 
Providence,  be  reserved  for  them. 


ON  THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION. 


At  Tatlorsville,  Virqinia,  July  10, 1840. 


IMr.  Clay  was  invited  by  the  Whigs  of  his  native  County,  to  visit  and  meet 
them  at  the  festive  board  during  the  Presidential  canvaFH  of  1840.  He  complted  as 
•oon  aa  his  duties  in  the  i^ennte  would  permit,  and,  being  addressed  from  the  chair 
in  a  sentiment  expressive  of  gratitude  and  admiration,  responded  as  foilowa :] 

I  THINK  my  friends  and  fellow  citizens,  that  availing  myself  of  the 
privilege  of  my  long  service  in  the  public  councils,  just  adverted  to, 
the  resolution,  \vhich  1  have  adopted,  is  not  unreasonable  of  leaving 
to  younger  men,  generally,  the  performance  of  the  duty,  and  the  en- 
joyment of  the  pleasure  of  addressing  the  people  in  their  primary 
assemblies.  After  the  event  which  occurred  lust  winter  at  the  capi- 
tol  of  Pennsylvania,  I  believed  it  due  to  myself,  to  the  Whig  cause, 
and  to  the  country,  to  announce  to  the  public,  with  perfect  truth  and 
sincerity,  and  without  any  reserve,  my  fixed  determination  to  support 
the  nomination  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  there  made.  To  put 
down  all  misrepresentations,  1  have,  on  suitable  occasions,  repeated 
this  annunciation,  and  now  declare  my  solemn  conviction  that  the 
purity  and  security  of  our  free  institutions,  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
countr}' ,  imperatively  demand  the  election  of  that  citizen  to  the  office 
of  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States. 

But  the  occa>;ion  forms  an  exception  from  the  rule  which  I  have 
prescribed  to  myself.  I  have  come  here  to  the  county  of  my  nativity 
in  the  spirit  of  a  pilgrim,  to  meet,  perhaps  for  the  last  time,  the  com- 
panions and  the  descendants  of  the  companions  of  my  youth.  Wher- 
ever we  roam,  in  whatever  climate  or  land  we  are  cast  by  the  acci- 
dents of  human  life,  beyond  the  mountains  or  beyond  the  ocean,  in 
the  legislative  halls  of  the  capitol,  or  in  the  retreats  and  shades  of 
private  life,  our  hearts  turn  with  an  irresistible  instinct  to  the  cher- 
ished spot  which  ushered  us  into  existence.  And  we  dwell  with 
delightful  associations  on  the  recollection  of  the  streams  in  wbich| 


Oir  THI  PRESIDENTIAL  ELSCFION.  421 

dnring  oar  boyish  days,  we  bathed,  the  fountains  at  which  wo  drunk, 
the  piney  fields,  the  hills  and  the  valleys  where  we  spoited,  and  the 
friends  who  shared  these  enjoyments  with  us.  Alas  !  too  many  of 
these  friends  of  mine  have  gone  whither  we  must  all  shortly  go,  and 
the  presence  here  of  the  small  remnant  left  behind  attests  both  our 
loss  and  our  early  attachment.  I  would  greatly  prefer,  my  friends, 
to  employ  the  time  which  this  visit  affords  in  friendly  and  familiar 
conversation  on  the  virtues  of  our  departed  companions,  and  on  the 
scenes  and  adventures  of  our  younger  days;  but  the  expectation 
which  prevails,  the  awful  state  of  our  beloved  country,  and  the  op- 
portunities which  I  have  enjoyed  iu  its  public  councils  impose  on  me 
the  obligation  of  touching  on  topics  less  congenial  with  the  feelings 
of  my  heart,  but  possessing  higher  public  interest.  I  assure  you, 
fellow  citizens,  however,  that  I  present  myself  before  you  for  no  pur- 
pose of  exciting  prejudices  or  inflaming  passions,  but  to  speak  to  yoa 
in  all  soberness  and  truth,  and  to  testify  to  the  things  which  1  know, 
or  the  convictions  which  I  entertain,  as  an  ancient  friend,  who  has 
lived  long  and  whose  career  is  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close.  Through- 
out an  arduous  life,  I  have  endeavored  to  make  truth  and  the  good 
of  the  country  the  guides  of  my  public  conduct ;  but  in  Hanover 
county,  for  which  I  cherish  sentiments  of  respect,  gratitude  and  ven- 
eration, above  all  other  places,  would  I  avoid  saying  any  thing  that 
I  did  not  sincerely  and  truly  believe. 

Why  is  the  plough  deserted,  the  tools  of  the  mechanic  laid  aside, 
and  all  are  seen  rushing  to  gatherings  of  the  people  ?  What  occa- 
sions those  vast  and  useful  assemblages  which  we  behold  in  every 
State,  and  in  almost  every  neighborhood  ?  Why  those  conventions 
of  the  people,  at  a  common  centre,  from  all  the  extren.ities  of  this 
▼ast  Union,  to  consult  together  upon  the  sufferings  of  the  community, 
and  to  deliberate  on  the  means  of  deliverance  ?  Why  this  rabid  ap- 
petite for  public  discussions  }  What  is  the  solution  of  the  phenome- 
non, which  we  observe,  of  a  great  nation,  agitated  upon  its  whole 
surface,  and  at  its  lowest  depths,  like  the  ocean  when  convulsed  by 
some  terrible  storm  ?    There  must  be  a  cause,  and  no  ordinary  cause. 

It  has  been  truly  said,  in  the  most  memorable  document,  that  ever 
issued  from  the  pen  of  man,  that  *^  all  experience  hath  shown  that 
mankind  are  more  disposed  to  su^,  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than 
to  right  themsdtret  by  abotishiog  the  forms  to  which  they  are  aocnt- 

•BB 


423  8FEKCUE8  OF  HKNRT  €LAT. 

tomed.  The  recent  history  of  our  people  furnishes  confirmmtion  of 
that  truth.  They  are  active,  enterprising  and  intelligent ;  bat  are 
not  prone  to  make  groundless  complaints  against  public  servants.  If 
we  now  every  where  behold  them  in  motion,  it  is  because  they 
feel  that  the  grievances  under  which  they  are  writhing  can  be  do 
longer  tolerated.  They  feel  the  absolu^  necessity  of  a  change,  that 
no  change  can  render  their  condition  worse,  and  that  any  change 
must  better  it.  This  is  the  judgment  to  which  they  have  come  :  this 
the  brief  and  compendious  logic  which  we  daily  heaiiL  They  know 
that,  in  all  the  dispensations  of  Providence,  they  have  reason  to  be 
thankful  and  grateful ;  and  if  they  had  not,  they  would  be  borne  with 
fortitude  and  resignation.  But  there  is  a  pervading  conviction  and 
persuasion  that,  in  the  administration  of  government,  there  has  been 
something  wrong,  radically  wrong,  and  that  the  the  Ves^l  of  State 
has  been  in  the  hands  of  selfish,  faithless  and  unskilful  pilots,  ¥rho 
have  conducted  it  amidst  the  breakers. 

In  my  <)eliberate  opinion,  the  present  distressed  and  distracted  state 
of  the  country  may  be  traced  to  the  single  cause  of  the  action,  the 
encroachments,  and  the  usurpations  of  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government.  I  have  no  time  here  to  exhibit  and  to  dwell  upon  all 
the  instances  of  these,  as  they  have  occurred  in  succession,  during 
the  last  twelve  years.  They  have  been  again  and  again  exposed  on 
other  more  fit  occasions.  But  I  have  thought  this  a  proper  opportu- 
nity to  point  out  the  enormity  of  the  pretensions,  principles  and  prac- 
tices of  that  department,  as  they  have  been,  from  time  to  time,  dis- 
closed in  these  late  years,  and  to  throw  the  rapid  progress  which  has 
been  made  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  remarkable  language  of  our  illus- 
trious countryman,  that  the  federal  executive  had  an  awful  squinting 
towards  monarchy.  Here,  in  the  county  of  his  birth,  surrounded  by 
sons,  some  of  whose  sires  with  him  were  the  first  to  raise  their  anns 
in  defence  of  American  liberty  against  a  foreign  monarch,  is  an  ap- 
propriate place  to  expose  the  impending  danger  of  creating  a  domes- 
tic monarch.  And  may  I  not,  without  presumption,  indulge  the  hope 
that  the  warning  voice  of  another,  although  far  humbler,  son  of  Han- 
over may  not  pass  unheeded  ? 

The  late  President  of  the  United  States  advanced  certain  new  and 
alarming  pretensions  for  the  executive  department  of  the  government, 
the  efEdci  of  which,  if  established  and  recognized  by  the  people,  mnsl 


ON  THB  PRltlDKVTIAL  BLEOnON.  433 

inevitably  convert  it  into  a  monarchy.  The  first  of  these^  and  it  was 
a  favorite  principle  with  him,  was,  that  the  executive  department 
should  be  regarded  as  a  unit.  By  this  principle  of  unity,  he  meant 
and  intended  that  all  the  executive  officers  of  government  should  be 
bound  to  obey  the  commands  and  execute  the  orders  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  they  should  be  amenable  to  him,  and 
he  be  responsible  for  them.  Brior  to  his  administration,  it  had  been 
considered  that  they  were  bound  to  observe  and  obey  the  constitn* 
tion  and  laws,  subject  only  to  the  general  superintendance  of  the 
President,  and  responsible  by  impeachment,  and  to  the  tribunab  of 
justice  for  injuries  inflicted  on  private  citizens. 

But  the  annunciation  of  this  new  and  extraordinary  principle  was 
not  of  itself  sufficient  for  the  purpose  of  President  Jackson  ;  it  waa 
essential  that  the  subjection  to  his  will,  which  was  its  object,  should 
be  secured  by  some  adequate  sanction.  That  he  sought  to  effect  by 
an  extension  of  another  principle,  that  of  dismission  from  office,  be- 
yond all  precedent,  and  to  cases  and  under  circumstances  which  would 
have  furnished  just  grounds  for  his  impeachment,  according  to  the 
solemn  opinion  of  Mr.  Madison  and  other  members  of  the  first  Con- 
gress under  the  present  constitution. 

Now,  if  the  whole  official  corps,  subordinate  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  are  made  to  know  and  to  feel  that  they  hold  their 
respective  offices  by  the  tenure  of  conformity  and  obedience  to  his 
will,  it  is  manifest  that  they  must  look  to  that  will,  and  not  to  the 
constitution  and  laws,  as  the  guide  of  their  official  conduct.  The 
weakness  of  human  nature,  the  love  and  emoluments  of  office,  per- 
haps the  bread  necessary  to  the  support  of  then:  families,  would  make 
this  result  absolutely  certain. 

The  development  ot  this  new  character  to  the  power  of  dismission, 
would  have  fallen  short  of  the  aims  in  view,  withoat  the  exercise  of 
it  were  held  to  be  a  prerogative,  for  which  the  President  was  to  be 
wholly  irresponsible.  If  he  were  compelled  to  expose  the  grounds 
and  reasons  upon  which  he  acted,  in  dismissals  from  office,  the  ap- 
prehension of  public  censure  would  temper  the  arbitrary  nature  of 
the  power,  and  throw  some  protection  around  the  sufoordinale  officer. 

Hence  the  new  and  BMiBftioiis  ptelewrion  has  been  advaseed,  that 


424  tPBICBES  or  HISOtT  CLAT. 

•ithoDgh  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate  is  necessary  by  the  constito* 
tion  to  the  confirmation  of  an  appointment,  the  President  may  snbse- 
quently  dismiss  the  person  appointed,  not  only  without  communica* 
ting  the  grounds  on  which  he  has  acted  to  the  Senate,  but  without 
any  such  communication  to  the  people  themselves,  for  whose  benefit 
all  offices  are  created !  And  so  bold  and  daring  has  the  executive 
brance  of  the  government  become,  that  one  of  its  cabinet  minbters, 
himself  a  subordinate  officer,  has  contemptuously  refused  to  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  disclose  the  grounds  on  which  he 
has  undertaken  to  dismiss  from  office  persons  acting  as  deputy  poet- 
masters  in  his  department. 

As  to  the  gratuitous  assumption  made  by  President  Jackson, 
of  responsibility  for  all  the  subordinate  executive  officers,  it  is  the 
merest  mockery  that  M-as  ever  put  forth.  They  will  escape  punisli- 
ment  by  pleading  his  orders,  and  he  by  alledging  the  hardship  of  being 
punished,  not  for  his  own  acts,  but  for  theirs.  We  have  a  practical 
exposition  of  this  principle  in  the  case  of  the  two  hundred  thousand 
militia.  The  Secretary  of  War  comes  out  to  screen  the  President, 
by  testifying  that  he  never  saw  what  he  strongly  recommended  ;  and 
the  President  reciprocates  that  favor  by  retaining  the  Secretary  ia 
place,  notwithstanding  he  has  proposed  a  plan  for  organizing  the  mi- 
litia, which  is  acknowledged  to  be  unconstitutional.  If  the  President 
is  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  a  cabinet  minister,  in  daily  intercourse 
with  him,  how  is  he  to  be  rendered  so  for  a  receiver  in  Wisconsin  or 
Iowa  ?  To  concentrate  all  responsibility  in  the  President,  is  to  anni- 
hilate all  responsibility.  For  who  ever  expects  to  see  the  day  arrive 
when  a  President  of  the  United  States  will  be  impeached— or  if  im- 
peached, when  he  cannot  command  more  than  one-third  of  the  Senate 
to  defeat  the  impeachment  ? 

But  to  construct  the  scheme  of  practical  de^^otism,  while  all  the 
forms  of  free  government  remained,  it  was  necessary  to  take  one  fior- 
ther  step.  By  the  constitution,  the  Pre.sident  is  enjoined  to  take  care 
that  the  laws  be  executed.  This  injunction  was  merely  intended  to 
impose  on  him  the  duty  of  a  general  superintendence  ;  to  see  that 
offices  were  filled,  officers  at  their  respective  posts  in  the  discharge 
of  their  official  fiinctions,  and  all  obstructions  to  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws  were  removed,  and  when  necessary  for  that  purpose,  to  call 
oat  the  militia.    JNo  one  ever  imagined,  prior  to  the  administratkHi 


OH  THS  PU8tDKl»TIA  ILtCTION.  425 

of  President  Jackson,  that  a  President  of  the  United  States  was  to 
occupy  himself  with  supervising  and  attending  to  the  execution  of  all 
the  minute  details  of  one  of  the  hosts  of  offices  in  the  United  States. 

Under  the  constitutional  injunction  just  mentioned,  the  late  Presi- 
dent put  forward  that  most  extraordinary  pretension,  that  the  consti- 
tution and  laws  of  the  United  States  were  to  be  executed  as  he  un- 
derstood them ;  and  this  pretension  was  attempted  to  be  sustained  by 
an  argument  equally  extraordinary,  that  the  President,  being  a  sworn 
officer,  must  carry  them  into  effect  according  to  his  sense  of  their 
meaning.  The  constitution  and  laws  were  to  be  executed  not  ac- 
cording to  their  import,  as  handed  down  to  us  by  our  ancestors,  as 
interpreted  by  contemporaneous  expositions,  as  expounded  by  con- 
current judicial  decisions,  as  fixed  by  an  uninterrupted  course  of  Con- 
gressional legislation,  but  in  that  sense  which  a  President  of  the 
United  States  happened  to  understand  them ! 

To  complete  this  executive  usurpation,  one  further  object  remained. 
By  the  constitution,  the  command  of  the  army  and  the  navy  is  con- 
ferred on  the  President.  If  he  could  unite  the  purse  with  the  sword, 
nothing  would  be  lefl  to  gratify  the  insatiable  thirst  for  power.  In 
1833  the  President  seized  the  treasury  of  the  United  States,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  it  has  continued  substantially  under  his  control.  The 
seizure  was  effected  by  the  removal  of  one  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
understood  to  be  opposed  to  the  measure,  and  by  the  dismissal  of 
another,  who  refused  to  violate  the  law  of  the  land,  upon  the  orders 
of  the  President. 

It  is  indeed  said,  that  not  a  dollar  in  the  treasury  can  be  touched 
without  a  previous  appropriation  by  law,  nor  drawn  out  of  the  treas- 
ury without  the  concurrence  and  signature  of  the  Secretary,  the 
Treasurer,  the  Register,  and  the  Comptroller.  But  are  not  all  these 
pretended  securities  idle  and  unavailing  forms  ?  We  have  seen  that, 
by  the  operation  of  the  irresponsible  power  of  dismission,  all  those 
officers  are  reduced  to  mere  automata,  absolutely  subjected  to  the 
will  of  the  President.  What  resistance  would  any  of  them  make 
with  the  penalty  of  dismission  suspended  over  their  heads,  to  any 
orders  of  the  President,  to  pour  out  the  treasure  of  the  United  States, 
whether  an  act  of  appropriation  existed  or  not  ?  Do  not  mock  us 
with  the  yain  assurance  of  the  honor  and  probity  of  a  President,  nor 


436  tFEECHss  or  hsnrt  cult. 

remind  us  of  the  confidence  which  we  ought  to  repose  in  his  imagined 
yirtues.  The  pervading  principles  of  our  system  of  goremment — of 
all  free  government — is  not  merely  the  possibility,  but  the  absolute 
certainty  of  infidelity  and  treachery,  with  even  the  highest  function- 
ary of  the  State  ;  and  hence  all  the  restrictions,  securities,  and  gua- 
ranties, which  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors,  or  the  sad  experience  of 
history  had  inculcated,  have  been  devised  and  thrown  around  the 
Chief  Magistrate. 

Here,  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  let  us  pause  and  contemplate  this 
stupendous  structure  of  executive  machinery  and  despotism,  whicii 
has  been  reared  in  our  young  republic.  The  executive  branch  of  the 
government  is  a  unit ;  throughout  all  its  arteries  and  veins  there  is 
to  be  but  one  heart,  one  head,  one  will.  The  number  of  the  subordi- 
nate executive  officers  and  dependents  in  the  United  States  has  been 
estimated  in  an  official  report,  founded  on  public  documents,  made  by 
a  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  Calhoun,)  at  one  hundred  thou- 
sand. Whatever  it  may  be,  all  of  them,  wherever  they  are  situated, 
are  bound  implicitly  to  ol)ey  the  larders  of  the  President.  An  absolute 
obedience  to  his  will  is  secured  and  enforc^  by  the  power  of  dis- 
missing them  at  his  pleasure,  from  their  respective  places.  To  make 
this  terrible  power  of  dismission  more  certain  and  efficacious,  its  ex- 
ercise is  covered  up  in  mysterious  secrecy,  without  the  smallest  re- 
sponsibility.  The  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  are  to 
be  executed  in  the  sense  in  which  the  President  understands  them — 
although  that  s(^nsc  may  be  at  variance  with  the  understanding  of 
every  other  man  in  the  United  States.  It  follows,  as  a  necessary 
consequence,  from  the  principles  deduced  by  the  President  from  the 
constitutional  injunction  as  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  that,  if  an 
act  of  Congress  be  passed,  in  his  opinion,  contrary  to  the  constitution, 
or  if  a  decision  be  pronounced  by  the  courts,  in  his  opinion,  contrary 
to  the  constitution  or  the  laws,  that  act  or  that  decision  the  President 
is  not  obliged  to  enforce,  and  he  could  not  cause  it  to  be  enforced, 
without  a  violation,  as  is  pretended,  of  his  official  oath.  Candor  re- 
quires the  admission,  that  the  principle  has  not  yet  been  pushed  in 
practice  in  these  cases  ;  but  it  manifestly  comprehends  them ;  and  who 
doubts,  that  if  the  spirit  of  usurpation  is  not  arrested  and  rebuked, 
they  will  be  finally  reached  ?  The  march  of  power  is  ever  onward. 
As  times  and  seasons  admonish,  it  openly  and  boldly  in  broad  day 
makes  its  progress ;  or  if  alarm  be  excited  by  the  enormity  of  its 


ON  TUB  PBK8IDBHTIAL  ELKCTI09.  4S7 

pretensionsy  it  silently  and  secretly,  in  the  daik  of  the  night,  steals  its 
devious  way.  It  now  storms  and  mounts  the  ramparts  of  the  fortress 
of  liberty ;  it  now  saps  and  undermines  its  foundations.  Finally,  the 
command  of  the  army  and  navy  being  already  in  the  President,  and 
having  acquired  a  perfect  control  over  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States,  he  has  consummated  that  frightful  union  of  purse  and  sword, 
so  long,  so  much,  so  earnestly  deprecated  by  all  true  lovers  of  civil 
liberty.  And  our  present  Chief  Magistrate  stands  solemnly  and  yo- 
iuntarily  pledged,  in  the  face  of  the  whole  world,  to  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps and  carry  out  the  measures  and  the  principles  of  his  illustrious 
predecessor  ! 

The  sum  of  the  whole  is,  that  there  is  but  one  power,  one  will  in 
the  State.  All  is  concentrated  in  the  President.  He  directs,  orders, 
commands  the  whole  machinery  of  the  State.  Through  the  official 
agencies,  scattered  throughout  the  land,  and  absolutely  subjected  to 
his  will,  he  executes,  according  to  his  pleasure  or  caprice,  the  whole 
power  of  the  commonwealth,  which  has  been  absorbed  and'cngrossed 
foy  him.  And  one  sole  will  predominates  in,  and  animates  the  whole 
of  this  vast  community.  If  this  be  not  practical  despotism,  I  am  not 
capable  of  conceiving  or  defining  it.  Names  are  nothing.  The  ex- 
istence or  non-existence  of  arbitrary  government  does  not  depend 
upon  the  title  or  denomination  bestowed  on  the  chief  of  the  State, 
but  upon  the  quantum  of  power  which  he  possesses  and  wields.  Au- 
tocrat, sultan,  emperor,  dictator,  king,  doge,  president,  are  all  mere 
names,  in  which  the  power  respectively  possessed  by  them  is  not  to 
be  found,  but  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  constitution,  or  the  established 
usages  and  practices  of  the  several  States  which  they  govern  and 
control.  If  the  Autocrat  of  Russia  were  called  President  of  all  the 
Russias,  the  actual  power  remaining  unchanged,  his  authority  under 
his  new  denomination,  would  continue  undiminished ;  and,  if  the 
President  of  the  United  States  were  to  receive  the  title  of  Autocrat  of 
the  United  States,  the  amount  of  his  authority  would  not  be  increas- 
ed, without  an  alteration  of  the  constitution. 

General  Jackson  was  a  bold  and  fearless  reaper,  carrying  a  wide 
row,  but  he  did  not  gather  the  whole  harvest ;  he  left  some  gleanings 
to  his  faithful  successor,  and  he  seems  resolved  to  sweep  clean  the 
field  of  power.  The  duty  of  inculcating  on  the  official  corps  the 
active  exertion  of  their  personal  and  official  influence  was  left  by  him 


428  tPERCHBt  or  HENRT   CLAT. 

to  be  enforced  by  Mr.  Van  Baren,  in  all  popular  elections.  It 
not  sufficient  that  the  official  corps  was  bound  implicitly  to  obey  the 
will  of  the  President.  It  was  not  sufficient  that  this  obedience  w« 
coerced  by  the  tremendous  power  of  dismission.  It  aoon  became  ap- 
parent that  this  corps  might  be  beneficially  employed  to  promote,  in 
other  matters  than  the  busines  of  their  offices,  the  views  and  interests 
of  the  President  and  his  party.  They  are  far  more  efficient  than  any 
standing  army  of  equal  numbers.  A  standing  army  would  be  sepa- 
rated, and  stand  out  from  the  people,  would  be  an  object  of  jealousy 
and  suspicion  ;  and,  being  always  in  corps,  or  in  detachments,  could 
exert  no  influence  on  popular  elections.  But  the  official  corps  is  dis- 
persed throughout  the  cftuutry,  in  every  town,  village,  and  city,  mix- 
ing with  the  people,  attending  their  meetings  and  conventions,  becom- 
ing chairmen  and  n\embers  of  committees,  and  urging  and  stimulating 
partizans  to  active  and  vigorous  exertion.  Acting  in  concert,  and 
throughout' the  whole  Union,  obeying  orders  issued  from  the  centre, 
their  influence,  aided  by  executive  patronage,  by  the  post-office  de- 
partment, and  all  the  vast  other  means  of  the  executive,  is  almest 
inesistable. 

To  correct  this  procedure,  and  to  restrain  the  subordinates  of  the 
executive  from  all  interference  with  popular  elections,  my  colleagoe, 
(Mr.  Crittenden,)  now  present,  introduced  a  bill  in  the  Senate.  He 
had  the  weight  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion,  who  issued  a  circular  to 
restrain  federal  officers  from  intermedling  in  popular  elections.  He 
'  had  before  him  the  British  example,  according  to  which  place  men 
and  pensioners  were  not  only  forbidden  to  interfere,  but  were  not, 
some  of  them,  even  allowed  to  vote  at  popular  elections.  But  his 
bill  left  them  free  to  exercise  the  elective  franchise,  prohibiting  only 
the  use  of  their  official  influence.  And  how  was  this  bill  received  in 
the  Senate  ?  Passed,  by  those  who  profess  to  admire  the  character 
and  to  pursue  the  principles  of  Mr.  Jefferson  ?  No  such  thing.  It 
was  denounced  as  a  sedition  bill.  And  the  just  odium  of  that  sedition 
bill,  which  was  intended  to  protect  office-holders  against  the  people, 
was  successfully  used  to  defeat  a  measure  of  protection  of  the  people 
against  the  office-holders !  Not  only  were  they  left  unrestrained, 
but  they  were  urged  and  stimulated  by  an  official  report  to  employ 
their  influence  in  behalf  of  the  administration  at  (he  election  of  the 
people. 


OH  TRX  PRniDmriAL  BUKJTICm.  4M 

Hitherto,  the  army  and  the  navy  hare  remained  unaffected  by  the 
power  of  dismission,  and  they  have  not  been  called  into  the  political 
service  of  the  executive.  But  no  attentive  observer  of  the  principles 
and  proceedings  of  the  men  in  power  could  foil  to  see  that  the  day 
was  not  distant  when  they,  too,  would  be  required  to  perform  the 
partisan  offices  of  the  President.  Accordingly,  the  process  of  con- 
verting them  into  executive  instruments  has  commenced  in  a  court 
martial  assembled  at  Baltimore.  If  wo  officers  of  the  army  of  the 
United  States  have  been  there  put  upon  their  solemn  trial,  on  the 
charge  of  prejudicing  the  democratic  party  by  making  purchases  for 
the  supply  of  the  army  from  members  of  the  Whig  party  !  It  is  not 
pretended  that  the  United  States  were  prejudiced  by  those  purchases; 
on  the  contrary,  it  was  I  believe,  established  that  they  were  cheaper 
than  could  have  been  made  from  the  supporters  of  the  administration. 
But  the  charge  was,  that  to  purchnse  at  all  from  the  opponents,  in- 
stead of  the  friends  of  the  administration,  was  an  injury  to  the  demo- 
cratic party,  which  required  that  the  offenders  should  be  put  upon 
their  trial  before  a  court  martial !  And  this  trial  was  commenced  at 
the  instance  of  a  committee  of  a  democratic  convention,  and  conduct- 
ed and  prosecuted  by  them !  The  scandalous  spectacle  is  presented 
to  an  enlightened  world  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  people  exe- 
cuting the  orders  of  a  self-created  power,  organized  within  the  bosom 
of  the  State,  and  upon  such  an  accusation,  arraigning,  before  a  mili- 
tary tribunal,  gallant  men,  who  are  charged  with  the  defence  of  the 
honor  and  the  interest  of  their  country,  and  with  bearing  its  eagles  in 
the  presence  of  an  enemy  ! 

But  the  army  and  navy  are  too  small,  and  in  composition  are  too 
patriotic  to  subserve  all  the  purposes  of  this  administration.  Hence 
the  recent  proposition  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  strongly  recommend- 
ed by  the  President,  under  color  of  a  new  organization  of  the  militia, 
to  create  a  standing  force  of  200,000  men,  an  amount  which  no  con- 
ceivable foreign  exigency  can  ever  make  necessary.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  now  to  enter  upon  an  examination  of  that  alarming  and  most 
dangerous  plan  of  the  executive  department  .of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. It  has  justly  excited' a  burst  of  general  indignation,  and  no 
where  has  the  disapprobation  of  it  been  mcHre  emphatically  expressed 
than  in  this  ancient  and  venerable  Commonwealth. 


The  monstrous  project  may  be  described  in  a  few  words.    It  pio* 


430  tPBacm  of  HurBT  clat. 

poses  to  create  the  force  by  breaking  down  Mason  and  Dixon's  line, 
expunging  the  boundaries  of  Stales ;  melting  them  up  into  a  confloeit 
mass,  to  be  subsequently  cut  up  into  ten  military  parts,  alienates  tiie 
militia  from  its  natural  association,  withdraws  it  from  the  authority 
and  command,  and  sympathy  of  its  constitutional  officers,  appointed 
by  the  States,  puts  it  under  the  command  of  the  President,  authorises, 
him  to  cause  it  to  be  trained,  in  palpable  violation  of  the  constitutioD, 
and  subjects  it  to  be  called  out  from  remote  and  distant  places,  at  his 
pleasure,  and  on  occasions  not  warranted  by  the  constitution ! 

Indefensible  as  this  project  is,  fellow  citizens,  do  not  be  deceived 
by  supposing  that  it  has  been  or  will  be  abandoned.  It  is  a  principle 
of  those  who  are  now  in  power,  that  an  election  or  re-election  of  the 
President  implies  the  sanction  of  the  people  to  all  the  measures  which 
he  had  proposed,  and  all  the  opinions  which  he  had  expressed,  on 
public  aflfairs,  prior  to  that  event.  We  have  seen  this  principle  ap- 
plied on  various  occasions.  Let  Mr.  Van  Buren  be  re-elected  in  No- 
vember next,  and  it  will  be  claimed  that  the  people  have  thereby 
approved  of  this  plan  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  All  entertain  the 
opinion  that  it  is  important  to  train  the  militia,  and  render  it  effi?c- 
tive ;  and  it  will  be  insisted,  in  the  contingency  mentioned,  that  the 
people  have  demonstrated  that  they  approve  of  that  specific  plan. — 
There  is  more  reason  to  apprehend  such  a  consequence  from  the  &ct 
that  a  committee  of  the  Senate,  to  which  this  subject  was  referred, 
instead  of  denouncing  the  scheme  as  unconstitutional  and  dangeroos 
to  liberty  presented  a  labored  apologetic  report,  and  the  administra-^ 
tion  majority  in  that  body  ordered  twenty  thousand  copies  of  the 
apology  to  be  printed  for  circulation  among  the  people.  I  take  plea- 
sure in  testifying  that  one  administration  Senator  had  the  manly  inde- 
pendence to  denounce,  in  his  place,  the  project  as  unconstitutional 
That  Senator  was  from  your  own  State. 

1  have  thus,  fellow  citizens,  exhibited  to  you  a  true  and  faithfbl 
picture  of  executive  power,  as  it  has  been  enlarged  and  expanded 
within  the  last  few  years,  and  as  it  has  been  proposed  further  to  ex- 
tend it.  It  overshadows  every  other  branch  of  the  government.  The 
source  of  legislative  power  is  no  longer  to  be  found  in  the  capitol,biit 
in  the  palace  of  the  President.  In  assuming  to  be  a  part  of  the  legis- 
lative power,  as  the  President  recently  did,  contrary  to  the  constitu- 
tion, he  would  have  been  nearer  the  actual  fact  if  he  had  alledged 


09  TRC  PRBSTDKimAL  KLBCTION.  431 

that  he  was  the  sole  legislative  power  of  the  Union.  How  is  it  pos- 
iible  for  public  liberty  to  be  preserved,  and  the  constitutional  distri- 
butions of  power,  amon^  the  departments  of  government,  to  be  main- 
tained, unless  the  executive  career  be  checked  and  restrained  ? 

It  maybe  urged  that  two  securities  exist ;  first,  that  the  Presiden- 
tial term  is  of  short  duration  ;  and,  secondly,  the  elective  franchise. 
But  it  has  been  already  shown,  that  whether  a  depositary  of  power 
be  arbitrary  or  compatible  with  liberty  does  not  depend  upon  the  da- 
ration  of  the  official  term,  but  upon  the  amount  of  power  invested. 
The  dictatorship  in  Rome  was  an  office  of  brief  existence,  generally 
shorter  than  the  Presidential  term.  Whether  the  elective  franchise 
be  an  adequate  security  or  not,  is  a  problem  to  be  solved  next  No- 
vember. I  hope  and  believe  it  yet  is.  But  if  Mr.  Van  Buren  should 
be  re-elected,  the  power  already  acquired  by  the  executive  be  retain- 
ed, and  that  which  is  in  progress  be  added  to  that  department,  it  is 
my  deliberate  judgment  that  there  will  be  no  hop^  remaining  for  the 
continuance  of  the  liberties  of  the  country. 

And  yet  the  partizans  of  this  tremendous  executive  power  arrogate 
to  themselves  the  name  of  democrats,  and  bestow  upon  us,  who  are 
opposed  to  it,  the  denomination  of  the  federalists  !  In  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  there  are  five  gentlemen  who  were  members  of  the 
federal  party,  and  four  of  them  have  been  suddenly  transformed  into 
democrats,  and  are  now  warm  supporters  of  this  administration, 
whilst  I,  who  had  exerted  the  utmost  of  my  humble  abilities  to  arouse 
the  nation  to  a  vindication  of  its  insulted  honor  and  its  violated  rights^ 
and  to  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  against  Great  Britain,  to 
which  they  were  violently  opposed,  find  myself,  by  a  sort  ot  magical 
influence,  converted  into  a  federalist !  The  only  American  citizen 
that  I  ever  met  with,  who  was  an  avowed  monarchist,  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  administration  of  General  Jackson  ;  and  he  acknowledg- 
ed to  me  that  his  motive  was  to  bring  about  the  system  of  monarchy, 
which  his  judgment  preferred. 

There  were  other  points  of  difference  between  the  federalists  and 
the  democratic  or  rather  republican  party  of  1798,  but  the  great, 
leading,  prominent  discrimination  between  them  related  to  the  con- 
stitution of  the  executive  department  of  the  government.  The  fed« 
eralists  believed  that  in  its  stnietore,  it  was  too  weak,  and  was  m 


i 


439  •PBECHBS  OP  BEHRT  CLAT- 

danger  of  beiDg  crushed  by  the  preponderating  weight  of  the  legisla 
tive  branch.  Hence  they  rallied  around  the  executive,  and  sought  to 
grive  to  it  strength  and  energy.  A  strong  government,  an  energetic 
executive  was,  among  them,  the  common  language  and  the  great  ob- 
ject of  that  day.  The  republicans,  on  the  contrary,  believed  that 
the  real  danger  lay  on  the  side  of  the  executive  ;  that,  having  a  con- 
tinuous and  uninterrupted  existence,  it  was  always  on  the  alert,  rea- 
dy to  defend  the  power  it  had,  and  prompt  in  acquiring  more;  and 
that  the  experience  of  history  demonstrated  that  it  was  the  encroach- 
ing and  usurping  department.  They,  therefore,  rallied  around  the 
people  and  the  legislature. 

What  are  the  positions  of  the  two  great  parties  of  the  present  day  ^ 
Modern  democracy  has  reduced  the  federal  theory  of  a  strong  and 
energetic  executive  to  practical  operation.  It  has  turned  from  the 
people,  the  natural  ally  of  genuine  democracy,  to  the  executive,  and, 
instead  of  vigilance,  jealousy  and  distrust,  has  giv.en  to  that  depart- 
ment all  its  confidence,  and  made  to  it  a  virtual  surrender  of  all  the 
powers  of  government.  The  recognised  maxim  of  royal  infallibility  is 
transplanted  from  the  British  monarchy  into  modern  American  demo- 
cracy, and  the  President  can  do  no  wrong  !  This  new  school  adopts, 
modifies,  changes,  renounces,  renews  opinions  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
executive.  Is  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  a  useful  and  valuable 
institution  ?  Yes,  unanimously,  pronounces  the  democratic  legisla- 
ture of  Pennsylvania.  The  President  vetoes  it  as  a  pernicious  and 
dangerous  establishment.  The  democratic  majority  in  the  same 
legislature  pronounce  it  to  be  pernicious  and  dangerous.  The  demo- 
oratic  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
declare  the  deposites  of  the  public  money  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  to  be  safe.  The  President  says  they  are  unsafe,  and  removes 
them.  The  democracy  say  they  are  unsafe,  and  approve  the  re- 
moval. The  President  says  that  a  scheme  of  a  Sub-Treasury  is  revo- 
lutionary and  disorganizing.  The  democracy  say  it  is  revolutionary 
and  disorganizing.  The  President  says  it  is  wise  and  salutary.  The 
democracy  say  it  is  wise  and  salutary. 

The  whigs  of  1840  stand  where  the  republicans  of  1798  stood,  and 
where  the  whigs  of  the  revolution  were,  battling  for  liberty,  for  the 
people,  for  free  institutions,  against  power,  against  corruption,  against 
executive  encroachments,  against  monarchy. 


ON   THfi  PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION.  433 

We  are  reproached  with  struggling  for  offices  and  their  emolu- 
ments. If  we  acted  on  the  avowed  and  acknowledged  principle  of 
our  opponents,  that  *'  the  spoils  belong  to  the  victors,"  we  should  in- 
deed be  un  worth  J  of  the  support  of  the  people.  No !  fellow  citizens ; 
higher,  nobler,  more  patriotic  motives  actuate  the  whig  party.  Their 
object  is  the  restoration  of  the  constitution,  tne  preservation  ot  liber- 
ty, and  rescue  of  the  country.  If  they  were  governed  by  the  sordid 
and  selfish  motives  acted  upon  by  their  opponents,  and  unjustly  im- 
puted to  i\nen\y  to  acquire  office  and  emolument,  they  have  only  to 
change  their  names,  and  enter  the  Presidential  palace.  The  gate  it 
always  wide  open,  and  the  path  is  no  narrow  one  which  leads  through 
it.    The  last  comer,  too,  oflen  fares  best. 

On  a  resurvey  of  the  few  past  years,  we  behold  enough  to  sicken 
and  sadden  the  hearts  of  true  pati  iots.  Executive  encroachment  has 
quickly  followed  upon  executive  encroachment;  persons  honored  by 
public  confidence,  and  from  whom  nothing  but  grateful  and  parental 
measures  should  have  flowed,  have  inflicted  stunning  blow  after  blow 
in  such  rapid  succession  that,  before  the  people  could  recover  from 
the  reeling  effects  of  one,  another  has  fallen  heavily  upon  them.  Had 
either  of  various  instances  of  executive  misrule  stood  out  separate 
and  alone,  so  that  its  enormity  might  have  been  seen  and  dwelt  upon 
with  composure,  the  condemnation  of  the  executive  would  have  long 
since  been  pronounced ;  but  it  has  hitherto  found  safety  and  impunity 
in  the  bewildering  efiects  of  the  multitude  of  its  misdeeds.  The  na- 
tion has  been  in  the  condition  of  a  man,  who,  having  gone  to  bed 
after  his  barn  has  been  consumed  by  fire,  is  aroused  in  the  morning  to 
witness  his  dwelling-house  wrapt  in  flam(*s.  So  bold  'and  presumptu- 
ous has  the  executive  become,  that,  penetrating  in  its  influence  the 
hall  of  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  government,  by  means  of  a  sub- 
missive or  instructed  majority  of  the  Senate,  it  has  caused  a  record  of 
the  country  to  be  effaced  and  expunged,  the  inviolability  of  which 
was  guarantied  by  a  solemn  injunction  of  the  constitution  !  And  that 
memorable  and  scandalous  scene  was  enacted  only  because  the  oflfen* 
live  record  contained  an  expression  of  disapprobation  uf  an  executive 
proceeding. 

If  this  state  of  things  were  to  remain — if  the  pro^rress  of  execative 
usurpation  were  to  continue  uncoecaeci,  iivpeless  despair  would  seise 
the  public  mind,  or  the  people  would  be  goaded  to  acts  of  open  ni 


484  8PBBCHB8  OP  HBNBT   CLAT* 

violeDt  resistance.  But,  thank  God,  the  power  of  tne  Presiaenu 
fearful  and  rapid  as  its  strides  have  been,  is  not  yet  too  great  for  tbe 
power  of  the  elective  franchise ;  and  a  bright  and  glorious  prospect, 
in  the  election  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  has  opened  upon  the 
country.  The  necessity  of  a  change  of  rulers  has  deeply  penetratea 
the  hearts  of  the  people  ;  and  we  everywhere  behold  cheering  mani- 
festations of  that  happy  event.  The  fact  of  his  election  alone,  with- 
out reference  to  the  measures  of  his  administration,  will  powerfully 
contribute  to  the  security  and  happiness  of  the  people.  It  will  bring 
assurance  of  the  cessation  of  that  long  series  of  disastrous  experi- 
ments which  have  so  greatly  afflicted  the  people.  Confidence  will 
immediately  revive,  credit  be  restored,  active  business  will  return, 
prices  of  products  will  rise  ;  and  the  people  will  feel  and  know  that, 
instead  of  their  servants  being  occupied  in  devising  measures  for  their 
ruin  and  destruction,  they  will  be  assiduously  employed  in  promoting 
their  welf^ire  and  prosperity. 

But  grave  and  serious  measui^  will,  unquestionably,  early  and 
anxiously  command  the  earnest  attention  of  the  new  administration. 
I  have  no  authority  to  announce,  and  do  not  pretend  to  announce  the 
purposes  of  the  new  President.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  them  other 
than  that  which  is  accessible  to  every  citizen.  In  what  I  shall  say 
as  to  the  course  of  a  new  administration,  therefore,  I  mean  to  express 
my  own  sentiments,  to  speak  for  myself,  without  compromitting  any 
other  person.  Upon  such  an  interesting  occasion  as  this,  in  the  midst 
of  the  companions  of  my  youth,  or  their  descendants,  I  have  felt  that 
it  is  due  to  them  and  to  myself,  explicitly  to  declare  my  sentiments, 
without  reserve,  and  to  show  that  I  have  been,  and,^as  I  sincerely  be- 
lieve, the  friends  with  whom  I  have  acted,  have  been,  animated  by 
the  disinterested  desire  to  advance  the  best  interests  of  the  countiy, 
and  to  preserve  its  free  institutions. 

The  first,  and  in  my  opinion,  the  most  important  object  which 
should  engage  the  serious  attention  of  a  new  administration,  is  that 
of  circumscribing  the  executive  power,  and  throwing  around  it  such 
limitations  and  safe-guards  as  will  render  it  no  longer  dangerous  w 
the  public  liberties. 

Whatever  is  the  work  of  man,  necessarily  partakes  of  his  impe^ 
fections;  and  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that,  with  all  tha  acknow- 


ON   THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  436 

ledged  wisdom  and  virtues  of  the  firamers  of  our  constitution,  they 
could  have  sent  forth  a  plan  of  government,  so  free  from  all  defect, 
and  so  full  of  guaranties,  that  it  should  not,  in  the  conflict  of  embit- 
tered parties,  and  of  excited  passions,  be  perverted  and  misinterpre- 
ted. Misconceptions,  or  erroneous  constructions  of  the  powers  grant- 
ed in  the  constitution,  would  probably  have  occurred,  after  the  lapse 
of  many  years.  In  seasons  of  entire  calm,  and  with  a  regular  and 
temperate  administration  of  the  government;  but  during  the  last 
twelve  years,  the  machine,  driven  by  a  reckless  charioteer,  with 
frightful  impetuosity,  has  been  greatly  jarred  and  jolted,  and  it  needs 
careful  examination  and  a  thorough  repair. 

* 
With  the  view,  therefore,  to  the  fundamental  character  of  the  go- 
vernment itself,  and  especially  of  the  executive  branch,  it  seems  to 
me  that,  either  by  amendments  of  the  constitution,  when  they  are 
necessary,  or  by  remedial  legislation  when  the  object  falls  within  the 
scope  of  the  powers  of  Congress,  there  should  be, 

1st.  A  provision  to  render  a  person  ineligible  to  the  bffice  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  afler  a  service  of  one  term. 

Much  observation  and  deliberate  reflection  have  satisfied  me  that 
too  much  of  the  time,  the  thoughts,  and  the  exertions  of  the  incum- 
bent arc  occupied,  during  his  first  term,  in  securing  his  re-electiouL. 
The  public  business,  consequently,  suflTers,  and  measures  are  pro- 
posed or  executed,  with  less  regard  to  the  general  prosperity  than 
to  their  influence  upon  the  approaching  election.  If  the  limitation 
to  one  term  existed,  the  President  would  be  exclusively  devoted  to 
the  discharge  of  his  public  duties  ;  and  he  would  endeavor  to  signal- 
ize his  administration  by  the  beneficence  and  wi^om  of  its  measures 

2d.  That  the  veto  power  should  be  more  precisely  defined,  and  be 
subjected  to  further  limitations  and  qualifications.  Although  a  large, 
perhaps  the  largest  proportion  of  all  the  acts  of  Congress,  passed  at 
the  short  sessions  of  Congress,  since  the  coomiencement  of  the  govern- 
ment, were  passed  within  the  three  last  days  of  the  session,  and  when, 
of  course,  the  President,  (or  the  time  being,  had  not  the  ten  days  for 
consideration  allowed  by  the  constitution.  President  Jackson,  availing^ 
himself  of  that  allowance,  has  failed  to  return  important  bills.  When 
not  returned  by  the  President  withia  the  ten  days,  it  is  questionable 


436  tPEBCHBS  or  henrt  clat. 

whether  they  are  laws  or  not.  It  is  very  certain  that  the  next  Con- 
gress cannot  act  upon  them  hy  deciding  whether  or  not  they  shall 
become  laws,  the  President's  objections  notwithstanding.  All  thia 
ought  to  be  provided  for. 

At  present,  a  bill,  returned  by  the  President,  can  only  become  a 
law  by  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  membeis  of  each  House. 
I  think  if  Congress  passes  a  bill  after  discussion  and  consideration, 
and,  after  weighing  the  objections  of  the  President,  still  believes  it 
ought  to  pass,  it  should  become  a  law,  provided  a  majority  of  all  the 
members  of  each  House  concur  in  its  passage.  If  the  weight  of  his 
argument,  and  the  weight  of  his  influence  conjointly,  cannot  prevail 
on  a  majority,  against  their  previous  convictions,  in  my  opinion  the 
bill  ought  not  to  be  arrested.  Such  is  the  provision  of  the  constitu- 
tions  of  several  of  the  States,  and  that  of  Kentucky  among  them. 

3d.  That  the  power  of  dismission  from  office  should  be  restricted, 
and  the  exercise  of  it  be  rendered  responsible. 

The  constitutional  concurrence  of  the  Senate  is  necessary  to  the 
confirmation  of  all  important  appointments,  but,  without  consulting 
the  Senate,  without  any  other  motive  than  resentment  or  caprice,  the 
the  President  may  dismiss  at  his  sole  pleasure,  an  officer  created  by 
the  joint  action  of  himself  and  the  Senate.  The  practical  effect  is  to 
nullify  the  agency  of  the  Senate.  There  may  be  occasionally,  cases 
in  which  the  public  interest  requires  an  immediate  dismission  without 
waiting  for  the  assembling  of  the  Senate  ;  but,  in  all  such  cases,  the 
President  should  be  bound  to  communicate  fullv  the  grounds  and 
motives  of  the  dismission.  The  power  would  be  thus  rendered  re- 
sponsible. Without  Jt  the  exercise  of  the  power  is  utterly  repognaot 
to  free  institutions,  the  basis  of  which  is  perfect  responsibility,  and 
dangerous  to  the  public  liberty,  as  has  been  already  shown. 

4th.  That  the  control  over  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  shooM 
be  confided  and  confined  exclusively  to  Congress ;  and  all  authoritf 
of  the  President  over  it,  by  means  of  dismissing  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  or  other  persons  having  the  immediate  charge  of  it,  be 
rigorously  precluded. 

Tou  have  heard  moch|  fellow  citizensi  of  the  divorce  of  banki  aad 


ON  TRK  PRBtlDtHTIAL  KLECTIOlf.  437 

government.  After  crippling  them  and  impairing  their  utility,  the 
executive  and  ito  partisans  have  systematically  denounced  them. 
The  executive  and  the  country  were  warned  again  and  agdin  of  the 
&tal  course  that  has  heen  pursued ;  but  the  executive,  nevertheless, 
persevered,  commencing  by  praising  and  ending  by  decrying  the  State 
banks.  Under  cover  of  the  smoke  which  has  been  raised,  the  real 
object  all  along  has  been,  and  yet  is,  to  obtain  the  possession  of  the 
money  power  of  the  Union.  That  accomplished  and  sanctioned  by 
(he  people— 4he  union  of  the  sword  and  the  purse  in  the  hands  of 
the  l^resident  efiectually  secured — and  farewell  to  American  liberty. 
The  sub-treasury  is  the  scheme  for  eflecting  that  union  ;  and  I  am 
told,  that  of  all  the  days  in  the  year,  that  which  gave  birth  to  our 
national  existence  and  freedom,  is  the  st>lected  day  to  be  disgraced  by 
ushering  into  existence  a  measure,  imminently  perilous  to  the  liberty 
ivhich,  on  that  anniversary,  we  commemorate  in  joyous  festivals. 
Thus,  in  the  spirit  of  destruction  which  animates  our  rulers,  would 
(hey  convert  a  day  of  gladness  and  of  glory  into  a  day  of  sadness  and 
mourning.  Fellow-ciiizens,  there  is  one  divorce  urgently  demanded 
by  the  safety  and  the  highest  interests  of  the  countiy — a  divorce  of 
the  President  from  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 

And  5th.  That  the  appointment  of  members  of  Congress  to  any 
office,  or  any  but  a  few  specific  offices,  during  their  continuance  in 
office,  and  for  one  year  thereafter,  be  prohibited. 

» 

This  is  a  hackneyed  theme ;  but  it  is  not  less  deserving  serious  con- 
sideration. The  constitution  now  interdicts  the  appointment  of  a 
member  of  Congress  to  any  office  created,  or  the  emoluments  of 
which  had  been  increased  while  he  was  in  office.  In  the  purer  days 
of  the  republic,  that  restriction  might  have  been  sufficient,  but  in 
these  more  degenerate  times,  it  is  necessary,  by  an  amendment  of  the 
constitutiouy  to  give  the  principle  a  greater  extent. 

Theae  are  the  subjects,  in  relation  to  the  permanent  character  of 
the  government  itself,  which,  it  seems  to  me,  are  worthy  of  the  seri- 
ous attention  of  the  people,  and  of  a  new  administration.  I'here  are 
others,  of  an  administrative  nature,  which  require  prompt  and  careful 
consideration. 

UL  The  earreiiey  of  the  country,  its  stability  and  unUbrm  Tains, 


438  ■PBSCH£8  OF  HBintT  CLAT. 

and,  as  intimately  and  indissolubly  connected  with  it,  the 
of  the  faithful  performance  if  the  fiscal  services  necessaij  to  the  go- 
vemment  should  be  maintained  and  secured  by  exerdsing  all  tfaa 
powers  requisite  to  those  objects  with  which  Coi^ress  is  constitutiott- 
ally  invested.  These  are  the  great  ends  to  be  aimed  at — the  mcaas 
are  of  subordinate  importance.  Whether  these  ends,  indispeiisaUe 
to  the  well-being  of  both  the  people  and  the  government,  are  to  be 
attained  by  sound  and  safe  State  banks,  carefully  selected,  and  pro- 
perly distributed,  or  by  a  new  Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  such 
limitations,  conditions,  and  restrictions  as  have  been  indicmted  by  ex- 
perience, should  be  left  to  the  arbitrament  of  enlightened  pnblir 
opinion. 

Candor  and  truth  require  me  to  say,  that,  in  my  judgment,  wUla 
banks  continue  to  exist  in  the  country,  the  services  of  a  Bank  of  the 
United  States  cannot  be  safely  dispensed  with.  I  think  that  the 
power  to  establish  such  a  bank  is  a  settled  question ;  settled  by 
Washington  and  by  Madison,  by  the  people,  by  forty  years^  aoquiee- 
cence,  by  the  judiciary,  and  by  both  of  the  great  parties  which  m 
long  held  sway  in  the  countr\'.  I  know  and  I  respect  the  contrsiy 
opinion  which  is  entertained  in  this  State.  But,  in  my  delil)eiate 
view  of  the  matter,  the  power  to  establish  such  a  bank  being  settled, 
and  being  a  necessary  and  proper  power,  the  only  question  b  as  to 
the  expediency  of  its  exercise.  And  on  questions  of  mere  expediency 
public  opinion  ought  to  have  a  controlling  influence.  Without  banks 
I  believe  we  cannot  have  a  sufficient  currencv  ;  without  a  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  I  fear  we  cannot  have  a  sound  currency.  But  it  is 
the  end,  that  of  a  sound  and  sufficient  currency,  and  a  fa>:hful  execv- 
tion  of  the  fiscal  duties  of  government,  that  should  engage  the  dis- 
pnssionate  and  candid  consideration  of  the  whole  community.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  name  of  the  Bai.k  of  the  United  States  which  hM 
any  magical  charm,  or  to  which  any  one  noe^  be  wedded.  It  is  Is 
secure  certain  great  objects,  without  which  society  cannot  prosper; 
and  if,  contrary  to  my  apprehension,  these  objects  can  be  occompfish- 
ed  by  dispensing  with  the  agency  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and 
employing  that  of  State  Banks,  all  ought  to  rejoice  and  heartily  ae- 
qoieaoe,  and  none  would  more  than  I  should. 

2d.  That  the  public  lands,  in  conformity  with  the  trusts  created 
txpitwAj  or  by  just  implication,  on  their  acquisition,  be  ndminialHed 


OH  TBB  PRBIIDBIITIAL  ELBCTION.  4M 

in  *  spirit  of  liberality  towards  the  new  states  and  territories,  and  in 
a  spirit  of  justice  towards  all  the  States. 

I 

The  land  bill  which  was  rejected  by  President  Jackson,  and  acts 
of  occasional  legislation,  will  accomplish  both  these  objects.  I  regret 
that  the  time  does  not  admit  of  my  exposing  here  the  nefarious  plana 
and  purposes  of  the  administration  as  to  this  vast  national  resource. 
That,  like  every  other  great  interest  of  the  country,  is  administered 
with  the  sole  view  of  the  eflect  upon  the  interests  of  the  party  in 
IK>wer.  A  bill  has  passed  the  Senate,  and  is  now  pending  before  tho 
House,  according  to  which  forty  millions  of  4ollars  are  stricken  from 
the  real  value  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  public  lands  by  a  short  pro- 
cess ;  and  a  citizen  of  Virginia,  residing  on  the  southwest  side  of  the 
Ohio,  is  not  allowed  to  purchase  lands  as  cheap,  by  half  a  dollar  per 
acre,  as  a  citizen  living  on  tho  nprthwest  side  of  that  river.  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  expressing  my  conviction  that  the  whole  public  do- 
main is  gone  if  Mr.  Van  Buren  be  re-elected. 

dd.  That  the  policy  of  protecting  and  encouraging  the  productions 
of  American  industry,  entering  into  competition  with  the  rival  pro- 
ductions of  foreign  industry,  be  adhered  to  and  maintained  on  the 
basis  of  the  principles  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  compromise  of  March, 
1833. 

Protection  and  national  independence  are,  in  my  opinion,  identical 
and  synonymous.  The  principle  of  abandonment  of  the  one  cannot 
be  surrendered  without  a  forfeiture  of  the  other.  Who,  with  just 
pride  and  national  sensibility,  can  think  of  subjecting  the  products  of 
our  industry  to  all  the  taxation  and  restraints  of  foreign  powers,  with- 
out effort  on  our  part  to  counteract  their  prohibitions  and  burdens  by 
suitable  countervailing  legislation  ?  The  question  cannot  be,  ought 
not  to  be,  one  of  principle  but  of  measure  and  degree.  I  adopt  that 
of  the  compromise  act,  not  because  that  act  is  irrepealable,  but  be- 
cause it  met  with  the  sanction  of  the  nation.  Stability  with  moderate 
and  certain  protection,  is  far  more  important  than  instability,  the  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  high  protection.  But  the  protection  of  the 
compromise  act  will  be  adequate,  in  most,  if  not  as  to  all  interests. 
The  twenty  per  cent,  which  it  stipulates,  cash  duties,  home  valua- 
tions, and  the  list  of  free  articles  inserted  in  the  act,  for  the  particu- 
lar advantage  of  the  manufacturer,  will  ensure,  I  trust,  sufficient  pro* 


440  fPncHEt  or  rehbt  clay. 

teciion.  All  together,  they  will  amount  probahly  to  no  less  than 
thirty  per  cent. ;  a  greater  extent  of  protection  than  was  secured 
prior  to  the  act  of  1828,  which  no  one  stands  up  to  defend.    Now  the 

valuation  of  foreign  goods  is  made  not  by  the  American  authority, 
except  in  suspected  cases,  but  by  foreigners,  and  abroad.  They  as- 
sess the  value,  and  we  the  duty  ;  but,  as  the  duty  depends,  in  most 
eases,  upon  the  value,  it  is  manifest  that  those  who  assess  the  value 
fix  the  duty.  The  home  valuation  will  give  our  government  what  it 
rightfully  possesses,  both  the  power  to  ascertain  the  true  value  of  tbs 
thing  which  it  taxes,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  that  tax. 

• 
4th.  That  a  strict  and  wise  economy,  in  the  disbursement  of  the 
public  money  be  steadily  enforced  ;  and  that,  to  that  end,  all  useless 
establishments,  all  unnecessary  offices  and  places,  foreign  and  domes- 
tic, and  all  extravagance,  either  in  the  collection  or  expenditure  of 
the  public  revenue,  be  abolished  and  repressed. 

I  have  not  time  to  dwell  on  details  in  the  application  of  this  princi* 
pie.  I  will  say  that  a  pruning  knife,  long,  broad,  and  sharp,  should 
be  applied  to  every  department  of  government.  There  is  abundant 
•cope  for  honest  and  skilful  surgery.  The  annual  expenditure  may, 
in  reasonable  time,  be  brought  down  from  its  present  amount  of  aboot 
forty  millions  to  near  one-third  of  that  sum. 

5th.  The  several  States  have  made  such  great  and  gratifying  pro- 
gress in  their  respective  systems  of  internal  improvement,  and  have 
been  so  aided  by  the  distribution  under  the  deposite  act,  that,  in  fa- 
tare,  the  erection  of  new  roads  and  canals  should  be  left  to  them  with 
iuch  further  aid  only  from  the  general  government  as  they  would 
derive  from  the  payment  of  the  last  instalment  under  that  act,  from 
an  absolute  relinquishment  of  the  right  of  Congress  to  call  upon  them 
to  refund  the  previous  instalments,  and  from  their  equal  and  just 
quotas,  to  be  received  by  a  future  distribution  of  the  nett  proceeds 
from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands. 

And  6th.  That  the  right  to  slave  property,  being  guarantied  by  the 
oonstitutioil,  and  recognized  as  one  of  the  compromises  incorporated 
in  that  instrument  by  our  ancestors,  should  be  left  where  the  consti- 
tution has  placed  it,  undisturbed  and  unagitated  by  Congress. 


oil  THS  TStalBEIITIAI.  BLBGTION.  441 

Th««e,  fellow  citizens,  are  Yiews  both  of  the  stracture  of  the  go» 
rernment  and  of  its  administration,  ^hich  appear  to  me  worthy  of 
commanding  the  grave  attention  of  the  public  and  its  new  serranta. 
Although,  1  repeat,  I  have  neither  authority  nor  purpose  to  commit 
any  body  else,  1  believe  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  are  entertained  by 
the  political  friends  with  whom  I  have  acted.  Whether  the  salutary 
reforms  which  they  include  will  be  effected  or  considered,  depends 
upon  the  issue  of  that  great  struggle  which  is  now  going  on  through- 
out all  this  country.  This  contest  has  had  no  parallel  since  the  period 
of  the  revolution.  In  both  instances  there  is  a  similarity  of  objeot; 
That  was  to  achieve,  this  is  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  the  country. 
Let  us  catch  the  spirit  which  animated, and  imitate  the  virtues  which 
adorned  our  noble  ancestors.  Their  devotion,  their  constancy,  their 
untiring  activity,  their  perseverance,  their  indomitable  resolution, 
their  sacrifices,  their  valor !  If  they  fought  for  liberty  or  death,  in 
the  memorable  language  of  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  them,  let  us 
never  forget  that  the  prize  now  at  hazard,  is  liberty  or  slavery.  We 
should  be  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  the  contest  to  the  success  of 
which  they  solemnly  pledged  their  fortunes,  their  lives,  and  their  sa- 
cred honor,  was  far  more  unequal  than  that  in  which  we  are  engaged. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  let  us  cautiously  guard  against  too  much  con- 
fidence. History  and  experience  prove  that  more  has  been  lost  by 
self-confidence  and  contempt  of  enemies,  than  won  by  skill  and 
courage.  Our  opponents  are  powerful  in  numbers  and  in  organiza^- 
tion  active,  insidious,  and  possessed  of  ample  means,  and  wholly  un- 
scrupulous in  the  use  of  them.  They  count  upon  success  by  the  use 
of  two  words.  Democracy  and  Federalism — Democracy  which,  in  vio- 
lation of  all  truth,  they  appropriate  to  themselves,  and  Federalism 
which,  in  violation  of  all  justice,  they  apply  to  us.  And  allow  me  to 
conjure  you  not  to  suffer  yourselves  to  be  diverted,  deceived,  or  dis- 
couraged by  the  false  rumors  which  will  be  industriously  circulated, 
between  the  present  time  and  the  period  of  the  election,  by  our  oppo- 
nents. They  will  put  them  forth  in  every  variety  and  without  num-* 
her,  in  the  most  imposing  forms,  certified  and  sworn  to  by  conspicuous 
names.  They  will  brag,  they  will  boast,  they  will  threaten.  Re- 
gardless of  all  their  arts,  let  us  keep  steadily  and  faithfully,  and  fear- 
lessly at  work. 

« 

But  if  the  opposition  perform  its  whole  duty,  if  every  member  of 

if  act,  as  in  the  celebrated  battle  of  Lord  Nelson,  as  if  the  eyes  of  the 


449  IPEBCHn  OP   HSNET   CULT. 

whole  nation  were  fixed  on  him,  and  as  if  on  his  sole  exertions  de- 
pended the  issue  of  the  day,  1  sincerely  believe,  that  at  least  twenty 
of  the  States  of  the  Union  will  unite  in  the  glorious  work  of  the  nl- 
▼ation  of  the  constitution,  and  the  redemption  of  the  country. 

Friends  and  fellow-citizens,  I  have  detained  you  too  long.  Ao> 
eept  my  cordial  thanks  and  my  profound  acknowledgments  for  the 
honors  of  this  day,  and  for  all  your  feelings  of  attachment  and  confi* 
dence  towards  me,  and  allow  me  in  conclusion  to  propose  a  senti- 
ment : 

Hakovek  Covrtv  :  it  was  (he  fln^  io  the  commencement  of  the  reToIotion  to 
fmiae  its  urm^,  under  the  lead  of  Patrick  Henry,  in  defence  of  American  IU>ezty  ;  ic 
wiU  be  the  laat  to  prove  fake  or  reoeaot  to  the  holy  came. 


ON  THE  PRE-EMPTION  BILL. 


In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  January  28,  1841. 


With  the  measure  of  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales 
of  the  public  lands  among  the  States  of  the  Union,  I  have  been  so 
associated  for  the  last  eight  or  ten  years,  that,  although  it  had  not 
been  my  original  purpose  to  say  one  woid  in  respect  to  that  measure 
at  the  present  session  of  Congress,  the  debate  on  my  colleague's  mo- 
tion has  taken  such  a  wide  range  that  my  silence  might  be  construed 
into  indifference  or  an  abandonment  on  my  part,  of  what  1  conscien- 
tiously believe  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  and  beneficial  mei^ 
sures  ever  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  an  American  Congress. 
I  did  not  intend  to  move  in  the  matter  at  this  session,  because  of  ths 
extraordinary  state  of  parties  and  of  public  affairs.  The  party  against 
which  the  people  of  the  United  States  had  recently  pronounced  de- 
cisive judgment,  is  still  in  power,  and  has  majorities  in  both  Houses 
of  Congress.  It  has  been  always  opposed  to  the  distribution  bilL 
The  new  administration,  to  which  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
United  Slates  have  given  their  confidence,  has  not  yet  the  possession 
of  power,  and,  prior  to  the  4th  of  March  next,  can  do  nothing  to  ful61 
the  just  expectations  of  the  country.  The  Treasury  is  exhausted 
iind  in  a  wretched  condition.  I  was  aware  that  its  state  would  be 
urgeil  as  a  plausible  plea  against  present  distribution — urged  even  by 
a  party,  prominent  members  of  which  had  heretofore  protested  against 
any  reliance  whatever  on  the  public  lands  as  a  source  of  revenue. 
Now,  although,  1  do  not  admit  the  right  of  Congress  to  apply  the 
proceeds  of  all  the  public  lands,  consistently  with  the  terms  of  the 
deeds  of  cession  from  Virginia  and  the  other  ceding  States,  to  the  pur- 
poses of  ordinary  revenue  of  government,  yet  Congress  being  in  the 
habit  of  making  such  an  application,  1  was  willing  to  acquiesce  in  the 
continuation  of  the  habit  until,  I  hope  at  some  early  day,  a  suitable 
ble  provision  can  be  made  for  the  exchequer  out  of  some  more  iq[K 
propriate  and  fegitimste  source  than  the  public  lands. 


444  •PBBCHIS  OP  HKtfRT    CLAT. 

The  distribution  proposed  by  my  colleague  can  be  made,  and,  if  no 
other  Senator  does,  I  >vill  propose  to  make  it,  lo  commence  on  the 
first  day  of  January  next,  leaving  the  proceeds  of  the  lands  of  the 
current  year  applicable  to  the  uses  of  the  treasury.  This  will  avoid 
the  tinancial  objection,  as  I  hope,  prior  to  that  day,  that  some  per- 
manent and  adequate  provision  will  be  made  to  supply  government 
with  the  necessary  revenue.  I  shall  therefore,  vote  for  the  proposi- 
tion with  that  qualification  since  it  has  been  introduced,  although  I 
'  had  not  intended  to  move  it  myself  at  this  session. 

I  came  to  the  present  session  of  Congress  under  the  hope  that  it 
would  dedicate  itself  earnestly  to  the  urgent  and  necessary  work  of 
such  a  repair  of  the  shattered  Vessel  of  State  as  would  put  it  in  a  con- 
dition to  perform  the  glorious  voyage  which  it  will  begin  on  the  fourth 
of  March  next.  I  supposed,  indeed,  that  all  new  and  doubtful  mea- 
sures of  policy  would  be  avoided  ;  but  persuaded  myself  that  a  spirit 
of  manliness,  of  honor,  and  of  patriotism  would  prompt  those  who  yet 
linger  in  power  and  authority  at  least  to  provide  the  necessary  wayi 
and  means  to  defray  the  expenses  of  government,  in  the  hands  of 
their  successors,  during  the  present  year,  if  not  permanently.  But  I 
confess  with  pain  that  my  worst  fears  are  about  to  be  realized.  The 
administration  not  only  perseveres  in  the  errors  which  have  lost  it 
the  public  confidence,  but  refuses  to  allow  its  opponents  to  minister, 
in  any  way,  to  the  sufferings  of  the  community  or  the  necessities  of 
the  government.  Our  constitution  is  defectivej  in  allowing  those  to 
remain  in  authority  three  or  four  months  af\er  the  people  have  pro- 
nounced judgment  against  them  ;  or  rather  the  convention  did  not 
foresee  the  possibility  of  the  existence  of  an  administration  which 
would  deliberately  treat  with  neglect  and  contempt  the  manifest  ses- 
timents  of  their  constituents.  It  did  not  imagine  that  an  administra- 
tion could  be  so  formed  as  that,  although  smarting  under  a  terrible 
but  merited  defeat,  it  would,  in  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  fable,  dog- 
gedly hold  on  to  power,  refusing  to  use  it,  or  to  permit  others  to  use 
it,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 

We  have  just  had  read  to  us  a  lecture  from  the  honorable  and 
highly  respectable  Senator  from  New  Hampshire,  (Mr.  Pierce,) 
which  ought  to  have  been  exclusively  addressed  to  his  own  friends. 
He  tells  us  that  we  are  wasting  onr  time  in  party  debate,  and  that  a 
measure  is  always  got  up  at  the  commencement  of  every  session  oo 


OH  THK  PRB-KHPTIOV   BIU..  445 

which  a  general  political  battle  18  fought,  to  the  exdniiion  of  all  im- 
portant public  business.  There  is  some  truth  in  the  charge ;  and,  if 
it  be  wrong,  who  ought  to  be  held  responsible  for  it  ?  Clearly  thooe 
to  whom  the  administration  of  the  government  has  been  entrusted, 
and  who  have  majorities  in  both  Houses  of  Congress.  What  hat 
been  the  engrossing  subject  of  this  session  }  The  permanent  pre- 
emption bill.  Who  introduced  it,  and  why  was  it  introduced  ?  Not 
my  friends  but  the  Senator's.  And  it  has  been  brought  up  when 
there  is  an  operating  pre-emption  law  in  existence  which  has  a  long 
time  to  run.  After  the  debate  had  been  greatly  protracted,  and  after 
one  administration  Senator  had  notified  the  officers  of  the  chamber 
that  they  might  get  their  lamps  in  order,  and  another  had  declared 
that  they  were  leady  to  encamp  on  the  ground  until  the  bill  waa 
passed,  why  has  the  debate  been  permitted  to  continue  weeks  longer, 
without  explanation,  and  to  the  surprise  of  every  one  on  this  side  of 
the  Senate  ?  Why  has  more  th^p  half  the  session  been  consumed 
with  this  single  and  unnecessary  subject  ?  I  would  ask  that  Senator, 
who  assumes  the  right  to  lecture  us  all,  why  he  concurred  in  pres^ 
ing  on  the  Senate  this  uncalled  for  measure  }  Yes,  sir,  my  wont 
fears  are  about  to  be  realized.  Nothing  will  be  done  for  the  country 
during  this  session.  I  did  hope  that,  if  the  party  in  power  would  not, 
in  some  degree,  atone  for  past  misdeeds  during  the  remnant  of  their 
power,  they  would  at  least  give  the  new  administration  a  fair  trial, 
and  forbear  all  denunciation  or  condemnation  of  it  in  advance.  Bat 
has  this  been  their  equitable  course  ?  Before  the  new  President  hat 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  gentlemen  who  have  themselves 
contributed  to  bring  the  country  to  the  brink  of  ruin,  (they  will  par^ 
don  me  for  saying  it,  but  the  truth  must  be  spoken^)  these  very  gen- 
tlemen are  decrying  beforehand  those  measures  of  the  coming  admin- 
istration which  are  Indispensable,  and  which  they  must  know  to  be 
indispensable,  to  restore  the  public  happiness  and  prosperity  !  Tha 
honorable  Senator  in  my  eye,  (Mr.  Wright,)  said,  in  so  many  wordi 
that  he  meant  to  condemn  this  measure  of  dbtribution  in  adva  nee. 

[Mr.  Wright  shook  his  head.] 

I  have  taken  down  the  Senator's  words,  and  have  them  here  on 
my  notes. 

[Mr.  Wrioht.  If  the  honorable  Senator  will  permit  me,  I  will  tell  him  what  I 
■aid.  I  said  that  the  course  ot  his  friends  had  forced  the  consideration  of  this 
measure  on  us  in  advanve.'^ 


446  mscan  of  hbtrt  clat. 

Forced  it  on  them  in  advance !    How  ?    Projects  to  sqaander  the 
public  domain  are  brought  forward  by  friends  of  the  administration, 
in  the  form  of  a  graduation  bill,  by  which  fifty  millions  in  valae  of  a 
portion  of  it  would  have  been  suddenly  annihilated :  preemption 
oills,  cessions  to  a  few  of  the  States  of  the  whole  within  their  limits- 
Under  these  circumstances,  my  colleague  presents  a  conservative 
measure,  and  proposes,  in  lieu  of  one  of  these  wasteful  projects  faj 
way  of  amendment,  an  equitable  distribution  among  all  the  States  of 
the  avails  of  the  public  lands.     With  what  propriety  then  can  it  be 
■aid  that  we,  who  are  acting  solely  on  the  defensive,  hAve  forced  the 
measure  upon  our  opponents  ?    Let  them  withdraw  their  bill,  and  1 
will  answer  for  it  that  my  colleague  will  withdraw  his  amendmenti 
and  will  not,  at  this  session,  press  any  measure  of  distribution.     No, 
air,  no.     The  policy  of  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  the  clearly  de* 
fined  and  distinctly  marked  policy,  is,  to  condemn,  in  advance,  those 
measures  which  their  own  sagacity  enables  them  to  perceive  that  the 
new  administration,  faithful  to  their  own  principles  and  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  country,  must  bring  forward  to  build  up  once  more 
the  public  prosperity.     How,  otherwise,  are  we  to  account  for  oppo- 
sition, from  leading  friends  of  the  administration,  to  the  imposition  of 
duties  on  the  merest  luxuries  in  the  world  ?     It  is  absolutely  neces- 
suy  to  increase  the  public  revenue.    That  is  incontestable.     It  can 
only  be  done  by  the  imposition  of  duties  on  the  protected  articles,  or 
on  the  free  articles,  including  those  of  luxury  ;  for  no/One,  1  believe, 
in  the  Senate,  dreams  of  laying  a  direct  tax.     Well ;  if  duties  were 
proposed  on  the  protected  articles,  the  proposition  would  instantly  be 
denounced  as  reviving  a  high  tariff.     And  when  they  are  proposed 
on  silks  and  wines.  Senators  on  the  other  side  raise  their  voices  ia 
opposition  to  duties  on  these  articles  of  incontestable  luxury.    These, 
moreover,  are  objects  of  consumption  chiefly  with  the  rich,  and  they, 
of  course,  would  pay  the  principle  part  of  the  duty.    But  the  exemp- 
tion of  the  poor  from  the  burden  does  not  commend  the  measure  to 
the  acceptance  of  the  friends  of  this  expiring  administration.     And 
yet  they,  sometimes,  assume  to  be  guardians  of  the  interests  of  the 
poor.     Guardians  of  the  poor  !     Their  friendship  was  demonstrated 
at  a  former  session  by  espousing  a  measure  which  was  to  have  the 
tendency  of  reducing  wages,  and  now  they  put  themselves  in  oppo- 
sition to  a  tax  which  would  benefit  the  poor,  and  fall  almost  exda- 
nvely  on  the  rich. 


OV  THE  PEl-KKPTIOlf  MLU  447 

I  will  not  detain  the  Senate  now  by  dwelling  on  the  ruinous  stats 
of  the  trade  with  France,  in  silks  and  wines  especially,  as  it  is  now 
carried  on.  But  I  cannot  forbear  observing,  that  we  import  from 
France  and  her  dependeificies  thirty-three  millions  of  dollars  annuallji 
whilst  we  export  in  return  only  about  nineteen  millions,  leaving  a 
balance  against  us,  in  the  whole  trade,  of  fourteen  millions  of  dollars ; 
and,  excluding  the  French  dependencies,  the  balance  against  us  in 
the  direct  tradfe,  with  France,  is  seventeen  millions.  Yet  gentlemen 
say,  we  must  not  touch  this  trade !  We  must  not  touch  a  trade  with 
such  0  heavy  and  ruinous  balance  against  us — a  balance,  a  large  party 
if  not  the  whole«  of  which  is  paid  in  specie.  1  have  been  informed, 
and  believe,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  gold  wnich  was  obtained  from 
France  under  the  treaty  of  indemnity,  ana  which,  during  General 
JacksoD^s  administration,  was  with  so  much  care  and  parade  intro* 
duced  into  the  United  States,  perhaps  under  the  vain  hope  that  it 
would  remain  here,  in  less  than  eighteen  months  was  re-exported  to 
France  in  the  very  boxes  in  which  it  was  brought,  to  liquidate  our 
commercial  debt.  Yet  we  must  not  supply  the  indispensable  wants 
of  the  treasury  by  taxing  any  of  the  articles  of  this  disadvantageous 
commerce  !  And  some  gentlemen,  assuming  not  merely  the  guar- 
dianship of  the  poor,  but  of  the  south  also,  (with  about  as  much  fi- 
delity in  the  one  case  as  iu  the  other,)  object  to  the  imposition  of  du- 
ties upon  these  luxuries,  because  they  might  affect  somewhat  the 
trade  with  France  in  a  Southern  staple.  But  duties  upon  any  for- 
eign imports  may  affect  in  some  small  degree,  our  exports.  If  the 
objection,  therefore,  be  sustained,  we  must  forbear  to  lay  any  imposts, 
and  rely  as  some  gentlemen  are  understood  to  desire,  6n  direct  taxes. 
But  to  this  neither  the  country  nor  Congress  will  ever  consent.  We 
have  hitherto  resorted  mainly,  and  I  have  no  doubt  always  will  re- 
sort, to  our  foreign  imports  for  revenue.  And  can  any  objects  be 
selected  with  more  propriety  than  those  which  enter  so  largely  into 
the  consumption  of  the  opulent  ?  It  is  of  more  consequence  to  the 
community,  in  the  consideration  of  duties,  who  consumes  the  articles 
charged  with  them,  and  consequently,  who  pays  them,  than  how  the 
dutied  articles  are  purchased  abroad.  The  South  is  the  last  place 
from  which  an  objection  should  come  on  the  score  of  disproportionate 
eonsumption.  I  venture  to  assert  that  there  is  more  champaign  wine 
consumed  in  the  Astor  House  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  one  year, 
than  in  any  State  south  of  the  Potomac.  Our  total  amount  of  io»- 
ports  last  year  was  one  hundred  and  fiwr  millions  of  dollars.    De* 


448  SPIKCHtt  OP  Mnbt  clat. 

daciing  the  free  articles,  the  amount  of  goods  suoject  to  datj 
probably  not  more  than  between  fifty  and  sixty  millions.     Now,  if 
we  are  to  adhere  to  the  compromise  of  the  tariff,  which  it  is  my  wish 
to  be  able  to  do,  but  concerning  which  I  have  remarked  lately  a  por^ 
tentous  silence  on  the  part  of  some  of  its  professing  friends  on  the 
other  side,  it  will  be  recollected  that  the  maximum  of  any  duty  to  be 
imposed  is  twenty  per  cent,  after  June  1S42.     It  would  not  be  safe 
to  assume  our  imports  in  future  of  articles  that  would  remain  for 
consumption,  and  not  be  re-exported,  higher  than  one  hundred  mil* 
lions,  twenty  per  cent,  on  which  would  yield  a  gross  rewenue  annu- 
ally of  twenty  millions.     But  I  think  that  we  ought  not  to  estifnate 
our  imports  at  more  than  ninety  millions  ;  for,  besides  other  causei 
that  must  tend  to  diminish  them,  some  ten  or  twelve  millions  of  oar 
exports  will  be  applied  annually  to  the  payment  of  interest  or  prinei* 
pal  of  our  state  debts  held  abroad,  and  will  not  return  in  the  form  of 
imports.     Twenty  per  cent,  upon  ninety  millions  would  yield  a  groa 
revenue  of  eighteen  millions  only.     Thus  it  is  manifest  that  there 
must  be  additional  duties.     And  I  think  it  quite  certain   that  the 
Amount  of  necessary  revenue  cannot  be  raised  without  going  up  to 
the  limit  of  the  compromise  npon  all  articles  whatever  which,  by  its 
terms,  are  liable  to  duty.     And  these  additional  duties  ought  to  ba 
laid  now,  forthwith,  clearly  before  the  close  of  the  session.     The 
reyenue  is  now  deficient,  compelling  the  administration  to  resort  to 
the  questionable  and  dangerous  use  of  treasury  notes.     Of  this  deS- 
cient  revenue,  there  will  go  off  five  millions  during  the  next  sessida 
of  Congress,  according  to  the  estimate  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury, two  ana  a  half  millions  on  the  3l8t  December,  1841,  and  two 
and  a  half  millions  more  on  the  30lh  June,  1S42.     This  reductiot 
takes  place  under  that  provision  of  the  compromise  act  by  which  one 
half  the  excess  of  all  duties  beyond  twenty  per  cent,  is  repealed  oi 
the  last  day  of  this  year,  and  the  other  moiety  of  that  excess  on  the 
last  day  of  June,  1S42.     Now,  if  Congress  does  not  provide  for  tha 
great  deficiency  in  the  rejyenue  prior  to  the  close  of  the  present  ses- 
sion, how  is  it  possible  to  provide  for  it  in  season  at  the  session  whidi 
begins  on  the  first  Monday  in  December  next  ?    No  great  change  it 
the  customs  ought  to  be  made  without  reasonable  notice  to  the  me^ 
chant,  to  enable  him  to  adapt  his  operations  to  the  change.     How  ii 
it  possible  to  give  this  notice,  if  nothing  is  done  until  the  next  regv- 
lar  meeting  of  Congress  ?     Waiving  all  notice  to  the  merchant,  and 
adverting  merely  to  the  habits  of  Congress,  is  it  not  manifest  that  w 


I 


Off  THB  nUfi-BHPTIOff   BILL.  449 

rerenue  bill  can  be  passed  by  the  last  day  of  December,  at  a  session 
commeocing  on  the  first  Monday  of  that  month  ?  How,  then,  can 
gentlemen  who  have,  at  least  the  temporary  posisession  of  the  gcvem- 
ment,  reconcile  it  to  duty  and  to  patriotism  to  go  home  and  leave  it 
in  this  condition  r  I  heard  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  (Mr. 
Buchanan,)  at  the  last  session,  express  himself  in  favor  of  a  duty  on 
wines  and  silks.  Why  is  he  now  silent  ?  Has  he,  too,  changed  his 
opinion  ? 

[Mr.  BucHAiTAy.    I  have  changed  none  of  my  opinions  on  the  subject.] 

I  am  glad,  most  happy,  to  hear  it.  Then  the  Senator  ought  to 
unite  with  us  in  the  imposition  of  duties  suflicient  to  produce  an  ade- 
quate revenue.  Yet  his  friends  denounce,  in  advance,  the  idea  of 
imposing  duties  on  articles  of  luxury  ?  They  denounce  distribution ! 
They  denounce  an  extra  session,  after  creating  an  absolute  necessity 
for  it !  They  denounce  all  measures  to  give  us  a  sound  currency  but 
the  Sub-Treasury,  denounced  by  the  people  !  They  denounce  the 
administration  of  President  Harrison  before  it  is  commenced  !  Part* 
ing  from  the  power  of  which  the  people  have  stript  them,  with  regret 
and  reluctance,  and  looking  all  around  them  with  sulliness.  they  re- 
fuse to  his  administration  that  fair  trial  which  the  laws  allow  to 
every  arraigned  culprit.  I  hope  that  gentleman  will  reconsider  thif 
course,  and  that,  out  of  deference  to  the  choice  of  the  people,  if  not 
from  feelings  of  justice  and  propriety,  they  will  forbear  to  condemn 
before  they  have  heard  President  Harrison^s  administration.  If  gen- 
tlemen are  for  peace  and  harmony,  we  are  prepared  to  meet  them  in 
a  spirit  of  peace  and  harmony,  to  unite  with  them  in  healing  tho 
wounds  and  building  up  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  But  if  they 
are  for  war,  as  it  seems  they  are,  1  say,  '^  Lay  on,  Macduff." 

One  argument  of  the  honorable  Senator  who  has  just  taken  his 
•eat,  (Mr.  Wright)  I  wish  to  detach  from  the  residue  of  his  speech, 
that  1  may,  at  once,  put  it  to  sleep  forever.  With  all  his  well  known 
ability,  and  without  meaning  to  be  disrespeetful,  I  may  add,  with  all 
bis  characteristic  ingehuity  and  subtlety,  he  has  urged  that  if  yoa 
distribute  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  you  arrogate  to  yourselvee 
the  power  of  taxing  the  people  to  raise  money  for  distribution  among 
the  States ;  that  there  is  no  difference  between  revenue  proceeding 
from  the  puUic  landi  and  KTenoe  fipom  the  customs  \  and  that  theiv 


460  SPRBCHBt  OP  HEHftT  OLAT. 

10  nothing  in  the  constitution  which  allows  you  to  lay  duties  on  im- 
ports for  the  purpose  of  making  up  a  deficiency  produced  by  distri* 
buiing  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands. 

I  deny  the  position,  utterly  deny  it,  and  I  will '  refute  it  from  the 
express  language  of  the  constitution.  From  the  first,  1  have  been  of 
those  who  protested  against  the  existence  of  any  )K>wer  in  this  go- 
vernment to  tax  the  people  for  the  purpose  of  a  subsequent  dtstribu- 
tion  of  the  money  among  the  States.  1  still  protest  against  it.  There 
exists  no  such  power.  We  invoke  the  aid  of  no  such  power  in  main- 
tenance of  the  principle  of  distribution,  applied  to  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  domain.  But  if  such  a  power  clearly  existed, 
there  would  not  be  the  slightest  ground  for  the  apprehension  of  its 
exercise.  The  imposition  of  taxes  is  always  an  unpleasant,  sometimes 
a  painful  duty.  What  government  will  ever  voluntarily  incur  the 
odium  and  consent  to  lay  taxes,  and  become  a  tax-gatherer,  not  to 
have  the  satisfaction  of  expending  the  money  itself,  but  to  distribute  it 
among  other  governments,  to  be  expended  by  them  ?  But  to  he 
constitution.  Let  us  see  whether  the  taxing  power  and  the  land 
power  are,  as  the  argument  of  the  Senator  assumes,  identical  and  the 
same.     What  is  the  language  of  the  constitution  ? 

"The  Congress  Rhall  hava  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxcB,  daiies,  impo«(te  and 
•xoiaca,  top  Iff  the  debti  ami  provide  for  the  common  difenn  and  general  we'/ure  ef 
thit  United  States  ;  but  all  duties,  iuipobtu  und  exci.es  bhuJl  be  uuiform  throughoiit 
the  United  States.*' 

Here  is  ample  power  to  impose  taxes ;  but  the  object  for  which 
the  money  is  to  be  raised  is  specified.  There  is  no  authority  what- 
ever conveyed  to  raise  money  by  taxation,  for  the  purpose  of  subse- 
quent distribution  among  the  States,  unless  the  phrase  '^  general  wel- 
fare" includes  such  a  power.  The  doctrine,  once  held  by  a  party  upon 
whose  principles  the  Senator  and  his  friends  now  act,  in  relation  to 
the  Executive  Department,  that  those  phrases  included  a  grant  of 
power,  has  been  long  since  exploded  and  abandoned.  They  bi«  now, 
by  common  consent,  understood  to  indicate  a  purpose,  and  not  to 
Test  a  power.  The  clau^  of  the  constitution,  fairly  construed  aod 
understood,  means  that  the  taxing  power  is 'to  be  exerted  to  raise 
money  to  enable  Congress  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  common 
defence  and  general  welfare.  And  it  is  to  provide  for  the  general 
welfare,  in  any  exigency,  by  a  fair  exercise  of  the  powers  granted  ia 
the  constitution.    The  Republican  party  of  1798,  in  whoee  sdiool  I 


Oir  TRB  PBlF-XHPTIOir   BILL.  461 

was  brought  up,  and  to  whose  rules  of  interpretingthe  constitution  I 
have  ever  adhered,  maintained  that  this  was  a  limited  government ; 
that  it  had  no  powers  but  granted  powers,  or  powers  necessary  and 
proper  to  carry  into  effect  the  granted  powers  ;  and  that,  in  any  given 
instance  of  the  exercise  of  power,  it  was  necessary  to  show  the  spe- 
cific grant  of  it,  or  that  the  proposed  measure  was  necessary  and 
proper  to  carry  into  effect  a  specifically  granted  power  or  nowers. 

There  is  then,  I  repeat,  no  power  or  authority  in  the  general  go- 
vernment to  lay  and  collect  taxes  in  order  to  distribute  the  proceeds 
among  the  States.  Such  a  financial  project,  if  any  adminiatratioD 
were  mad  enough  to  adopt  it,  would  be  a  flagrant  usuri)ation.  But 
how  stands  the  case  as  to  the  land  power  ?  There  is  not  in  the  whole 
constitution  a  single  line  or  word  that  indicates  an  intention  that  the 
proceeds  of  the  public  lands  should  come  into  the  public  treasury  to 
be  used  as  a  portion  of  the  revenue  of  the  government.  On  the  con* 
trary,  the  unlimited  grant  of  power  to  raise  revenue  in  all  the  forms 
of  taxation,  would  seem  to  manifest,  that  that  was  to  be  the  source 
of  supply,  and  not  the  public  lands.  But  the  grant  of  power  to  Con- 
gress over  the  public  lands  in  the  constitution  is  ample  and  compre- 
hensive. 

**  The  Congress  pliall  have  power  to  difipose  of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and 
regalations  renpectin^  the  territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States. S 

This  is  a  broad, 'unlimited,  and  plenary  power,  subject  to  no  restric- 
tion .other  than  a  sound,  practical,  and  statesmanlike  discretion,  to  be 
exercised  by  Congress.  It  applies  to  all  the  territory  and  properly 
of  the  United  States,  whether  acquired  by  treaty  with  foreign  pow- 
ers, or  by  cessions  of  particular  States,  or  however  obtained.  It  can- 
not be  denied  that  the  right  to  dispose  of  the  territory  and  property 
of  the^  United  States,  includes  a  right  to  dispose  of  the  proceeds  of 
their  territory  and  property,  and  consequently  a  right  to  distribute 
those  proceeds  among  the  States.  If  the  general  clause  in  the  con- 
stitution allows  and  authorizes,  as  I  think  it  clearly  does,  distribution 
among  the  several  States,  I  will  hereafter  show  that  the  conditions 
on  which  the  States  ceded  to  the  United  States  can  only  now  receive 
their  just  and  equitable  ful^lment  by  distribution. 

The  Senator  from  New  York  argued  that  if  the  power  contended 
fiNT,  to  dispoee  of  the  territory  nd  property  at  the  United  Statee,  dr 


453  sPKBcait  OP  henrt  clat. 

their  proceeds,  existed,  it  would  embrace  the  national  ships,  public 
buildings,  magazines,  dock-yards,  and  whatever  else  belonged  to  the 
government.     And  so  it  would.     There  is  not  a  doubt  of  it  \  but 
when  will  Congress  ever  perpetrate  such  a  folly  as  to  distribute  this 
national  property  ?     It  annually  distributes  arms,  according  to  a  fixed 
rule,  among  the  States,  wilh  great  propriety.     Are  they  not  pioperty 
belonging  to  the  United  States  ?     To  whose  authority  is  the  use  of 
them  assigned  ?    To  that  of  the  States.     And  we  may  safely  con- 
clude, that  when  it  is  expedient  to  distribute.  Congress  will  make 
distribution,  and  when  it  is  best  to  retain  any  national  property,  un- 
der the  common  authority,  it  will  remain  subject  to  it.     1  chaJleoge 
the  Senator,  or  any  other  person,  to  show  any  limitation  on  the  pow^ 
of  Congress  to  dispose  of  the  territory  or  property  of  the  United 
States  or  their  proceeds,  but  that  which  may  be  found  in  the  terms 
of  the  deeds  of  cession,  or  in  a  sound  and  just  discretion.     Come  on ; 
who  can  show  it }    Has  it  not  been  shown  that  the  taxing  power,  by 
•pecificalion  of  the  objects  for  which  it  is  to  be  exercised,  excludes 
all  idea  of  raising  money  for  the  purpose  of  distribution  ?     And  that 
the  land  power  places  distribution  on  a  totally  different  footing  ?    That 
DO  part  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  domain  compose  necessarily,  or 
perhaps  properly,  a  portion  of  the  public  revenue  ?     What  is  the 
language  of  the  constitution  }    That  to  pay  the  dtbts,  provide  for  the 
common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States,  you  may 
take  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  ?     No,  no.     It  says,  for  these 
ends,  in  other  words,  for  the  conduct  of  the  government  of  the  Union, 
you  shall  have  power,  unlimited  as  to  amount  and  objects,  to  lay 
taxes.     That  is  what  it  says  ;  and  if  you  go  to  the  constitution,  this 
is  its  answer.     You  have  no  light  to  go  for  power  anywhere  else. 
Hereafter,  I  shall  endeavor  further  to  show  that,  by  adopting  the 
distribution  principle,  you  do  not  exerci.se  or  affect  the  taxing  power; 
that  you  will  be  setting  no  dangerous  precedent,  as  is  alledged  ;  and 
that  you  will,  in  fact,  only  pay  an  honest  debt  to  the  States,  too  long 
withheld  from  them,  and  of  which  some  of  them  now  stand  in  the 
greatest  need. 

In  the  opposition  to  distribution,  we  find  associated  together  the 
friends  of  pre-emption,  the  friends  of  graduation,  and  the  friends  of  a 
cession  of  the  whole  of  the  public  lands  to  a  few  of  the  States.  In* 
atead  of  reproaching  us  wilh  a  want  of  constitutional  power  to  make 
an  equitable  and  just  diatribulioD  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the 


ON   THE  PRR-KMPTrON   BILL.  453 

public  lands  among  all  the  States,  they  would  do  well  to  point  to  the 
constitutional  authority  or  to  the  page  iu  the  code  ofjustice  by  which 
their  projects  are  to  be  maintained.  But  it  is  not  my  purpose  now 
to  dwell  on  these  matters.  My  present  object  is  with  the  argument 
of  the  Senator  from  New  York,  and  his  friends,  founded  on  financial 
considerations. 

All  at  once,  these  gentlemen  seem  to  be  deeply  interested  in  tbQ 
revenue  derivable  from  the  public  lands.  Listen  to  them  now,  and 
you  would  suppose  that  heretofore  they  had  always  been,  and  here- 
after would  continue  to  be,  decidedly  and  warmly  in  favor  of  carefully 
husbanding  the  public  domain,  and  obtaining  from  it  the  greatest 
practicable  amount  of  revenue,  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  general 
government.  You  would  imagine  that  none  of  them  had  ever  es- 
poused or  sanctioned  any  scheme  for  wasting  or  squandering  the  pub- 
lic lands  ;  that  they  regarded  them  as  a  sacred  and  inviolabU^  fund, 
to  be  preserved  for  the  benefit  of  posterity  as  well  as  this  generation 
It  is  my  intention  now  to  unmask  these  gentlemen,  and  to  hhow  thaf 
their  real  system  for  the  administration  of  the  public  lands  embraces 
no  object  of  revenue,  either  in  the  general  government  or  the  States  ; 
that  their  purpose  is  otherwise  to  dispose  of  them  ;  that  the  fever  for 
revenue  is  an  intermittent,  which  appears  only  when  a  bill  to  distri- 
bute the  proceeds  equally  among  all  the  States  is  pending  ;  and  that, 
as  soon  as  that  bill  is  got  rid  of  gentlemen  relapse  into  their  old  pro« 
jects  of  throwing  away  the  public  lands,  and  denouncing  all  objects 
of  revenue  from  the  public  lands  as  unwise,  illiberal,  and  unjust  to- 
ward the  new  States.  I  will  make  all  this  good  by  the  most  incon* 
trovertible  testimony.  1  will  go  to  the  very  highest  {luthority  in  the 
dominant  party  during  the  last  twelve  years,  and  from  that  I  will 
come  down  to  the  honorable  Senator  from  New  York  and  other  nienw 
bers  of  the  party.  (I  should  not  say  come  down  ;  it  is  certainly  not 
descending  from  the  late  President  of  the  United  States  to  approach 
the  Senator  from  New  York.  If  intellect  is  the  standard  by  which 
to  measure  elevation,  he  would  certainly  stand  far  above  the  measure 
of  the  Hermitage.)  I  will  show,  by  the  most  authentic  documents, 
that  the  opponents  of  distribution,  upon  the  principle  now  so  urgently 
pressed,  of  revenue,  are  no  bonafide  friends  of  revenue  from  the  pub- 
lic lands.  I  am  afraid  I  shall  wsAfy  the  Senate,  but  I  entreat  it  to 
bear  patiently  with  me^  while  1  retrace  the  history  of  this  measure  of 
d^tribation. 

•DD 


454  sP£EcnES  of  henut  clay. 

You  will  rocolloct,  sir,  lliat  some  nine  or  ten  years  ago  the  subject 
of  the  public  lands,  by  one  of  the  most  singular  associations  that  was 
ever  wilnesstrd,  was  refiTred  to  the  committee  on  manufactures,  by 
one  of  the  strangest  parliamentary  manoeuvres  that  was  ever  prac- 
tised, for  no  other  purpose  than  to  embarrass  the  individual  who  now 
has  the  honor  to  address  you,  and  who  happened  at  that  time  to  be 
a  member  of  that  committee.  It  was  in  vain  that  I  protested  against 
the  reference,  showed  the  total  incongruity  between  the  manufactures 
of  the  country  and  the  public  lands,  and  entreated  gentlemen  to  spare 
us,  and  to  spare  themsclvi'S  the  reproaches  which  such  a  forced  and 
unnatural  connection  would  bring  upon  them.  It  was  all  to  no  pur- 
pose; the  subject  was  thrown  upon  the  committee  on  manufactures, 
in  other  words,  it  was  thrown  upon  me  ;  for  it  was  well  known  that 
although  among  my  colleagues  of  the  con)mittoe  there  might  be  those 
who  were  my  superiors  in  other  respects,  owing  to  my  local  position, 
it  was  supposed  that  I  possessed  a  more  fatTiiliar  knowledge  with  the 
public  lands  than  any  of  them,  when,  in  truth,  mine  was  not  con- 
siderable. There  N^as  another *more  weighty  motive  with  the  mt- 
jority  cf  the  Senate  for  devolving  the  business  on  me.  The  zeal,  and 
perhaps  too  great  partiality  of  my  friends,  had,  about  that  time^  pre- 
sented my  name  for  a  hi^h  oGTice.  And  it  was  supposed,  that  no 
measure,  for  permanently  settling  the  question  of  the  public  lands, 
could  emanate  from  me,  that  would  not  affect  injuriously  my  popu- 
larity either  with  the  new  or  the  old  States,  or  with  both.  1  ft»lt  the 
embarrassment  of  the  position  in  which  1  was  placed  ;  but  1  resolved 
not  to  sink  under  it.  I  pulh^d  off  my  coat  and  went  hard  to  work. 
I  manufactured  the  measure  for  distributing  equitably,  in  just  propor- 
tions, the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  among  the  peveral  States 
When  repoited  from  the  committee,  its  reception  in  the  Senate,  in 
Congress,  and  in  the  coumry,  was  triumphant.  I  had  every  reason 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  result  of  my  labors,  and  my  political  oppo- 
nents had  abundant  cause  for  bitter  regrets  at  their  indiscretion  in 
wantonly  throwing  the  subject  on  me.  The  bill  passed  the  Senate, 
but  was  not  acted  upon  in  the  House  at  that  session.  At  the  suc- 
ceeding session  it  passed  both  Houses.  In  spite  of  all  those  party 
connexions,  which  are,  perhaps,  the  strongest  ties  that  bind  the  hu- 
man lace,  Jackson  men,  breaking  loose  from  party  thraldom,  united 
with  anli-Jackson  men,  and  voted  tKe  bill  by  overwhelming  uiajori- 
ties  in  both  Houses.  If  it  had  been  returned  by  the  Presid«»Dt,  it 
would  have  passed  both  bouses  bv.coDslitutiooal  majorities,  bif  vetA 


OK  THS  PM-EKPTION   BILL.  456 

notwithstanding.  But  it  was  a  measure  suggested,  although  not 
voluntarily,  by  an  individual  who  shared  no  part  in  the  President's 
counsels  or  bis  aS*ections  ;  and  although  he  had  himself,  in  his  annual 
message,  recommended  a  similar  measure,  be  did  not  hesitate  to 
change  his  ground  in  order  to  thwart  my  views.  He  knew,  as  I  have 
always  believed  and  have  understood,  that  if  he  returned  the  bill,  at 
by  the  constitution  he  was  bound  io  do,  it  would  become  a  law,  by 
the  sanction  of  the  requisite  majorities  in  the  two  Houses.  He  re- 
solved, therefore,  upon  an  arbitrary  course,  and  to  defeat,  by  an  irre- 
gular and  unprecedented  proceetling,  what  he  could  not  prevent  by 
reason  and  the  legitimate  action  of  the  constitution.  He  resolved  not 
to  return  the  bill,  and  did  not  return  it  to  Congress,  but  pocketed  it ! 
I  proceed  now  to  the  documentary  proof  which  I  promised.  In  hia 
annual  nnessage  of  Decc^mber  4,  1832,  President  Jackson  says : 

••  Provioni*  to  th**  formjition  of  O'lr  ptvA-nt  rnn*tituTion,  it  wa«  irrommendi^d  by 
Consretv  thHt  a  portion  of  the*  waste  iamls  owned  by  the  Sttitet*,  tihoul'l  be  ceded  to 
the  Uuited  ."^Mtes  f<ir  th'*  purpo.'rs  of  Reneml  harmony,  and  em  a  fund  to  meet  the 
«xppn«*»a  n(  tlie  war.  Thr  rerommendiition  wns  adopted,  nnd  at  HirtVrpni  periods 
of  tim-,  the  ?=t«te?  of  MaPsnchns<Mt4,  N«*w  York,  and  Vjni^inid,  North  and  South 
Carolim,  nnd  C^onri.i,  ^niniftl  their  varairt  Foil  for  the  nwB  for  whieh  they  had 
been  ntkf'd.  Ah  tlie  lands  may  now  he  considered  as  relieved  from  ibis  pl<>(lge,  the 
object  for  which  th'*y  wrre  coded  hiivini;  hi-en  accomplished,  it  is  in  the  discrrrioa 
of  Confn^Bsto  di-'po.«e  of  tbcni  in  mich  :i  whv  as  l^cht  to  conduce  to  the  quiet,  har- 
mony, Jind  K^'n'-ral  intereM  of  the  American  people,**  «kc.  "  It  Begins  to  me  to  be 
O'lr  true  policr  that  the  public  landd  shall  cease  as  soon  us  praeticable  to  be  a  Bourse 
of  revenue,"  Sec.  • 

Thus,  in  Deceml)er,  1832,  President  Jackson  was  of  opinion,  first, 
that  the  public  lands  were  released  from  the  pledge  of  them  to  the 
expenses  of  the  revolutionary  war.  Secondly,  that  it  was  in  the 
power  of  Congress  to  dispose  of  them  according  to  its  discretion,  in 
such  way  asi  best  to  conduce  to  the  quiet,  harmony,  and  general  in- 
terest of  the  American  people.  And,  thirdly,  that  the  public  lands 
should  cease  as  soon  as  practicable  to  be  a  source  of  revenue.  So 
far  from  concurring  in  the  argument,  now  insisted  upon  by  hisfriends^ 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  defeating  distribution,  that  the  public  lands 
should  be  regarded  and  cherished  as  a  source  of  revenue,  was  clearly 
of  opinion  that  they  should  altogether  cease  to  be  considered  as  a 
source  of  revenue. 

The  mcSsure  of  distribution  was  reported  by  me  from  the  commit- 
tee on  manufactures,  in  April,  1832,  and  what  was  done  with  it  ? 
The  same  majority  of  the  Senate  which  had  so'Strangely  discovered 
I  eongeniality.  between  Amrisia  tnMwifantarci  and  the  paUic  laads, 


466  iPBBCBis  or  hbitrt  clat. 

instead  of  acting  on  the  report,  resolved  to  refer  it  to  the  cominitfae 
on  public  lands,  of  which  the  Senator  from  Alabama,  (Mr.  King) 
chairman  ;  thus  exhibiting  the  curious  parliamentary  anomaly  of 
ferring  the  report  of  one  standing  oommitlee  to  another  standing  com- 
mittee. The  chairman,  on  the  18th  May,  made  a  report,  from  which 
many  pertinent  extracts  might  be  made,  but  I  shall  content  myself 
With  one : 

"  This  cominittee  turn  with  confidence  from  the  land  ofSces  to  the  cuttom  hovit 
and  sav,  here  ar*f  the  true  sources  of  Fedenil  revenue !  Give  lundi*  to  the  cultivator 
And  tell  him  to  keep  hia  money,  and  lay  it  out  io  their  cultivation  !'* 

Now,  Mr.  President,  bear  in  mind  that  this  report,  made  by  the 
Senator  from  Alabama  embodies  the  sentiments  of  his  party ;  that  the 
measure  of  distribution  which  came  from  the  committee  on  manufac- 
tures, exhibited  one  system  for  the  administration  of  the  public  lands, 
and  that  it  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  public  lands,  to  enable 
that  committee  to  make  an  argumentative  report  against  it,  and  to 
present  their  system — a  counter  or  antagonist  system.  Well,  this 
eounter  system  is  exhibited — and  what  is  it  ?  Does  it  propose  to  re« 
tain  and  husband  the  public  lands  as  a  source  of  revenue  ?  Do  we 
hear  any  thing  from  that  comtnitte  about  the  wants  of  the  exchequer 
end  the  expediency  of  economizing  and  preserving  the  public  lands  to 
'supply  them  ?  No  such  thing.  No  such  recommendation.  On  the 
contrary,  we  are  deliberately  told  to  avert  our  eyes  from  the  land 
offices,  and  to  fix  them  exclusively  on  the  custom  houses,  as  the  true 
eources  of  federal  revenue  !  Give  away  the  public  lands,  was  the 
doctrine  of  that  report.  Give  it  to  the  cultivator,  and  tell  him  to 
keep  his  money  !  And  the  party  of  the  Senator  from  New  York, 
from  that  day  to  this,  have  adhered  to  that  doctrine,  except  at  occa- 
sional short  periods,  when  the  revenue  fit  has  come  upon  them,  and 
they  have  found  it  convenient,  in  order  to  defeat  distribution,  to 
profess  great  solicitude  for  the  interests  of  the  revenue.  Some  of 
them,  indeed,  are  too  frank  to  make  any  such  profession.  I  should 
be  glad  to  know  from  the  Senator  from  Alabama  if  he  adheres  to  the 
the  sentiments  of  his  report  of  1832,  and  still  thinks  that  the  custom 
houses,  and  not  the  land  offices,  are  the  true  sources  of  fedef»l 
revenue. 

(Mr.  Kuio  here  nodded  aaent.] 

I  expected  it.    This  resvowel  Im  hoiionUe  to  the  candor  and  in- 


ov  TBB  ns*iiirriozr  biu..  4fi7 

dependence  of  the  Senator/  He  does  not  go,  then,  with  the  revenua 
arguers.  He  does  not  go  with  the  Senator  from  New  York,  who 
speaks  strongly  in  favor  of  the  revenue  from  the  public  lands,  and 
voles  for  every  proposition  to  throw  away  the  public  lands.  During 
the  whole  progress  of  the  bill  of  distribution  through  the  Senate,  as 
hr  as  their  sentiments  were  to  be  inferred  from  their  votes,  or  were 
to  be  known  by  the  positive  declarations  of  some  of  them,  the  party 
dominant  then  and  now  acted  in  conformity  with  the  doctrines  con- 
tained in  the  report  of  their  organ,  (Mr.  King.)  Nevertheless,  the 
bill  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress  by  decisive  majorities. 

Smothered,  as  already  stated  by  President  Jackson,  he  did  not  re- 
turn it  to  the  Senate  until  the  4th  of  December,  1833.  With  it 
came  his  memorable  Veto  message— one  of  the  most  singular  omni- 
busses  that  was  ever  beheld — a  strange  vehicle  that  seemed  to  chal- 
lenge w(  nder  and  admiration  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  hands 
evidently  employed  in  its  construction,  the  impress  of  some  of  them 
smeared  and  soiled  as  if  they  were  fresh  from  the  kitchen.  Hear  how 
President  Jackson  lays  down  the  law  in  this  message  : 

*'  On  the  whole,  I  adhere  to  the  opinion  exr>reflBed  by  me  in  my  annual  mesBag* 
of  IS32,  that  it  is  our  true  policy  that  the  public  lands  fchall  cease,  as  soon  as  rameti- 
cable,  to  be  a  source  of  revenue,  except  for  the  p«ymenr  of  those  geneml  charges 
which  grow  out  of  the  acquisitioo  of  the  lands,  their  survey  and  sale.**  **  I  do  not 
doubt  thntit  is  the  real  interest  of  each  and  all  the  States  in  the  Union,  and  partico- 
larlv  oftho  new  States,  that  the  price  of  these  lands  shall  be  reduced  and  graduated ; 
and  that  after  they  have  been  oli'ered  fur  a  certain  number  of  yean*,  the  refuse,  re- 
maining unsold,  shall  be  abandoned  to  the  States,  and  the  machinery  of  our  luid 
sytitem  entirely  withdrawn.** 

These  are  the  conclusions  of  the  head  of  that  party  which  has  been 
dominant  in  this  country  for  twelve  years  past.  I  say  twelve,  for  the 
last  four  have  been  but  as  a  codicil  to  the  will,  evincing  a  mere  con- 
tinuation of  the  same  policy,  purposes,  and  designs  with  that  which 
preceded  it.  During  that  long  and  dismal  period,  we  all  know  too 
well  that  the  commands  of  no  major-general  were  ever  executed  with 
more  implicit  obedience  than  were  the  orders  of*  President  Jackson, 
iff,  if  you  please,  the  public  policy  as  indicated  by  him.  Now,  in 
this  message,  he  repeats,  that  the  public  lands  should  cease  to  be  a 
source  of  revenue,  with  a  slight  limitation  as  to  the  reimbursement  of 
the  charges  of  their  administration ;  and  adds  that  their  price  should 
be  reduced  and  graduated,  and  what  he  terms  the  refuse  land,  should 
be  ceded  to  the  states  within  which  it  is  situated.  6y-the-by,  these 
refuse  lands,  according  to  statements  which  I  have  recently  seen  from 


498  BFncHU  or  nnniT  clay. 

the  land  office,  have  been  the  source  of  nearly  one  half-— upwards  of 
forty  millions  of  dollars — of  all  the  receipts  from  the  public  lands, 
and  that  too,  principally,  since  the  dale  of  that  veto  message ! 


It  is  perfectly  manifest^  that  the  consideration  of  revenue,  now 
earnestly  pressed  upon  us  by  the  friends  of  General  Jackson,  was  no 
object  with  him  in  the  administration  of  the  (!)ublic  lands,  and  that  it 
was  his  policy,  by  reduction  of  the  price,  by  graduation,  by  pre-emp- 
tions, and  by  ultimate  cessions,  to  get  rid  of  them  as  soon  as  practi- 
cable.  We  have  seen  that  the  committee  on  the  public  lands  add  his 
party  coincided  with  him.  Of  this,  further  testimony  is  furnis^hed  in 
the  debates,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1S38,  which  took  place  on 
the  distribution  bill.  Mr.  Kane,  of  Illinois,  (a  prominent  administra- 
tion Senator,)  in  that  debate,  said  : 


'  Should  any  further  excuse  hp  demanded  for  renewing  again  this  discaaBion,  I  re- 
to  the  DieaMge  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  at  the  commencemem  of 


(C 

the  present  seebion,  which,  a|>un  a  comprehens'ive  view  ol  ibe  general  stibcytaniial  in- 
teveatB  of  the  confederacy,  has,  for  the  fintt  time  on  the  purt  of  any  Executive  Ma- 
gistrate of  fhis  country,  decliiri-rj  •  '  It  seems  to  mc,  (says  the  President,)  to  be  mr- 
irue policy  that  the  public  lands  thaU  rrase  a»  won  at  jtracticallt  to  be  a  gourcf  ofreccnw.-^ 
and  that  they  hho'ild  be  sold  to  8#*ttlerB  ia  limited  parcels,  at  a  price  harely  sufficiei  i 
to  reimbur!*e  :he  United  StHtet*  the  expense  of  the  present  system,  and  the  cost  ariaiA  f 
under  our  Indian  treaties,* "  &c. 

Mr.  Buckner,  (an  administration  Senator  from  Missouri,)  also  rft* 
fen  to  the  same  message  of  President  Jackson,  with  approbation  and 
recommendation.  His  colleague,  (Mr.  Benton,)  in  alluding,  on  that 
occasion,  to  the  same  message,  says  : 

"  The  President  was  right.  His  views  were  wise,  patriotic,  and  statesmanlike.** 
"  He  had  miide  it  clear,  as  he  hop^d  and  believed,  that  the  President's  plan  was 
right — that  all  idea  of  profit  from  the  lands  ought  to  be  given  up,'*  &c. 

I  might  multiply  these  proofs,  but  there  is  no  necessity  for  iL  Why 
go  back  eight  or  nine  yt^ars  }  We  need  only  trust  to  our  own  ears, 
and  rely  upon  what  we  almost  now  daily  hear.  Senators  from  the 
new  States  frequently  express  their  determination  to  wreat  from  this 
government  the  whole  of  the  public  lands,  denounce  its  alledged  iU 
liberalily,  and  point  exultingly  to  the  strength  which  the  next  census 
is  to  bring  to  tlteir  policy.  It  was  but  the  other  day  we  heard  the 
Senator  from  Arkansas,  (Mr.  Sevier)  express  some  of  th«>se  senti- 
ments. What  were  we  told  by  that  Senator  ?  "  We  will  have  the 
public  lands.  We  must  have  them,  and  we  will  take  them  in  a  few 
years." 

tMr.Ssvm.    So  We  will.} 


ON   THE  PRE-EMPTION   BILL-  469 

Hear  him !  Hear  him  !  He  repeats  it.  Utters  it  in  the  ears  of 
the  revenue-pleading  Senator  (Mr.  Wright)  on  my  left.  And  yet  he 
will  vote  againiit  distiihution.  I  will  come  now  to  a  document  of 
more  recent  origin.  Here  it  is — the  work  nominally  of  the  Senator 
from  Michigan,  (Mr.  Ijforvell,)  but  1  take  it  from  the  internal  evi- 
dence it  bears,  to  be  the  production  of  the  Senator  from  South  Caro- 
lina, over  the  way,  (Mr.  Calhoun. ^  The  report,  in  favor  of  cessioO| 
proposes  to  cede  to  the  States,  within  which  the  public  lands  are 
situated,  one-third,  retaining,  nominally,  two-thirds  to  the  Union. 
Now,  if  this  precedent  of  cession  be  once  established,  it  is  manifest 
that  it  will  be  applied  to  all  new  States,  as  they  are  hereafter  suc- 
cessively admitted  into  the  Union.  We  begin  with  ceding  one-third ; 
we  shall  end  in  granting  the  whole. 

(Mr.  CALnoujr  asked  Mr.  Clat  to  read  the  portions  of  the  report  to  which  he 
tliuded.] 

I  should  be  very  glad  to  accommodate  the  Senator,  but  I  should 
have  to  read  the  whole  of  his  report,  and  I  am  too  much  indisposed 
and  exhausted  for  that.     But  I  will  read  qfie  or  two  paragraphs : 

"  It  bf^Ions^  to  thf*  nature  of  things  that  the  old  and  new  States  should  take  difler* 
eBt  views,  h«vp  diHVrent  feelings,  and  favor  a  ditTereni  poorsc  of  policy  in  reference 
to  the  lands  within  their  limits.  It  is  natural  for  the  one  to  regard  them  chiefly  «■ 
a  source  of  revenue,  and  to  estimate  th  -m  according  to  the  amount  of  incotne  an- 
nually derived  from  ihem  ;  white  the  other  as  naturally  regards  them,  almost  ezcla- 
nvely,  as  a  portion  of  their  dum  lin,  and  as  the  foundation  of  their  (copulation,  wealth, 
power  and  importance.  They  have  more  emphatically  the  feelmgs  of  ownership, 
accompanied  by  the  iniuression  thit  they  ought  to  have  the  principal control^hnd  toe 
greater  share  of  benenls  derived  from  them."  "  To  sum  up  the  whole  in  a  few 
words:— **  Of  all  subjects  of  legislation,  land  is  that  which  more  emphatically  re« 
quires  a  local  superintendence  and  administration  ;  and,  therefore  ought  pre-emi- 
nentlv  to  belong,  under  our  system,  to  State  legislation^  to  which  this  bill  propoee* 
to  subject  it  exclusively  in  the  new  States,  as  it  has  always  been  in  the  old." 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  nev/  States  will  fmd  some  good 
reading  in  this  report.  What  is  the  reasoning  ?  That  it  is  natural 
for  the  old  States  to  regard  the  public  lands  as  a  source  of  revenue, 
and  as  natural  for  the  new  States  to  take  a  different  view  of  the  mat- 
ter ;  ergo,  let  ua  give  the  lands  to  the  new  States,  making  them,  of 
course,  cease  any  longer  to  be  a  source  of  revenue.  It  is  discovered, 
loo,  that  land  is  a  subject  which  emphatically  requires  a  local  super- 
intendence and  administration.  It  therefore  proposes  to  subject  it 
exclusively  to  the  new  States  as  (according  to  the  assertion  of  the 
report)  it  always  has  been  in  the  old.  The  public  lands  of  the  United 
States,  theoretically,  have  been  subject  to  the  joint  authority  of  the 


'460  fPUCHES  OP  IIKNBY    CLAT. 

two  classes  of  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  but,  practically,  hav* 
been  more  under  the  control  of  the  members  from  the  new  States 
than  those  from  the  old.  I  do  not  think  that  the  hizitory  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  public  domain  in  this  country  sustains  the  assertion 
that  the  States  have  exhibited  more  competency  and  wisdom  for  tht 
management  of  it  than  the  general  government. 

t 

I  stated  that  I  would  come  down  (I  should  have  said  go  op)  from 
the  late  President  of  the  United  States  to  the  Senator  from  NewTork. 
Let  us  see  what  sort  of  notions  he  had  on  this  matter  of  revenue  from 
the  public  lands,  when  acting  in  his  character  of  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Finance,  during  this  very  session,  on  another  bill. — 
There  has  been,  as  you  are  aware,  jsir,  before  the  Senate,  at  times, 
during  the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  a  proposition  for  the  reductioD 
of  the  price  of  the  public  lands,  under  the  imposing  guise  of  ^^  gra- 
duation." A  bill,  according  to  custom,  has  been  introduced  during  the 
present  session  for  that  object.  To  give  it  ec/a/,  and  as  a  matter  of 
form  and  dignity,  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Finance,  of 
which  the  honorable  Senator  from  New  York  is  the  distinguished 
chairman  ;  the  same  gentleman  who,  for  these  two  days,  has  been 
defending  these  lands  from  waste  and  spoliation,  according  to  the 
scheme  of  distributing  their  proceeds,  in  order  to  preserve  them  as  a 
fruitful  source  of  revenue  for  the  general  government.  Here  was  a 
fine  occasion  for  the  display  of  the  financial  abilities  of  the  Senator. 
He  and  his  friends  had  exhausted  the  most  ample  treasures  that  any 
administration  ever  succeeded  to  They  were  about  retiring;  from 
office,  leaving  the  public  cofiers  perfectly  empty.  Gentlemanly  con* 
duct  toward  their  successors,  to  say  nothing  of  the  duties  of  office  or 
of  patriotism,  required  of  them  to  do  all  in  their  power — lo  pick  up 
and  gather  together,  whenever  they  could,  any  means,  however  scat- 
tered or  little  the  bits  might  be — to  supply  the  urgent  wants  of  the 
treasury.  At  all  events,  if  the  financial  skill  of  the  honorable  Sena- 
tor was  incompetent  to  suggest  any  plan  for  augmenting  the  public 
revenue,  he  was,  under  actual  circumstances,  bound,  by  every  con- 
sideration of  honor  and  of  duty,  to  refrain  from  espousing  or  sanc- 
tioning any  measure  that  would  diminish  the  national  income. 

Well ;  what  did  the  honorable  Senator  do  with  the  graduation 
bill? — a  bill  whioh,  T  assert,  with  a  single  stroke  of  the  pen,  by  a 
ihoit  process,  consummated  in  April,  1842,  annihilates  fifty  mil  lions 


oil  THB  MB-tMPTION  BILt.  401 

of  dollars  of  the  avails  of  Ihe  public  lands !  What  did  the  Senator  do 
^ith  this  bill,  which  takes  off  fifty  cents  from  the  very  moderato 
price  of  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre,  at  which  the  public  landa 
are  now  sold  ?  The  bill  was  in  the  hands  of  the  able  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  of  Finance,  some  time.  He  examined  it,  no  doubt, 
carefully,  deliberated  upon  it  attentively  and  anxiously.  What  re> 
port  did  he  make  upon  it?  If  uninformed  upon  the  subject,  Mr. 
President,  afier  witnessing,  during  these  two  days,  the  patriotic  soli- 
citude of  the  Senator  in  respect  to  the  revenue  derivable  from  the 
public  lands,  you  would  surely  conclude  that  he  had  made  a  decisive 
if  not  indignant  refxirt  against  the  wanton  waste  of  the  public  landa 
by  the  graduation  bill.  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that  he  made  no  such  re^ 
port.  Neither  did  he  make  an  elaborate  report  to  prove  that,  by 
taking  off  fifty  cents  per  acre  of  their  entire  value,  the  revenue  would 
be  increased.  Oh  no  ;  that  was  a  work  he  was  not  prepared  to  com- 
mit even  to  his  logic.  He  did  not  attempt  to  prove  that.  But  what 
did  he  do  ?  Why  sin: ply  presented  a  verbal  compendious  report,  r^ 
commending  that  the  bill  do  pass !  And  yet  that  Senator  can  rise  here 
— in  the  light  of  day — in  the  face  of  this  Senate — in  the  face  of  hit 
country,  and  in  the  presence  of  his  God — and  argue  for  retaining  and 
husbanding  the  public  lands,  to  raise  revenue  from  them  ! 

But  let  us  follow  these  revenue  gentlemen  a  little  further.  By  one 
of  the  strangest  phenomena  in  legi<ilation  and  logic  that  was  ever 
witnessed,  these  very  Senators  who  are  so  utterly  opposed  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  among  all  the  Statee, 
because  it  is  distribution,  are  themselves  for  all  other  sorts  of  distri^ 
butioo — for  cessions,  for  pre-emptions,  for  grants  to  the  new  States  to 
aid  them  in  education  and  improvement,  and  even  for  distribution  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  among  particular  States.  They  are 
for  distribution  in  all  conceivable  forms  and  shapes,  so  long  as  the 
lands  are  to  be  gotten  rid  of,  to  particular  persons  or  particular  States. 
But  when  an  equal,  general,  broad,  and  just  distribution  is  proposed, 
embracing  all  the  States,  they  are  electrified  and  horror-struck.  Yon 
may  distribute — and  distribute  among  States,  too — as  long  as  yon 
please,  and  as  much  as  you  please,  but  not  among  all  the  States. 

And  here,  sir,  allow  me  to  examine  more  minutely  the  project  of 
cession,  brought  forward  as  the  rival  of  the  plan  of  distributioB. 
There  are  ap  wards  of  one  billkm  of  acres  of  pablic  land  belonging  tb 


) 


4/32  8PEEGHM  OF  HIHRT   GLAT. 

the  United  States,  situated  -within  and  without  the  limits  of  the  Stales 
and  Territories,  stretching  from  the  Atl«mtic  ocean  and  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  the  Pacific ;  they  have  been  ceded  by  seven  of  the  old 
thirteen  States  to  the  United  States,  or  acquired  by  treaties  with  for- 
eign powers.  The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhouo)  pro- 
poses by  his  bill  to  cede  one  hundred  and  sixty  million  acres  of  this 
land  to  the  nine  States  wherein  they  lie,  granting  to  those  States  35 
per  cent.,  and  reserving  to  the  United  States  65  per  cent,  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  those  lands. 

Now  what  I  wish  to  say,  in  the  first  place,  is  that,  if  you  com- 
mence by  applying  the  principle  of  cession  to  the  nine  land  State* 
DOW  in  the  Union,  you  must  extend  it  to  other  new  States,  as  they 
shall  be,  hereafter,  from  time  to  time,  admitted  into  the  Union,  until 
the  whole  public  land  is  exhausted.  You  will  have  to  make  similar 
cessions  to  Wiskonsin,  to  Iowa,  to  Florida,  (in  two  States,  perhaps, 
at  least  in  one,)  and  so  to  every  new  State  as  it  shall  be  organized 
and  received  ?  How  could  you  refuse  ?  When  other  States  to  the 
north  and  to  the  west  of  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Iowa,  and  Wiskonsin, 
to  the  very  shores  of  the  Pacific,  shall  be  admitted  into  the  confed- 
eracy, will  you  not  be  bound  by  all  the  principles  of  equality  and 
justice  to  make  to  them  respectively  similar  cessions  of  the  public 
land,  situated  within  their  limits,  to  those  which  you  will  have  made 
to  the  nine  States  ?  Thus  your  present  grant,  although  extending 
nominally  to  but  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  acres,  virtually, 
and  by  inevitable  consequence,  embraces  the  whole  of  the  public  do- 
main. And  you  bestow  a  gratuity  of  35  per  cent,  of  the  proceeds  of 
this  vast  national  property  upon  a  portion  of  the  States,  to  the  ex- 
clusion and  to  the  prejudice  of  the  revolutionary  States,  by  whose 
valor  a  large  part  of  it  was  achieved. 

Will  the  Senator  state  whence  he  derives  the  power  to  do  this  ? 
Will  he  pretend  that  it  is  to  cover  the  expenses  and  charges  of  man- 
aging and  administering  the  public  lauds  ?  On  much  the  greater 
part,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  acres, 
the  Indian  title  has  been  extingui.shed,  and  they  have  been  surveyed. 
Nothing  but  a  trifling  expense  is  to  be  incurred  on  either  of  those 
objects ;  and  nothing  remains  but  to  sell  the  land.  1  understand  that 
the  total  expense  of  sale  and  collection  is  only  about  two  per  cent 
Why,  what  are  the  charges  ?    There  is  one  per  cent,  allowed  by  law 


Oir  THE  PRB-IMPTIOIf  BILIm  468 

to  the  receivers,  and  the  salaries  of  the  registers  and  receivers  in  each 
land  district,  with  some  other  inconsiderable  incidental  charges.  Put 
all  together,  and  ihey will  not  amount  to  three  percent,  on  the  aggre- 
gate of  sales.  Thus  the  Senator  is  prepared  to  part  from  the  title 
and  control  of  the  whole  public  domain  upon  these  terms  !  To  give 
thirty-five  per  cent,  to  cover  an  expenditure  not  exceeding  three ! 
Where  does  he  get  a  power  to  make  the  cession  to  particular  Slatesi 
which  would  not  authorise  distribution  among  all  the  States  ?  And 
when  he  has  found  the  power,  will  he  tell  me  why,  in  virtue  of  it, 
and  in  the  same  spirit  of  wasteful  extravagance  or*  boundless  gener- 
osity, he  may  not  give  to  the  new  States,  instead  of  thirty-five  per 
cent.,  fifty,  eighty  or  a  hundred  ?  Surrender  at  once  the  whole  pub- 
lic domain  to  the  new  States }  The  percentage,  proposed  to  be  al- 
lowed, seems  to  be  founded  on  no  just  basis,  the  result  of  no  official 
data  or  calculation,  hut  fixed  by  mere  arbitrary  discretion.  I  should 
be  exceedingly  amused  to  see  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  rising 
in  his  place,  and  maintaining  before  the  Senate  an  authority  in  Conr 
gless  to  cede  the  public  lands  to  particular  States,  on  the  terms  pro- 
posed, and  at  the  same  time  denying  its  power  to  distribute  the  pro- 
ceeds equally  and  equitably  among  all  the  States. 

Now,  in  the  second  place,  although  there  is  a  nominal  reservation 
of  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  the  proceeds  to  the  United  States,  in  the 
sequel,  I  venture  to  predict,  we  should  part  with  the  whole.  Yoa 
vest  in  the  nine  States  the  title.  They  are  to  sell  the  land  and  grant 
titles  to  the  purchasers.  Now,  what  secuiity  have  you  for  the  faith- 
ful collection  and  payment  into  the  common  treasury  of  the  reserved 
sixty-five  per  cent.  ?  In  what  medium  would  the  payment  be  made  ? 
Can  there  be  a  doubt,  that  there  would  be  delinquency,  collusidh, 
ultimate  surrender  of  the  whole  debt  ?  It  is  proposed,  indeed  to  re- 
tain a  sort  of  mortgage  upon  the  lands,  in  the  possession  of  purchasers 
from  the  State,  to  secure  the  payment  to  the  United  States  of  their 
sixty-five  per  cent.  But  how  could  you  enforce  such  a  mortgage  ? 
Could  you  expel  from  their  homes  some,  perhaps  100,000  settlers, 
under  state  authority,  because  the  State  possibly  without  any  fault 
of  theirs,  had  neglected  to  pay  over  to  the  United  States  the  sixty- 
five  per  cent.  ?  The  remedy  of  expulsion  would  be  far  worse  than 
the  relinquishment  of  the  debt,  and  you  would  relinquish  it. 

There  is  no  novelty  m  this  idea  of  oeflsiMi  to  the  new  Statea.    The 


464  ■PBCCHBs  or  rkhrt  cuat 

form  of  it  is  somewhat  varied,  by  the  proposal  oF  the  Senator  to  di- 
Tide  the  proceeds  between  the  new  States  and  the  United  Slatea,  bat 
it  is  still  substantially  the  samo  thing — a  present  cession  of  thirty-fire 
per  cent.,  and  an  ultimate  cession  of  the  whole !  When  the  subject 
of  the  public  lands  was  before  the  committee  on  manufactures,  it  con- 
aidered  the  scheme  of  cession  among  the  other  various  projecta  then 
afloat.  The  report  made  in  April,  1832,  presents  the  views  enter- 
tained by  the  committee  on  that  topic. 

The  Senator  from  New  York  has  adverted,  for  another  purpose, 
to  the  twenty-eight  millions  of  surplus  divided  a  few  years  ago  among 
the  States.  He  has  said  truly  that  it  arose  from  the  public  lands. 
Was  not  that,  in  efiect,  distribution  ?  Was  it  not  so  understood  at 
the  time  ?  Was  it  not  voted  for  by  Senators,  as  practical  distribu- 
tion ?  The  Senator  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Mangum)  has  stated 
that  he  did.  I  did.  Other  Senators  did  ;  and  no  one,  not  the  boldest, 
will  have  the  temerity  to  rise  here  and  propose  to  require  or  compd 
the  States  to  refund  that  money.  If,  in  form,  it  was  a  deposite  with 
the  States,  in  fact  and  in  truth  it  was  distribution.  So  it  was  then 
regarded.  So  it  will  ever  remain.  Let  us  now  see,  Mr.  President, 
how  this  plan  of  cession  will  operate  among  the  new  States  them- 
selves. And  I  appeal  more  especially  to  the  Senators  from  Ohio. 
That  state  has  about  a  million  and  a  half  of  inhabitants.  The  United 
States  have  (as  will  probably  be  shown  when  the  returns  are  publish- 
ed of  the  late  census)  a  population  of  abmt  fifteen  millions.  Ohio, 
then,  has,  within  her  limits  one-tenth  of  the  population  of  the  United 
States.  Now,  let  us  see  what  sort  of  a  bargain  the  proposed  cession 
makes  for  Ohio. 

[Mr.  Allbx  here  interposed,  to  explain,  that  the  vote  he  gave  for  Mr.  Calhouv's 
plan  of  cession  to  the  new  Slates,  was  on  the  ground  of  sabetituting  that  in  pieferenot 
to  the  plan  of  di^itribution  among  all  the  States.] 

Oh !  ho ! — ah !  is  that  the  ground  of  the  Senator's  vote  .' 

[Mr.  ALLRif  said  he  had  had  a  choice  between  two  evils— the  amendment  of  the 
Senator  from  South  Carolina,  and  the  amendment  of  the  Senator  from  Keniocky ; 
and  it  was  well  known  on  this  side  of  the  House  that  he  took  the  first  only  aa  a  leas 
evil  than  the  last.] 

Well,  all  I  will  say  is,  that  that  side  of  the  house  kept  the  secret 
remarkably  well.  And  no  one  better  than  the  Senator  himself. 
There  were  seventeen  votes  given  in  favor  of  the  plan  of  the  Senator 


OH  THC  PRS-SMPTION   BILL.  490 

from  South  Carolina,  to  my  utter  astonishmeot  at  the  time.  I  had 
flot  expected  any  other  vote  for  it  but  that  of  the  Senator  from  South 
Carolina  himself,  and  the  Senator  from  Michigan,  (Mr.  Norvell.)  No 
other  did,  or  1  suppose  would  rise  and  vote  to  cede  away,  without 
any  just  or  certain  equivalent,  more  than  a  billion  of  acres  of  public 
land  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  If  the  vote  of  the  other 
fifteen  Senators  was  also  misunderstood  in  the  same  way  as  the  Senap 
tors  from  Ohio,  I  shall  be  very  glad  of  it. 

But  I  was  going  to  show  what  sort  of  a  bargain  for  Ohio  her  two 
Senators,  by  their  votes,  appeared  to  be  assenting  to.  There  are 
80t>,uu0  acres  of  publio  land  remaining  in  Ohio,  after  being  culled  foir 
near  half  a  century,  thirty-ftve  per  cent,  of  the  proceeds  f>f  which  are 
to  be  assigned  to  that  State  by  the  plan  of  cession.  For  this  trifling 
consideration  she  is  to  surrender  her  interest  in  160,0 :)I),00D  of  acres ; 
in  other  words,  she  is  to  give  16,000,000  (that  being  her  tenth,)  for 
the  small  interest  secured  to  her  in  the  800,000  acres.  If,  as  1  be* 
lieve,  and  have  contended,  the  principle  of  cession  being  once  est»- 
blished,  would  be  finally  extended  to  the  whole  public  domain,  then 
Ohio  would  give  one  hundred  millions  of  acres  of  land,  (that  being 
her  tenth  part  of  the  whole  of  the  public  lands,  for  the  comparatively 
contemptible  consideration  that  she  would  acquire  in  the  800,000 
acres.  A  capital  bargain  this,  to  which  I  supposed  the  two  Senators 
had  assented,  by  which,  in  behalf  of  their  State  they  exchanged  one 
hundred  millions  of  acres  of  land  against  eight  hundred  thousand  ! 

1  do  not  think  that  the  Senator^s  explanation  mends  the  matter 
much.  According  to  that,  he  did  not  vote  for  cession  because  he 
liked  cession.  No  !  that  is  very  bad,  but,  bad  as  it  may  be,  it  is  not 
so  great  an  evil  as  distribution,  and  he  preferred  it  to  distribution. 
Let  us  see  what  Ohio  would  get  by  diatribution.  Assuming  that  the 
public  lands  will  yield  only  five  millions  of  dollars  annually,  her  pro- 
portion being  one-tenth,  would  be  half  a  million  of  dollars.  But  I 
entertain  no  doubt  that,  under  proper  management,  in  a  few  years  the 
public  lands  will  produce  a  much  larger  sum,  perhaps  ten  or  fifteen 
millions  of  dollam ;  so  that  the  honomble  Senator  prefers  giving  away 
for  a  song  the  interest  of  his  State,  prea^tly,  in  160,000,000  of  acreii 
and  eventually  in  a  billion,  to  receiving  annually,  in  perpetuity,  half 
a  million  of  dollars,  with  an  encouraging  pipapect  of  a  large  augment 
^on  of  that  sum.    That  is  i^  notion  .wliich  the  two  Senatora  &«« 


y 


466  fPUCRis  or  hehbt  clat. 

Ohio  entertain  of  her  interest !  Go  home,  Messieors  Senators  from 
Ohio,  and  tell  your  constituents  of  your  votes.  Tell  them  of  your 
preference  of  a  cession  of  all  their  interest  in  the  public  lands,  with 
the  exception  of  that  inconsiderable  portion  remaining  in  Ohio,  to  the 
reception  of  Ohio's  fair  distributive  share  of  the  proceeds  of  all  the 
public  lands  of  the  United  States,  now  and  hereafter.  I  do  not  seek  to 
interfere  in  the  delicate  relation  between  Senators  and  their  constitu- 
ents ;  but  1  think  I  know  something  of  the  feelings  and  views  of  my 
neighbors,  the  people  of  Ohio.  I  have  recently  read  an  exposition  of 
her  true  interests  and  views  in  the  message  of  her  enlightened  go- 
vernor, directly  contrary  to  those  which  appear  to  be  entertained  by 
her  two  Senators ;  and  I  am  greatly  deceived  if  a  large  majoriiyof  the 
people  of  that  State  do  not  coincide  with  their  governor. 

The  unequal  operation  of  the  plan  of  cession  among  the  nine  new 
States  has  been,  perhaps,  sufficiently  exposed  by  others.  The  Stato 
with  the  smallest  population  get  the  most  land.  Thus  Arkansas, 
with  only  about  one-fifteenth  part  of  a  population  of  Ohio,  will  rs- 
ceive  upwards  of  twenty-eight  times  as  much  land  as  Ohio.  The 
scheme  proceeds  upon  the  idea  of  reversing  the  maxim  of  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number,  and  of  substituting  the  greatest  good  to 
the  Smallest  number.  There  can  be  every  species  of  partial  distribu- 
tion of  public  land  or  its  proceeds,  but  an  honest,  impartial,  straight- 
forward  distribution  among  all  the  States.  Can  the  Senator  from 
New  York,  with  his  profound  knowledge  of  the  constitution,  tell  me 
on  what  constitutional  authority  it  is  that  lands  are  granted  to  the 
Indians  beyond  the  Mississippi  } 

[Mr.  Wrioiit  said  that  there  was  no  property  acquired,  and  therefore  no  conabnh 
tional  obligation  applied.] 

And  that  is  the  amount  of  the  Senator's  information  of  our  Indisn 
relations !  Why,  sir,  we  pend  them  across  the  Mississippi,  and  put 
them  upon  our  lands,  from  which  all  Indian  title  had  heen  removed. 
We  promise  them  even  the  fee  simple ;  but,  if  we  did  not,  they  are 
at  least  to  retain  the  possession  and  enjoy  the  use  of  the  lands  until 
Aey  choose  to  sell  them  ;  and  the  whole  amount  of  our  right  wonU 
be  a  pre-emption  privilege  of  purchase,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  private 
persons  or  pubUc  authorities,  foreign  or  domestic.  This  is  the  doc> 
trine  coevil  with  the  colonisation  of  this  continent,  proclaimed  by  the 
king  of  Qreat  Britaini  in  his  proclamation  of  1763^  asserted  in  fbt 


09  THE  PBS-IMPTtON   BILL.  46^ 

cooferences  at  6hcn(,  and  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  IS'ow,  such  an  allotment  of  public  lands  to  the  In- 
dians, whether  they  acquire  the  fee  or  a  right  of  ]X)ssession  indefinite 
as  to  time,  is  equivalent  to  any  distribution.  Thus,  sir,  we  perceive, 
that  all  kinds  of  distribution  of  the  public  lands  or  their  proceeds  znay 
be  made — to  particular  States,  to  pre-emptioners,  to  charities,  to  ob- 
jects of  education  or  internal  improvement,  to  foreigners,  to  Indian^i 
to  black,  red,  white,  and  grey,  to  every  body,  but  among  all  the 
States  of  the  Union.  There  is  an  old  adage  according  to  wh^ch 
charity  should  begin  at  home  ;  but  according  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
opponents  of  distribution,  it  neither  begins  nor  ends  at  hoQie. 

[Here  Mr.  Clat  gave  way  to  an  a(i|joarnment.] 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  inflict  upon  the  Senate  even  a  recapitula- 
tion of  the  heads  of  argument  which  1  had  the  honor  to  address  to  it 
yesterday.  On  one  collateral  point  I  desire  to  supply  an  omission  aa 
to  the  trade  between  this  country  and  France.  I  stated  the  fact  that, 
according  to  the  returns  of  imports  and  exports,  there  existed  an  nn* 
favorable  balance  agiinst  the  United  States,  amountmg,  exclusively 
of  what  is  re-exported,  to  seventeen  millions  of  dollars ;  but  I  omit* 
ted  another  important  fact,  namely,  that  by  the  laws  of  France,  there 
18  imposed  on  the  raw  material  imported  into  that  kingdom  a  duty  of 
twenty  francs  on  every  hundred  kilogrammes,  equal  to  about  two 
oents  per  pound  on  American  cotton,  at  the  pn^ent  market  price. 
Now  what  is  the  fact  as  to  the  comparative  rate  of  duties  in  the  two 
countries  ?  France  imposes  on  the  raw  product  (which  is  the  mere 
commencement  of  value  in  articles  which,  when  wrought,  and  finally 
touched,  will  be  worth  two  or  three  hundred  fold)  a  duty  of  near 
twenty-five  per  cent,  while  we  admit  free  of  duty,  or  with  nominal 
duties,  costly  luxuries,  the  product  of  French  industry  and  taste, 
wholly  unsusceptible  of  any  additional  value  by  any  exertion  of 
American  skill  or  industry.  In  any  thing  I  have  said  on  this  occa- 
sion, nothing  is  further  from  my  intention  than  to  utter  one  word  un- 
friendly to  France.  On  the  contrary,  it  has  been  always  my  detire 
to  see  our  trade  with  France  increased  and  extended  upon  terms  of 
reciprocal  benefit.  With  that  yiew,  I  was  in  favor  of  an  arrange* 
ment  in  the  tariff  of  1832,  by  which  silks  imported  into  the  United 
Btatea  from  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  were  charged  with  a 
doty  of  ten  per  cent  higher  fhfth  thoie  brought  firom  France  nai 


468  8P1BCHB8   OP   HBNRT   CLAT. 

countries  this  side  of  the  cape,  especially  to  encourage  the  comznerca' 
with  France. 

While  speaking  of  France,  allow  me  to  make  an  observation,  al- 
though it  has  no  immediate  or  legitimate  connexion  with  any  thing 
before  the  Senate.  It  is  to  embrace  the  opportunity  of  expressing 
my  deep  regret  at  a  sentiment  attiibuted  by  the  public  journals  to  a 
highly-distinguished  and  estimable  countryman  of  ours  in  another  part 
of  the  capitol,  which  implied  a  doubt  as  to  the  validity  of  the  title  of 
Louis  Philippe  to  the  throne  of  France,  inasmuch  as  it  was  neither 
acquired  by  conquest  nor  descent,  and  raisin^;  a  question  ab  to  his  be- 
ing the  lawful  monarch  of  the  French  people.  It  appears  to  me, 
that  aftei  the  memorable  revolution  of  July,  in  which  our  illustrious 
and  lamented  friend,  Lafayette,  bore  a  part  so  eminent  and  effectual, 
and  the  subsequent  hearty  acquiescence  of  all  France  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Orleans  branch  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  upon  the 
throne,  the  present  king  has  as  good  a  title  to  his  crown  as  any  of 
the  other  sovereigns  of  Europe  have  to  theirs,  and  quite  as  good  as 
any  which  force  or  the  mere  circumstance  of  birth  could  confer.  And 
if  an  individual  so  huutble  and  at  such  a  distance  as  1  am,  might  be 
allowed  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  public  concerns  of  another 
country  and  another  hemisphere,  I  would  add  that  no  Chief  Magis- 
trate of  any  nation,  amid  difficulties,  public  and  personal,  the  most 
complicated  and  ap|)alling,  could  have  governed  with  more  ability, 
wisdom  and  firmAess  than  have  been  displayed  by  Louis  Philippe. 
All  Christendom  owes  him  an  acknowleds^ement  -for  his  recent  sue- 
cessful  efforts  to  prevent  a  war  which  would  have  been  disgraceful  to 
Christian  Europe — a  war  arising  from  the  inordinate  pretensions  of 
an  upstart  Mahometan  Pacha,  a  rebel  against  his  lawful  sovereign 
and  a  usurper  of  his  lights — a  war  which,  if  once  lighted  up,  must 
have  involved  all  Europe,  and  have  led  to  consequences  which  it  m 
impossible  to  foresee.     I  return  to  the  subject  immediately  before  U5. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  that  portion  of  our  public  domain  which 
was  acquired  by  the  war  of  the  revolution,  we  should  always- recol- 
lect the  danger  to  the  peace  and  harmony  among  the  niembem  of  tho 
confederacy  with  which  it  was  pregnant.  It  prevented  for  a  long  time 
the  ratiBcation  of  the  articles  of  confederation  by  all  the  States,  some 
ef  them  refusing  their  asssent  until  a  just  and  equitable  settlement 
was  made  of  the  question  of  the  crown  larxis.     The  argoment  the/ 


ON  THB  PRE-BIIPTIOV  BILL.  469 

iii|^  as  to  these  lands,  in  a  waste  and  unappropriated  state,  was, 
that  they  had  been  conquered  bv  the  common  valor,  the  common  ex- 
ertions, and  the  common  sacrifices  of  all  the  states  ;  that  they  ought, 
Ihere^re,  to  be  the  common  property  of  all  the  states ;  and  that  it 
would  be  manifestly  wrong  aud  unjust  that  the  states,  within  whose 
limits  these  crown  lands  happened  to  lie,  should  exclusively  enjoy 
the  benetit  of  them.  Virginia,  within  whose  boundaries  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  these  crown  lands  were  situated,  and  by  whose  sepa- 
rate and  unaided  exertions  on  the  bloody  theatre  of  Kentucky,  and 
beyond  the  Ohio,  under  the  direction  of  the  renowned  George  Rogers 
Clarke,  the  conquest  of  most  of  them  was  achieved,  was,  to  her  im- 
mortal honor,  among  the  first  to  yield  to  these  just  and  patriotic 
views,  and  by  her  magnificent  grant  to  the  Union,  powerfully  con- 
tributed to  restore  harmony,  and  quiet  all  apprehensions  among  the 
several  states. 

Among  the  objects  to  be  attained  by  the  cession  from  the  states  to 
the  confederation  of  these  crown  lands,  a  very  important  one  was  to 
provide  a  fund  to  pay  the  debtk  of  the  revolution.  The  Senator  from 
New  York  (Mr.  Wright)  made  it  the  object  of  a  large  part  of  the  ar- 
gument which  he  addressed  to  the  Senate,  to  show  the  contrary  ;  and 
so  far  as  the  mere  terms  of  the  deeds  of  cession  are  concerned,  I  ad- 
mit the  argument  was  sustained.  No  such  purpose  appears  on  tho 
face  of  the  deeds,  as  far  as  I  have  examined  them. 

[Mr  Wright  here  interposed,  and  said  that  he  had  not  undertaken  to  nrgw.  that 
the  ceaRions  made  by  the  States  to  the  Union  were  not  for  the  punxwe  of  extingaiah- 
ing  the  public  debt,  bot  that  they  were  not  exdosively  for  that  purpoae.] 

It  is  not  material  whether  they  were  made  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
extinguishing  the  revolutionary  debt  or  not.  1  think  I  shall  be  able 
to  show,  in  the  progress  of  my  argument,  that,  from  the  moment  of  | 
adoption  of  the  federal  constitution,  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands 
ought  to  have  been  divided  among  the  states.  But  that  the  payment 
of  the  revolutionary  debt  was  one  of  the  objects  of  the  cession,  is  m 
matter  of  incontestable  history.  We  should  have  an  imperfect  idea 
of  the  intentions  of  the  parties,  if  we  confined  our  attention  to  the 
mere  language  of  the  deeds.  In  order  to  ascertain  their  views,  wo 
must  exemine  contemporaneous  acts,  resolutions,  and  proceedings. 
One  of  these  resolutions,  clearly  manifesting  the  purpose  I  hare  sta* 
lad,  has  probably  escaped  the  notice  of  ihe  Senator  from  New  York* 

*EE 


s 


470  tPKBOHES  OF   HENRT   CLAT. 

It  was  a  resolution  of  the  old  Congren,  adopted  in  1783,  preoediflg 
the  final  cession  from  Virginia,  which  was  in  March,  1783.  Theie 
bad  been  an  attempt  to  make  the  cession  as  early  as  1781,  but,  owing 
to  the  conditions  with  which  it  was  embarrassed,  and  other  dilficol- 
ties,  the  cession  was  not  consammated  until  March,  1784.  The  reao* 
lution  1  refer  to,  bears  a  date  prior  to  that  of  the  cession,  and  moit 
be  taken  with  it,  as  indicative  of  the  motives  which  probably  operated 
on  Virginia  to  make,  and  the  confederation  to  accept,  that  memoraUi 
grant.     1  will  read  it : 

**  Radced^  That  bb  a  further  means,  at  well  of  haateoini;  the  extiagDishineDt  of 
the  debii),  asofobtubli^hing  the  huruiony  of  the  UnittMl  States,  it  be  recommeoded  lo 
the  Stated  which  h^ve  pafved  no  acts  towarda  complying  with  the  reaolmtoDaof 
CongrefetA  of  the  <>th  ot  CMrptfinber  and  lOih  of  October,  17d0,  relative  to  the  ceasioa 
of  territorial  ciaimt^,  to  make  the  liberal  ceMions  therein  recominended,  and  to  Uir 
&atea  which  may  have  patted  acta  cumplyiug  with  the  said  reaolutiona  in  paitooly, 
to  revise  and  complete  rach  compliance.'* 

That  was  one  of  the  great  objects  of  the  ceseion.  Seven  of  the  old 
thirteen  states  had  waste  crown  lands  within  their  limits ;  the  other 
81X  had  none.  These  complained  that  what  ought  to  be  regarded  as 
property  common  to  them  all,  would  accrue  exclusively  to  the  seven 
States,  by  the  operation  of  the  articles  of  confederation ;  and,  therefore, 
for  the  double  purpose  of  extinguishing  the  revolutionary  debt,  and 
of  establishing  harmony  among  the  states  of  the  Union,  the  ceasioB 
of  those  lands  to  the  United  States  was  recommended  by  Congreat. 

And  here  let  us  pause  for  a  moment,  and  contemplate  the  proposi* 
lion  of  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  and  its  possible  consequences. 
We  have  seen  that  the  possession  by  seven  states  of  these  public 
lands,  won  by  the  valor  of  the  whole  thirteen,  was  cause  of  so  much 
dissatisfaction  to  the  other  six  as  to  have  occasioned  a  serious  im- 
pediment to  the  formation  of  the  confederacy ;  and  we  have  seen  that 
to  remove  all  jealousy  and  disquietude  on  that  account,  in  conformity 
with  the  recommendation  of  Congress,  the  seven  States,  Virginia  tap 
king  the  lead,  animated  by  a  noble  spirit  of  justice  and  patriotism, 
ceded  the  waste  lands  to  the  United  States  for  the  benefit  of  all  the 
states.  Now  what  is  the  measure  of  the  senator  from  South  Carolina? 
It  is  in  effect  to  restore  the  discordant  and  menacing  state  of  things 
which  existed  in  1783,  pripr  to  any  cession  from  the  states.  It  if 
worse  than  that,  for  it  proposes  that  seventeen  states  shall  give  «p 
immediately  or  eventually  all  their  interest  in  the  public  lands,  lyiof 
a  niie  states,  to  those  nine  states.    JNow  if  the  aeven  stales  had  »-. 


OH  THB  PRft-UIPTION   BILL.  471 

fosed  to  cede  at  all,  tbey  could  at  least  have  asserted  that  they  fought 
Great  Britain  for  these  lands  as  hard  as  the  six.  Tbey  would  have 
had,  therefore,  the  apparent  right  of  conquest,  although  it  was  a  com- 
mon conquest.  But  the  senator's  proposition  is  to  cede  these  public 
lands  from  the  states  which  fought  for  them  in  the  revolutionary  war, 
to  states  that  neithei  fought  for  them,  nor  had  existence  during  that 
war.  If  the  apprehension  of  an  appropriation  of  these  lands  to  the 
exclusive  advantage  of  the  seven  states  was  nigh  preventing  the  e8- 
tablishment  of  the  Union,  can  it  be  suppofted  that  its  security  and 
harmony  will  be  unafTectcd  by  a  transfer  of  them  from  seventeen  to 
nine  states  ?  But  the  senator's  proposition  goes  yet  further.  It  haa 
l>een  shown  that  it  will  establish  a  precedent  which  must  lead  to  a 
cession  from  the  United  States  of  all  the  public  domain,  whether  woa 
■by  the  sword  or  acquired  by  treaties  with  foreign  powers,  to  new 
tftates  as  they  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union. 

In  the  second  volume  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  will  be  found 
the  act  known  as  the  funding  act,  which  passed  in  the  year  1790. 
By  the  last  section  of  that  act  the  public  lands  are  pledged,  and 
pledged  exclusively,  to  the  payment  of  the  revolutionary  debt,  until 
it  should  be  satisfied.  Thus  we  find  prior  (o  the  cession,  an  invitft- 
Hion  from  Congress  to  the  states  to  cede  the  waste  lands,  among  other 
objects,  for  th^  purpose  of  paying  the  public  debt ;  and  after  the  cea« 
lions  were  mftde,  one  of  the  earliest  acts  of  Congress  pledged  them  to 
that  object.  So  the  matter  stood  while  that  debt  hung  over  Ui. 
During  all  that  time  there  was  a  general  acquiescence  in  the  dedica^ 
tion  of  the  public  lands  to  that  just  object.  No  one  thought  of  dia» 
tarbing  the  arrangement.  But  when  the  debt  was  discharged,  or 
rather  when,  from  the  rapidity  of  the  process  of  its  extinction,  it  wif 
evident  that  it  would  soon  be  discharged,  attention  was  directed  to  a 
proper  disposition  of  the  public  lands.  No  one  doubted  the  power  of 
Congress  to  dispose  of  them  according  to  its  sound  discretion.  Such 
was  the  view  of  President  Jackson,  distinctly  communicated  to  Con* 
gress,  in  the  message  which  I  have  already  cited. 

**  Am  the  lands  may  now  be  considered  as  relieved  from  this  pledge,  the  object  for 
which  they  were  ceded  having  been  accomplished,  it  is  in  thf>  diKretion  of  Congress 
to  dispone  of  them  in  snch  way  as  best  to  conance  to  the  qniet,  harmony,  and  gens- 
lal  interest  of  the  American  peuple." 

Can  the  power  of  Congress  to  dispose  of  the  public  domam  bb 
wve  broadly  aaierted  ?    WhstirwIlNiii  said  about  lereniie?    TUI 


473  tPBtcRvs  or  mEintr  ciat. 

it  should  cease  to  be  a  soarce  of  revenoe !  We  nerer  hear  of  the 
venue  argument  but  when  the  proposition  is  up  to  make  an  equal  and 
just  distribution  of  the  proceeds.  When  the  fiivorable,  but,  as  I  re- 
gard them,  wild  and  squandering  projects  of  gentlemen  are  under 
consideration,  they  are  profoundly  silent  as  to  that  argument.  I  cone 
now  to  an  examination  of  the  terms  on  which  the  cession  was  made 
by  the  states,  as  contained  in  the  deeds  of  cession.  And  f  shall  take 
that  from  Virginia,  because  it  was  in  some  measure  the  model  deed, 
and  because  it  conveyed  by  far  the  most  important  part  of  the  public 
lands  acquired  from  the  ceding  states.  I  wilt  first  dispose  of  a  pre- 
liminary difficulty  raised  by  the  Senator  from  New  York.  That  Se- 
nator imagined  a  case,  and  then  combatted  it  with  great  force.  The 
case  he  supposed  was,  that  the  senator  from  Massachusetts  and  I 
had  maintained  that,  under  that  deed  there  was  a  reversion  to  the 
states,  and  much  of  his  argument  was  directed  to  prove  that  there  is 
DO  reversion,  but  that  if  there  were,  it  could  only  be  to  the  ceding 
states.  No^w  neither  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  nor  1  attempted 
to  erect  any  such  windmill  as  the  Senator*  from  New  York  has  ima- 
gined, and  he  might  have  spared  himself  the  heavy  blows  which,  liks 
another  famed  hero  not  less  valorous  than  himself,  he  dealt  upon  it 
What  I  really  maintain  and  have  always  traintained  is^  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  themselves  of  the  deed  of  cession,  although  there  it 
conveyed  a  common  property  to  be  held  for  the  common  bene6t,  thera 
nevertheless  is  an  assignnnent  of  a  separate  use.  The  ceded  land,  I  ad- 
mit, is  to  remain  a  common  fund  for  all  the  states,  to  be  administered 
by  a  common  authority,  but  the  proceeds  or  profits  were  to  be  appro- 
priated to  the  several  states  in  severalty,  according  to  a  certain  pre- 
•eribed  rule.  1  contend  this  is  manifestly  true  from  the  words  of  tha 
deed.     What  are  they  ? 

**  That  all  ihe  liiods  within  the  trrritorsr  m>  eeded  to  th^  United  Stntefi,  ttmd  meH 
reserved  for  or  a|>proprittted  to  any  of  the  before-mentioacd  purposeit,  or  diapoaed  of 
in  bonnties  to  the  omceiB  and  aofdi^rs  of  tht*  American  army,  shall  be  contidered  « 
eommoa  fond  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  such  of  the  United  States  as  have  bf^cotne  of 
shall  become,  memb«*r8  of  the  confederation  or  federrtl  alliance  of  the  mid  States. 
Vii^nia  incloaive,  according  to  their  nsoal  resfiective  i>ro|)ortio«i  in  tlie  geneial 
charge  and  expenditure,  and  shall  be  faithiully  and  bonafide  diapooed  of  for  that  p■^ 
^ose,  and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever. " 

The  territory  conveyed  was  to  be  regarded  as  an  inviolable  fund  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  such  states  as  were:  admitted  or  might  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union,  Viiginia  ioclusive^  according  to  their  aaiial  re- 
tyective  proportkms  in  the  general  chafge  and  expenditoie.    }i  was 


on  XaS  rUBrBIIPTIOH  BILL.  473* 

io  be  faithfully  and  bonafide  adminlitere<f  for  that  sole  purpose,  and 
for  no  other  purpose  whatever.  Where  then  is  the  authority  for  all 
those  wild,  extravagant,  and  unjust  projects,  by  which,  instead  of 
administration  oi  the  ceded  territory  for  all  the  States  and  all  the 
people  of  the  Union,  it  is  to  be  granted  to  particular  states,  wasted  in 
schemes  of  graduation  and  pre-emption,  for  the  benefit  of  the  trea- 
passer,  the  alien,  and  the  speculator  ? 

The  Senator  from  New  York,  pressed  by  the  argument  as  to  Iha 
application  of  the  fund  to  the  separate  use  of  the  states,  deduciblo 
from  the  phrases  in  the  deed,*'  Virginia  inclusive,''  said  that  they 
were  necessary,  because  without  them,  Virginia  would  have  been 
entitled  to  no  part  of  the  ceded  lands.  No  ?  Were  they  not  ceded 
to  the  United  States ;  was  she  not  one  of  those  states,  and  did  not  the 
grant  to  them  include  her  ?  Why  then  were  the  words  inserted  ?  Can 
any  other  purpose  be  imagined  than  that  of  securing  to  Virginia  her 
separate  or  *'  respective"  proportion  ?  The  whole  paragraph  can- 
tiously  and  carefully  composed,  clearly  demonstrates  that,  although 
the  fund  was  to  be  common,  the  title  common,  the  administration 
common,  the  use  and  benefit  were  to  be  separate  among  the  several 
states,  in  the  defined  {»Y>portions. 

p 

The  grant  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  States,  ''  according  to  their 
usual  respective  proportions  in  the  common  charge  and  expenditure.'' 
Bear  in  mind  the  date  of  the  deed  ;  it  was  in  1784 — before  the  adop* 
tion  of  the  present  constitution,  and  while  the  articles  of  confederal 
tion  were  in  force.  What,  according  to  them,  was  the  mode  of  as* 
•easing  the  quotas  of  the  different  States  towards  the  common  charge 
and  expenditure  ?  It  was  made  upon  the  basis  of  the  value  of  all 
the  surveyed  land,  and  the  improvements,  in  each  state.  Each  State 
was  assessed  according  to  the  aggregate  value  of  surveyed  land  and 
improvements  within  its  limits.  After  that  was  ascertained,  the  pro- 
cess of  assessment  lilras  this :  suppose  there  were  five  millions  of  dol- 
lars  required  t«  be  raised  for  the  use  of  the  general  government,  and 
one  million  of  that  five  were  the  proportion  of  Virginia;  there  would 
be  an  account  stated  on  the  books  of  the  general  government  with 
the  State  of  Virginia,  in  which  she  would  be  charged  with  that  mill- 
ion.  Then  there  would  be  an  account  kept  for  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands  ;  and,  if  these  amounted  to  five  millions  of 
dollais  als0|  Virginia  would  be  credited  with  one  million,  being  bar 


4174  tPBtCHB  OF  HnntT  olat. 

fiur  proportion ;  and  Ihus  tiie  account  would  be  balanced.  It  ia  uh 
necessary  to  pursue  the  process  with  all  the  other  States ;  this  is 
enough  to  show  that,  according  to  the  original  contemplation  of  tho 
grant,  the  common  fund  was  for  the  separate  benefit  of  the  States ; 
and  that,  if  there  had  been  no  change  in  the  form  of  govemmenti 
each  would  have  been  credited  with  its  share  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  in  its  account  withithe  general  governnr>ent.  la  not  this 
indisputable  ?  But  let  me  suppose  that  Virginia  or  any  other  State 
had  said  torthe  general  government :  *'  I  chooscLto  receive  Aiy  share 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  into  my  separate  treasury  ;  pay  it 
to  me,  and  I  will  provide  in  some  other  mode,  more  agreeable  to  mey 
for  the  payment  of  my  assessed  quota  of  the  expenses  of  the  general 
government :''  can  it  be  doubted  that  such  a  demand  would  have  been 
legitimate  and  perfectly  compatible  with  the  deed  of  cession  ?  Even 
under  our  present  system,  you  will  recollect,  sir,  that,  during  the 
last  war,  any  State  was  allowed  to  assume  the  payntent  of  its  shara 
of  the  direct  tax,  and  raise  it,  according  to  its  own  pleasure  or  cob< 
▼enience,  from  its  own  people,  instead  of  the  general  goverment  col'* 
lecting  it. 

From  the  period  of  the  adoption  of  the  present  coBstitation  of  the 
United  States,  the  mode  of  raising  revenue,  for  the  expenses  of  the 
general  government,  has  been  changed.  Instead  of  acting  upon  the 
States,  and  through  them  upon  the  people  of  the  several  States,  in 
the  form  of  assessed  quota  or  contribution,  the  general  government 
now  acts  directly  upon  the  people  themselves,  in  the  form  of  taxes, 
duties,  or  excises.  Now,  as  the  chief  source  of  revenue  raised  by 
this  government,  is  from  foreign  imports,  and  as  the  consumer  pays 
the  duty,  it  is  entirely  impracticable  to  ascertain  how  much  of  the 
common  charge  and  general  expenditure  is  contributed  by  any  one 
State  of  the  Union. 

By  the  deed  of  cession  a  great  and  a  sacred  trust  was  created. 
The  general  government  was  the  trustee,  and  the  States  were  the 
cestuy  que  trust.  According  to  the  trust  the  measure  of  benefit  ac- 
cruing to  each  State  from  the  ceded  lands  was  to  be  the  measure  of 
burden  which-it  bore  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure.  But, 
by  the  substitution  of  a  new  rule  of  raising  revenue  to  that  which 
was  in  contemplation  at  the  time  of  the  execution  of  the  deed  of  ces- 
fion,  it  has  become  impossible  to  adjust  the  exact  proportion  of  bur* 


0«  THX  PftBHUIPTIOII  BILIt.  475 

.den  and  benefit  with  each  other.  The  measare  of  burden  it  lost, 
although  the  subject  remains  which  was  to  be  proportioned  according 
to  that  measure.  Who  can  now  ascertain  whether  any  one  of  the 
States  has  received,  or  is  receiving,  a  benefit  from  the  ceded  iand» 
proportionate  to  its  burden  in  the  general  government  ?  Who  can 
know  that  we  are  not  daily  violating  the  rule  of  apportionment  pre- 
scribed by  the  deed  of  cession  ?  To.  me  it  appears  clear  that,  either 
from  the  epoch  of  the  eslablisliment  of  the  present  constitution,  or 
certainly  from  that  of  the  payment  of  the  revolutionary  debt,  the 
proceeds  of  the  public  lands  being  no  lunger  applied  by  the  p;eneral 
government  according  to  that  rule,  they  ought  to  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  States  upon  some  equitable  principle  of  division,  con- 
forming as  near  as  possible  to  the  spirit  of  the  cessions.  The  trustee 
not  being  able,  by  the  change  of  government,  to  execute  the  trust 
agreeably  to  the  terms  of  the  trust,  ought  to  have  done,  and  ought 
yet  to  do,  that  which  a  chancellor  would  decree  if  he  had  jurisdiction 
of  the  case — make  a  division  of  the  proceeds  among  the  Slates  upon 
some  rule  approximating  as  near  as  practicable  to  that  of  the  trust. 
And  what  rule  can  so  well  fulfil  this  condition  as  that  which  was 
introduced  in  the  bill  which  I  presented  to  the  Senate,  and  which  is 
contained  in  my  colleague^s  amendment?  That  rule  is  founded  on 
federal  numbers,  which  are  made  up  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States  other  than  the  slaves,  and  three-fiflbs  of  them.  The 
South,  surely,  should  be  the  last  section  to  object  to  a  distribution 
founded  on  that  rule.  And  yet,  if  1  rightly  understood  one  of  the 
dark  allusions  of  th&  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  Calhoun,) 
he  has  attempted  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  the  north  on  that  very 
ground,  fie  that  as  it  may,  I  can  conceive  of  no  rule  more  equitable 
than  that  compound  one,  and,  I  think,  that  will  be  the  judgment  of 
all  parts  of  the  country,  the  objection  of  that  Senator  notwithstand- 
ing. Although  slaves  are,  in  a  limited  proportion,  one  of  the  ele- 
ments that  enter  into  the  rule,  it  will  be  recollected  that  they  are 
both  consumers  and  the  objects  of  taxation* 

It  haH  been  argued  that  since  the  fund  was  to  be  a  common  one, 
and  its  administration  was  to  be  by  the  general  government,  the  fund 
ought  to  be  used  also  by  that  government  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
States  separately.  But  that  is  a  non  sequiiur.  It  may  be  a  common 
fund,  a  common  title,  and  a  common  or  single  administration  ;  but  is 
there  any  thing,  in  all  that,  incompatible  with  a  periodical  distribo- 


476  imcHB  or  HsiiRr  clat; 

tioD  of  the  profits  of  the  fund  among  the  parties  for  whose  benefit  ihb 
tnist  was  croated  ?  What  is  the  ordinary  case  of  tenants  in  common  ? 
Where  the  estate  is  common,  the  title  is  common,  the  defence  against 
ill  attacks  is  common ;  but  the  profits  of  the  estate  go  to  the  sepa- 
rate use  of,  and  are  enjoyed  by  each  tenant.  Does  it  therefore  cease 
to  be  an  estale  in  common  ?  Again.  There  is  another  view.  It  has 
been  argued,  from  the  fact  that  the  ceded  lands  in  the  hands  of  the 
trustee  were  fur  the  common  benefit,  that  that  object  could  be  not 
otherwise  accomplished  than  to  use  them  in  the  disbursements  of  the 
general  government ;  that  the  general  government  only  must  expend 
them.  Now,  I  do  not  admit  that.  In  point  of  foct,  the  general  go- 
vernment would  continue  to  collect  and  receive  the  fund,  and  as  a 
trustee  would  pay  over  to  each  State  its  distributive  share. 

The  public  domain  would  still  remain  in  common.  Then,  as  to  tha 
expenditure,  there  may  be  different  modes  of  expenditure.  One  is, 
for  the  general  government  itself  to  disperse  it,  in  payments  to  the 
civil  lists,  the  army,  the  navy,  &c.  Another  is,  by  distributing  it 
among  the  States,  to  constitute  them  so  many  agencies  through  which 
the  expenditure  is  effected.  If  tne  general  government  and  the  state 
governments  were  in  two  different  countries ;  if  they  had  entirely 
distinct  and  distant  theatres  of  action,  and  operated  upon  difierent 
races  of  men,  it  would  be  another  case  ;  but  here  the  two  sys- 
tems of  government,  although  for  different  purposes,  are  among  the 
same  people,  and  the  constituency  of  both  of  them  is  the  same.  The 
expenditure,  whether  made  by  the  one  government  directly,  or 
through  the  state  governments  as,  agencies,  is  all  for  the  happiness 
and  prosperity,  the  honor  and  the  glory  of  one  and  the  same  people. 

The  subject  is  susceptible  of  other  illustrations,  of  which  I  will  add 
one  or  two.  Here  is  a  fountain  of  water  held  in  common  by  several 
neighbors,  living  around  it.  It  is  a  perennial  fountain — deep,  pore, 
copious,  and  salubrious.  Does  it  cease  to  be  common  because  some 
equal  division  is  made  by  which  the  members  of  each  adjacent  family 
dip  their  vessels  into  it,  and  take  out  as  much  as  they  want .'  A 
tract  of  land  is  held  in  common  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  neighborii^ 
village.  Does  it  cease  to  be  a  common  property  because  each  vil* 
lager  userit  for  his  particular  beasts  ?  A  river  is  the  common  high- 
road of  navigation  of  conterminous  powers  or  states.  Does  it  ceass 
to  be  common  because  on  its  bosom  are  borne  vessels  bearing  tha 


OK  TBI  PBB-niPTIOII   HLL.  477 

ftripes  and  the  ttan  or  the  BritUh  cross  ?  These,  and  other  exam* 
|>les  which  might  be  given,  prove  that  the  argument,  |n  which  so 
much  reliance  has  been  placed,  is  not  well  founded,  that,  because  tht 
public  domain  is  held  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  States,  there  can 
be  no  other  just  application  of  its  proceeds  than  through  the  direct 
expenditures  of  the  general  government. 

I  might  have  avoided  most  of  this  consumption  of  time  by  follow- 
ing the  bad  example  of  quoting  from  my  own  productions ;  and  I  ask 
the  Senate  to  excuse  one  or  two  citations  from  the  report  1  made  in 
1S34,  in  answer  to  the  veto  message  of  President  Jackson,  as  they 
present  a  condensed  view  of  the  argument  which  1  have  been  urg- 
ing.    Speaking  of  the  cession  from  Virginia  the  report  says : 

*'  This  deed  crrated  a  troftt  in  the  United  States,  which  they  are  not  at  liberty  to 
violate.  But  the  deed  does  not  require  that  the  i'und  should  be  dibbursed  in  the  pay- 
ment of  the  expenses  of  the  general  government.  It  makes  no  such  provision  la 
express  terms,  uor  is  such  a  duty  on  the  part  of  the  trustee  fairly  deducible  from  tho 
language  of  tne  deed.  Oo  the  contrary,  the  l.ingUHge  of  the  deed  seems  to  contem- 
place  a  separute  use  and  enjoyment  of  ihe  fund  by  the  States  individnally,  rather 
than  a  preservation  of  it  for  common  expf^nditnrc.  The  fund  itself  is  to  be  a  com- 
mon food  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  such  of  the  United  States  as  have  become  or 
ahall  become  members  of  the  confederation  or  federal  alliance,  Virginia  inclusive. 
The  grant  is  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  confederation,  but  for  that  of  the  several 
States  which  compose  the  confederation.  The  fund  is  to  be  under  the  maaagement 
of  the  confederation  collecrivrly,  and  is  so  far  a  common  fund  ;  but  it  is  to  be  man- 
aged for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  States  individually,  and  is  so  far  a  separate  fond 
under  a  ioint  management.  While  there  was  a  heavy  debt  existing,  created  by  tha 
war  of  tne  Revolution,  and  by  a  »nbM^quent  war,  there  was  a  fitness  in  applying  the 
proceedii  of  a  common  fund  lo  the  dischame  of  a  common  debt,  which  reconciled 
all ;  but  that  debt  being  now  discharged,  and  the  general  governriient  no  longer 
standing  in  need  of  the  fund,  there  is  evident  propriety  in  a  division  of  it  among 
those  lor  whose  use  and  bepeKt  it  was  originully  designed,  hihI  whose  wants  require 
it.  And  the  committee  cannot  conceive  iiow  this  approiiriation  of  it,  upon  pnnci- 
pies  of  equality  and  jiistice  amorig  the  several  States,  can  be  regarded  as  contrary  lo 
either  the  letter  or  spirit  of  the  oeed." 

The  Senator  from  New  York,  assuming  that  the  whole  debt  of 
the  Revolution  has  not  yet  been  paid  by  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands,  insists  that  we  should  continue  to  retain  the  avails  of  them  until 
a  reimbursement  shall  have  been  e^cted  of  all  that  has  been  applied 
to  that  object.  But  the  public  lands  were  never  set  apart  or  relied 
upon  as  the  exclusive  resource  for  the  payment  of  the  revolutionary 
debt.  To  give  confidence  to  public  creditors,  and  credit  to  the  go- 
vernment, they  weie  pledged  to  that  object,  along  with  other  means 
applicable  to  its  discharge.  The  debt  is  paid,  and  the  pledge  of  the 
public  lands  has  performed  its  office.  And  who  paid  what  the  lands 
did  not  ?  Was  it  not  the  people  of  the  United  States  ? — those  very 
people  to  whose  ase,  under  the  guardianship  of  their  StateS|  it  is  now 


478  8PXSCHE1  OP  BUIRT    GIUtT. 

proposed  to  dedicate  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  ?  If  the  oiooey 
had  been  paid  by  a  foreign  government,  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands,  in  honor  and  good  faith,  would  have  been  bound  to  reimbniae 
it.  But  our  revolutionary  debt,  if  not  wholly  paid  by  the  publie 
lands,  was  otherwise  paid  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  people  who  owa 
the  lands  ;  and  if  money  has  been  drawn  from  their  pockets  for  a 
purpose  to  which  these  lands  were  destined,  it  creates  an  additional 
obligation  upon  Congress  to  replace  the  amount  so  abstracted  by  dis- 
tributing the  proceeds  among  the  States  for  the  benefit  and  the  reim* 
bcusement  of  the  people. 

But  the  Senator  from  New  York  has  exhibited  a  most  forroadablo 
account  against  the  public  domain,  tending  to  show,  if  it  be  correct, 
that  what  has  been  heretofore  regarded,  at  home  and  abroad  as  a 
source  of  great  national  wealth,  has  been  a  constant  charge  cpon  the 
treasury,  and  a  great  loss  to  the  country.  The  credit  side,  accordii^ 
to  his  statement,  was,  1  believe  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions,  but 
the  debit  side  was  much  larger.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark 
that  it  is  easy  to  state  an  account  presenting  a  balance  to  the  one  side 
or  the  other,  as  may  suit  the  taste  or  views  of  the  person  making  it 
up.  This  may  be  done  by  making  charges  that  have  no  foundatiooi 
or  omitting  credits  that  ought  to  be  allowed,  or  by  both.  The  most 
certain  operation  is  the  latter,  and  the  Senator^  who  is  a  pretty  tho 
Tough-going  gentlemen,  has  adopted  it. 

The  first  item  that  I  shall  notice,  with  which,  I  think,  he  impro- 
perly debits  the  public  lands,  is  a  charge  of  eighty  odd  million  of  dol- 
lars for  the  expense  of  conducting  our  Indian  relations.  Now,  if  this 
single  item  can  be  satisfactorily  expunged,  no  more  need  be  done  to 
turn  a  large  balance  in  favor  of  the  public  lands.  1  ask,  then,  with 
what  color  of  propriety  can  the  public  lands  be  charged  with  the  en- 
tire expense  incident  to  our  Indian  relations  ^  If  the  govermneot  did 
not  own  an  acre  of  public  lands,  this  expense  would  have  been  in- 
curred. The  aborio[ines  are  here;  our  fiilhers  found  them  in  posses- 
sion of  this  land,  these  woods  and  these  waters.  Tho  preservation 
of  peace  with  them,  the  fulfilment  of  the  duties  of  humanity  towards 
them,  their  civilization,  education,  conversion  to  Christianity,  friendly 
and  commercial  intercourse — these  are  the  causes  of  the  chief  expen- 
diture on  their  account,  and  they  are  quite  distinct  from  the  fact  of 
our  possessing  the  public  domain.     When  every  acre  of  that  dooiaio 


on  TItl  PBK^SMPTIOir  MIX.  470 

has  goD6  from  yoa,  the  TndiBii  tribes,  if  not  in  the  mean  time  extinct 
may  yet  remain,  imploring  you,  for  charity^s  sake,  to  asaiat  them,  and 
to  share  with  them  those  blessings,  of  which,  by  the  weakness  of 
their  nature,  or  the  cruelty  of  your  policy,  they  have  been  stripped. 
Why,  especially,  should  the  public  lands  be  chargeable  with  that 
large  portion  of  the  eighty  odd  millions  of  dollars,  arising  from  the  re- 
moval of  the  Indians  from  the  east  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  ? 
They  protested  against  it.  They  entreated  you  to  allow  them  to  re- 
main at  the  homes  and  by  the  side  of  the  graves  of  their  ancestors ; 
but  your  stern  and  rigorous  policy  would  not  allow  you  to  listen  to 
their  supplications.  The  public  domain,  instead  of  being  justly 
chargeable  with  the  expense  of  their  removal,  is  entitled  to  a  large 
credit  for  the  vast  territorial  districts  beyond  the  Mississippi  which  it 
furnished,  for  the  settlement  of  the  emigrant  Indians.  I  feel  that  I 
have  not  strength  to  go  through  all  the  items  of  the  Senator's  ac- 
count, nor  need  I.  The  deduction  of  this  single  item  will  leave  a 
nett  balance  in  favor  of  the  public  lands  of  between  sixty  and  seventy 
millions  of  dollars. 

What,  after  all,  is  the  Senator's  mode  of  stating  the  account  with 
the  public  lands  ?  Has  he  taken  any  other  than  a  mere  counting 
house  view  of  them  ?  Has  he  exhibited  any  thing  more  than  any 
sub-accountant  or  clerk  might  make  out  in  any  of  the  departments, 
as  probably  it  was  prepared,  cut  and  dry,  to  the  Senator's  hands  ? 
Are  there  no  higher  or  more  statesmanlike  views  to  be  taken  of  the 
public  lands,  and  of  the  acquisitions  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  than 
the  account  of  dollars  and  cents  which  the  Senator  has  presented  ? 
I  have  said  that  the  Senator  by  the  double  process  of  erroneous  inser- 
tion and  unjust  suppression  of  items,  has  shaped  an  account  to  suit 
his  argument,  which  presents  any  thing  but  a  full  and  fair  statement 
of  the  case,  and  is  it  not  so  ?  Louisiana  cost  fifteen  millions  of  dol- 
lars. And,  if  you  had  the  power  of  selling,  how  many  hundred  mill- 
ions of  dollars  would  you  now  ask  for  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Mis- 
souri and  Arkansas — people,  land,  and  all  }  Is  the  sovereignty  which 
you  acquired  of  the  two  provinces  of  Louisiana  and  Florida  nothing  ? 
Are  the  public  buildings  and  works,  the  fortiGcations,  cannon,  and 
other  arms,  independent  of  the  public  lands,  nothing  }  Is  the  navi- 
gation of  the  great  father  of  waters,  which  you  secured  from  the  head 
to  the  mouth,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  by  the  purchase  of  Louui* 
•ak,  to  the  total  exclusion  of  all  foreign  powers,  not  worthy  of  being 


• 


480  trKBcms  or  Hnmr  glat. 

taken  into  the  Senator's  estimate  of  the  advantage  of  the  aoquisilioii  ? 
Who,  at  all  acquainted  with  the  history  and  geography  of  this  conti- 
nent, does  not  know  that  the  Mississippi  could  not  have  renriaiLed  in 
the  hands,  and  its  navigation  continued  suhject  to  the  control  of  a 
foreign  power,  without  imminent  danger  to  the  stability  of  the  Union  ? 
Is  the  cost  of  the  public  domain  undeserving  of  any  credit  on  account 
of  the  vast  sums  which,  during  the  greater  part  of  this  century, you 
have  beenjeceiving  into  the  public  treasury  from  the  custom-houses 
of  New-Orleans  and  Mobile  ?  Or,  on  account  of  the  augmentation 
of  the  revenue  of  the  government,  from  the  consumption  of  dutiable 
articles  by  the  population  within  the  boundaries  of  the  two  former 
provinces  ?  The  national  benefits  and  advantages  accruing  from  their 
possession  have  been  so  various  and  immense  tliat  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  make  any  more  pecuniary  estimate  of  them.  In  any  aypeci 
of  the  subject,  the  Senator's  petty  items  of  Indian  annuities  must 
appear  contemptible  in  comparison  with  these  splendid  national  ac- 
quisitions. 

But  the  public  lands  are  redeemed.  They  have  long  been  redeem* 
ed.  President  Jackson  announced,  more  than  eight  years  ago,  an 
incontestible  truth  when  he  stated  that  they  might  be  considered  as 
relieved  from  the  pledge  which  had  been  made  of  them,  the  object 
having  been  accomplished  for  which  they  were  ceded,  and  that  it 
was  in  the  discretion  of  Congress  to  dispose  of  them  in  such  way  as 
best  to  conduce  to  the  quiet,  harmony,  and  general  interest  of  tiie 
American  people.  That  which  Congress  has  the  power  to  do,  by  an 
express  grant  of  authority  in  the  constitution,  it  is,  in  my  humble 
opinion,  imperatively  bound  to  do  by  the  terms  of  the  deed  of  ces- 
sion. Dislribotion,  and  only  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  pub* 
lie  lands,  among  the  States,  upon  the  principle  proposed,  will  con- 
form to  the  spirit,  and  execute  the  trust  created  in  the  deeds  of  ces- 
sion. Each  State,  upon  grounds  of  strict  justice  as  well  as  equity, 
has  a  right  to  demand  its  distributive  share  of  those  proceeds.  It  is 
a  debt  which  this  government  owes  to  evcfry  state — a  debt,  payment 
of  which  might  be  enforced  by  the  process  of  law  if  there  were  any 
ibrum  before  which  the  United  States  could  be  brought. 

And  are  there  not,  sir,  existing  at  this  moment  the  most  urgent  and 
powerful  motives  for  this  dispensation  of  justice  to  the  States  at  the 
hands  of  the  general  government  ?    A  stnnger  listening  to  the  aign- 


OK  TRC  PBi-mrrroir  bill.  481 

ment  of  the  Senator  from  New  York,  would  conclude  that  we  were 
not  one  united  people,  but  that  there  were  two  separate  and  distinct 
nations — one  acted  upon  by  the  general  goyernnrmnt,  and  the  other 
by  the  State  governtnenls.  But  is  that  a  fair  representation  of  the 
case  ?  Are  we  not  one  and  the  same  people,  acted  upon,  it  is  true, 
by  two  systems  of  government,  two  sets  of  public  agepts — the  one 
established  for  general  and  the  other  for  local  purposes  ?  The  con- 
stituency is  identical  and  the  same,  although  it  \s  doubly  governed. 
It  is  the  bounden  duty  of  those  who  are  charged  with  the  adminis* 
tration  of  each  system  so  to  administer  it  as  to  do  as  much  good  and  as 
little  harm  as  possible,  within  the  scope  of  their  respective  powers. 
They  should  also  each  take  into  view  the  defects  in  the  powers  or 
defects  in  the  administration  of  the  powers  of  the  other,  and  endeavor 
to  supply  them  as  far  as  its  legitimate  authority  extends,  and  the 
wants  or  necessities  of  the  people  require.  For,  if  distress,  adversity 
and  ruin  come  upon  our  constituents  from  any  quarter,  should  they 
not  have  our  active  exertions  to  relieve  them  as  well  as  alt  our  sym« 
pathies  and  our  deepest  regrets  ?  It  would  be  but  a  poor  consolation 
to  the  general  government,  if  such  were  the  fact,  that  this  unhappy 
state  of  things  was  produced  by  the  measures  and  operation  of  the 
State  governments  and  not  by  its  own.  And  if  the  general  govern* 
ment,  by  a  seasonable  and  legitimate  exercise  of  its  authority,  could 
relieve  the  people,  and  would  not  relieve  them,  the  reproaches  due 
to  it  would  be  quite  as  great  as  if  that  government  itself,  and  not  the 
State  governments,  had  brought  these  distresses  upon  the  people. 

The  powers  of  taxation  possessed  by  the  general  government  are 
unlimited.  The  most  fruitful  and  the  least  burdensome  modes  of 
taxation  are  con6ded  (o  this  govemmont  exclusive  of  the  States. 
The  power  of  laying  duties  on  foreign  imports  is  entirely  monopolised 
by  the  federal  government.  The  States  have  only  the  power  of  di- 
rect or  internal  taxation.  They  have  none  to  impose  duties  on  im- 
ports, not  even  luxuries ;  we  have.  And  what  is  their  condition  at 
this  moment  ?  Some  of  them  are  greatly  in  debt,  at  a  loss  even  to 
raise  means  to  pay  the  interest  upon  their  bonds.  These  debts  were 
contracted  under  the  joint  encouragement  of  the  recommendation  of 
this  government  and  prisperous  times,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  land- 
able  object  of  internal  improvements.  They  may  have  poshed,  in 
tome  instances,  their  tehemes  too  fhr ;  but  it  was  in  a  good  caoaei 
md  it  ia  caay  to  aaka  nproaebe*  irtai  tUiga  limi  out  ill. 


s 


462  tPUGHn  or  hihrt  clay. 

And  here  let  me  say,  that,  looking  to  the  patriotic  object  of  tlwaa 
State  debts,  and  the  circumstances  ander  \i'hich  they  were  contract- 
ed, I  saw  with  astonished  «nd  indignant  feelings,  a  resolution  snb- 
mitled  to  the  Senate  at  the  last  session,  declaring  that  the  general  go> 
vernment  would  not  assume  the  payment  of  them.  A  more  wicked, 
malignant,  Danton-like  proposition  was  never  offered  to  the  consider- 
ation of  any  deliberative  assembly.  It  was  a  negaiif9e  proposition, 
not  a  negative  of  any  affirmative  resolution  presented  to  the  Senate; 
for  no  such  affirmative  resolution  was  offered  by  any  one.  When, 
where,  by  whom,  was  the  extravagant  idea  ever  entertained  of  an 
assumption  of  the  State  debts  by  the  general  government  ?  There 
was  not  a  solitary  voice  raised  in  favor  of  such  a  measare  in  this 
Senate.  Would  it  not  have  been  time  enough  to  have  denounced 
assumption  when  it  was  seriously  proposed  f  Yet,  at  a  moment 
when  the  Slates  were  greatly  embarrassed,  when  their  credit  was 
•inking,  at  this  critical  moment,  was  a  measure  brought  forward, 
unnecessarily,  wantonly  and  gratuitously,  made  the  subject  of  an 
elaborate  report,  and  exciting  a  protracted  debate,  the  inevitable 
effectof  all  which  must  have  been  to  create  abroad  distrust  in  tke 
ability  and  good  faith  of  the  debtor  states.  Can  it  be  doubted  that  a 
serious  injury  was  inflicted  upon  them  by  this  unprecedented  pro- 
ceeding ?  Nothing  is  more  delicate  than  credit  or  character.  Their 
credit  cannot  fail  to  have  suflered  in  the  only  place  where  ca{Htal 
could  be  obtained,  and  where  at  that  very  time  some  of  the  agents 
of  the  States  were  negotiating  with  foreign  bankers.  About  that 
period  one  of  the  Senators  of  this  body  bad  in  person  gone  abroad  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  advances  of  money  on  Illinois  stock. 

The  Senator  from  New  York  said  that  the  European  capitalists 
had  fixed  the  value  of  the  State  bonds  of  this  country  at  fifty  per 
cent. ;  and  therefore  it  was  a  matter  of  no  consequence  what  might 
be  said  about  the  credit  of  the  States  here.  But  the  Senator  is  miv- 
iaken,  or  I  have  been  entirely  misinformed.  I  understand  that  some 
Bankers  have  limited  their  advances  upon  the  amount  of  State-bonds, 
prior  to  their  actual  sale,  to  fifty  per  cent.,  in  like  manner  as  commis- 
sion merchants  will  advance  on  the  goods  consigned  to  them,  prior  to 
their  sale.  But  in  such  an  operation  it  is  manifestly  for  the  interest 
of  the  States  as  well  as  the  Bankers,  that  thebonds^should  command 
in  the  market  as  much  as  possible  above  the  fiAy  per  cent. ;  and  uty 
proceeding  which  impaifi  tbe  Tnlue  of  the  bonda  most  be  i^juriounto 


OK  THC  FB^KIIPTIOM  WU..  4S8 

both.  In  anyeveal,  the  lou  would  fall  upon  the  States;  and  thai 
tfaia  loss  waa  aggravated  tiy  what  occurred  here,  on  the  resoluiion  to 
which  1  have  referred,  no  one,  at  all  acquainted  with  the  Bensilire- 
.  ness  of  credit  and  of  capiialista,  can  hesitate  to  believe.  My  frienda 
and  I  made  tlie  most  strenuous  opposition  to  the  resolution,  hut  it  waa 
all  unavailing,  and  a  majority  of  the  Senate  ailopted  the  report  of  the 
coonmLllee  to  which  the  resolution  hod  been  referred.  We  urf;cd  the 
impolicy  and  injostice  of  the  proceeding  ;  that  no  man  in  his  sejuea 
would  ever  propose  the  assumption  of  the  Slate  debts ;  that  no  such 
proposal  had,  in  fact,  been  mode  ;  that  the  debts  of  the  States  van 
unequal  in  amount  contracted  by  States  of  unequal  population,  and 
that  some.  Stales  were  not  in  debt  at  all.  How  then  was  it  posaihle 
to  think  of  a  general  assumption  of  State  debts  ?  Who  could  con- 
ceive of  such  a  proposal  ?  But  there  is  a  vast  diilerence  between  ottr 
paying  iheir  debts/nr  them,  and  paying  ow  oictt  debts  to  them,  in  coi»- 
formily  with  the  trusts  arising  out  of  the  public  domain,  which  Hu 
general  government  is  bound  to  execute. 

Lanf;u^re  has  been  held  in  this  chamber  which  would  lead  any 
one  who  beard  it  to  believe  that  some  gentleman  would  take  delight 
in  geeLn<;  States  dishonored  and  unable  to  psy  their  bonds.  Ifsucb  a 
feeling  does  really  exist,  I  trust  it  will  Hnd  no  sympathy  with  the 
people  of  this  country,  as  it  can  have  none  in  the  breast  of  any  faonetl 
man.  When  the  honorable  Senntor  from  Massachuaetis  (Mr-  Web- 
ster) the  other  day  uttered,  in  such  thrilling  Innguage,  the  sentiment 
that  honor  and  piobily  bound  the  Slntes  to  the  faithful  payment  of 
all  their  debts,  and  that  they  would  do  it,  I  felt  my  hoMtn  swelling 
with  patriotic  pride — pride,  on  account  ot  the  just  and  manly  sentineit 
itself;  and  pride,  on  account  of  the  be.autifnl  and  eloquent  Ungunga 
in  which  that  noble  aeotiment  was  clothed.  Diahonor  Ameriou 
credit  I  Dishonor  the  American  name  !  Dishonor  iha  whole  con^ 
try  !  Why  air,  what  is  national  character,  national  credit,  nalioml 
honor,  national  glory,  but  the  a^regate  of  the  character,  the  oiedit, 
the  honor,  the  glory,  of  tlie  parts  of  the  nstion  ?  Can  the  porta  h* 
dishonored,  and  the  vrhiAe  remain  unsullied.'  Or  can  thewbolfrte 
blemished,  and  the  parts  stand  pore  and  untainted  !  Cu  a  y 
sister  be  disgraced,  without  bringing  blushes  and  shame  upon  t 
whole  family  !  Can  our  young  sister  Illinois  (I  mention  her  only  for 
illiiatration,  but  wkh  all  feeling!  and  ■entimenls  of  fraternal  regpal^ 
on  •ha  d^ada  her  ohmcw  m  ftflUUa  mlkmttmwgttgt^m^*i 


I 

484  0PIICHB  or  HursT  clat. 

•nd  obloquy  upon  all  of  U8  ?  What  has  made  England — our  coun- 
try's glorious  parent — (although  she  has  taught  us  ihe  doty  of  eter- 
nal watchfulness,  to  repel  aggression,  and  maintain  our  rights  against 
even  her) — what  has  made  England  the  wonder  of  the  world  ?  What 
has  raised  her  to  such  pre-eminence  in  wealth,  power,  empire  and 
greatness,  at  once  the  awe  and  the  admiration  of  nations  ?  Undoubt- 
edly, among  the  prominent  causes,  have  been  the  preservation  of  her 
credit,  the  maintenance  ot  her  honor,  and  the  scrupulous  fidelity 
with  which  she  has  fulfilled  her  pecuniary  engagements,  foreign  as 
well  as  domestic.  An  opposite  example  of  a  disregard  of  national 
fiiith  and  character  presents  itself  in  the  pages  of  ancient  history. 
Every  schoolboy  is  familiar  with  the  phrase  ^^  Punic  faith,"  which  at 
Rome  became  a  by-word  and  a  reproach  against  Carthage,  in  conne- 
quence  of  her  notorious  violations  of  her  public  engagements.  The 
stigma  has  been  transmitted  down  to  the  present  lime,  and  will  re- 
main for  ever  uneiTaced.  Who  would  not  lament  that  a  similar  stig- 
ma should  be  affixed  to  any  member  of  our  confederacy  ?  If  there 
be  any  one  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  party  spirit,  so  destitute  of 
honor  and  morality,  so  regardless  of  just  feelings  of  national  dignity 
and  character,  as  to  desire  to  see  any  of  the  States  of  this  glorious 
Union  dishonored,  by  violating  their  engagements  to  foreigners,  and 
refusing  to  pay  their  just  debts,  I  repel  and  repudiate  him  and  bis 
sentiments  as  unworthy  of  the  American  name,  as  aentinnents  dis- 
honest in  themselves,  and  neither  entertained  nor  approved  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

Let  us  not  be  misunderstood,  or  our  feelings  and  opinions  be  per- 
Terted.  What  is  it  that  we  ask  ?  That  this  government  shall  as* 
sume  the  debts  of  the  States  ?  Oh  no,  no.  The  debts  of  Pennsyl* 
▼ania,  for  example  ?  (who  is,  I  believe,  the  most  indebted  of  all  the 
States.)  No,  no  ;  far  from  it.  But  seeing  that  this  government  has 
the  power,  and,  as  I  think,  is  under  a  duty,  to  distiibute  the  proceeds 
of  the  public  lands,  and  that  it  has  the  power,  which  the  States  havo 
not,  to  lay  duties  on  foreign  luxuries,  we  propose  to  make  that  distri- 
bution, pay  owr  debt  to  the  States,  and  save  the  States,  to  that  extent 
at  least,  from  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  direct  taxation,  the  most 
onerous  of  all  modes  of  levying  money  upon  the  people.  We  pro- 
pose to  supply  the  deficiency  produced  from  the  withdrawal  of  the 
hind  fund  by  duties  on  luxuries,  which  the  wealthy  only  will  pay, 
aad  so  (ar  save  the  States  from  the  necessity  of  bordeftiag  the  poor. 


IMI  TBI  PltttllfFTIOir  BILL.  48ft 

We  propose  that,  by  a  just  ezercke  of  incontesiaUe  powers  posaesaed 
by  this  government,  we  shall  go  to  the  socoor  of  all  the  states,  and, 
by  a  fiiir  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  among 
them,  avert,  as  far  as  that  may  avert,  the  ruin  and  dishonor  with 
which  some  of  them  are  menaced.  We  propose,  in  short,  such  an 
administration  of  the  powers  of  this  government  as  shall  protect  and 
relieve  our  common  constituents  from  the  embarrassments  to  which 
they  may  be  exposed  from  the  defects  in  the  powers  or  in  the  admin* 
istration  of  the  state  governments. 

Let  us  look  a  little  more  minutely  at  consequences.  The  distribu* 
tive  share  of  the  state  of  Illinois  in  the  land  proceeds  would  be,  ac- 
cording to  the  present  receipt  frxim  the  pnblic  lands,  about  one  bun* 
dred  thousand  dollars.  We  make  distribntion,  and  she  receives  it* 
To  that  extent  it  would  then  relieve  her  from  direct  taxation  to  meet 
the  debt  which  she  has  contracted,  or  it  would  form  the  basis  of  new 
loans  to  an  amount  equal  to  about  two  million.  We  refuse  to  make 
distribution.  She  must  levy  the  hundred  thousand  dollars  upon  her 
population  in  the  form  of  direct  taxation.  And,  if  I  am  rightly  in« 
formed,  her  chief  source  of  revenue  is  a  land  tax,  the  most  burdensome 
of  all  taxes.  -  If  I  am  misinformed,  the  Senators  from  Illinois  cam 
correct  me. 

[Here  Mcsseb.  RoBiitsoif  and  Ytnnio  explained,  stating  that  there  was  an  oddUioii- 
al  source  in  a  tax  on  the  stock  in  the  State  Bank.] 

Still  the  land  tax  is,  as  I  had  understood,  the  principal  source  of  the 
revenue  of  Illinois.  We  make  distribution,  and,  if  necessary,  we 
supply  the  deficiency  which  it  produces,  by  an  imposition  of  duties 
on  luxuries,  which  Illinois  cannot  tax.  We  refuse  it,  and  having  no 
power  herself  to  lay  any  duty  on  foreign  imports,  she  is  compelled  to 
resort  to  the  most  inconvenient  and  oppressive  of  all  the  modes  of 
taxation.  Every  vote,  therefore,  which  is  given  against  disirtbutioni 
is  a  vote  in  effect,  given  to  lay  a  land  tax  on  the  people  of  Illinois. 
Worse  than  that — it  is  a  vote  in  effect,  refusing  to  tax  the  luxuries  of 
the  rich,  and  rendering  inevitable  the  taxation  of  the  poor — that  poor 
in  whose  behalf  we  hear,  from  the  other  side  of  the  chamber,  profes* 
•ioos  of  such  deep  sympathy,  interest,  and  devotion !  In  what  atti* 
tude  do  gentlemen  place  themselves  who  oppose  this  measure — gei^ 
tlemen  who  taunt  us  as  the  aristocracy,  as  the  friends  of  the  bankS| 
Ikc-^-gentlemen  who  claim  to  be  the  p^uliar  guardians  of  the  demof 

•FF 


486  SPlBCHBt  OF  BSintT  OLAT. 

cracy  ?    How  do  they  treat  the  poor  ?    We  have  seen  at  former 
sessions  a  measure  warmly  espoused,  and  finally  carried  by  them, 
which  they  represented  would  reduce  the  wages  of  labor.     At  this 
session,  a  tax,  which  would  be  borne  exclusively  by  the  rich,  en- 
counters their  opposition.    And  now  we  have  proposed  another  mode 
of  benefitting  the  poor,  by  distribution  of  the  land  proceeds,  to  pre- 
vent their  being  borne  down  and  oppressed  by  direct  taxation ;  and 
this,  too,  is  opposed  fit>m  the  same  quarter !     These  gentlemen  will 
not  consent  to  lay  a  tax  on  the  luxuries  of  the  affluent,  and  by  their 
votes  insist  upon  leaving  the  states  under  the  necessity  of  imposing 
direct  taxes  on  the  farmer,  the  laboring  man,  the  poor,  and  all  the 
while  set  up  to  be  the  exclusive  friends  of  the  poor !     Really,  sir, 
the  best  friends  appear  to  be  the  worst  enemies  of  the  poor,  and  their 
greatest  enemies  their  best  friends. 

■ft 

The  gentlemen  opposed  to  ns  hilve  firightened  themselves,  and 
have  sought  to  alarm  others,  by  imaginary  dangers  to  spring  from  this 
measure  of  distribution.  Corruption,  it  .seems,  is  to  be  the  order  of 
the  day  !  If  I  did  not  misunderstand  the  Senator  from  South  Caro- 
lina, he  apprised  us  of  the  precise  sum — one  million  of  dollars — ^which 
Was  adequate  to  the  corruption  of  his  own.  He  knows  best  abonl 
that ;  but  I  should  be  sorry  to  think  that  fifty  millions  of  dollars  coold 
corrupt  my  state.  What  may  be  the  condition  of  South  Carolina  at 
this  time  I  know  not ;  there  is  so  much  fog  enveloping  the  dominant 
party  that  it  is  difficult  to  discern  her  present  latitude  and  longitude 
^Vhat  she  was  in  her  better  days — in  the  days  of  her  Rulledges, 
Pinckneys,  Sumpters,  Lowndeses,  Cheveses — we  all  well  know,  and 
I  will  not  inflict  pain  on  the  Senator  by  dwelling  on  it.  It  is  not  for 
me  to  vindicate  her  from  a  charge  so  degrading  and  humiliating.  She 
has  another  Senator  here  far  more  able  and  eloquent  than  I  am  to  de- 
fend her.  Certainly  I  do  not  believe,  and  should  be  most  unwiUrng 
to  think,  that  her  Senator  had  made  a  correct  estimate  of  her  moral 
power. 

It  has  been  indeed  said  that  our  whole  country  is  corrupt  ;  that 
the  results  of  recent  elections  were  brought  about  by  fraudulent 
means  ;  and  that  a  foreign  influence  has  produced  the  great  political 
revolution  which  has  just  taken  place.  I  pronounce  that  charge  a 
gross,  atrociotis,  treasonable  libel  on  the  people  of  this  country,  on  the 
institutions  of  this  country,  and  on  liberty  itself.     I  do  not  attribute 


Oir  THB  Pmi-BIIPTION  Bn,L.  487 

this  calumny  to  any  member  of  this  body.  I  hope  there  is  none  who 
would  give  it  the  slightest  countenance.  But  I  do  charge  it  upon 
some  of  the  newspapersyin  the  support  of  the  other  party.  And  it  is 
remarkable  that  the  very  press  which  originates  and  propagates  this 
foul  calumny  of  foreign  influence  has  indicated  the  right  of  unnatural- 
ized foreigners  to  mingle  at  the  poles  in  our  elections ;  and  maintained 
the  expediency  of  their  owning  portions  of  the  soil  of  our  country, 
before  they  have  renounced  their  allegiance  to  foreign  sovereigns. 

I  will  not  consume  the  time  of  the  Senate  in  dwelling  long  upon 
the  idle  and  ridiculous  story  about  the  correspondence  between  the 
London  bankers  and  some  Missouri  bank — a  correspondence  which 
ivas  kept  safely  until  after  the  Presidential  election,  in  the  custody 
of  the  directors  of  what  is  vaunted  as  a  genuine  locofoco  bank  in  that 
state,  when  it  was  dragged  out  by  a  resolution  of  the  legislature,  au- 
thorizing the  sending  for  persons  and  papers.  It  was  then  blazed 
forth  as  conclusive  and  damning  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  foreign 
influence  in  our  Presidential  election.  And  what  did  it  all  amount 
to  ?  These  British  bankers  are  really  strange  fellows.  They  are 
foolish  enough  to  look  to  the  safety  of  their  money  advanced  to  for- 
eigners !  If  they  see  a  man  going  to  ruin,  they  will  not  lend  him  ; 
and  if  they  see  a  nation  pursuing  the  same  road,  they  are  so  unrM* 
sonable  as  to  decline  vesting  their  funds  in  its  bonds.  If  they  find 
war  threatened,  they  will  speculate  on  the  consequences ;  and  they 
will  indulge  in  conjectures  about  the  future  condition  of  a  country  in 
given  contingencies!  Very  strange!  They  have  seen — all  the 
world  is  too  familiar  with — these  embarrassments  and  distresses 
brought  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States  by  the  measures  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren  and  his  illustrious  predecessor.  They  conclude  that,  if 
he  be  re-elected,  there  will  be  no  change  of  those  measures,  and  no 
better  times  in  the  United  States.  On  the  contrary,  if  General  Hir- 
rison  be  elected,  they  argue  that  a  sound  currency  may  be  restored, 
confidence  return,  and  business  once  more  be  active  and  prosperous. 
They  therefore  tell  their  Missouri  banking  corrrapondents  that  Ameri- 
can bonds  and  stocks  will  continue  to  depreciate  if  Mr.  Van  Buren 
be  re-elected  ;  but  that,  if  his  competitor  should  succeed,  they  will 
rise  in  value  and  sell  more  readily  in  the  market.  And  these  opinions 
and  speculations  of  the  English  bankers,  carefully  concealed  frem  the 
vulgar  gaze  of  the  people,  and  locked  up  in  the  vaults  of  a  locofoco 
bank,  (what  wonders  they  may  have  wrought  there  have  not  been 


488  tP££CHn  OF  HXNRT  CLAT. 

disclosed,)  are  dragged  out  and  paraded  as  full  proof  of  the  cocmpt 
exercise  of  a  foreign  influence  in  the  election  of  Creneral  Harrison  aa 
President  of  the  United  States.  Why,  sir,  the  amount  of  the  ivhok 
of  it  is,  that  the  gentlemen  calling  themselves,  most  erroneously,  the 
Democratic  party,  have  administered  the  government  so  badly,  that 
they  have  lost  all  credit  and  confidence  at  home  and  abroad,  and  be- 
cause the  people  of  the  United  States  have  refused  to  trust  them  any 
longer,  and  foreign  bankers  will  not  trust  them  either,  they  utter  a 
whining  cry  that  their  recent  signal  defeat  has  been  the  work  of  fo- 
reign influence. 

Democratic  party  !  They  have  not  the  slightest  pretension  to  this 
denomination.  In  the  school  of  1798,  in  which  I  was  taught,  and  to 
which  I  have  ever  faithfully  adhered,  we  were  instructed  to  be 
watchful  and  jealous  of  executive  power,  enjoined  to  practice  econo- 
my in  the  public  disbursements,  and  urgc<l  to  rally  around  the  people 
and  not  attach' ourselves  to  the  Presidential  car.  Tliis  was  Jeffenon^ 
democracy.  But  the  modern  democrats,  who  have  assumed  the 
name,  have  reversed  all  these  wholesome  maxims,  and  have  given  to 
democracy  a  totally  different  version.  They  have  run  it  down,  as 
they  have  run  down,  m  at  least  endangered  State  rights,  the  right  of 
instruction — admirable  in  their  proper  sphere — and  all  other  rightS| 
by  perversion  and  extravagance.  But,  thank  God,  true  democracy, 
and  true  democrats  have  not  been  run  down.  Thousands  of  those 
who  have  been  deceived  and  deluded  by  false  colors,  will  now  eager- 
ly return  to  their  ancient  faith,  and  unite,  under  Harrison^s  l^puiner, 
with  their  old  and  genuine  friends  and  principles,  as  they  were  held 
at  the  epoch  of  1798.  We  shall,  I  trust,  be  all  once  more  united  as 
a  fraternal  band,  ready  to  defend  liberty  against  all  dangers  that  may 
threaten  it  at  home,  and  the  country  against  all  that  shall  menace  it 
from  abroad. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression  to  the  patriotic  apprehension  en- 
tertained by  Senators  of  corruption,  if  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands  should  be  distributed  among  the  states.  If,  in  the  hands  of  the 
general  government,  the  land  fund  does  not  lead  to  corruption,  why 
should  it  in  the  hands  of  the  state  governments  ?  Is  there  less  dan« 
ger  from  the  fund  if  it  remain  undivided  and  concentrated,  than  if  it 
.  be  distributed  ?  Are  the  state  governments  more  prone  to  corruption 
than  the  federal  government  ?    Are  they  more  wasteful  and  extiava* 


05  THE   PRE-EMPTION   BILL.  4B$ 

gant  in  the  expenditure  of  the  money  of  the  people  ?  I  think  that  if 
we  are  to  consult  purity  and  economy,  we  shall  find  fresh  motives 
for  distribution. 

Mr.  President,  two  plans  of  disposing  of  the  vast  public  domain 
belonging  to  the  United  States,  have  been,  from  time  to  time,  submitt^ 
to  the  consideration  of  Congress  and  the  public.  According  to  one  of 
them,  it  should-  not  be  regarded  as  a  source  of  revenue,  either  to  the 
general  or  to  the  state  government.  That  I  have,  I  think,  clearly  demon* 
strated,  although  the  supporters  of  that  plan  do  press  the  argument 
of  revenue  whenever  the  rival  plan  is  brought  forward.  They  coo- 
tend  that  the  general  government,  being  unfit,  or  less  competent  dian 
the  state  governments,  to  manage  the  public  lands,  it  ought  to  hasten 
to  get  rid  of  them,  either  by  reduction  of  the  price,  by  donation,  by 
pre-emptions,  or  by  cessions  to  certain  states,  or  by  all  these  methods 
together. 

Now,  sir,  it  is  manifest,  that  the  public  lands  cannot  be  all  settled 
in  a  century  or  centuries  to  come.  The  progress  of  their  settlement 
is  indicated  by  the  growth  of  the  population  of  the  United  States. 
There  have  not  been,  on  an  average,  five  millions  of  acres  per  annum 
sold,  during  the  last  half  century.  Larger  quantities  will  be  probably 
hereafter,  although  not  immediately,  annually  sold.  Now,  when  we 
recollect,  that  we  have  at  least  a  billion  of  acres  to  dispose  of,  some 
idea  may  be  entertained,  judging  from  the  past,  of  the  probable  length 
of  time  before  the  whole  is  sold.  Prior  to  their  sale  and  settlement, 
the  unoccupied  portion  of  the  public  domain  must  remain  either  in 
the  hands  of  the  general  government  or  in  the  hands  of  the  state  go- 
vernments, or  pass  into  the  hands  of  speculators.  In  the  hands  of 
the  general  government,  if  that  government  shall  perform  its  duty,  we 
know  that  the  public  lands  will  .be  distributed  on  liberal,  equal,  and 
moderate  terms.  The  worst  (ate  that  can  hebl)  them  would  be  to 
them  to  be  acquired  by  speculators.  The  emigrant  and  settler  would 
always  prefer  purchasing  from  government,  at  fixed  and  known  rates, 
rather  than  from  the  speculator,  at  unknown  rates,  fixed  by  his  cu- 
pidity or  caprice.  But  if  they  are  transferred  from  the  general  go- 
vernment, the  best  of  them  will  be  engrossed  by  speculators.  That 
18  the  inevitable  tendency  of  reduction  of  the  price  by  graduation,  attd 
of  cession  to  the  States  within  which  they  lie. 


400  SFKKCHKt  OF  HBNRT  CLAT. 

The  rival  plan  is  for  the  general  government  to  retain  the  pubUe 
domain,  and  make  distribution  of  the  proceeds  in  time  of  peacb  among 
the  several  states,  upon  equal  and  just  principles,  according  to  the 
rule  of  federal  numbers,  and  in  time  of  war  to  resume  the-proceeda 
for  its  vigorous  prosecution.  We  think  that  the  administration  of  the 
public  lands  had  better  remain  with  the  common  government,  than 
administered  according  to  various,  and,  perhaps,  conflicting  views. 
As  to  that  important  part  of  them  which  was  ceded  by  certain  states 
to  the  United  States  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  states,  a  trust 
was  thereby  created  which  has  been  voluntarily  accepted  by  the 
United  States,  and  which  they  are  not  at  liberty  now  to  decline  or 
transfer.  ^The  history  of  public  lands  held  in  the  United  States,  de- 
monstrates that  they  have  been  wasted  or  thrown  away  by  most  of 
the  states  that  owned  any,  and  that  the  general  govermnent  has  dis- 
played more  judgment  and  wisdom  in  the  administration  of  them 
than  any  of  the  states.  While  it  i»  readily  admitted  that  reyenue 
should  not  be  regarded  as  the  sole  or  exclusive  object,  the  pecuniary 
advantages  which  may  be  derived  from  this  great  national  property 
to  both  the  states  and  the  Union,  ought  not  to  be  altogether  over- 
Jboked. . 

The  measure  which  I  have  had  the  honor  to  propose,  settles  this 
great  and  agitating  question  forever.  It  is  founded,  upon  no  partial 
and  unequal  basis,  aggrandizing  a  few  o{  the  states  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  rest.  It  stands  on  a  just,  broad,  and  liberal  foundation.  It  is 
a  measure  applicable  not  only  to  the  states  now  in  being,  but  to  the 
territories,  as  states  shall  hereafter  be  formed  out  of  them,  and  to  all 
new  states  as  they  shall  rise  tier  behind  tier,  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  It 
is  a  system  operating  upon  a  space  almost  boundless,  and  adapted  to 
all  future  time.  It  was  a  noble  spirit  of  harmony  and  union  that 
prompted  the  revolutionary  states  originally  to  cede  to  the  United 
States.  How  admirably  does  this  measure  conform  to  that  spirit  and 
tend  to  the  perpetuity  of  our  glorious  Union !  The  imagination  can 
hardly  conceive  one  fraught  with  more  harmony  and  union  among 
the  States.  If  to  the  other  ties  that  bind  us  together  as  one  people, 
be  superadded  the  powerful  interest  springing  out  of  a  just  adminis- 
tration of  our.exhaustless  public  domain,by  which,  for  a  long  succes- 
sion of  ages,  in  seasons  of  peace,  the  states  will  enjoy  the  benefit  of 
the  great  and  growing  revenue  which  it  produces,  and  in  periods  of 
war  that  revenue  will  be  applied  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  we 


ON  THE  PRS-IMPTION  BILL.  491 

we  shall  be  forever  linked  together  with  the  strength  of  adamantine 
chains.  No  section,  no  state,  would  ever  be  mad  enough  to  break 
off  from  the  Uniqs,  and  deprive  itself  of  the  inestimable  advantages 
which  it  secures.  Although  thirty  or  forty  more  of  the  new  states 
should  be  admitted  into  this  Union,  this  measure  would  cement  thera 
all  fast  together.  The  honorable  member  from  Missouri  near  me, 
(Mr.  Linn,)  is  very  anxious  to  have  a  settlement  formed  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Oregon,  and  he  will  probably  be  gratified  at  no  very 
distant  day.  Then  will  be  seen  members  from  the  Pacific  States 
scaling  the  Rocky  Mountains,  passing  through  the  country  of  the 
grizzly  bear,  descending  the  turbid  Missouri,  entering  the  father  of 
rivers,  ascending  the  beautiful  Ohio,  and  coming  to  this  capitol,  to 
take  their  seats  in  its  spacious  and  magnificent  halls.  Proud  of  the 
commission  they  bear,  and  happy  to  find  themselves  here  in  council 
with  friends,  and  brothers,  and  countrymen,  enjoying  the  incalculable 
benefits  of  this  great  confederacy,  and  among  them  their  annual  dis- 
tributive share  of  the  issues  of  a  nation's  inheritance,  would  even 
they,  the  remote  people  of  the  Pacific,  ever  desire  to  separate  them- 
selves from  such  a  high  and  glorious  destiny  ?  The  fund  which  is  to 
be  dedicated  to  these  great  and  salutary  purposes,  does  not  proceed 
from  a  few  thousand  acres  of  land,  soon  to  be  disposed  of ;  but  of 
more  than  ten  hundred  millions  of  acres ;  and  age  after  age  may  roll 
away,  state  afier  state  arise,  generation  succeed  generation,  and  still 
the  fund  will  remain  not  only  unexhausted,  but  improved  and  in- 
creasing, for  the  benefit  of  our  children's  children  to  the  remotest 
posterity.  The  measure  is  not  one  pregnant  with  jealousy,  discord| 
or  division,  but  it  is  a  fiur-reaching,  comprehensive,  healing  measure 
of  compromise  and  composure,  having  for  its  patriotic  object  the  har« 
mony,  the  stability,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  states  and  of  the  Union. 


ON  THE  BANK  VETO. 


In  thk  ScNATfi  OF  THE  United  States^  August  19,  1841. 


[The  bill  which  had  paned  both  Uonses  of  Congren,  charteiin^  a  Buk  ot  tht 
United  States,  having  been  returned  by  Acting  President  Tylkr,  with  objections  to 
its  becoming  a  law,  Mr.  Clat  thereupon  addressed  the  Senate  as  follows:] 

ISiIr.  President,  the  bill  which  forms  the  present  subject  of  our 
deliberations  had  passed  both  houses  of  Congress  by  decisire  majori- 
ties, and,  in  conformity  with  the  requirements  of  the  constitution,  was 
presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  for  his  considenition. 
He  has  returned  it  to  the  Senate,  in  which  it  originated,  according  to 
the  directions  of  the  constitution,  with  a  message  announcing  his  veto 
of  the  bill,  and  containing  his  objections  to  its  passage.  And  the 
question  now  to  be  decided  is,  shall  the  bill  pass,  by  the  required 
o6nstitutional  majority  of  two-thirds,  the  Presidenfii  objections  not- 
^thstanding? 

'  Knowing,  sir,  but  too  well  that  no  such  majority  can  be  obtained, 
and  that  the  bill  must  fall,  I  would  have  been  rejoiced  to  have  found 
myself  at  liberty  to  abstain  from  saying  one  word  on  this  painful  oc- 
casion. But  the  President  has  not  allowed  me  to  give  a  silent  rote. 
I  think,  with  all  respect  and  deference  to  him,  he  has  not  reciproca- 
ted the  friendly  spirit  of  concession  and  compromise  which  animated 
Congress  in  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  and  especially  in  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  sixteenth  fundamental  condition  of  the  Bank.  He  has 
commented,  I  think,  with  undeserved  severity  on  that  part  of  the 
'  bill ;  he  has  used,  I  am  sure  unintentionally,  harsh,  if  not  reproachful 
language  ;  and  he  has  made  the  very  concession,  M'hich  was  prompted 
as  a  peace-offering,  and  from  friendly  considerations,  the  cause  of 
stronger  and  more  decided  disapprobation  of  the  bill.  Standing  in 
the  relation  to  that  bill  which  I  do,  and  especially  to  the  exception- 
able clause,  the  duty  which  1  owe  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  country, 
and  Belf-respect|  impose  upon  me  the  obligation  of  at  least  attempting; 


ON  THE  BANK  TITO.  493 

the  landication  of  a  measure  which  has  met  with  a  &te  §o  umnerited 
and  80  unexpected. 

On  the  4th  of  April  last,  the  lamented  Harrison,  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  paid  the  debt  of  nature.  President  Tyler,  who, 
as  Vice-President,  succeeded  to  the  duties  of  that  office,  arrived  in 
the  city  of  Washington  on  the  6th  of  that  month.  He  found  the 
whole  metropolis  wrapped  in  gloom,  every  heart  filled  with  sorrow 
and  sadness,  every  eye  streaming  with  tears,  and  the  surrounding  hills 
yet  flinging  back  the  echos  of  the  bells  which  were  tolled  on  that 
melancholy  occasion.  On  entering  the  Presidential  mansion  he  con- 
templated the  pale  body  of  his  predecessor  stretched  before  him,  and 
clothed  in  the  black  habiliments  of  death.  At  that  solemn  moment  I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  heart  of  President  Tyler  was  overflowing 
with  mingled  emotions  of  grief,  of  patriotism,  and  of  gratitude — above 
all,  of  gratitude  to  that  country  by  a  majority  of  whose  suffrages,  be- 
stowed at  the  preceding  November,  he  then  stood  the  most  distin- 
guished, the  most  elevated,  the  most  honored  of  all  living  Whigs  of 
the  United  States. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances,  and  in  this  probable  state  of 
mind,  that  President  Tyler,  on  the  10th  day  of  the  same  month  of 
April,  voluntarily,  promulgated  an  address  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  That  address  was  in  the  nature  of  a  coronation  oath, 
which  the  Chief  of  the  State,  in  other  countries,  and  under  other 
forms,  takes,  upon  ascending  the  throne.  It  referred  to  the  solemn 
obligations,  and  the  profound  sense  of  duty,  under  which  the  new 
President  entered  upon  the  high  trust  which  had  devolved  upon  him, 
by  the  joint  acts  of  the  people  and  of  Providence,  and  it  stated  the 
principles  and  delineated  the  policy  by  which  he  would  be  governed 
in  bis  exalted  station.  It  was  emphatically  a  Whig  address,  from 
l)eginning  to  end— every  inch  of  it  was  Whig,  and  was  patriotic.  In 
that  address  the  President,  in  respect  to  the  subject-matter  embraced 
in  the  bill,  held  the  following  conclusive  and  emphatic  language  : 


atinr 


I  BhfiWfiromptly  give  my  sanction  to  any  constitntionat  measare  which,  origm- 
M  in  Cimgreft^  Rhall  have  for  ita  otQeet  the  restoration  of  a  sonnd  cireulatim 
medium,  so  emnitally  nectttary  to  give  confidence  in  all  the  transactions  of  life,  to 
8e<iurc  to  indvMry  if  jud  and  adtitMlt  moards,  and  to  rt-ettabiish  the  pubtie  pni' 
ptriiy.  In  deciding  upon  the  adaptation  of  any  such  measure  to  the  end  propose^ 
at  toetl  at  itt  conformity  to  thi  canttUuHon,  I  shall  resort  to  the  fathen  cflhe  gnat 
Republican  tchool  for  advice  and  instfnetioB.  to  be  drawn  from  their  sage  views  «f 
our  system  of  government,  and  the  light  of  their  ever  ghrioM  tmrngU:'^ 


s 


494  SPEECHES  OF  HENRT  CLAT. 

To  this  clause  in  the  address  of  the  Presidenti  I  believe  bat  one 
interpretation  was  given  throughout  this  whole  country,  by  firiend 
and  foe,  by  Whig  and  Democrat,  and  by  the  presses  of  both  parties. 
It  was,  by  every  man  with  whom  I  conversed  on  the  subject  at  the 
time  of  its  appearance,  or  of  whom  I  have  since  inquired,  construed 
to  mean  that  the  President  intended  to  occupy  the  Madison  ground, 
and  to  r^ard  the  question  of  the  power  to  establish  a  National  Bank 
as  immovably  settled.  And  I  think  I  may  confidently  appeal  to  the 
Senate,  and  to  the  country,  to  sustain  the  fact  that  this  was  the  con- 
temporaneous  and  unanimous  judgment  of  the  public.  Reverting 
back  to  the  period  of  the  promulgation  of  the  address,  could  any 
other  construction  have  been'  given  to  its  language  ?  What  is  it  ? 
'<  I  shall  promptly  give  my  sanction  to  any  constitutional  measure 
which,  originating  in  Congress^^^  shall  have  defined  objects  in  view. 
He  concedes  the  vital  importance  of  a  sound  circulating  medium  to 
industry  and  to  the  public  prosperity.  He  concedes  that  its  origin 
must  be  in  Congress.  And,  to  prevent  any  inference  from  the  quali- 
fication, which  he  prefixes  to  the  measure,  being  interpreted  to  mean 
that  a  United  States  Bank  was  unconstitutional,  he  declares  that,  in 
deciding  on  the  adaptation  of  the  measure  to  the  end  proposed,  and 
its  conformity  to  the  constitution,  he  will  resort  to  the  fathers  of  the 
great  republican  school.  And  who  were  they  ?  If  the  father  of  his 
country  is  to  be  excluded,  are  Madison,  (the  father  of  the  constitu- 
tion,) Jefferson,  Monroe,  Gerry,  Gallatin,  and  the  long  list  of  repub- 
licans who  acted  with  them,  not  to  be  regarded  as  among  those 
fathers  ?  But  President  Tyler  declares  he  shall  not  only  look  to  the 
principles  and  creed  of  the  republican  fathers  for  advice  and  instruc- 
tion, but  to  the  light  of  their  ever  glorious  example.  What  exam 
pie  ?  What  other  meaning  could  have  been  possibly  applied  to  the 
phrase,  than  that  he  intended  to  refer  to  what  had  been  done  during 
the  administration  of  Jefferson,  Madison  and  Monroe  ? 

Entertaining  this  opinion  of  the  address,  I  came  to  Washington, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  with  the  most  confident  and 
buoyant  hopes  that  the  Whigs  would  be  able  to  carry  all  their  promi- 
nent measures,  and  especially  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  by  hi 
that  one  of  the  greatest  immediate  iniportance.  I  anticipated  nothing 
but  cordial  co-operation  between  the  two  departments  of  government ; 
and  I  reflected  with  pleasure  that  I  should  find,  at  the  head  of  the 
Executive  branch,  a  personal  and  political  friend,  whom  I  had  long 


ON  THE  BAKK  YKTO.  491^ 

and  intimately  knowny  and  highly  esteemed.  It  will  not  be  my  fault 
if  our  amicable  relations  should  unhappily  cease,  in  consequence  of 
any  diflO^rence  of  opinion  between  us  on  this  occasion.  The  Presi- 
dent has  been  always  perfectly  familiar  with  my  opinion  on  this  bank 
questiob. 

Upon  the  opening  of  the  session,  but  especially  on  the  receipt  of 
the  plan  of  a  National  Bank,  as  proposed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  fears  were  excited  that  the  President  had  been  misunder- 
stood in  his  address,  and  that  he  had  not  waived  but  adhered  to  his 
conslitutional  scruples.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  hoped  that 
by  the  indulgence  of  a  mutual  spirit  of  compromise  and  concession,  a 
Bank,  competent  to  fulfil  the  expectations  and  satisfy  the  wants  of 
the  people,  might  be  established.  Under  the  inlluonc  of  that  spirit, 
the  Senate  and  the  House  agreed,  furst,  as  to  the  name  of  the  pro- 
posed Bank.  I  confess,  sir,  that  there  was  something  exceedingly 
outre  and  revolting  to  my  ears  in  tbe  term  '^  Fiscal  Bank,"  but  I 
thought,  ''  What  is  there  in  a  name  ?  A  rose,  by  any  other  name^ 
would  smell  as  sweet."  Looking,  therefore,  rather  to  the  utility  of 
the  substantial  faculties  than  to  the  name  of  Ihe  contemplated  insti* 
tution,  we  consented  to  that  ^  hich  was  proposed. 

2d.  As  to  the  place  of  location  of  the  Bank.  Although  Washing- 
ton had  passed  through  my  mind  as  among  the  cities  in  which  it 
might  be  expedient  to  place  the  Bank,  it  was  believed  to  be  the  least 
eligible  of  some  four  or  five  other  cities.  Nevertheless  we  consented 
to  fix  it  here. 

And  lastly,  in  respeot  to  the  branching  power,  there  was  not  pro- 
bably a  solitary  vote,  given  in  either  house  of  Congress,  for  the  bill, 
that  did  not  greatly  prefer  the  unqualified  branching  power,  as  assert- 
ed in  the  charters  of  the  two  former  Banks  of  the  United  States,  to 
the  sixteenth  fundamental  condition,  as  finally  incorporated  in  this 
bill.  It  is  perfectly  manifest,  therefore,  that  it  was  not  in  conformity 
with  the  opinion  and  wish  of  majorities  in  Congress,  but  in  a  friendly 
spirit  of  concession  towards  the  President  and  his  particular  friends, 
that  the  clause  assumed  that  form.  So  repugnant  was  it  to  some  of 
the  best  friends  of  a  National  Bank  in  the  other  House,  that  they 
finally  voted  against  the  bill  because  it  contained  the  compromise  of 
the  branching  power. 


496  8PEICHU  OP  HUniT  CLAY. 

It  is  true  that,  in  presenting  the  compromise  to  the  Senate,  I  stated, 
as  was  the  fact,  that  I  did  not  know  whether  it  would  be  accepta!Ur. 
to  the  President  or  not ;  that  according  to  my  opinion,  each  depart 
nvent  of  the  goyernment  should  act  upon  its  own  responsibility,  inde- 
pendently of  the  other ;  and  that  I  presented  the  modification  of  the 
branching  power  because  it  was  necessary  to  ensure  the  passage  of 
the  bill  in  the  Senate,  having  ascertained  that  the  yote  would  stand 
twenty-six  against  it  to  twenty-five,  if  the  form  of  that  power  whica 
had  been  reported  by  the  committee' were  persisted  in.  But  I  never- 
theless did  entertain  the  most  confident  hope  and  expectations  that 
the  bill  would  receive  the  sanction  of  the  President ;  and  thb  motive, 
althou^  not  the  immediate  one,  had  great  weight  in  the  introduction 
^  and  adoption  of  the  compromise  clause.  I  knew  that  our  friends 
who  would  not  vote  for  the  bill  as  reported  were  actuated,  as  they 
avowed,  by  considerations  of  union  and  harmony,  growing  out  of 
supposed  views  of  the  President,  and  I  presumed  that  he  would  not 
fail  to  feel  and  appreciate  their  sacrifices.  But  I  deeply  regret  that 
we  were  mistaken.  Notwithstanding  all  our  concessions,  made  in  a 
genuine  and  sincere  spirit  of  conciliation,  the  sanction  of  the  Presi* 
dent  could  not  be  obtained,  and  the  bill  has  been  returned  by  hitt 
with  his  objections.  And  I  shall  now  proceed  to  consider  those  ob- 
jections, with  as  much  brevity  as  possible,  but  with  the  most  perfect 
respect,  official  and  personal  towards  the  Chief  Magistrate. 

After  stating  that  the  power  of  Congress  to  establish  a  National 
Bank,  to  operate  per  se,  has  been  a  controverted  question  from  the 
origin  of  the  government,  the  President  remarks,  ^'  Men  most  justly 
and  deservedly  esteemed  for  their  high  intellectual  endowments, 
their  virtue  and  their  patriotism,  have  in  regard  to  it,  entertained  dif- 
ferent and  conflicting  opinions.  Congresses  have  differed.  The  ap- 
proval of  one  President  has  been  followed  by  the  disapproval  of 
another." 

From  this  statement  of  the  case  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  Presi- 
dent considers  the  weight  of  authority,  pro  and  con,  to  be  equal  and 
balanced.  But  if  he  intended  to  make  such  an  array  of  it — if  he  in- 
tended to  say  that  it  was  in  equilibrium — I  most  respectfully,  bat 
most  decidedly,  dissent  from  him.  I  think  the  conjoint  testimony  of 
history,  tradition,  and  the  knowledge  of  living  witnesses  prove  the 
contrary.     How  stands  the  question  as  to  the  opinions  of  Congresses  ^ 


ON   THX  BANK    YETO.  497 

The  CoDgreas  of  1791,  the  Congress  of  1813-14,  the  Congress  of 
1815-16,  the  Congress  of  1S31-32,  and,  finally,  the  present  Congress, 
have  all  respectively  and  unequivocally,  aifirmcd  the  existence  of  a 
power  in  Congress,  to  establish  a  National  Bank,  to  operate  per  se. 
We  behold,  then,  the  concurrent  opinion  of  five  different  Congresses 
on  one  side.  And  what  Congress  is  there  on  the  opposite  side  ?  The 
Congress  of  181 1  ?  I  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  in  that  year,  whep 
it  decided,  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  Vice-President,  against  the  re* 
newal  of  the  charter  of  the  old  Bank  of  the  United  States.  And  I 
now  here,  in  my  place,  add  to  the  testimony  already  before  the  publlC| 
by  declaring  that  it  is  within  my  certain  knowledge,  that  thai  decision 
of  the  Senate  did  not  proceed  from  a  disbelief  of  a  majority  of  the 
Senate  in  the  power  of  Congress  to  establish  a  National  Bank,  but 
from  combined  conside^tions  of  inexpediency  and  constitutionality. 
A  majority  of  the  Senate,  on  the  contraiy,  as  I  know,  entertained  no 
doubt  as  to  the  power  of  Congress.  Thus  the  account,  as  to  the 
Congresses,  stands  five  for,  and  not  one,  or  at  most,  not  more  than 
one,  against  the  power. 

Let  us  now  look  into  the  state  of  authority  derivable  from  the 
opinions  of  Presidents  of  the  United  States.  President  Washington 
believed  in  the  power  of  Congress,  and  approved  a  bank  bill.  Preai* 
dent  Jefferson  approved  acts  to  extend  branches  into  other  parts  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  punish  counterfeiters  of  the  notes  of  the 
benk — acts  which  were  devoid  of  all  justification  whatever  upon  the 
assumption  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  bank.  For  how  could 
bicanches  be  extended  or  punishment  be  lawfully  inflicted  upon*  the 
counterfeiters  of  the  paper  of  a  corporation  which  came  into  existence 
without  any  authority,  and  in  violation  of  the  constitution  of  the  land. 
James  Madison,  notwithstanding  those  early  scruples  which  he  had 
entertained,  and  which  he  prolwbly  still  cherished,  sanctioned  and 
signed  a  bill  to  charter  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States.  It  is  per- 
fectly well  known  that  Mr.  Monroe  never  did  entertain  any  scruples 
or  doubts  in  regard  to  the  power  of  Congress.  Here,  then,  are  four 
Presidents,  who  have  directly  or  collaterally  borne  official  testimony 
to  the  existence  of  the  bank  power  in  Congress.  And  what  President 
is  there  that  ever  bore  unequivocally  opposite  testimony — that  dia- 
approved  a  bank  charter  in  the  sense  intended  by  President  Tyler  ? 
General  Jackson,  although  he  did  apply  the  veto  power  to  the  bill  for 
rechartering  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States  in  1832,  it  is  withb 


498  8PEECHI8  OP   HENRT  CLAT. 

the  perfect  recollection  of  us  all  that  he  not  ody  testified  to  the  utility 
of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  hut  declared  that,  if  he  had  heen  ap- 
plied to  by  Congress,  he  could  hare  furnished  the  plan  of  such  a 
bank. 

Thus,  Mr.  President,  we  perceive  that,  in  reviewing  the  action  of 
the  legislative  and  executive  departments  of  the  government,  there  is 
a  vast  preponderance  of  the  weight  of  authority  maintaining  the  ex- 
istence of  the  power  in  Congress.  But  President  Tyler  has,  I  pre- 
sume unintentionally,  wholly  omitted  to  notice  the  judgnoent  and  de- 
cisions of  the  third  co-ordinate  department  of  the  govemmeDt  upon 
this  controverted  question — that  department,  whose  interpretations 
of  the  constitution,  within  its  proper  jurisdiction  and  sphere  of  action, 
are  binding  upon  all ;  and  which,  therefore,  n(iay  be  considered  as  ex- 
ercising a  controlling  power  over  both  the  other  departments.  The 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  with  its  late  Chief  Justice,  the 
illoBtrious  Marshall,  at  its  head,  unanimously  decided  that  Congress 
possessed  this  bank  power ;  and  this  adjudication  was  sostained  and 
reaffirmed  whenever  afterward  the  question  arose  before  the  court 


After  recounting  the  occasions,  during  his  public  career,  on 
he  had  expressed  an  opinion,  against  the  power  of  Congress  to  char- 
ter a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the  President  proceeds  to  say : 

'*  EnteTtaining  the  opinions  alladed  to,  and  having  taken  this  oath,  the  Senate  and 
fbe  country  will  ace  that  1  could  not  give  my  sanction  to  a  measure  of  the  character 
described,  without  Furrfndorini?  all  claim  to  the  respect  of  honorable  men — all  confi- 
dence 9n  the  part  ot'  the  pt'ople— all  self-respect — all  regard  for  moral  and  religioue 
obligations ;  without  an  observance  of  which  no  government  can  be  proi^rous.  and 
no  i^eoplc  can  be  ha(>py.  It  would  be  to  commit  a  crime  which  I  would  not  wilfoU^ 
commit  to  gain  any  **»rthiy  rewan),  and  which  would  justly  subject  me  to  the  ridi- 
cule and  scorn  of  all  virtuous  men.** 

Mr.  President,  1  must  think,  and  hope  I  may  be  allowed  to  say, 
with  profound  deference  to  tlie  Chief  Magistrate,  that  it  appears  to 
me  he  has  viewed  with  too  lively  sensibility  the  personal  consequen- 
ces to  himself  of  his  approval  of  the  bill ;  and  that,  surrendering 
himself  to  a  vivid  imagination,  he  has  depicted  then)  in  much  too 
glowing  and  exaggerated  colors,  and  that  it  would  have  been  most 
happy  if  he  had  looked  more  to  the  deplorable  consequences  of  a  veto 
upon  the  hopes,  the  interests,  and  the  happiness  of  his  country- 
Does  it  follow  that  a  magistrate  who  yields  hid  private  judgment  to 
the  concurring  authority  of  numerous  decisions,  repeatedly  and  de- 


09  THX  BANK   TCTO.  499 

liberately  pronounced,  after  the  lapse  of  long  intervals,  by  all  the  de- 
partments of  government,  and  by  all  parties,  incurs  the  dreadful  pe- 
nalties described  by  the  President  ?  Can  any  man  be  disgraced  and 
dishonored  ivho  yields  his  private  opinion  to  the  judgment  of  the  na- 
tion ?  In  this  case,  the  country,  (I  mean  a  majority)  Congress,  and 
according  to  common  fame,  a  unanimous  cabinet,  were  all  united  in 
favor  of  the  bill.  Should  any  man  feel  himself  humbled  and  degraded 
in  yielding  to  the  conjoint  force  of  such  high  authority  ?  Does  any 
man  who  at  one  period  of  his  life  shall  have  expressed  a  particular 
opinion,  and  at  a  subsequent  period  shall  act  upon  the  opposite  opin- 
ion, expose  himself  to  the  terrible  consequences  which  have  been 
portrayed  by  the  President  ?  How  is  it  with  the  judge,  in  the  case 
by  no  means  rare,  who  bows  to  the  authority  of  repeated  precedents, 
settling  a  particular  question,  while  in  his  private  judgment  the  law 
was  otherwise  ?  How  is  it  with  that  numerous  class  of  public  men, 
in  this  country,  and  with  the  two  great  parties  that  have  divided  it, 
who  at  different  periods  have  maintained  and  acted  on  opposite  opin- 
ions in  respect  to  this  very  bank  question  ? 

How  is  it  with  James  Madison,  the  father  of  the  constitution — ^that 
great  man  whose  services  to  his  country  placed  him  only  second  to 
Washington — whose  virtues  and  purity  in  private* life — whose  patri- 
otism, intelligence,  and  wisdom  in  public  councils  stand  unsurpassed  r 
He  was  a  member  of  the  national  convention  that  formed,  and  of  the 
Virginia  convention  that  adopted  the  constitution.  No  man  under- 
stood it  better  than  he  did.  He  was  opposed  in  1791  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  upon  constitutional  ground ; 
and  in  1816  he  approved  and  signed  the  charter  of  the  late  Bank  of 
the  United  States.  It  is  a  part  of  the  secret  history  connected  with 
the  first  bank,  that  James  Madison  had,  at  the  instance  of  General 
Washington,  prepared  a  veto  for  him  in  the  contingency  of  his  rejec- 
tion of  the  bill.  Thus  stood  James  Madison  when,  in  1815,  he  ap- 
plied the  veto  to  a  bill  to  charter  a  bank  upon  considerations  of  expc- 
pediency,  but  with  a  clear  and  express  admission  of  the  existence  of 
a  constitutional  power  in  Congress  to  charter  one.  In  1816,  the  bill 
which  was  then  presented  to  him  being  free  from  the  objections  ap- 
plicable to  that  of  the  previous  year,  he  sanctioned  and  signed  it.  Did 
James  Madison  surrender  "  all  claim  to  the  respect  of  honorable  men- 
all  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  people — all  self-respect — all  regard 
for  moral  and  religious  obligations  ?"    Did  the  pure,  the  virtuous,  the 


500  SPKICH18  or  HENRY  CLAT. 

gifted  James  Madison,  by  his  sanction  and  signature  to  the  charter 
of  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States,  commit  a  crime  which  jostlj 
subjected  him  ''  to  the  ridicule  and  scorn  of  all  virtuous  oaen  ?" 

Not  only  did  the  President,  as  it  respectfully  appears  to  Die,  state 
entirely  too  strongly  the  consequences  of  his  approval  of  the  bill,  but 
is  he  perfectly  correct  in  treating  the  question  (as  he  seems  to  me 
to  have  done)  vrhich  he  was  called  upon  to  decide,  as  presenting  the 
sole  alternative  of  his  direct  approval  at  rejection  of  the  bill  ?  Wii 
the  preservation  of  the  consistency  and  the  conscience  of  the  Presi- 
dent wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  restoration  of  the  blessings  of  a 
sound  currency,  regular  and  moderate  exchanges,  and  the  revival  of 
confidence  and  business  which  Congress  believes  will  be  secured  bj 
a  National  Bank!  Was  there  no  alternative  but  to  prolong  thesof- 
ferings  of  a  bleeding  country,  or  to  send  us  this  veto !  From  tks 
administration  of  the  executive  department  of  the  government,  duriif 
the  last  twelve  years,  has  sprung  most  of  the  public  ills  which  hxn 
afflicted  the  people.  Was  it  necessary  that  that  source  of  su&riag 
should  continue  to  operate,  in  order  to  preserve  the  conscience  of  the 
President  un violated  ?  Was  that  the  only  sad  and  deplorable  alter- 
native ?  I  think,  Mr.  President,  there  were  other  alternatives  worthy 
of  the  serious  and  patriotic  consideration  of  the  President.  The  b3\ 
might  have  become  a  law,  in  virtue  of  the  provision  which  required 
its  return  within  ten  days.  If  the  President  had  retained  it  three 
days  longer,  it  would  have  been  a  law  without  his  sanction  and  wUi> 
out  his  signature.  In  such  a  contingency  the  President  would  haw 
remained  passive,  and  would  not  have  been  liable  to  an^^  accusatioB 
of  having  himself  violated  the  constitution.  All  that  could  have  beea 
justly  said,  would  be,  that  he  did  not  choose  to  throw  himself  in  the 
way  as  an  obstacle  to  the  passage  of  a  measure  indispensable  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  nation,  in  the  judgment  of  the  party  which  broutM 
him  into  power,  of  the  Whig  Congress  which  he  first  met,  and,  if 
public  fame  speaks  true,  of  the  cabinet  which  the  lamented  Habrimi 
called  around  him,  and  which  he  voluntarily  continued.  In  an  analo> 
gous  case,  Thomas  McKean,  when  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  thai 
whom  the  United  States  have  produced  but  few  men  of  equal  vigor  of 
mind  and  firmness  of  purpose,  permitted  a  bill  to  become  a  law,  althoof^ 
in  his  opinion  it  was  contrary  to  the  constitution  of  that  State.  Asi 
I  have  heard,  and  from  the  creditable  nature  of  the  source  I  am  ii* 
dined  to  believe,  although  I  will  not  vouch  for  the  fact,  that,  towaii 


im   THE  BAKK    VKTO.  501 

the  close  of  the  charter  of  the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States,  during 
the  second  term  of  Mr.  Jeiferson,  some  consideration  of  the  question 
of  the  renewal  of  the  charter  was  entertained,  and  that  he  exprc*sscd 
a  wish  that  if  the  charier  were  reni^wed,  it  might  be  elTected  by  the 
operalioa  of  the  ten  days'  provision,  and  his  consistency  thus  pre- 
served. 

If  it  were  possible  to  disinter  the  venerated  remains  of  Jamrs 
M.ADisoN,  reanimate  his  perishing  form,  and  placid  him  once  more  in 
that  chair  of  state  which  he  so  much  adorned,  what  would  have  been 
his  coulee  if  this  bill  had  bren  presented  to  him,  even  supposing  him 
never  to  have  announced  his  acquiescence  in  the  settled  judgment  of 
the  nation  ?  He  would  have  said,  that  human  controversy  in  regard 
to  a  single  question  should  not  l>e  perpetual,  and  ought  to  have  a  ter- 
mination. This,  about  the  power  to  establish  »  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  has  been  long  enough  continued.  The  nation,  under  all  the 
forms  of  its  public  action,  has  often  deliberately  decided  it.  A  hank, 
and  associated  fmancial  and  currency  questions,  which  had  long  slept^ 
were  revived,  and  have  divided  the  nation  durins:  tlie  last  ten  veara 
of  arduous  and  bitter  struggle  ;  and  the  party  which  put  down  the 
bank,  and  which  occasioned  all  the  disorders  in  our  currency  and 
fmances,  has  itself  been  signally  put  down,  by  one  of  those  moral  and 
|)oliticaI  revolutions  which  a  free  and  patriotic  people  can  but  seldom 
arouse  itself  to  make.  Human  infallibility  has  not  been  granted  by 
(xod  ;  and  the  cliaoces  of  error  are  much  greater  on  the  side  of  one 
jiian  than  on  that  of  the  noajotity  of  a  whole  people  and  their  succes- 
sive legislatures  during  a  long  period  of  time.  1  yield  to  the  irresis- 
tible force  of  authority.  I  will  not  put  myself  in  opposition  to  a 
measure  so  imperatively  demanded  by  the  public  voice,  and  so  essen- 
tial to  elevate  my  depressed  and  Bufkring  countrymen. 

And  why  should  not  President  Tyler  have  sufiered  the  hill  to  be- 
come a  law  without  his  signature  ?  Withoot  meaning  the  slightest 
possible  disrespect  to  him,  nothing  is  further  from  my  heart  than  the 
exhibition  of  any  such  feeling  towards  that  distinguished  citizen,  long 
iriy  personal  friend — it  cannot  be  forgotten  that  he  came  into  his  pre^- 
sent  office  under  peculiar  circumstances.  The  people  did  not  foresee 
the  contingency  which  has  happened.  They  voted  for  him  as  Vice 
President.  They  did  not,  therefore,  scrutinize  his  opinions  with  the 
care  which  they  juobably  ought  to  ha? e  done>  and  wonkl  have  done^ 


*  •GO 


603  iPEKCBSS  OP  HUIRT  CULT. 

if  they  could  have  looked  into  faturity '  If  the  present  state  of  the 
bet  could  have  been  antici paled — if  at  Harrisburg,  or  at  the  polls,  it 
had  been  foreseen  that  €»eneral  Harrison  would  die  id  one  short 
month  after  the  conimencement  of  his  administration  ;  that  Viee 
President  Tyler  would  be  elevated  to  the  Presidential  chair  ;  that  s 
bill  passed  by  decisive  majorities  of  the  first  Whig  Congress,  charter- 
ing a  National  Bank,  would  he  presented  for  his  sanction  ;  and  that 
he  would  veto  the  bill,  do  I  hazard  any  thing  when  1  express  the 
conviction  that  he  would  not  have  received  a  solitary  vote  in  the 
nominating  convention,  nor  one  solitary  electoral  vote  in  any  state  in 
the  Union  ? 

Shall  I  be  told  that  the  honor,  the  firmness,  the  independence  of 
the  Chief  Magistrate  might  have  been  drawn  in  question  if  he  had 
remained  passive,  and  so  permitted*  the  bill  to  become  a  law  ?  1 
answer  that  the  oifice  -of  Chief  Magistrate  is  a  sacred  and  exalted 
trust,  created  and  conferred  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation,  and  not  for 
the  private  advantage  of  the  person  who  fills  it.  Can  any  man's  re* 
putation  for  firmness^  independence,  and  honor,  be  of  more  importance 
than  the  welfare  of  a  great  people  ?  There  is  nothing,  in  my  humMe 
•judgment,  in  such  a  course,  incompatible  with  honor,  with  firmness, 
with  independence  properly  understood. 

Certainly,  I  must  respectfully  think  in  reference  to  a  measure  like 
this,  recommended  by  such  high  sanctions — by  five  Congresses — by 
the  authority  of  four  Presidents — by  repeated  decisions  of  the  Su- 
preme Court — by  the  acquiescence  and  judgment  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  during  long  periods  of  time — by  its  salutary  opera- 
tion on  the  interests  of  the  community  for  a  space  of  forty  years,  and 
demanded  by  the  people,  whose  suffirages  placed  President  Tyler  id 
that  second  office,  from  whence  he  was  translated  to  the  first,  that  he 
might  have  suppressed  the  promptings  of  all  personal  pride  of  private 
opinion,  if  any  arise  in  his  bosom,  and  yielded  to  the  wishes  and 
wants  of  his  country.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  in  such  a  course,  hf 
would  have  made  the  smallest  sacrifice,  in  a  just  sense  of  personal 
honor,  firmness,  or  independence. 

But,  sir,  there  was  still  a  third  alternative,  to  which  I  allude,  Mt 
because  I  mean  to  intimate  that  it  should  be  embraced,  but  because 
I  am  reminded  of  it  by  s  memorable  event  in  the  life  of  PresiicBl 


0«  THE  BAVK  T£TO.  603 

Tyler.  It  will  be  recollected  that,  after  the  Senate  had  passed  the 
resolution  ^leclariDg  the  removal  of  the  public  deposites  from  the  late 
Bank  of  the  United  States  to  have  been  derogatory  from  the  constH 
tution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  for  which  resolution  President, 
then  Senator  Tyler,  had  voted,  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia 
instructed  the  Senators  from  that  State  to  vote  for  the  expunging  of 
that  resolution.  Senator  Tyler  declined  voting  in  conformity  with 
that  instruction,  and  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  This  he  did  because  he  could  not  cqnfomi,  and  did  not  think 
it  right  to  go  counter  to  the  wishes  of  those  who  had  placed  him  io 
the  Senate.  If,  when  the  people  of  Virginia  were  his  only  constitu- 
ency, he  would  not  set  up  his  own  particular  opinion  in  opposition  to 
theirs,  what  ought  to  be  the  rule  of  his  conduct  when  the  people  of 
twenty-six  States — a  whole  nation— compose  his  constituency  ?  Ii 
the  will  of  the  constituency  of  one  State  to  be  respected,  and  that  of 
twenty-six  to  be  wholly  disregarded  ?  Is  obedience  due  only  to  the 
single  State  of  Virginia  ?  The  President  admits  that  the  Bank  ques- 
tion deeply  agitated  and  continues  to  agitate  the  nation.  It  is  incon* 
testable  that  it  was  the  great  absorbing,  and  controlling  question,  in 
all  our  recent  divisions  and  exertions.  I  am  firmly  convinced,  and  it 
is  my  deliberate  judgment,  that  an  immense  majority,  not  less  than 
two-thirds  of  the  nation,  desire  such  an  institution.  All  doubts  in  this 
respect  ought  to  be  dispelled  by  the  lecent  decisions  of  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress.  I  sjpeak  of  them  a$  evidence  of  the  popular 
opinion.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  majoiity  was  131  to 
100.  If  the  House  had  been  full,  and  but  for  the  modification  of  the 
16th  fundamental  condition,  there  would  have  been  a  probable  ma- 
jority of  47.  Is  it  to  be  believed  that  thb  large  majority  of  the  im- 
mediate representatives  of  the  people,  fresh  from  among  them,  and 
to  whom  the  President  seemed  inclined,  in  his  opening  message,  to  re- 
ler  this  very  question,  have  mistaken  the  wishes  of  their  constituents  I 

■ 

I  pass  to  the  16th  fundamental  condition,  in  respect  to  the  branch- 
ing power,  on  which  I  regret  to  feel  myself  obliged  to  say,  that  I 
think  the  President  has  comment^  with  unexampled  severity,  and 
with  a  harshness  of  language  not  favorable  to  the  maintenance  of 
that  friendly  and  harmonious  intercourse  which  is  so*  desirable  be^ 
tween  co-ordinate  departments  of  the  government.  The  ^President 
could  not  have  been  uninformed  that  every  one  of  the  twenty-aix 
Senators,  aod  e?ery  one  of  the  boiidred  and  thirty-one  Repreaentft- 


504  SPEBCHKt   OF  HBNRT    CLAT. 

tives  vhn  Toted  for  ibe  bill,  if  left  to  hb  own  separate  wishes,  would 
have  prefviT^d  the  branching  power  to  hare  been  conferred  UDcondi- 
tionally,  as  it  was  in  the  charters  of  the  two  former  Banks  of  the 
United  Slates.  In  consenting  to  the  restrictions  upon  the  exercise  of 
that  power,  ho  must  have  been  p(»rfectly  aware  that  they  were  ac- 
tuated by  a  friendly  spirit  of  compromise  and  concession.  Tet,  no 
lrh(*re  in  his  message  does  he  reciprocate  or  return  this  spirit.  Speak- 
ing of  the  assent  or  dissent  which  the  clause  requires,  he  says: 
''  This  IRON  rule  is  to  give  way  to  no  circumstances — it  is  unbending 
and  inflexible.  It  is  the  ]an«;ua<;e  of  the  master  to  the  vassal.  An 
*  unconditional  answer  is  claimed  forthwith."  The  "  high  privilege" 
of  a  submission  of  the-  qu^^tion  on  the  part  of  the  State  Representa- 
tives, to  their  constituents,  according  to  the  message,  is  denied.  He 
puts  the  eases  of  the  popular  branch  of  a  State  Legislature  express- 
ing its  dissent  ^'  by  a  unanimous  vote,  and  its  resolution  may  be  de- 
feated by  a  tie  vote  in  the  Senate,"  and  ''  l>oth  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature may  concur  rn  a  resolutioir  of  decided  assent,  ami  yet  the  Go- 
Temor  may  exert  the  veto  ]H)wer  conferred  on  him  by  the  State  con- 
stitution, and  their  legislative  action  be  defeated."  ^*  The  State  may 
afterwards  protest  against  such  unjust  inference,  but  its  authority  19 
^one."    The  President  continues  : 

*'To  iDfcrencee  so  violent,  and,  as  thvj  seem  to  me,  imiimfuU,  I  cannot  yield 
my  con!*ent.  No  court  of  juttice  would  or  could  sanction  them,  without  rtTeraio^ 
all  that  is  rfltabli^hcd  in  judicial  proceedrrp,  bv  infroducins  presumptions  at 


ancc  trith  fact,  and  inferences  at  tin.  exycnte  </ rtawn.  A  Slate  in  a  condition  of 
duresse  would  W  presumt^d  to  speek  as  un  individual,  manacled  and  in  prison,  might 
he  presumed  to  be  in  the  enjoymenr  of  f^>c>dom.  Far  better  to  say  lo  the  :Siate% 
boldly  and  fmnkly,  Coiigrez$  tcUts,  and  tubmiition  if  demanded." 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  wiH  not  ask  whether  these  animadversions 
were  prompted  by  a  reciprocal  spirit  of  amity  and  kmdness,  but  I  in- 
quire whether  al!  of  them  are  perfectly  just.  Beyond  all  question, 
those  who  believed  in  the  constitutional  right  of  Congress  to  exercise 
the  branching  power  within  the  States,  unconditionally  and  without 
limitation,  did  make  no  small  concessfon  when  they  consented  that  it 
should  be  subjected  to  the  restrictions  specified  in  the  compromise 
clause.  They  did  not,  it  is  true,  concede  every  thing ;  they  did  not 
ahsolutefy  renounce  the  power  to  establish  branches  without  the 
authority  of  the  States  during  the  whole  period  of  the  existence  of 
the  charter ;  but  they  did  agree  that  reasonable  time  should  be  allow- 
ed to  the  several  States  to  determine  whether  they  would  or  woald 
not  give  their  asseut  to  the  establishment  of  branches  within  their 


OR  THE  BAUK   VKTO.  505 

respective  limits.  They  did  not  think  it  right  to  leave  it  an  open 
quetitioD,  for  the  space  of  twenty  years,  nor  that  a  State  should  be 
permitted  to  grant  to-day  and  revoke  to-morrow  it^  assent ;  nor  that 
it  should  annex  onerous  or  impracticable  conditions'  to  its  assent,  but 
that  it  should  definitely  decide  the  question,  after  the  lapse  of  ample 
time  for  full  deliberation.  And  what  was  that  time?  No  State 
would  have  had  less  than  four  months,  and  some  of  them  trbm  five 
to  nine  months,  for  consideration.  Was  it,  therefore,  entirely  correct 
for  the  President  to  say  that  an  '^  unconditional  answer  is  claimed 
forthwith  ?"  Forthwith  means  immediately,  instantly,  without  de- 
lay, which  cannot  be  affirmed  of  a  space  of  time  varying  from  four  to 
nine  months.  And  the  President  supposes  that  the  ^'  high  privilege^,' 
of  the  members  of  the  State  L(.>gislature  submitting  the  question  to 
their  constituents  is  denied  !  But  could  they  not  at  any  time  during 
that  space  have  consulted  their  constituents  ? 

The  President  proceeds  to  put  what  I  must,  with  the  greatest  de- 
ference and  respect,  consider  as  extreme  cases.  He  supposes  the 
)K)pular  branch  to  express  its  dissent  by  a  unanimous  vote,  which  is 
overruled  by  a  tie  in  the  Senate.  He  supposes  that  "  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature  may  concur  in  a  resolution  of  decided  dissent,  and 
yet  the  Governor  may  exert  the  veto  power."  The  unfortunate  case 
of  the  State  whose  legislative  will  should  be  so  checked  by  executive 
authority,  would  not  be  worse  than  that  of  tho  Union,  the  will  of 
whose  Legislature,  in  establishing  this  Bank,  is  checked  and  con- 
trolled by  the  President. 

But  did  it  not  occur  to  him  that  extreme  cases  brought  forward  on 
<he  one  side,  might  be  met  by  extreme  cases  suggested  on  the  other  ? 
Suppose  the  popular  branch  were  to  express  its  assent  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Branch  Bank  by  a  unanimous  vote,  which  is  overruled 
by  an  equal  vote  in  the  Senate.  Or  suppose  that  both  branches  of 
the  Legislature,  by  majorities  in  each  exactly  wanting  one  vote  to 
make  them  two-thirds,  were  to  concur  in  a  resolution  inviting  the 
introduction  of  a  branch  within  the  limits  of  the  State,  and  the  Go- 
vernor were  to  exercise  the  veto  power  and  defeat  the  resolution. 
Would  it  be  very  unreasonable  in  these  two  case^  to  infer  the  assent 
of  the  State  to  the  establishmant  of  a  branch  ?  Extreme  cases  should 
never  be  resorted  to.  Happily  for  mankind,  their  affairs  are  but  sel- 
dom affected  or  influenced  by  them,  in  consequence  ifi  their  rarify. 


606  tPKBCHIB  or  HBITBT    OLAT. 

The  plain,  simple,  unvarnished  statement  of  the  case  ia  thia  :  Gott- 
gress  believes  itself  invested  with  constitutional  power  to  aatborize, 
unconditionally,  the  establishment  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States 
and  Branches,  any  where  in  the  United  States,  without  asking  any 
other  consent  of  the  States  than  that  which  is  already  expressed  in 
the  constitution.  The  President  does  not  concur  in  the  existence  of 
that  power,  and  was  supposed  to  entertain  an  opinion  that  the  pre- 
vious assent  of  the  States  was  necessarv.  Here  was  an  unfortunate 
conflict  of  opinion.  Here  was  a  case  for  compromise  and  mutual 
concession,  if  the  difference  could  be  reconciled.  Congress  advanced 
80  far  towards  the  compromise  as  to  allow  the  States  to  express  their 
fosent  or  dissent,  but  then  it  thought  that  this  should  be  done  within 
some  limited  but  reasonable  time ;  and  it  believed,  since  the  Bank 
and  its  branches  were  established  for  the  beneBt  of  twenty-six  States, 
if  the  authorities  of  any  one  of  them  really  could  not  make  up  their 
mind  within  that  limited  time  either  to  assent  or  dissent  to  the  intro- 
duction of  a  branch,  that  it  was  not  unreasonable,  after  the  lapse  of 
the  appointed  time  without  any  positive  action,  one  way  or  the  other, 
on  the  part  of  the  State,  to  proceed  as  if  it  had  assented.  Now,  if 
the  power  contended  for  by  Congress  really  exists,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  here  was  a  concession — a  concession,  according  to  which  au 
unconditional  power  is  placed  under  temporary  restrictions  ;  a  privi- 
lege offered  to  the  States  which  was  not  extended  to  them  by  either 
of  the  charters  of  two  former  Banks  of  the  United  States.  And  I 
am  totally  at  a  loss  to  comprehend  how  the  President  reached  the 
conclusion  that  it  would  have  been  '^  far  better  to  say  to  the  States, 
boldly  and  frankly,  Congress  wills,  and  submission  is  demanded. '^ 
Was  it  better  for  the  States  that  the  power  of  branching  should  be 
exerted  without  consulting  them  at  all  ?  Was  it  nothing  to  afford 
them  an  opportunity  of  saying  whether  they  desired  branches  or  not  ? 
How  can  it  be  believed  that  a  clause  which  qualifies,  restricts  and 
limits  the  branching  power,  is  more  derogatory  from  the  dignity,  in- 
dependence and  sovereignty  of  the  States,  than  if  it  inexorably  re- 
fused to  the  States  any  power  whatever  to  deliberate  and  decide  on 
the  introduction  of  branches  ?  Limited  as  the  time  was,  and  uncon* 
ditionally  as  they  were  required  to  express  themselves,  still  those 
States  (and  that  probably  would  have  been  the  case  with  the  greatei 
number)  that  chose  to  announce  their  ^sent  or  dissent  could  do  so, 
and  get  or  prevent  the  introduction  of  a  branch.  But  the  President 
remarks  that  <Uhe  State  may  express,  after  the  most  solemn  form  of 


OH  THK  BANK   VBTO*  507 

legisUtion,  its  dissenty  which  may  from  time  to  time  thereafter  he 
repeated,  id  full  view  of  its  owd  interest,  which  can  never  be  sepa* 
rated  from  the  wFse  and  heneficent  operation  of  this  government ; 
and  yet  (Congress  may,  by  virtue  of  the  last  proviso,  overrule  its  law, 
and  upon  grounds  which,  to  such  State  will  appear  to  rest  on  a 
constructive  necessity  and  propriety,  and  nothing  more.'^ 

Even  if  the  dissent  of  a  State  should  be  overruled,  in  the  manner 
supposed  by  the  President,  how  is  the  condition  of  that  State  worse 
than  it  would  have  been  if  the  branching  power  had  been  absolutely 
and  unconditionally  asserted  in  the  charter  ?  There  would  have 
been  at  least  the  power  of  dissenting  conceded,  with  a  high  degree  of 
probability  that  if  the  dissent  were  expressed,  no  branch  would  be 
introduced.  The  last  proviso  to  which  the  President  refers  is  in 
these  words : 

"And  provided,  never! hele».  That  whenever  it  rfiall  become  neceasary  and  proper 
for  carryinj^  into  execution  any  <»f  the  powers  granted  by  the  conatiturion  to  estab- 
liflh  an  olftce  or  oilicea  in  any  of  the  States  whatever,  and  the  establishment  thereof 
shall  be  directed  by  law,  it  snail  be  the  duty  of  the  said  directors  to  establish  each 
office  or  olticea  accordingly." 

This  proviso  was  intended  to  reserve  a  power  to  Congiess  to  com- 
pel the  Bank  to  establish  branches,  if  the  establishment  of  them 
should  be  necessary  to  the  great  purposes  of  this  government,  not- 
withstanding the  dissent  of  a  State.  If,  for  example,  a  state  had 
once  conditionally  dissented  to  the  establishment  of  a  branch,  and 
afterwards  assented,  the  Bank  could  not  have  been  compelled,  with- 
out this  reservation  of  power,  to  establish  the  branch,  however  urgent 
the  wants  of  the  Treasury  might  be. 

The  President,  I  think,  ought  to  have  seen  in  the  form  and  Ian* 
guage  of  the  proviso,  the  spirit  of  conciliation  in  which  it  was  drawDi 
as  1  know.  It  does  not  assert  the  power  ;  it  employs  the  language 
of  the  constitution  itself,  leaving  every  one  free  to  interpret  that  lan- 
guage according  to  his  own  sense  of  the  instrument. 

Why  was  it  deemed  necessary  to  speak  of  its  being  <^  the  language 
of  the  master  to  the  vassal,"  of  '^  thjs  iron  role,"  that  "  Congress 
wills  and  submission  is  demanded  :"  What  is  this  whole  federal  go- 
vern men  t  but  a  mass  of  powers  abstracted  from  the  sovereignty  of 
the  several  States,  and  wielded  by  an  organized  gevernment  for 


508  •PEBCHBB  OF   HSIIRT   CLAT. 

eommoD  defence  and  general  welfare,  according  to  the  grants  of  tbe 
constitution  ?  These  |>owers  are  necessarily  supreme  ;  the  constitu- 
tion, the  acts  of  Congress,  and  treaties  being  so  declared  by  the  express 
words  of  the  constitution.  Whenever,  therefore,  this  governnoent 
acts  within  the  power  granted  to  it  by  the  constitution,  submission 
and  obedience  are  due  from  all ;  from  States  as  well  as  from  persons. 
And  if  this  present  the  image  of  a  master  and  a  vassal,  of  State  sub- 
jection and  Congressional  domination,  it  is  the  constitution,  created 
or  consented  to  by  the  States,  that  ordains  these  relations,  nor  can  it 
be  eaid^  in  the  contingency  supposed,  that  an  act  of  Congress  has 
repealed  an  act  of  State  legislation.  Undoubtedly  in  case  of  a  con- 
flict between  a  State  constitution  or  State  law,  and  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  or  an  act  of  Congress  passed  in  pursuance  of  it, 
the  State  constitution  and  the  State  law  would  yield.  But  it  could 
not  at  least  be  formally  or  technically  said  that  the  State  constitution 
or  law  was  repealed.  Its  operation  would  be  suspended  or  abroga- 
ted by  the  necessary  predominance  of  the  paramount  authority 

The  President  seems  to  have  regarded  as  objectionable  that  proYi- 
tion  in  the  clause  which  declares  that  a  branch  being  once  established, 
it  hhould  not  afterwatds  be  withdrawn  or  removed  without  the  pre- 
vious consent  of  Congress.  That  provision  was  intended  to  operat« 
both  upon  the  bank  and  the  states.  And  considering  the  changes  and 
fluctuations  in  public  sentiment  in  some  of  the  states  within  the  la«t 
few  years,  was  the  security  against  them  to  be  found  in  that  provision 
unreasonable  ?  One  legislature  might  invite  a  branch,  which  the 
next  might  attempt,  by  \yenvL\  or  other  legislation,  to  drive  away.  We 
have  had  such  examples  heretofore  ;  and  I  cannot  think  that  it  waa 
unwise  to  profit  by  experience.  Besides,  an  exactly  similar  provision 
was  contained  in  the  scheme  of  a  bank  which  was  reported  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  to  which  it  was  understood  the  Presi- 
dent had  given  his  assent.  But  if  1  understand  this  message,  that 
scheme  could  not  have  obtained  his  sanction  if  Congress  had  passed 
it  without  any  alteration  whjitever.  It  authorized,  what  is  termcHl  by 
the  President,  local  discounts,  and  he  does  not  believe  the  constitu- 
tion confers  on  Congress  the  power  to  establish  a  bank  having  that 
faculty.     He  says,  indeed, 

"  I  r<»eard  the  bill  as  asfierting  for  (yongreps  the  right  to  incorporate  a  United  Siatca 
Bank,  with  rower  nnd  right  to  establish  offices  of  disconnt  ana  depositc  in  th«  ta^vt- 
ral  States  of  thit^  Union,  trith  or  without  their  content  i  a  prinripU  to  tehick  I  katPt  «i 
wapt  hentoforc  betn  oppcttd^  and  which  can  never  obtam  my  aandion," 


on  THE  BANK  YKTO.  '  509 

I  pass  with  pleasure  from  this  painful  theme ;  deeply  regretting 
that  I  have  been  constrained  so  long  to  dwell  on  it.     On  a  former  oc- 
casion I  stated  that,  in  the  event  of  an  unfortunate  diflerence  of  opin- 
ion between  the  legislative  and  executive  departments,  the  point  of 
difference  might  be  developed,  and  it  would  be  then  seen  whether 
ihey  could  be  brought  to  coincide  in  any  measure  corresponding  with 
the  public  hopes  and  expectations.     I  regret  that  the  President  has 
not,  in  this  message,  favored  us  with  a  more  clear  and  explicit  exhi- 
bition of  his  views.     It  is  sufficiently  manifest  that  he  is  decidedly 
opposed  to  the  establishment  of  a  new  Bank  of  the  United  States — 
formed  ^fter  the  two  old  models.     I  think  it  is  fairly  to  be  inferred 
that  the  plan  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  could  not  have  received 
his  sanction.     He  is  opposed  to  the  passage  of  the  bill  which  he  has 
returned  ;  but  whether  he  would  give  his  approbation  to  any  bank, 
and  if  any,  what  sort  of  a  bank,  is  not  absolutely  clear.     I  think  it 
may  he  collected  from  the  message,  with  the  aid  of  information  de- 
rived through  other  sources,  that  the  President  would  concur  in  the 
establishment  of  a  bank  whose  operations  should  be  limited  to  dealing 
in  bills  of  exchange,  to  deposites,  and  to  the  supply  of  a  circulation, 
excluding  the  power  of  discounting  promissory  notes.     And  I  under- 
stand that  some  of  our  friends  are  now  considering  the  practicability 
of  arranging  and  passing  a  bill  in  conformity  with  the  views  of  Pre'- 
sident  Tyler.     While  I  regret  that  I  can  take  no  active  part  in  such 
an  experiment,  and  must  reserve  to  myself  the  right  of  determining 
whether  I  can  or  cannot  vote  for  such  a  bill,  after  I  see  it  in  its  ma* 
tured  form,  I  assure  my  friends  that  they  shall  find  no  obstacle  or 
impediment  in  me.     On  the  contrary,  I  say  to  them,  go  on ;  God 
speed  you  in  any  measure  which  will  serve  the  country  and  preserve 
or  restore  harmony  and  concert  between  the  departments  of  govern- 
ment.    An  executive  veto  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  after  the 
sad  experience  of  late  years,  was  an  event  which  was  not  anticipated 
by  the  political  friends  of  the  President ;  certainly  not  by  me.    Bat 
it  has  come  upon  us  with  tremendous  weight,  and  amid  the  greatest 
excitement  within  and  without  the  metropolis.    The  question  now  is^ 
What  shall  be  done }  What,  under  this  most  embarrassing  and  unex- 
pected state  of  things,  will  our  constituents  expect  of  us  ?     What  is 
required  by  the  duty  and  the  dignity  of  Congress  ?    I  repeat,  that  if, 
after  a  careful  examination  of  the  executive  message,  a  bank  can  be 
devised,  which  will  aflbrd  any  remedy  to  existing  evils,  and  secure 
the  Prntident^i  tpprobatkni)  let  the  proiectof  eoch  a  bank  he  preecnt* 


510  8PUCHM  OP  BUniT  GI.AT. 

ed.    It  shall  encounter  no  opposition  if  it  should  receive  no  support 
from  me. 

But  what  further  shall  we  do  ?  Never  since  I  have  enjoyed  the 
honor  of  participaling  in  the  public  councils  of  the  nation — a  period 
DOW  of  near  thirty-five  years — have  I  met  Congress  under  more  hap- 
py or  more  favorable  auspices.  Never  have  I  seen  a  House  of  Re- 
presentatives animated  by  more  patriotic  dispositions — more  united, 
more  determined,  more  business-like.  Not  even  that  House  which 
declared  war  in  1812 ;  nor  that  which  in  1815-6  laid  broad  and  deep 
foundations  of  national  prosperity,  in  adequate  provisions  for  a  sound 
currency,  by  the  establishment  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  payment  of  the  national  debt,  and  for  the  protection  of  American 
industry.  This  House  has  solved  the  problem  of  the  competency  ii 
of  a  large  deliberative  body  to  transact  the  public  business.  If  hap* 
pily  there  had  existed  a  concurrence  of  opinion  and  cordial  co-opera- 
tion between  the  different  departments  of  the  government  and  all  the 
members  of  the  party,  we  should  have  carried  every  measure  con- 
templated at  the  extra  session,  which  the  piH>ple  had  a  right  to  ex- 
pect from  our  pledges,  and  should  have  been  by  this  time  at  our  re- 
spective homes.  We  are  disappointed  in  one,  and  an  important  one, 
of  that  series  of  measures ;  but  shall  we  therefore  despair  ?  Shall 
we  abandon  ourselves  to  unworthy  feelings  and  sentiments  ?  Shall 
we  allow  ourselves  to  be  transported  by  rash  and  intemperate  pas- 
sions and  counsels  ?  Shall  we  adjourn  and  go  home  in  disgust  ?  No ! 
no !  no !  A  higher,  nobler,  and  more  patriotic  career  lies  before  us.  Let 
us  here,  at  the  east  end  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  do  our  duty,  our  whole 
duty,  and  nothing  short  of  our  duty,  towards  our  common  country. 
We  have  repealed  the  Sub-Treasury.  We  have  passed  a  bankrupt 
law,  a  beneficent  measure  of  substantial  and  extensive  relief.  Let  us 
now  pass  the  bill  for  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands ;  the  revenue  bill,  and  the  bill  for  the  benefit  of  the  oppressed 
people  of  the  district.  Let  us  do  all,  let  us  do  every  thing  we  can 
for  the  public  good.  If  we  are  finally  to  l>e  disappointed  in  our  hopes 
of  giving  to  the  country  a  bank  which  will  once  more  supply  it  with 
a  sound  currency,  still  let  us  go  home  and  tell  our  constituents  that 
'  we  did  all  that  we  could  under  actual  circumstances  ;  and  that  if  we 
did  not  carry  every  measure  for  their  relief,  it  was  only  because  to  do 
■o  was  impossible.  If  nothing  can  be  done  at  this  extra  session  to 
pal  upon  a  more  stable  and  satisfactory  basis  the  currency  and  ex- 


Oir  TBS  SAHK   TBTO.  511 

changes  of  the  country,  let  ut  hope  thtt  hereafter  aome  way  will  be 
found  to  accomplish  that  most  desirable  object,  either  by  an  amend- 
ment of  the  constitution  limiting  and  qualifying  the  enormous  .execu- 
tive power,  and  especially  the  veto,  or  by  increased  majorities  in  the 
two  houses  of  Congress,  competent  to  the  ^passage  of  wise  imd  salu 
tary  laws,  the  President's  objections  notwithstanding. 

This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  course  now  incumbent  upon  us  to  pur- 
sue ;  and  by  conforming  to  it,  whatever  may  be  the  result  of  laudable 
endeavors  now  in  progress,  or  in  contemplation,  in  relation  to  a  new 
attempt  to  establish  a  bank,  we  shall  go  home,  bearing  no  self-ie* 
proaches  for  neglected  or  abandoned  duties. 

[Mr.  R 1VC8  of  Viiginia,  followed  Mr.  Clat,  in  the  debate.  At  the  conclusion  of 
Mr.  KiVK8*8  remarks,  Mr.  Clat  addreaaed  the  Senate  in  rejoinder  as  follows:] 

I  have  no  desire  to  prolong  this  unpleasant  discussion,  but  I  must 
say  that  1  heard  with  great  surprise  and  regret  the  closing  remarky 
especially,  of  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia,  as  indeed,  I  did 
many  of  those  which  preened  it.  That  gentleman  stands  in  a  pe- 
culiar situation.  I  found  him  several  years  ago  in  the  half-way- 
house,  where  he  seems  afraid  to  remain,  and  from  which  he  is  yet 
unwilling  to  go.  I  had  thought,  after  the  thorough  riddling  which 
the  roof  of  the  house  had  received  in  the  breaking  up  of  the  pet  bank 
system,  he  would  have  fled  some  where  else  for  refuge ;  but  there 
he  still  stands,  solitary  and  alone,  shivering  and  pelted  by  the  pitiless 
storm.  The  Sub-Treasury  is  repealed — the  pet  bank  system  is  aban- 
doned— the  United  States  Bank  Bill  is  vetoed — and  now  when  there 
is  as  complete  and  p<;rfect  a  re-union  of  the  purse  and  the  sword  in 
the  hands  of  the  Executive  as  ever  there  was  under  Greneral  Jack- 
son  or  Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  Senator  is  for  doing  nothing !  The  Sena- 
tor is  for  going  home,  leaving  the  treasury  and  the  country  in  their 
lawless  condition  !  Yet  no  man  has  heretofore,  more  than  he  haSy 
deplored  and  deprecated  a  state  of  things  so  utterly  unsafe,  and  re- 
pugnant to  all  just  precautions,  indicated  alike  by  sound  theory  and 
experience  in  free  governments.  And  the  Senator  talks  to  us  about 
applying  to  the  wisdom  of  practical  men,  in  respect  to  Banking,  and 
advises  further  deliberation  !  Why,  I  should  suppose  that  we  are  at 
present  in  the  very  best  situation  to  act  upon  the  subject.  Besides 
the  many  painful  years  we  have  had  for  deliberation,  we  have  been 
near  thrae  months  elmoet  exdoaively  eiigroiied  with  the  very  tab* 


512  tPllCiafil  OF  HBiniT   CLAT. 

Ject  itself.  We  have  heard  all  manner  of  facts,  8tatementS|  and 
gnments  in  any  way  connected  with  it.  We  understand,  it  seems  to 
me,  all  we  ever  can  learn  or  comprehend  abuut  a  National  Bank. 
And  we  have,  at  leof^t,  some  conception  too  of  what  sort  of  one  will 
he  acceptable  at  the  other  end  of  the  avenue.  Yet  now,  with  a  vast 
majority  of  the  people  of  the  entire  country  crying  out  to  us  for  a 
Bank — with  the  people  throughout  the  whole  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi rising  in  their  majesty,  and  demanding  it  as  indispensable  to  their 
well-being,  and  pointing  to  their  losses,  their  sacrifices,  and  their  suf- 
ferings, for  the  want  of  such  an  institution — in  such  a  state  of  things, 
We  are  gravely  and  coldly  told  by  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  that  we 
had  best  go  home,  leaving  the  pur^e  and  the  sword  in  the  uncontroll- 
ed possession  of  the  President,  and,  above  all  things,  never  to  make  a 
Party  Bank  !  Why  sir,  does  he,  with  all  his  knowledge  of  the  con- 
flicting opinions  which  prevail  here,  and  have  prevailed,  believe  that 
we  ever  can  make  a  Bank  but  by  the  votes  of  one  party  who  are  in 
favor  of  it,  in  opposition  to  the  votes  of  another  |larty  against  it  ?  1 
deprecate  this  expression  of  opinion*  from  that  gentleman  the  more, 
because,  although  the  honorable  Senator  professes  not  to  know  the 
opinions  of  the  President,  it  certainly  does  turn  out  in  the  sequel  that 
there  is  a  most  remarkable  coincidence  between  those  opinions  and 
his  own  ;  and  he  has,  on  the  present  occasion,  defended  the  motives 
and  the  course  of  the  President  with  all  the  solicitude  and  all  the 
fervent  zeal  of  a  member  of  his  Prhy  Councit  There  is  a  rumor 
abroad  that  a  cabal  exists — a  new  sort  of  kitchen  cabinet — whose 
object  is  the  dissolution  of  the  regular  cabinet — the  dissolution  of  the 
Whig  party — the  dispersion  of  Congress,  without  accomplishing  any 
of  the  great  purposes  of  the  extra  session  ;  and  a  total  change  in  fact, 
in  the  whole  face  of  our  political  affairs.  I  hope,  and  1  persuade 
myself,  that  the  honorable  Senator  is  not,  cannot  be,  one  of  the  com- 
ponent members  of  such  a  cabal ;  but  I  must  say  that  there  has  been 
displayed  by  the  honorable  Senator  to-day  a  predisposition,  astonish- 
ing and  inexplicable,  to  misconceive  almost  all  of  what  I  have  said, 
and  a  perseverance,  after  repeated  corrections,  in  misunderstanding ; 
for  I  will  not  charge  him  with  wilfully  and  intentionally  misrepre- 
Benting — the  whole  spirit  and  character  of  the  address,  which  as  t 
man  of  honor,  and  as  a  Senator,  I  felt  myself  bound  in  duty  to  make 
to  this  body. 

The  Senator  begins  with  saying  that  I  dhuge  the  Prendent 


Oir  THE  BAirX  TBTO.  913 

"  perfidy  !"  Did  I  use  any  such  language  ?  I  oppeal  to  erery  gen- 
tleman who  heard  me  to  say  whether  I  have  in  a  single  instancR  gone 
beyond  a  fair  and  legitimate  examination  of  the  executive  objections 
to  the  bill.  Yet  he  has  charged  mo  with  "  arraigning"* the  President, 
with  indicting  him  in  various  counts,  and  with  imputing  to  him  mo- 
tives such  as  I  never  even  intimated  or  dreamed,  and  that,  when  I 
was  constantly  expressing,  over  and  over,  my  personal  fespect  and 
rt*gard  for  Prc^sident  Tyler,  for  whom  I  have  cherisheil  an  intimate 
personal  friendship  of  twenty  years'  standiTig,  ami  while  1  expressly 
^aid  that  if  tHat  friendship  should  now  be  interrupted,  it  should  not 
be  my  fault !  Why,  sir,  what  possible,  what  conceivable  motive  can 
I  have  to  quarrel  with  the  President,  or  to  break  up  the  Whig  party  ? 
What  earthly  motive  can  impel  me  to  wish  for  any  other  result  than 
that  that  party  shall  remain  in  [)crfect  harmony,  undFvtded,  and  shall 
move  undismayed,  boldly  and  unitedly  forward  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  all-important  public  objects  which  it  has  avowed  to  be 
its  aim  ?  What  imaginable  interest  or  feeling  can  I  have  other  than 
the  success,  the  triumph,  the  glory  of  the  Whig  party  ?  But  that 
there  may  be  designs  and  purposes  on  the  part  of  certain  other  indi- 
ridunis  to  place  me  in  inimical  relations  with  the  President,  and  to 
represent  me  as  personally  opposed  to  him,  lean  well  imagine — indi- 
viduals who  are  beating  up  for  recruits,  and  endeavoring  to  form  a 
third  party  with  materials  so  scanty  as  to  be  wholly  insufficient  to 
compose  a  decent  corporal's  guard.  I  fear  there  are  such  individuala, 
though  I  do  not  charge  the  Senator  as  being  himself  one  of  them. 
What  a  spectacle  has  bc^n  presented  to  this  nation  during  this  entire 
session  of  Congress  I  That  (^  the  cherished  and  confidential  friends 
of  John  Tyler,  persons  who  boast  and  claim  to  be,  par  excellence,  his 
exclusive  and  genuine  friends,  being  the  bitter,  systematic,  deter* 
mined,  uncompromisrog  opponents  of  every  leading  measure  of  John 
1*yler's  administration !  Was  there  ever  before  such  an  example 
presented,  in  this  or  any  other  age,  in  this  or  any  other  country  ?  I 
have  myself  known  the  President  too  l»ng,  and  cherish  toward  him 
too  sincere  a  friendship,  to  allow  my  feelings  to  be  affected  or  aliena- 
ted by  any  thing  which  ftas  passed  here  to-day.  If  the  President 
chooses — which  I  am  sure  he  cannot,  uAleas  falsehood  has  been  whis- 
pered into  his  ears  or  ponon  poured  into  his  heart — ^to  detach  him* 
self  from  me,  I  shalt  deeply  regret  it,  for  the  sake  of  our  commoo 
friendship  and  our  common  country.  I  now  repeat,  wbtit  I  before 
said,  that  of  all  the  meaiorev  of  relief  whidi  the  American  Doople 


514  tPEKCHU  OF  HKHBT  CLAT. 

have  called  upon  us  for,  that  of  a  National  Bank,  and  a  sound  and 
uniform  currency  baa  been  the  most  loudly  and  importunately  de* 
manded.    The  Senator  says  that  the  question  of  a  Bank  was  not  the 
issue  made  before  the  people  at  the  late  election.     I  can  say,  for  one, 
my  own  conviction  is  diametrically  the  contrary.     What  may  have 
been  the  character  of  the  canvass  in  Virginia,  1  will  not  say  ;  proba- 
bly gentlemen  on  both  sides  were,  every  where  governed  in  some 
degree  by  considerations  of  local  policy.     What  issues  may  therefore 
have  been  presented  to  the  people  of  Virginia,  either  above  or  below 
tide-water,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.     The  great  error,  however,  of 
the  honorable  Senator  is  in  thinking  that  the  sentiments  of  a  particu- 
lar party  in  Virginia  are  always  a  fair  exponent  of  the  sentiments  of 
the  whole  Union.     1  can  tell  that  Senator  that  wherever  I  was — ^in 
the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi — in  Kentucky — in  Tennessee — in 
Maryland — in  all  the  circles  in  which  I  moved  every  where,  ^'  Bank 
or  no  Bank''  was  the  great,  the  leading,  the  vital  question.     At  Han- 
over, in  Virginia,  during  the  last  summer,  at  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able and  respectable,  and  gratifying  assemblages  that  I  ever  attended, 
I  distinctly  announced  my  conviction  that  a  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  indispensable.     As  to  the  opinions  of  General  Harrison,  1  know 
that,  like  many  others,  he  had  entertained  doubts  as  to  the  constita- 
tionality  of  a  Bank  ;  but  I  also  know  that,  as  the  election  approached, 
his  opinions  turned  more  in  favor  of  a  National  Bank ;  and  I  speak 
from  my  own  personal  knowledge  of  bis  opinions,  when  I  say  that  I 
have  no  more  doubt  he  would  have  signed  that  bill,  than  that  you, 
Mr.  President,  now  occupy  that  chair,  or  that  I  am  addressing  you. 

I  rose  not  to  say  one  word  which  should  wound  the  feelings  of 
President  Tyler.  The  Senator  says  that,  if  placed  in  like  circum- 
stances, I  would  have  been  the  last  man  to  avoid  putting  a  direct 
veto  upon  the  bill,  had  it  met  my  disapprobation ;  and  he  does  me 
the  honor  to  attribute  to  me  high  qualities  of  stern  and  unbending 
intrepidity.  I  hope  that  in  |ill  that  relates  to  personal  firmness — all 
that  concerns  a  just  appreciation  of  the  insignificance  of  human  life- 
whatever  may  be  attempted  to  threaten  or  alarm  a  soul  not  easily 
swaye<l  by  opposition,  or  aw^  or  intimidated  by  menace — a  stoat 
heart  and  a  steady  eye  that  can  survey,  unmoved  and  undaunted, 
any  mere  personal  perils  that  assail  this  poor  transient,  perishing 
frame,  I  may  without  disparagement  compare  with  other  men.  But, 
tkera  is  a  tort  of  couragei  uphichy  I  frankly  confesa  it^  I  do  not  poa- 


OK  THB  -BAIIK  TBTO.  M6 

boldness  to  which  I  dare  not  aspire,  a  valor  which  I  cannot 
covet.  I  caiiDOt  lay  myself  down  id  the  way  of  the  welfare  and  hap- 
piness of  my  country.  That  I  cannot,  I  have  not  the  courage  to  do. 
1  cannot  interpose  the  power  with  which  1  may  be  invested,  a  power 
conferred  not  for  my  personal  benefit,  nor  for  my  aggrandizement,  but 
for  my  country's  good,  to  check  her  onward  march  to  greatness  and 
glory.  1  have  not  courage  enough,  I  am  too  cowardly  for  that.  I 
would  not,  I  dare  not,  in  the  exercise  of  such  a  trust,  lie  down,  and 
place  my  body  across  the  path  that  leads  my  country  to  prosperity 
and  happiness.  This  is  a  sort  of  courage  widely  different  from  that 
which  a  man  may  display  in  his  prNate  conduct  and  personal  rela^ 
tions.  Personal  or  private  courage  is  totally  distinct  from  that  high- 
er and  nobler  courage  which  prompts  the  patriot  to  offer  himself  a 
voluntary  sacrifice  to  his  country's  good. 

Nor  did  I  say,  as  the  Senator  represents,  that  the  President  should 
have  resigned.  I  intimated  no  personal  wish  or  desire  that  he  should 
resign.  I  referred  to  the  fact  of  a  memorable  resignation  in  his  pub** 
lie  life.  And  what  I  did  say  was,  that  there  were  other  alternativei 
before  him  besides  vetoing  the  bill ;  and  that  it  was  worthy  of  his 
consideration  whedier  consistency  did  not  require  that  the  example 
which  he  had  set  when  he  had  a  constituency  of  one  state,  should 
not  be  followed  when  he  had  a  constituency  commensurate  with  the 
whole  Union.  Another  alternative  was  to  sufier  the  bill,  without 
his  signature,  to  pass  into  a  law  under  the  provbions  of  the  constitu- 
tion.  And  I  must  confess  I  see,  in  this,  no  such  escaping  by  the 
back  door,  ho  such  jumping  out  of  the  window,  as  the  Senator  talks 
about.  .Apprehensions  of  the  imputation  of  the  want  of  firmness 
sometimes  impel  us  to  perform  rash  and  inconsiderate  acts.  It  is  the 
greatest  courage  to  be  able  to  bear  the  imputation  of  the  want  of 
courage.  But  pride,  vanity,  egotism,  ao  unamiable  and  ofiensive  in 
private  life,  are  vieeJi  which  partake  of  the  character  of  crimes  in  the 
conduct  of  public  affiiirs.  The  unfortunate  victim  of  these  passions 
cannot  see  beyond  the  little,  petty,  contemptible  circle  of  his  own 
personal  interests.  All  his  thoughts  are  withdrawn  from  his  countrji 
and  concentrated  on  his  consistency,  his  firmness,  himself.  The  high, 
the  exalted,  the  sublime  emotions  of  a  patriotism,  which  soaring  to- 
wards heaven,  rises  fiir  above  all  mean,  low,  or  selfish  things,  and  is 
absorbed  by  one  soul-transporting  thought  of  the  good  and  the  gloiy 
of  one's  country  ave  Mv«r  Mt  in  hit  impeDetrable  boMMsu    That  ptr 


516  SPBlCim  OF  BIlfS,T    CLAT. 

triotism  which,  catching  its  inspirations  from  the  immortal  God^ 
and  leaving  at  an  immeasurable  distance  below  all  lesser,  groveling, 
personal  interests  and  feelings,  animates  and  prompts  to  deeds  of  self- 
sacrifice,  of  valor,  of  devotion,  and  of  death  itself — that  is  public  vir- 
tue— that  is  the  noblest,  the  subliraest  of  all  public  virtues ! 

I  said  nothing  of  any  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  President  to  con- 
form his  jodgmcnl  to  the  opinions  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, although  the  Senator  argued  as  if  I  had,  and  persevered 
In  so  arguing,  after  repeated  correctioBs.  I  said  no  such  thing.  1 
know  and  respect  the  perfect  independence  of  each  department,  acting 
within  its  proper  sphere  of  other  departments.  But  1  referred  to 
the  majorities  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  as  further  and  strong 
evidence  of  the  opinion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  favor  of 
the  establishment  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States.  And  I  contended 
that,  according  to  tlie  doctrine  of  instructions  which  prevBiled  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  of  which  the  President  is  a  disciple,  and  in  pursuance  of 
the  example  alreiidy  cited,  he  ought  not  to  have  rejected  the  bill. 

I  have  heard  that,  on  his  arrival  at  tke  seat  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  office  of  Vice  President,  in  March 
last,  when  interrogated  how  far  he  meant  to  conform  in  his  new  sta- 
tion, to  certain  peculiar  opinions  which  were  held  in  Virginia,  ht 
made  this  patriotic  and  noble  reply :  ^'  I  am  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States, and  not  of  the  State  of  Virginia  ;  and  I  shall  be  goveri^ 
ed  by  the  wishes  and  opinions  of  my  constituents."  When  I  heard 
of  this  encouraging  and  satisfactory  reply,  believing,  as  1  most  reli- 
giously do,  that  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  are  in 
fovor  of  a  National  Bank,  (and  gentlemen  may  shut  their  eyes  to  the 
fact,  deny  or  dispute,  or  reason  it  away  as  they  please,  but  it  is  my 
conscientious  conviction  that  two-thirds,  if  not  more^of  tile  people  of 
the  United  States  desire  such  an  institution)  I  thought  I  beheld  a 
sure  and  certain  guaranty  for  the  ful6lment  of  the  wishes  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States.  I  thought  it  impossible  that  the  wants  and 
wishes  of  a  great  people,  who  had  bestowed  such  unbounded  and 
generous  confidence,  and  conferred  on  him  such  exalted  honors, 
should  be  disregarded  and  disappointed.  It  did  not  enter  into  mj 
imagination  to  conceive  that  one  who  had  shown  so  much  deference 
and  respect  to  the  presi)med  sentiments  of  a  single  state,  diould  dis- 
play less  toward  the  sentiiuenta  of  the  whole  nataon. 


Wr  THB  BAKK  TITO. 


617 


I  hope,  Mr.  President,  that,  in  performing  the  painful  duty  which 
had  devolved  on  me,  I  have  not  transcended  the  limits  of  legitimate 
debate.  I  repeat,  in  all  truth  and  sincerity,  the  assurance  to  the  S^ 
nate  and  to  the  country,  that  nothing  but  a  stern,  reluctant,  and  in- 
dispensable sense  of  honor  and  of  duty  could  have  forced  firom  me  the 
response  which  I  have  made  to  the  President's  objections.  But  in- 
stead of  yielding  without  restraint  to  the  feelings  of  disappointment 
and  mortification  excited  by  the  perusal  of  his  message,  I  have  anx- 
iously endeavored  to  temper  the  notice  of  it,  which  I  have  been  coin* 
peiled  to  take,  by  the  respect  due  to  the  office  of  Chief  Magistrate, 
and  by  the  personal  regard  and  esteem  which  I  have  ever  entertained 
fiw  its  present  incumbent. 

•HH 


ON  A  TRUE  PUBLIC  POLICY. 


Li  thb.Sbsatb  of  TBt\iwnM»SiiATM$f  IIabck  4,  I84d. 


( L€ta  the26ck  iif  FebiiitirirA'r*  Gi^iia  wMpttte 
^e,  submitted  to  the  Senate  Resolations  indicative  of  the  line  of  policy  upon  whie^ 
in  his  judgment,  the  Federal  Oovemment  should  be  condactad.    These  Resohiti<— 
€oming  up  for  conaidemtioD,  Mr.  Ci.Anr spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  President  : — ^The  resolutions  which  are  to  form  the  sahjeet 
of  the  present  discussion,  are  of  the  greatest  importaiicei  inyoWing 
interests  of  the  highest  character,  and  a  system  of  poli^  which,  in 
my  opinion,  lies  at  the  bottom  of  any  restoration  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  country.  In  discussing  them,  I  would  address  myself  to  yoQ  b 
the  language  of  plainness,  of  soberness,  and  truth.  I  did  not  cons 
here  as  if  I  were  entering  a  garden  full  of  flowers  and  of  the  richest 
shrubbery,  to  cull  the  tea-roses,  the  japonicas,  the  jasmines  and  wood 
bines,  and  weave  them  into  a  garland  of  the  gayest  colors,  that  by  the 
beauty  of  the  assortment  and  by  their  fragance  I  may  gratify  Bar  la- 
dies. Nor  is  it  my  wish — it  is  far,  far  from  my  wish*— to  revive  any 
subjects  of  a  party  character,  or  which  might  be  calculated  to  renew 
the  animosities  which  unhappily  have  hitherto  prevailed  between  the 
two  gr^at  political  parties  in  the  country .  My  course  is  hr  difierent 
from  this ,  it  is  to  speak  to  you  of  the  sad  condition  of  our  countiy ; 
to  point  out  not  the  remote  and  original,  but  the  proximate,  the  jb- 
mediate  causes  which  have  produced  and  are  likely  to  continue  our 
distresses,  and  to  suggest  a  remedy.  If  any  one,  in  or  out  of  the  Se» 
nate,  has  imagined  it  to  be  my  intention  on  this  occasion  to  indulge 
in  any  ambitious  display  of  language,  to  attempt  any  rhetoric^ 
flights,  or  to  deal  in  any  other  figures  than  figures  of  arithmetic,  he 
will  find  himself  greatly  disappointed.  The  fanner,  if  he  is  a  judi* 
cious  man,  does  not  begin  to  plough  till  he  has  first  laid  ofi*  his  land, 
and  marked  it  off  at  proper  distances  by  planting  stakes  by  which  bis 
ploughmen  are  to  be  guided  in  (heir  movements ;  and  the  ploughman 
accordingly  fixes  his  eye  upon  the  stake  opposite  to  the  end  of  the 


\ 


OH  A,  nvi  PQKJO  POUCT.  419 

'dcatined  fuirow,  and  then  endeaTOfS  to  reach  it  by<a  itraight  md 
direct  furrow.    These  resolutions  are  my  stakes. 

Bat,  before  I  proeeed  to  examine  them,  let  me  first  meet  and  ob- 
viate certain  objections,  which,  as  I  understand,  have  been  or  may-be 
urged  against  them  generally.    I  learn  that  it  is  said  of  these  resolii- 
tions  that  they  present  only  general  propositions,  and  that  instead  4if 
this,  I  should  at  once  have  introduced  separate  bills,  and  entered  into 
detail  and  shown  in  what  manner  I  propose  to  accomplish  the  obje^ 
which  the  resolutions  propose.    Let  me  here  say,  in  reply,  that  Hm 
ancient  principles  and  mode  of  legislation  which  have  ever  prevailed 
from  the  foundation  of  this  government,  has  been  to  fix  first  upon  the 
general  principles  which  are  to  guide  us  and  then  carry  out  these 
principles  by  detailed  legislation.     Such  has  ever  been  the  coune 
pursued,  not  only  in  the  country  from  which  we  derive  our  legisl*^ 
tive  institutions,  but  in  our  own.     The  memorable  resolution  ofierred 
in  the  British  House  of  Commons  by  the  celebrated  Mr.  Dunning,  is 
no  doubt  familiar  to  the  mind  of  every  one^-that  "  the  power  of  the 
Crown  (and  it  is  equally  true^of  our  own  Chief  Magistrate)  had  ilK 
creased,  was  increasing,  and  ought  to  be  diminished.''    When  I  wai 
a  member  of  another  legislative  body,  which  meets  in  the  opposite 
extremity  of  this  Capitol,  it  was  the  course,  in  reference  to  the  great 
questions  of  internal  improvement  and  other  leading  measures  df 
public  policy,  to  propose  specific  resolutions,  going  to  mark  out  the 
principles  of  action  which  ought  to  be  adopted,  and  then  to  carry  out 
these    principles  by  subsequent  enactments.     Another  objection  is 
urged,  as  I  understand,  against  one  of  these  resolutions,  which  is  this, 
that  by  the  Constitution  no  bill  for  ndsing  revenue  can  originate  any 
where  but  in  the  House  of  Representatives.     It  is  true,  that  we  can- 
not originate  such  a  bill ;  bat,  undoubtedly,  in  contemplating  tba 
condition  of  the  public  affairs,  and  in  the  right  consideration  of  all 
questions  touching  the  amount  of  revenue  and  the  mode  in  which  H 
shall  be  raised,  and  inv61ving  the  great  questions  of  expenditure  apd 
retrenchment,  and  how  far  the  expenses  of  the  government  may  safe* 
ly  and  properly  be  diminished,  it  is  perfectly  legitimate  for  us  to  de* 
liberate  and  to  act  as  duty  may  demand.    There  can  be  no  question 
but  that,  during  the  present  session  of  Congress,  a  bill  ot  revenue 
will  be  sent  to  us  from  the  other  House  ;  and  if,  when  it  comes,  we 
shall  first  have  gone  through  with  a  consideration  of  the  general  sub- 
ject, fixing  the  principles  of  policy  proper  to  be  pursued  in  relation 


520  tFBBCRBi  OF  HBHMT  GLAT 

to  it,  it  will  greatly  economise  the  time  of  the  SenAte,  and  proportion- 
ably  save  a  large  amount  of  the  public  money. 

Perhaps  no  better  mode  can  be  pursued  of  discussing  the  resolu- 
tions I  have  had  the  honor  to  present,  than  to  take  them  up  in  the 
order  of  their  arrangement,  as  I  presented  them  to  the  Senate,  after 

much  deliberate  consideration.    The  first  resdution  declares : 

t 

^  That  it  is  the  doty  of  the  general  GoTernment,  for  conducting  its  idminifltrAioa, 
to  provide  an  adequate  revenae  within  the  year  to  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the 
jrepir ;  and  that  any  expedient,  either  by  loan  or  treasury  notes*  to  Mii>ply,  in  time  of 
peace,  a  deficiency  of  revenue,  especially  dunng  successive  yean,  is  unwise,  and 
must  lead  to  pernicious  consequences." 

I  have  heard  it  asserted  that  this  rule  is  but  a  truism.  If  so,  I  re 
gret  to  say,  that  it  is  one  from  which  governments  too  oflen  deptrt, 
and  from  which  this  government  especially  has  departed  during  the 
last  five  years.  Has  an  adequate  revenue  been  provided  within  each 
of  those  years  to  meet  the  necessary  expenses  of  those  same  yean  ? 
No :  far  otherwise.  In  1837,  at  the  called  session,  instead  of  impo- 
sing the  requisite  amount  of  taxes  onr  the  free  articles,  according  to 
the  provisions  of  the  compromise  act,  what  was  the  resort  of  the  ad- 
ministration ?  To  treasury  notes.  And  the  same  expedient  of  trea- 
sury notes  was  ever  since  adopted,  from  year  to  year,  to  supply  the 
deficit  accruing.  And  of  necessity  this  policy  cast  upon  the  adminis- 
tration succeeding  an  unascertained,  unliquidated  debt,  inducing  a 
temporary  necessity  on  that  administration  to  have  resort  to  the  same 
means  of  supply. 

I  do  not  advert  to  these  facts  with  any  purpose  of  crimination  oi 
recriminalion.  Far  from  it :  for  we  have  reached  that  state  of  the 
public  afiairs  when  the  country  lies  bleeding  at  every  pore,  and  when, 
as  I  earnestly  hope  and  trust,  we  shall  by  common  consent,  dispense 
with  our  party  prejudices,  and  agree  to  look  at  any  measure  proposed 
fi>r  the  public  relief  as  patriots  and  statesmen.  I  say  then,  that, 
during  the  four  years  of  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  there 
was  an  excess  of  expenditure  over  the  income  of  the  government  to 
the  amount  of  between  seven  and  eight  millions  of  dollars  ;  and  I  say 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  that  administration,  the  moment  they  found 
this  deficit  to  exist  in  the  revenue,  to  have  resorted  to  the  adequate 
remedy  by  laying  the  requisite  amount  of  taxes  on  the  free  articles  to 
meet  and  to  supply  the  deficiency. 


ON   A  TJRUB  PUBUC  POUCT.  521 

I  shall  say  nothing  more  on  the  first  resolution,  because  I  do  hope 
that,  whatever  the  previous  practice  of  this  government  may  have 
been,  there  is  no  Senator  here  who  will  hesitate  to  concur  in  the  truth 
of  the  general  proposition  it  contains.  The  next  three  resolutions  All 
relate  to  the  same  general  subjects — subjects  which  I  consider  much 
the  most  important  of  any  here  set  forth  ;  and  I  shall,  for  that  reason, 
consider  them  toc^ether.    These  resolutions  assert : 

"  That  furh  an  ade^nnte  r«>venu«  cannot  be  obtained  bydnritni  on  foreign  iinpoiis 
without  adoptinf^  a  highor  rate  than  twenty  per  cent,  aia  provided  fjir  in  ihi*  com- 
promise act,  which,  at  the  time  of  its  pa!«age,  waa  saiipns/'d  and  afvnmed  as  a  rats 
that  would  supply  a  BulTicient  revenue  for  an  economical  administration  of  the  Go* 
vemment." 

"  That  the  rate  of  duties  on  foreian  imports  ought  to  be  augmented  beyond  the 
rate  of  twenty  per  cent,  sinw  to  promice  a  not  revenue  of  twenty-six  millions  of  dol- 
lars— twenty-two  for  the  ordinaiy  expenses  of  Government,  two  for  the  payment  of 
the  existing  debt,  ond  two  millions  as  a  reserved  fund  for  contingencies. ' 

"  That,  in  the  Rdjustmcnt  of  a  tariff  to  raise  an  amount  of  twenty-six  millionaof 
revenue,  the  prinpiples  of  the  compromise  act  genemlly  should  he  adhered  to  ;  ^nd 
that  et-pecially  a  mnximnm  rate  of  ad  valorem  duties  fihould  be  established,  from 
which  there  ought  to  be  as  little  departure  as  posbible.*' 

The  first  question  which  these  resolutions  suggest,  is  this :  What 
should  be  the  amount  of  the  annual  expenditures  of  this  government  ? 
Now,  on  this  point,  I  shall  not  attempt  what  is  impossible,  to  be  ex* 
act  and  precise  in  stating  what  that  may  be.'  We  can  only  make  an 
approximation.  No  man,  in  his  private  afiairs,  can  say,  or  pretends 
to  say,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  precisely  what  shall  be  the 
amount  of  his  expenses  during  the  year:  that  must  depend  on  many 
unforseen  contingencies,  which  cannot  with  any  precision  be  calcu- 
lated beforehand :  all  that  can  be  done  is  to  make  an  approximation 
to  what  ought  to  be  or  what  may  be  the  amount.  Before  I  consider 
that  question,  allow  me  to  correct  here  an  assertion  made  first  by4he 
Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun)  and  subsequently  by 
the  Senator  from  Missouri,  near  me,  (Mr.  Linn)  and  L believe  by  one 
or  two  other  gentlemen,  namely,  that  the  Whig  party,  when  out  of 
power,  asserted  that,  if  trusted  with  the  helm,  they  would  administer 
this  government  at  an  amount  of  expenditure  not  exceeding  thirteen 
millions  of  dollars.  I  hope,  if  such  an  assertion  was  actually  made 
by  either  or  all  of  these  gentlemen,  that  it  will  never  be  repeated 
again  without  resorting  to  proof  to  sustain  it.  I  know  of  no  such 
positron  ever  taken  by  the  Whig  party,  or  by  any  prominent  member 
of  the  Whig  party.  Sure  I  am  that  the  party  generally  pledged  itself 
to  no  such  reduction  of  the  public  expenses — none*  * 


52S  tPSBCHM  OF  HBNRT  CLAT. 

And  I  agaio  say,  that  I  irost,  before  such  aa  aisertioii  ia  lepeatMl, 
the  proo&  will  be  adduced.  For  in  this  case,  aa  in  othen,  thatiirhidi 
is  asserted  and  reiterated  comes  at  last  to  be  believed.  The  Whig 
party  did  promise  Economy  and  Retrenchment,  and  I  trast  will  per- 
fofm  their  promise.  I  deny  (in  no  ofiensiire  sense)  that  the  Whig 
party  ever  promised  to  reduce  the  expenditures  of  the  government 
to  thirteen  millions  of  dollars.  No;  but  this  is  inrhat  they  said: 
During  the  four  years  of  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams  the  aver- 
ago  amount  of  the  public  expenditure  was  but  thirteen  millions, 
and  you  charged  that  administration  with  outrageous  extravagance, 
and  came  yourselves  into  power  on  promises  to  reduce  the  annual 
expenditure ;  but,  having  obtained  power,  instead  of  reducing  the 
public  expenses,  you  carried  them  up  to  the  astonishing  amount  of 
nearly  forty  millions.  But,  while  the  Whigs  never  asserted  that  they 
would  administer  the  Government  with  thirteen  millions,  our  oppo* 
nents,  our  respected  opponents,  after  having  been  three  years  in  power, 
instead  of  bringing  the  expense  below  the  standard  of  Mr.  Adam^ 
administration,  declared  that  fifteen  millions  was  the  amount  at  which 
the-  expend  itureb  should  be  fixed.  This  wad  the  ground  taken  by 
Mr.  McLane,  when  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury.  I  have  his 
Report  before  me ,  but  as  the  fiwt,  I  presume,  will  not  be  denied,  I 
ibrbear  to  read  from  it.  He  suggests  atr  the  fit  amount  to  be  raised 
by  the  Tarifi*  he  had  proposed,  the  sum  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars 
as^sufScient  to  n^et  the  ^ants  of  the  Government. 

I  hope  now,  I  have  shown  that  the  Whig  party,  before  they  ob 
tained  power,  never  were  pledged  to  bring  down  the  public  expenses 
either  to  thirteen  or  to  fifteen  millions.  They  were  pledged,  I  admit, 
to  retrench  unnecessary  expenditures,  and  to  make  a  reasonable  de- 
duction whenever  it  could  properly  be  made  consistently  with  the 
pttblys  service  :  that  process,  as  I  understand,  is  now  going  on  in  both 
Houses,  and  I  trust  the  fruits  will  be  seen  before  the  end  of  the  pres- 
ent session.  Unpledged,  therefore,  as  the  Whig  party  was,  as  to  any 
specific  amount,  the  question  recurs,  at  what  sum  can  the  expenses 
of  the  Government  be  now  fixed  ? 

I  repeat  that  the  exact  amount  is  difficult  to  be  ascertained.     1 
h%ve  stated  it  in  the  resolutiou  I  now  offisr  at  twenty-two  millkmi , 
and  I  shall  soon  show  how  I  have  arrived  at  that  amount.     But,  be 
ore  I  do  that,  allow  ^le  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the 


OS  A  TBUS  PU9UC  JPOLICr,  593 

expenditures  of  the  preceding., admiDistration 4  for,  in  attempting  ta 
file  a  sum  for  the  future,  I  know  of  no  course  but  to  look  back  upon 
cbe  experience  of  the  past,  and  then  to  endeavor  to  deduce  from  it 
the  probable  amount  of  future  .expenditure.  What  then,  were  tha 
expenditures  of  the  four  years  of  the.  past  Administration  ? 

Iq18S7  the  amount  was 897,265,037  15 

In  1888  it  was 89,455,438  85 

,  la  1889. 87,614,986  16 

Inl&W 28,226,538  81 

Making  an  asgregate  of. 1^142,561,915  46 

Which  gives  us  an  average  per  year  of  35,640,486  38.  The  sura 
I  have  proposed  is  only  twenty-two  millions,  which  deducted  from. 
thirty-five  as  above,  leaves  a  reduction  of  $13,640,000 — being  a  sura 
greater  than  the  whole  average  expenditure  of  the  extravagant  and 
profligate  administration  of  Mr.  Adams,  which  they  told  us  was  so 
enormous  that  it  must  be  reduced  by  a  great  ^^Retrenchment  and 
Reform.*' 

I  am  not  here  going  to  inquire  into  the  items  which  composed  the 
large  expenditures  of  the  four  years  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administr^ 
tion.  I  know  what  has  been  said,  and  ilrill  again  be  said,  on  that 
subject — that  there  were  many  items  of  extra  expenditure,  which 
may  never  occur  .again.  Be  it  so;  but  do  we  not  know  that  every, 
administration  has  its  extras,  and  that  these  may  be  expected  to  arisen .' 
and.  will  and  must  arise  under  every  administration  beneath  the  sun  ? 
But  take  this  also  into  view  in  looking  at  the  expenses  of  that  ad- 
ministration :  that  less  was  expended  on  the  national  defences — ^less, 
in  the  construction  or  repair  of  fortifications — less  for  the  navy,  and 
less,  for  other  means  of  repelling  a  foreign  attack,  than  perhaps  ought 
lo  have  been  expended.  At  present  we  are  all  animated  with  a  com- 
mon zeal  and  determination  on  the  subject  of  defence ;  all  feel  the 
feiQCessity  of  some  adequate  plan  of  defence,  as  well  upon  the  ocean 
a^.the  land,  and  especially  of  putting  our  navy  and  our  fortifications 
in. a  better  state  to  defend  the  honor  and  protect  the  rights  of  the  na- 
tion. We  feel  this  necessity,  although  we  all  trust  that  the  calamity 
oCa  war  may  be  averted.  This  calls. fo^  a  greater  amount  of  money 
for  ;lhe8e  purposes  than  waa  appropriated  under  Mr.  Van  Buren's  ad- 
tniniatration  ;  beside  which,  in  the  progress  of  affiiirs,  unforeseen  ex- 
igencies may  arisoi  and  do  conslaiidy.oecar,  calling  for  -other  appr«»- 


524  BPSBCHIt  OF  HIKRT  OLAT. 

priations  needed,  which  no  man  can  anticipate.  Eyery  ministry  in 
every  government— erery  administration  of  our  own  government 
has  its  extraordinaries  and  its  contingencies  ;  and  it  is  no  apology  for 
Mr.  Van  Buren^s  administration  to  say  that  the  circnmstmnces  which 
occasioned  its  expenditures  were  extraordinary  and  peculiar.  Making 
all  the  allowances  which  its  warmest  friends  can  ask  for  the  ex-> 
penses  of  the  inglorious  war  in  Florida — a  contest  which  has  profusely 
wasted  not  only  the  resonrces  of  the  Treasury,  hut  the  hest  blood  of- 
the  nation — making  the  amplest  allowance  for  this  and  for  all  other 
extras  whatever,  the  sum  expended  by  the  last  administration  stiU 
remains  to  be  far,  far  beyond  what  is  proposed  in  these  resolutions  as 
sufficient  for  the  present,  and  for  years  to  come.  It  must,  in  candor, 
be  conceded  that  this  is  a  very  great  diminution  of  the  national  ex- 
penditure ;  and  such,  if  nothing  else  were  done,  would  redeem  the 
pledge  of  the  Whig  party. 

But  let  us  now  consider  the  subject  in  another  light  Thirteen 
millions  was  the  average  annual  amount  of  expenditure  under  Mr. 
Adam's  administration,  which  terminated  thirteen  years  ago.  I 
should  be  authorized,  therefore,  to  take  the  commencement  of  hit 
administration  in  1825  being  a  period  of  seventeen  years,  in  making  a 
comparison  of  the  progressive  increase  of  the  national  expenditures ; 
or,  at  all  events,  adding  one-half  of  Mr.  Adam's  term  to  make  the  pe» 
riod  as  running  fifteen  years  back  ;  but  I  shall  not  avail  myself  of 
this  perfectly  fair  calculation  ;  and  I  will  therefore  say,  that  at  the  end 
of  thirteen  years,  from  the  time  when  the  expenditures  were  thirteen 
millions,  1  propose  that  they  be  raised  to  twenty-two  millions.  And 
is  this  an  extraordinary  increase  for  such  a  period,  in  a  country  of 
such  rapid  increase  and  development  as  this  is  ?  What  has  occurred 
during  this  lapse  of  time  ?  The  army  has  been  doubled,  or  nearly 
so ;  it  has  increased  from  a  little  over  6,000  men  to  12,000.  We 
have  built  six,  eight  or  ten  ships  of  the  line,  (I  do  not  recollect  the 
precise  number ;)  two  or  three  new  States  have  been  added  to  the  ' 
Union  ;  and  two  periodical  enumerations  have  been  made  of  the  na^ 
tional  population  ;  besides  which  there  have  been,  and  yet  are  to  be, 
vast  expenditures  on  works  of  fortification  and  national  defence. — 
Now,  when  we  look  at  the  increase  in  the  number  of  members  in 
both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  consider  the  necessary  and  inevitable 
progress  and  growth  of  the  nation,  is  it,  I  ask,  an  extraordinary  thing 
that  at  the  end  of  a  period  of  thirteen  years  our  expenditures  ahooM 


on  A  THOB  TOltlC  POUCT.  89ft 

e  ftom  thirteen  to  twenty-two  millions  of  dollan  7  If  we  Uk* 
the  period  at  seventeen  years,  (aa  we  &irly  may,)  or  At  but  fifteen 
years,  ihe  incTetiae  of  expenses  wilt  be  found  not  to  go  beyood  the 
proportional  increase  of  our  population  within  the  lame  period.  Tl«l 
increase  is  found  to  be  about  four  per  cent,  annually ;  and  Ihe  increase 
of  government  expenditures,  at  Ihe  rale  above  staled,  will  not  exceed 
thai.  This  is  independent  of  any  augmentation  of  the  army  or  navy, 
of  the  addition  of  new  States  and  Territories,  or  the  enlargement  of 
the  numbers  in  Congress.  Taking  the  addilion,  at  the  end  of  thirteen 
years,  to  be  nine  millionsof  dollars,  it  will  give  an  annual  average  in- 
crease of  about  $700,000.  And  I  think  that  the  government  of  no 
people,  young,  free,  and  growing  as  is  this  nation,  can  under  circuio- 
stances  like  ours,  be  justly  charged  with  rashness,  recklessness  w 
extravagance,  if  iU  expenses  increase  but  at  the  rate  of  f  700,000 
per  annum.  If  our  posterity,  after  their  numbers  shall  have  swelled 
to  one  hundred  millions,  shall  find  that  their  expenses  have  augment- 
ed in  no  greater  ratio  than  this,  they  will  have  no  cause  of  complaint 
of  the  profuseness  or  extravagance  of  their  government. 

But  it  should  be  recollected  that  while  I  have  fixed  the  rate  of 
expenditure  at  the  sum  I  have  mentioned,  viz :  twenty-two  miUioni, 
this  does  not  preclude  further  reductions,  if  Uieyshall  be  found  prac- 
ticable, after  existing  abuses  have  been  explored,  and  all  useless  or 
unnecessary  expenditures  have  been  lopped  off. 

The  honorable  Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun)  haa 
favored  us,  on  more  occasions  than  one,  with  an  account  of  the  re- 
forms he  effected  when  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department  of  this  ' 
government ;  and  certainly  no  man  can  be  less  disposed  than  1  am  to  ' 
deprive  him  of  a  single  feather  which  ho  thinks  he  put  in  his  cup  by 
that  operation.  But  what  does  he  tell  ns  was  his  experience  in  (hit 
basiness  of  retrenchment  ?  He  tells  us  what  we  all  know  to  be  trua 
— what  every  father,  every  householder,  especially  finds  to  be  true  in 
his  own  case—that  it  is  much  easier  to  plunge  into  extravagance 
than  to  reduce  expenses  ;  and  it  is  pre-eminently  tru^  of  a  nation. 
Every  nation  finds  it  &r  easier  to  rush  into  an  extravagant  expend)- 
tdre  of  the  money  entrusted  to  its  public  agents  than  to  bring  down 
the  public  expenditures  from  a  profiise  and  reckless  to  an  economical 
'Standard.  AH  useful  and  salutary  reforrru  must  he  made  with  cara 
atxl  eircumqieetion.    Tly>  gentle'auui  from  South  Cwt^ina  admita 


526.  8PEXCHK8  or .  HXNRT  ,  CLAY. 


'f 


ihBjL  the  reforms  he;  accomplished  took  him  four  yewrs  to  brii^ about. 
It  was  not  till  after  four  years  of  constant  exertion  that  he.  was  ena* 
Ued  to  establish  a  system  of  just  accountability,  an4  to  bring  doiwn. 
t(ie  expenses  of  the  army  to  that  averagei  per  mai^  to  which,  they 
were  at  length  reduced.  And  now,  with  all  his  personal  knowledge 
of  the  difficulties  of  such  a  task,  was  it  kind  in  him,  was  it  kind  or 
fair  in  his  associates,  to  taunt  us,  as  they  have  done,  by  already  ask* 
ing,  '^  where  are  the  reforms  you  promised  to  accomplish  when  yov. 
were  out  of  power  ?" 

[Mr.  Cauiouk  here  rose  to  expIaiD,  and  observed  that  wha^  he  had  agaio  and 
astin  said  on  the  subject  ot  reforms  was  no  more  than  thb,  that  it  was  time  the 
promised  reforms  shonld  begin ;  it  was  time  they  should  begim  ;  aad  that  was  aJI 
hq  now  asked.} 

Very  well ;  if  that  is  all  he  asks,  the  gentleman  will  not  be  disap*. 
pointed.    We  could  not  begin  at  the  extra  session ;  it  could  not  the&. 
reasonably  be  expected  of  us ;  for  what  is  the  duty  of  a  new  adminis- 
tration when  it  first  comes  into  the  possession  of  power  ?     Its  imme- 
diate and  pressing  care  is  to  carry  on  the  government ;  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  machine  ;  to  look  how  it  acts  in  its  various  parts, 
and  to  take  care  that  it  shall  not  work  injuriously  to  the  public  in- 
terest.    They  cannot  at  once  look  back  at  the  past  abuses  ;  it  is  not  : 
practicable  to  do  so ;  it  must  have  time  to  look  into  the  pigeon  holes  . 
of  the  various  bureaux,  to  find  out  what  has  been  done,  and  what  is 
doing.     Its  first  great  duty  is  to  keep  the  machine  of  government  in 
regular  motion.     It  could  not,  therefore,  be  expected  that  Congress 
would  go  into  a  thorough  process  of  reform  at  the  extra  session.    Its 
peculiar  object  then  was  to  adopt  measures  of  immediate  and  indis- 
pensable relief  to  the  people  and  to  the  government.     Besides  which^ 
the  subsequent  misfortunes  of  the  Whig  party  were  well  known. 
Pi^esident  Harrison  occupied  the  chair  of  State  but  for  a  single  month, 
and  the  members  of  his  cabinet  left  it  under  circumstances  which,  let 
me  here  say,  do  them  the  highest  honor.     I  do  not  enter  upon  the 
inquiry,  whether  the  state  of  things  which  they  supposed  to  exist 
did  actually  exist  or  not ;  but  believing  it  to  exist,  as  they  did,  their 
resignation  presents  one  of  the  most  signal  examples  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  high  station,  at  great  expense  and. 
personal  inconvenience,  and  of  noble  adherence  to  honor  and  good 
faith,  which  the  history  of  any  country  can  show.     But  I  may  justly 
claim;  not  only  on  behalf  of  the  retiring  Secretaries^  but  for  the  wholp  • 


ON  A  TRUX  FUBUC  POUCT.  ^  527 

Whig  party,  a  stern  adherence  to  principle,  in  utter  disregard  of  the 
■polls  doctrine,  and  of  all  those  hase  motives  and  considerations  which 
address  themselves  to  some  men  with  so  great  a  power.  I  say,  then^ 
that  the  late  extra  session  was  no  time  to  achieve  a  great  and  exteiR 
siye  and  difficult  reform  throughout  the  departments  of  the  govern- 
ment ;  a  process  like  that  caA  be  attempted  only  during  a  regular 
session  of  Congress;  and  do  not  gentlemen  know  that  it  is  now  in 
progress,  by  the  faithful  hands  to  which  it  has  here  and  elsewhere  in 
Congress  been  committed  ?  and  that  an  extraordinary  committee  has 
been  raised  in  this  body^  insomuch  that  to  eflect  it,  the  Senate  has 
Bdthewhat  shot  from  its  usual  and  appropriate  orbit  by  establishing  a 
standing  Committee  of  Retrenchment  ?  .  If  the  honorable  Senator 
from  South  Carolina  took  four  years  to  bring  down  the  expenses  of 
the  War  department,  when  under  his  own  immediate  superintend- 
ence, I  may  surely,  with  confidence,  make  my  appeal  to  his  sense 
of  Justice  and  liberality,  to  allow  us  at  least  two  years  befbre  he  re- 
pioaches  us  with  a  failure  in  a  work  so  much  more  extensive. 

I  will  now  say  that,  in  suggesting  the  propriety  of  fixing  the  an« 
nnal  average  expenditure  of  this  government  at  $22,000,000  from 
this  time  and  for  some  years  to  come,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  pre« 
chide  any  jfurther  reduction  of  expense  by  the  dismissal  of  useless 
officers,  the  abolition  of  useless  institutions,  and  the  reduction  of 
unnecessary  or  extravagant  expenditures.  No  man  is  more  de* 
mious  than  I  am  of  seeing  this  government  adminbtered  at  th6 
smallest  possible  expense  consistent  with  the  duties  entrusted  to  us 
in  the  management  of  our  public  interests  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
None  will  rejoice  more  if  it  shall  be  found  practicable  to  reduce  our 
expenses  to  $18,000,000,  to  $15,000,000,  or  even  to  $13,000,000. 
None,  I  repeat  it,  will  rejoice  in  such  a  triumph  of  economy  more 
heitf tily  than  I.  None — none.  But  now  allow  me  to  proceed  to 
state  by  what  process  I  have  reached  the  sum  of  $22,000,000,  as 
proposed  in  the  resolution  I  have  oflered.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Tneasury  has  presented  to  us  estibaates  for  the  current  year,  indepen- 
dent of  permilnent  expenses  of  $1,500,000,  amounting  to  about 
$24,500,000,  which  may  be  stated  under  the  following  heads, 
fiamely : 

For  the  civil  list,  foreign  intercoune,  and  miseenaneous m,000,9^  85 

For  the  War  Department,  indnding  all  branches 1  l,7r7,791  27 

Naval  Service 8,706,579'*^ 

Making ff9M24,S06 


52S  IPfiECHEB  OF  H£NRT   CLAT. 

And  here  let  me  say  a  single  word  in  defence  of  the  army.  Tbe 
department  of  War  comes  to  us  with  estimates  for  the  sum  of  $11, 
717,791  27  ;  and  those  who  look  only  on  the  surface  of  things  may 
8i]|»pose  that  this  sum  is  extraordinarily  large ;  but  there  are  many 
items  in  that  sum.  I  have  before  me  a  statement  going  to  show  thai 
of  that  sum  only  $4,000,000  are  asked  for  the  military  service  pro* 
per — a  sum  less  than  is  demanded  for  the  naval  service  proper,  and 
only  double  the  amount  at  which  it  stood  when  the  honorable  gende« 
man  from  South  Carolina  left  the  department.  The  sum  was  then 
about  $2,000,000 ;  it  is  now  quite  4,000,000 ;  while,  during  the 
same  period,  the  army  has  been  nearly  doubled,  besides  the  raising 
of  mounted  regiments,  the  most  expensive  for  that  very  season  of 
any  in  the  service.  1  think  that  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina, 
if  he  looks  into  the  subject  in  detail,  will  find  that  the  cost  of  the 
army  is  not  at  this  hour  greater,  per  man,  than  it  was  when  it  was 
under  his  own  personal  administration.  So  I  am  informed  ;  and  that, 
although  the  pay  has  been  laised  a  dollar  a  month,  which  has  very 
largely  augmented  the  expenditure. 

.  The  executive  branch  of  the  government  has  sent  its  estimates, 
amounting  in  all  to  $24,500,000  for  the  service  of  the  current  year, 
which,  with  the    $1,500,000  of   permanent  expenditure,  makes 
twenty-six  millions.     How  much  is  to  be  added  to  that  amount  for 
appropriatians  not  yet  estimated,  which  may  be  made  during  the 
session  by  Congress,  to  meet  honest  claims,  and  for  other  objects  of 
a  public  nature  ?     I  remember  one  item  proposed  by  my  friend  near 
me  (Mr.  Mangum)  for  a  quarter  of  a  million  for  the  building  of 
a -steam  ship,  an  item  not  included  in  the  estimates,  but  for  which 
the  Senate  has  already  appropriated  ;  besides  which  there  are  va- 
rious other  items  which  have  passed  or  will  pass  during  the  pre- 
sent session.     When  the  honorable  gentleman  from  New  Hamp- 
shire was  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury,  he  made,  in  his  commu- 
nications  to  Congress,  constant  complaints   of  this  verypractice. 
He  well  rcsnembcrs  that  he  was  ever  complaining  that  the  expendi- 
tures of  government  were  swelled  far  beyond  the  executive  estimates, 
by  appropriations  made  by  Congress  not  estimated  for  by  the  depart- 
mente.     I  have  calculated  that  we  shall  add  to  the  $2r>,000,000, 
estimated  for  by  the  executive  departments  or  permanently  required, 
at  least  $1,500,000,  which  would  raise  the  sum  for  this  year  to 
$27,500,000. 


OH   A  TKUI  PUBLIC  POLtCt.  529 

Uo-sr  then  do  I  propose  to  bring  Ihia  down  to  $22,000,000  ?  I 
hnve,  I  own,  some  fears  that  we  shall  not  be  able  to  efiSxt  it ;  but  I 
hope  we  shall  so  far  reduce  ihe  eslimatea  and  prevent  unnecessary 
appropriations,  that  the  total  expenditure  shall  not  eKcred  that 
■mount.  The  mode  in  which  I  propose  to  reach  such  a  result  is  this : 
I  suppose  we  may  eflect  a  reduclion  of  the  civil  list  to  the  ainoaot  of 
$5iX),(X)0.  That  general  head  includes,  among  other  things,  the 
expenses  of  the  two  Houses,  and,  as  I  have  beard,  the  other  House 
has  alreadv  introduced  a  report  which,  if  adopted,  will  cut  down  those 
expenses  $100,000,thouehIlbiDk  that  tbey  should  be  reduced  much 
more.  1  estimate  then  $3,600,000  for  the  civil  list  instead  of 
$4,000,000 ;  then  1  estimate  $9,000,000  for  the  War  department, 
instead  oi  $1],717,000.  Id  a  conversation  which  I  have  lately 
held  with  the  ChairmaD  of  the  Military  Committee  of  thb  body, 
he  expressed  the  apprehension  that  it  could  not  be  reduced  belov- 
$10,000,000,  but  I  hope  it  may  be  cut  down  to  nine.  As  to  the 
naval  service,  the  estimates  of  the  Department  for  that  branch 
of  the  service  .amount  to  $B,7Q7,60Q ;  an  amount  I  think  far  too 
high,  and  indeed  quite  extravagant.  I  was  greatly  astonished  at 
learning  the  amount  was  so  large.  Still  I  know  that  the  Navy  is  the 
fayorite  of  all,  and  justly  ;  it  is  the  boast  of  the  nation,  and  our  great 
resource  and  chief  dependence  in  the  contingency  of  a  war  ;  no  man 
thinks,  for  a  moment,  of  crippling  or  disabling  this  right  arm  of  our 
defence.  But  I  have  stipposed  that  without  injury  the  appropriation 
asked  for  might  be  reduced  from  $8,707,500  to  $6,500,000.  This 
wonld  put  the  reduction  in  the  naval  on  a  footing  with  that  in  the 
military  appropriation,  and  still  leave  a  greater  appropriation  than 
usual  to  that  department.  The  reduction  to  $6,500,000,  is  h 
large  as  I  think  will  be  practicable,  if  we  are  to  provide  for  pro- 
posed experiments  in  the  application  of  steam,  and  are,  besides,  to 
add  largely  to  the  marine  corps.  How,  then,  will  the  total  of  our 
expenditures  stand  ?    We  shall  hare — 

Forihe  civil  and  diplomatic  expcnsei  of  ilie  Ganrnincnt $3,600,000 

F«rthe  milintsry  Mnice 9,000,000 

For  tbe  navil  Bcmce 6.500,000 

For  periDuMnt  approiiiiiitioiui 1,600,000 

ForWroi>['^tioiisDoi  incloded  in  the  cMimaua 1,0)0,000 

Makisc  v>  Rgsrecale  of. 912,000,000 

To  thit  HaDuitt  I  tu^oM  utd  hope  our  expenMi  Imy  Im  ndaeei, 


580  sr^BCBit  or  hsbtet  clat. 

.  until,  on  doe  investigation,  it  shall  be  discovered  that  still  fiiither 
ductions  may  be  e^cted. 

.  Weill  then,  having  fixed  the  amount  at  twentj-two  millions  for 
the  ordinary  current  expenses  of  Government,  I  have  supposed  it  ne> 
cessary  and  proper  to  add  $2^,000,000  more  to  make  provision  for 
the  payment  of  the  existing  National  Debt,  which  is,' in  the  event  of 
the  loan  being  taken  up,  $17,000|000.  And  then  I  go  on  to  add 
$2,000,000  more  as  a  reserved  fund,  to  meet  contingencies,  so  that, 
should  there  be  a  temporary  rise  of  the  expenditures  beyond  $22,* 
000,000,  or  any  sudden  emergency  occur  which  could  not  be  igs- 
ticipated  or  calculated  on,  there  may  be  the  requisite  means  in  the 
Treasury  to  meet  it.  Nor  has  there  been  a  single  Secretary  at  the 
head  of  the  .Treasury  since  the  days  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  including  the 
respectable  gentleman  from  New  Hampshire  opposite,  (Mi.  Wood- 
bury,) who  has  not  held  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  a  reserved 
fund  is  highly  expedient  and  proper  for  contingencies.  Thus  I  pro- 
pose that  $22,000,000  shall  be  appropriated  fojr  ordinary  ex- 
penses, $2,000,000  more  to  provide  for  the  public  debt,  and  the 
other  $2,000,000  a  reserved  fund  to  meet  contingenciei ;  maldqg 
in  all  $26,000,000. 

The  next  enquny  which  presents  itself  is,  how  this  amount  oviijii 
to  be.  raised  ?  There  are  two  modes  of  estimating  the  revenue  to 
be  derived  from  foreign  imports,  and  either  of  them  presents  only 
ground  for  a  conjectural  result ;  but  so  fluctuating  is  the  course  of  com- 
merce, that  ^very  one  must  see  it  to  be  impossible  to  estimate,  with 
precission,  the  exact  amount  of  what  it  will  yield.  In  forming  my  es- 
timate, 1  have  taken  the  amount  of  exports  as  presenting  the  best  basis 
of  calculation.  But  here  let  me  add,  that  at  the  Treasury  they  have 
taken  the  imports  as  the  basis ;  and  I  am  gratified  to  be  able  to  state 
that,  I  understand,  on  comparing  the  results  arrived  at,  although  the 
calculations  were  made  without  concert,  those  of  the  Secretary  txim 
out  to  be  very  nearly,  if  not  exactly,  the  same  with  those  to  which  I 
have  been  conducted.  I  will  here  state  why  it  is  I  have  taken  the 
exports  as  the  ground  of  my  calculation,  adding  thereto  fifteen  per 
cent,  for  profits.  The  exports  are  one  means  of  making  foreign  pur- 
chases. Their  value  is  ascertained  at  the  ports  of  exportation,  under 
the  act  of  1820,  and  the  returns  generally  present,  the  same  value. 
The  price  of  cotton,  as  an  example,  at  home,  is  always  regulated  by 


OH  A-TfttTB  PUBUC  l^OUCT.  fSSl 


tli^  price  Sa  the  Lhreipool  market.  It  follows,  tberefbre,thlkt  by  taloM^ 
the  yalue  of  any  commodity  at  the  place  of  its  export,  you  reach  iu 
truevalde ;  for,  if  the  price  readized  abroad  be  sometimes  above  and 
sometimes  below  that  amount,  the  excess  and  deficiency  will  probably 
neutralize  each  other.  This  is  the  fairest  mode  for  another  reason : 
if  in  any  one  year  more  foreign  goods  shall  be  purchased  than  the  ex* 
ports  of  that  year  would  pay  for,  a  credit  is  created  abroad  which  must 
be  extinguished  by  the  exports  of  some  succeeding  year. 

[Mr.  BucHAHAjr  here  inqnired  if  any  deduction  had  been  made  hy  Mr.  Giav  firoBi 
the  exports,  to  pay  the  interest,  9ui.  on  American  debt  held  abroad  1  Mr.  C.  replied 
that  the  Senator  would  presently  tee  that  he  had.] 

I  think  the  Senate  will  agree  with  me  in  assuming  that  the  exports 
form  a  more  correct  and  reliable  standard  of  estimation  than  the  im 
ports.  However  that  may  be,  the  accidental  coincidence  betweeli 
the  results  arrived  at  in  either  mode  fortifies  and  proves  the  calcula 
tion  itself  to  have  been  founded  on  correct.principles.  Those  results, 
as  shown  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  are  now,  I  believe,  in  this 
House ;  and  I  regretted  that  I  could  not  examine  them  before  I  rose 
to  address  the  Senate. 

I  will  now  show  you,  that  the  exports  from  1836  to  1841,  indhh- 
s^ve — a  period  of  six  years — amount  to  $621,004,125,  being  an  aver- 
age annual  amount  of  $103,500,687.  That  I  take  as  presenting  a 
safe  ground  of  calculations  for  the  future.  To  this  I  propose  to  add. 
fifteen  per  cent,  for  profits — in  which  I  do  but  follow  Mr.  £winQ| 
the  late  Secretary,  in  bis  report  at  the  Extra  Session.  It  is  certainly 
a  great  profit,  (I  include  of  course  all  expenses  and  charges  of  every 
kind)  and  with  this  addition,  the  annual  amount  will  be  $118,957,187 
— say  $119,000,000.  Deducting,  for  the  interest  and  principal  of  the 
American  debt  abroad  $10,000,000  per  annum,  it  will  leave  a  net 
amount  of  $109,000,000.  There  can  be  no  dispute  as  to  the  proprie^ 
of  such  a  deduction;  the  debt  exists,  it  must  be  provided  for  ;  and 
my  fear  is  that  this  amount  will  prove  too  small  to  meet  it.  I  think 
that  much  more  may  probably  be  needed ;  but  certainly  none  can  oh-* 
ject  to  the  reserve  of  $10,000,000.  We  thus  get,  as  I  said,  a  n«t 
balance  from  our  annual  exports,  including  profits,  of  $109,000,000. 

•  ■ 

Of  this  amount  of  importation  how  much  is  now  firee  from  duty  ? 
The  free  goods,  including  tea  and  cofiee,  amount  to  $30,000,000 ;  from 
itrhich  amount  I  deduct  for  tea' and  oofie,  assuming  that  they  will  be 


532  SPXECHS8  OF  HENRT  CLAT- 

subjected  to  moderate  duties,  $13,000,000,  leaTing  the  amoani  of  free 
articles  at  $18,000,000;  deduct  this  from  $109,000,000,  the  amount 
of  exports,  and  it  will  leave  a  balance  of  $91,000,000,  which  may  be 
assumed  as  the  amount  of  dutiable  articles  for  some  years  to  come. 
How,  then,  out  of  these  $91,000,000  of  dutiable  goods  are  we  to  raise 
a  revenue  of  26,000,000  ?  No  man,  1  presume,  will  rise  here  in  hii 
place  and  say  that  we  are  to  rely  either  on  direct  or  internal  taxes. 
Who  has  the  temerity  to  meet  the  waves  of  popular  indignation  which 
will  flow  round  and  bury  him,  whoever  he  may  be,  that  should  pro* 
^  pose,  in  time  of  peace,  to  raise  a  revenue  by  direct  taxation  ?  Yet 
this  is  the  only  resource  to  fly  to,  save  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands,  on  which  1  shall  speak  presently,  and  which  I  can  satisfy  any 
man  is  not  to  be  thought  of.  You  are,  therefore,  to  draw  this  amount 
of  $26,000,000  from  the  $91,000,000  of  dutiable  articles  imported, 
and,  to  reach  that  sum,  at  what  rate  per  cent,  must  you  go  ? 

1  shall  here  say  nothing,  or  but  a  word  or  two,  on  the  subject  of 
home  valuation — a  subject  which  a  friend  has  care  of,  (Mr.  Simmons,) 
than  whom  none  is  more  competent  to  its  full  elucidation.  He  thinks, 
ss  I  understand,  that  there  can  be  devised  a  satis&ctory  system  of 
such  valuation,  and  I  heartily  wish  him  success  in  the  attempt  I 
will  only  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  if  we  raise  but  $10,000,000,  ^rith- 
out  any  reference  whatever  to  protection,  without  reference  to  any 
thing  but  to  mere  honesty,  however  small  the  amount  may  be,  we 
should  ourselves  assess  the  value  of  the  goods  on  which  we  lay  the 
duty,  and  not  leave  that  value  to  be  fixed  by  foreigners.  As  things 
now  stand,  we  lay  the  duty,  but  foreigners  fix  the  value  of  the  goods. 
Give  me  but  the  power  of  fixing  the  value  of  the  goodj,  and  1  care 
little,  in  comparison,  what  may  be  the  rate  of  duty  you  impose.  It 
is  evident  that  on  the  ad  valorem  principle  it  is  the  foreigner  who 
virtually  fixes  the  actual  amount  of  the  duty  paid.  It  is  the  foreigner 
who,  by  fixing  that  value,  virtually  legislates  lor  us ;  and  that  in  a 
case  where  his  interest  is  directly  opposed  to  that  of  our  revenue.  I 
say,  therefore,  that  independent  of  all  considerations  of  protection,  in- 
dependent of  all  ends  or  motives  but  the  prevention  of  those  infamous 
frauds  which  have  been  the  disgrace  of  our  custom-house — frauds  in 
which  the  foreigner,  with  his  double  and  triple  and  quadruple  invoices, 
ready  to  be  produced  as  circumstances  may  require,  fixes  the  value 
of  the  merchandise  taxed — every  consideration  of  national  dignity, 
justice,  and  independence  demands  the  substitution  of  home  valuation 


<Mr  A  TRUE  PUBLIC   POUCT.  533 

in  the  place  of  foreign.  What  effect  such  a  change  may  have  in  the 
augmentation  of  the  revenue  I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  because  I  do 
nut  know  the  amount :  I  think  the  rate  may  be  set  down  at  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  in  addition  to  the  foreign  value  of  im- 
ports. I  do  not  speak  with  great  confidence.  If  the  rate  is  twenty- 
five  per  cent.,  then  it  would  add  only  hvc  per  cent,  to  the  rate  of 
twenty  per  cent,  established  by  the  compromise  act.  Of  course,  if 
the  home  be  substitute^}  for  the  foreign  valuation,  the  augmentalion 
of  duties  beyond  twenty  per  cent,  will  be  less  by  that  home  valuation, 
whatever  it  may  be.  Without,  however,  entering  into  th^;  question 
of  home  valuation,  and  leaving  that  subject  to  be  arranged  hereafter, 
1  shall  treat  the  subject  as  if  the  present  system  of  foreign  valuation 
is  to  continue. 

I  then  return  to  the  inquiry,  on  an  importation  amounting  to 
^91,000,000,  how  much  duty  must  he  imposed  in  order  to  raise  a 
net  revenue  of  |i26,000,000?  The  question  docs  not  admit  of 
perfect  accuracy  ;  the  utmost  that  can  be  reached  is  a  reasonable  ap- 
proximation. Suppose  every  one  of  the  imported  articles  to  be  sub- 
ject to  a  duty  of  thirty  per  cent,  then  the  gross  revenue  will  amount 
to  j^27 ,300,000.  Deducting  the  expenses  of  collection,  which  may 
be  stated  at  $1,600,000,  will  give  $25,700,000,  or  $300,000  leM 
than  the  proposed  amount  of  $26,000,000. 

But  1  might  as  well  take  this  opportunity  to  explain  a  subject  which 
is  not  well  understood.  It  has  been  supposed,  when  I  propo^  to  fix 
a  rate  of  ad  valorem  duty  as  the  maximum  to  be  allowed,  that  my 
meaning  is,  that  all  articles,  of  every  description^  are  to  be  carried  up 
to  that  point,  and  fixed  at  that  rate,  as  on  a  sort  of  bed  of  Procrustes. 
But  that  is  not  my  idea.  No  doubt  certain  articles  ought  to  go  up 
to  the  maximum — I  mean  thbse  of  prime  necessity  belonging  to  the 
class  of  protected  articles.  There  are  others,  such  as  jewelry  and 
"watches,  and  some  others  of  small  biilk  and  great  comparative  value, 
and  therefore  easily  smuggled,  and  presenting  a  great  temptation  to 
the  evasion  of  duty,  wKich  ought  to  be  sobjected  to  a  less  rate. 
There  should,  therefore,  be  a  discrimination  allowed  under  the  maxi- 
mum rate  according  to  the  exigency  of  the  respective  circumstances 
of  each  particular  interest  concerned.  Since  it  will  require  a  duty  ct 
thirty  per  cent,  on  all  articles  to  give  the  amount  of  $25,700,000, 
and  since  some  of  them  will  not  betr  so  high  a  duty  as  thirty  per 
eent.,  it  follows  that  less  than  that  rate  will  certainly  not  answer  tha 

•U 


534  •pncHES  OF  RsintT  cLat. 

necessary  demands  of  the  government,  and  it  may  in  some  partiealat 
cases  require  a  rate  somewhat  higher  than  that  in  order  to  raise  the 
proposed  sum  of  $26,000,000.    But  as  the  reserved  fund  of  $2,000,- 

000  for  contingencies  will  not  require  an  annual  revenue  for  that 
purpose,  should  the  amount  of  duties  levied  be  less  than  $26,000,000, 
or  even  between  24,000,000  and  25,000,000,  the  reserved  fund  may 
be  made  up  by  accumulations,  during  successive  years,  and  still  leave 
an  amount  sufficient  to  meet  an  annual  expenditure  of  $22,000,000, 
and  $2,000,000  for  the  public  debt.  I  now  approach  the  considera- 
tion of  a  very  important  branch  of  the  subject  in  its  connexion  with 
the  compromise  act. 

I  shall  not  here  attempt  to  go  again  into  the  history  of  that  act. 

1  will  only  say  that,  at  the  time  of  its  passage,  it  was  thought  right 
that  the  country  should  make  a  hiv  experiment  of  its  efiect ;  and  that 
as  the  law  itself  met  the  approbation  of  all  paits  of  the  country,  its 
provisions  ought  not  lightly  to  be  departed  from  ;  that  the  principles 
of  the  act  should  be  observed  in  good  faith ;  and  that,  if  it  be  neces- 
sary to  raise  the  duties  higher  than  twenty  per  cent.,  we  ought  to 
adhere  to  the  principles  of  the  compromise,  then,  as  far  as  it  should 
be  possible  to  do  so.  I  have  been  animated,  in  the  propositions  I 
now  offer  to  the  Senate,  by  the  same  desire  t^at  prompted  me,  when- 
ever the  act  has  been  assailed  by  its  opponents  to  stand  by  and  de- 
fend it.  But  it  is  necessary  now  to  consider  what  the  principles  of 
the  compromise  act  really  are. 

I.  The  first  principle  is,  that  there  should  be  a  fixed  rate  of  ad 
valorem  duty,  and  discrimination  below  it. 

il.  That  the  excess  of  duty  beyond  twenty  per  cent,  should,  by 
a  gradual  process,  commencing  on  the  31st  December,  1833,  be  re- 
duced, so  that  by  the  30th  June,  1842,  it  should  be  brought  down 
to  twenty  per  cent. 

III.  That,  after  that  day,  such  duties  should  be  laid  for  the  purpose 
of  raising  such  revenue  as  might  be  necessary  for  an  economical  ad- 
ministration of  the  government ;  consequently  excluding  all  reaort  to 
internal  taxation,  or  to  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands.  For,  con- 
temporaneously with  the  pendency  of  the  compromise  act,  a  bill 
prading  for  the  distribution  of  those  proceeds. 


ON  A  TBUK  rUBLIC  FOUOT.  586 

IV.  That,  after  the  30th  June,  1842,  all  duties  should  be  paid  in 
ready  money,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  credits. 

V.  That,  after  the  same  day,  the  assessment  of  the  value  of  all 
imports  should  be  made  at  home  and  not  abroad. 

VI.  That,  after  Ae  same  day,  a  list  of  articles  specified  and  enu- 
merated in  the  act  should  be  admitted  free  of  duty,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  manufacturing  interest. 

These  are  the  principles,  and  all  the  principles,  of  the  compromise 
act.  An  impression  has  been  taken  up  most  erroneously  that  the 
rate  of  duty  was  never  to  exceed  twenty  per  cent.  There  is  no  such 
limitation  in  the  act.  I  admit  that  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the 
act  a  hope  was  entertained  that  a  rate  of  duty  not  exceeding  twenty 
per  cent,  would  supply  an  adequate  revenue  to  an  economical  ad^ 
ministration  of  the  government.  Then  we  were  threatened  with  that 
overflow  of  revenue  with  which  the  Treasury  was  subsequently 
inundated  ;  and  the  difficulty  was  to  find  articles  which  should  be 
liberated  fi'om  duty  and  thrown  into  the  fi*ee  class.  Hence,  wines, 
silks,  and  other  luxuries  were  rendered  free.  But  the  act,  and  no 
part  of  the  act,  when  fairly  interpreted,  limits  Congress  to  the  iron 
rule  of  adhering  for  ever,  and  under  all  circumstances,  to  a  fixed  and 
unalterable  rate  of  twenty  per  cent.  duty.  The  first  section  is  in  the 
following  words : 

**Be  it  enacted,  ifc.  That  from  and  after  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  one  thoo- 
sand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three,  in  all  castas  where  duties  nre  imposed  on  for- 
eign imports  by  the  act  of  the  fourteenth  day  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  handivd 
and  thirty-two,  entitled  *An  act  to  alter  and  amend  the  several  acts  imposing  duties 
on  imports,*  or  by  any  other  act,  shall  exceed  twenty  per  centum  on  the  value  therft. 
of,  one  tenth  part  of  such  excess  shall  be  deducted;  from  and  after  the  thirty^lQbnt 
day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-fivc  another  tenth  part 
thereof  shall  be  deducted  ;  from  and  after  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven  another  tenth  part  thereof  shall  be  deduct- 
ed :  from  and  after  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-nine,  another  tenth  part  thereof  shall  be  deducted  :  and  from  and  after 
the  thirty-first  nay  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-one,  one-  ' 
half  of  the  residue  of  such  exc<*sei  shall  be  deduoted;  and  from  and  after  the  thir- 
tieth day  of  June,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two,  the  other  half  thereof 
liiail  be  deducted.'* 

The  provision  of  that  section  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  that  the 
existing  duties  should  be,  by  the  30th  5une,  1842,  brought  down  to 
twenty  per  cent.  What  then  ?  Were  they  always  to  remain  at  that 
rate  r    The  section  does  not  so  declare.    Not  only  if  this  not  ox- 


536  tPiBCHES  or  hbhrt  clat. 

pected,  and  was  not  so  understood,  but  directly  the  reverse  is  assert- 
ed, and  was  so  understood,  if  the  exigencies  of  the  Treasury  required    * 
a  higher  rate  to  provide  the  revenue  necessary  to  an  economical  ad-  ~ 
ministration  of  the  jgovernment.     The  third  section,  which  embodies 
most  of  the  great  principles  of  the  act,  is  ia  these  words : 

"  Sbc.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That,  until  the  tUrteenth  day  of  June,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two,  the  dudes  impoeevby  existing  laws,  as  mod- 
ified by  this  act,  shall  remain  and  continue  to  be  collected.  And.  from  and  after 
the  dav  last  aforesaid,  all  duties  upon  imports  shall  be  collected  in  ready  money ; 
and  all  credits  now  allowed  by  law,  in  the  payment  of  dntiea,  shall  be,  and  hereby 
are,  abolished ;  and  such  duties  thaii  be  laid  lor  the  puqHi.^e  of  raibing  such  revenue 
as  may  b«  necessary  to  an  economical  udminislration  of  the  government ;  and,  from 
and  Bt\er  the  day  ia«t  aforesaid,  the  duties  required  to  be  paid  by  Uw  on  goods, 
wares  and  merchandize  shall  be  assessed  upon  the  value  thereof  at  the  port  whera 
the  same  shall  be  entered,  under  such  regulations  as  may  be  prescrit>ed  by  law." 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  language  ?  Can  any  thing  be  more 
explicit  or  less  liable  to  misconception  ?  It  contains  two  obligations. 
The  first  is,  that  there  shall  be  an  economical  administration  of  the 
government ;  no  waste,  no  extravagance,  no  squandering  of  the  pub- 
lic money.  I  admit  this  obligation  in  its  fullest  force,  in  all  its  length 
and  breadth,  and  I  trust  that  my  friends,  with  or  without  my  aid,  will 
fulfil  it  in  letter  and  spirit,  with  the  most  perfect  fidelity.  But  the 
second  obligation  is  no  less  binding  and  in»perative ;  and  that  is,  that 
such  duties  shall  be  laid  as  may  be  necessary  to  raise  such  revenue 
as  is  requisite  to  an  economical  administration  of  the  government. 
The  source  of  the  revenue  is  defined  and  prescribed — the  foreign 
imports  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  sources.  The  amount,  {rom  the 
nature  of  things,  could  not  be  specified ;  but  whatever  it  may  be,  b0 
it  large  or  small,  allowing  us  to  come  below,  or  requiring  that  we 
should  go  beyond  twenty  per  cent.,  that  amount  is  to  be  raised.  ] 
contend,  therefore,  with  entire  confidence,  that  it  is  perfectly  consist- 
ent with  the  provisions  of  the  compromise  act,  to  impose  duties  to 
any  amount  whatever,  thirty,  forty,  or  more  per  cent,  subject  to  the 
single  condition  of  an  economical  administration  of  the  government. 

What  are  the  other  principles  of  the  act  ?  Fiist,  there  is  the  prin- 
ciple that  a  fixed  ad  valorem  duty  shall  prevail  and  be  in  force  at  all 
times.  For  one,  I  am  willing  to  abide  by  that  principle.  There  are 
certain  vague  notions  afloat  as  to  the  utility  and  necessity  of  specific 
duties  and  discriminations,  which  I  am  persuaded  arise  from  a  want 
of  a  right  understanding  of  the  subject.  We  have  had  the  ad  vahh 
rem  principle  practically  in  force  ever  since  the  compromise  act  was 


OH   A  TBUB  PDBUC  POLICT.  587 

passed ;  and  there  has  been  no  difficulty  in  administeriDg  the  duties 
of  the  Treasury  on  that  principle. 

It  was  necessary  first  to  acertain  the  value  of  the  goods,  and  then  to 
impose  the  duty  upon  them ;  and  from  the  commencement  of  the  act 
to  this  day,  the  ad  valorem  principle  has  been  substantially  in  opera- 
tion.  Compare  the  difierence  between  specific  and  the  ad  valorem 
system  of  duties,  and  I  maintain  that  the  latter  is  justly  entitled  to 
the  preference.  The  one  principle  declares  the  duty  paid  shall  be 
upon  the  real  value  of  the  article  taxed  ;  the  specific  principle  im- 
l)oses  an  equal  duty  on  articles  greatly  unequal  in  value.  Coffee,  for 
example,  (and  it  is  an  article  which  always  suggests  itself  to  my 
thoughts,)  is  one  of  the  articles  on  which  a  specific  duty  has  been 
levied.  Now  it  is  perfectly  well  known  that  the  Mocha  coffee  is 
worth  at  least  twice  as  much  as  the  cofiee  of  St.  Domingo  or  Cuba, 
yet  both  ^ay  the  same  duty.  The  tax  has  no  respect  to  the  value, 
but  is  arbitrarily  levied  on  all  articles  of  a  specific  kind  alike,  how« 
ever  various  and  unequal  may  be  their  value.  I  say  that,  in  theory, 
and  according  to  every  sound  principle  of  justice,  the  ad  valoreni 
mode  of  taxation  is  entitled  to  the  preference.  There  is,  I  admit,  one 
objection  to  it :  as  the  value  of  an  article  is  a  matter  subject  to  opin- 
ion, and  as  opinions  will  ever  vary,  either  honestly  or  fraudulently, 
there  is  some  difHculty  in  preventing  frauds.  But  with  the  home 
valuation  proposed  by  my  friend  from  Rhode  Island,  (Mr.  Simmons,) 
tbe  ad  valorem  system  can  be  adopted  with  all  practicable  safety,  and. 
will  be  liable  to  those  chances  only  of  fraud  which  are  inevitable  un- 
der any  and  every  system. 

Again  :  What  has  been  the  fact  from  the  origin  of  the  government 
until  now  ?  The  articles  from  which  the  greatest  amount  of  revenue 
has  been  drawn,  such  as  woolens,  linens,  silks,  cottons,  worsteds, 
and  a  few  others  have  all  been  taxed  on  the  ad  valorem  principle,  and 
there  has  been  no  difficulty  in  the  operation.  I  believe,  upon  the 
whole,  that  it  is  the  best  mode.  I  believe  that  if  we  adopt  a  fixed 
rate  ad  valorem^  wherever  it  can  be  done,  the  revenue  will  be  sub- 
jected to  fewer  frauds  than  the  injustice  and  frauds  incident  to  speci- 
fic duties.  One  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of  the  violation  of  our 
Kvenue  laws  has  been,  as  every  body  knows,  the  effort  to  get  in 
goods  of  a  finer  quality  and  higher  value,  admitted  under  the  lower 
rate  of  duty  required  for  those  of  a  lower  value.    The  honorable  gen- 


538  bHbbcres  or  hkitrt  clat. 

tleman  from  New  Hampshire  (Mr.' Woodbury,)  and  the  honorable 
Senator  from  New  York  (Mr.  Wright,)  both  well  know  this.  Bat 
if  the  duty  was  laid  ad  valorem  there  could  be  no  motive  for  such  an 
effort,  and  the  fraud,  in  its  present  form  would  have  no  place.  Id 
England,  as  all  who  have  read  the  able  report  made  by  Mr.  Hume, 
a  Scottish  member  in  the  House  of  Commons,  must  perceive, 
they  seem  to  be  giving  up  specific  duties,  and  the  tendency  in  the 
public  mind  appears  to  be,  instead  of  having  a  variety  of  specific  du- 
ties and  a  variety  of  ad  valorem  duties,  to  have  one  permanent  fixed 
rate  of  duty  for  all  articles.  I  am  willing,  I  repeat,  to  adhere  to  this 
great  principle  as  laid  down  in  the  compromise  act.  If  there  be  those 
who  suppose  that,  under  the  specific  form  of  duty,  a  higher  degree 
of  protection  can  be  secured  than  under  the  other  mode,  I  would  ob- 
serve that  the  actual  measure  of  protection  does  not  depend  upon  the 
farm  but  on  the  amount  of  the  duty  which  is  levied  on  the  foieigi 
rival  article. 

Assuming  that  we  are  to  adhere  to  this  principle,  then  every  one 
of  the  leading  principles  of  the  same  act  can  be  adhered  to  and  fully 
carried  out ;  for  I  again  adsert  that  the  idea  that  duties  are  always  to 
remain  at  precisely  twenty  per  cent,  and  never  to  vary  from  that 
point,  be  the  exigencies  of  government  what  they  may,  does  not  be- 
long to  the  language  of  the  act,  nor  is  it  required  by  any  one  of  its 
provisions.  The  next  resolution  I  have  proposed  to  the  consideration 
of  the  Senate  is  this  : 

Rtsdvtd,  That  the  provision  in  the  act  of  the  Extra  Senion  for  the  distribation 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  requiring  the  operation  ot  that  act  to  be  soft. 

E ended  in  the  contingency  of  a  higher  rate  of  duty  than  twenty  per  cent,  ought  to 
e  repealed. 

Now,  according  to  the  calculation  I  have  made,  the  repeal  of  the 
clause  in  question,  and  the  recall  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  pub- 
He  lands  from  the  States,  even  if  made,  will  not  dispense  with  the 
necessity  of  a  great  increase  in  the  existing  rate  of  taxation.  I  have 
shown  that  a  duty  of  thirty  per  cent,  will  not  be  too  much  to  furnish 
the  requisite  amount  of  revenue  for  a  just  and  economical  administra- 
tion of  the  government.  And  how  much  of  that  rate  will  be  re- 
duced should  you  add  to  the  revenue  from  imports  the  $1 ,  500,000 
(which  was  the  amount  realized  the  last  year)  derived  from  sales  of 
the  public  domain  ?    It  will  be  but  the  difference  between  thirty 


OH   ▲   TRUE  PUBLIC   POLICY.  539 

and  about  twenty-eight  and  a  half  per  cent.  For,  since  thirty  per 
cent,  yields  a  revenue  of  $26,000,000,  one  per  cent,  will  bring 
about  $900,000;  and  every  $1,000,000  derived  from  the  lands 
will  reduce  your  taxation  on  imports  only  $900,000  ;  if  you  get 
$1,500,000  from  the  lands,  it  will  reduce  the  taxes  only  from 
Ibirty  to  twenty -eight  and  a  half  per  cent.  ;  or  if  you  get  $3,000,000 
as  some  gentlemen  insist  will  be  the  case,  then  you  will  save  taxes 
in  the  amount  of  the  difference  between  thirty  per  cent,  and  about 
twenty-seven  per  cent.  This  will  be  the  whole  extent  of  benefit 
derived  from  this  land  fund,  which  some  Senators  have  supposed 
would  be  so  abundant  as  to  relieve  us  from  all  necessity  of  additional 
taxation  at  all.  I  put  it,  then,  to  every  Senator,  no  matter  whether 
he  was  opposed  to  the  land  bill  or  not,  whether  he  is  willing,  for  the 
sake  of  this  trifling  difference  between  thirty  and  twenty-eight  and  a 
half  per  cent,  or  between  thirty  and  twenty-seven  per  cent.,  to  dis- 
turb a  great,  momentous  and  perplexing  subject  of  our  national  poli- 
cy, which  is  now  settled,  and  thereby  show  such  an  example  of  in- 
stability in  legislation  as  will  be  exhibited  by  the  fact  of  unsettling 
so  great  a  question  within  less  than  eight  months  after  it  had  been 
fixed  on  tbe  most  mature  consideration !  If  gentlemen  can  make 
more  out  of  the  land  fund  than  I  have  here  stated  it  likely  to  yield, 
I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  on  what  ground  they  rest  their  calculations. 
I  say  that  all  the  difference  it  will  produce  in  the  amount  of  our  in- 
creased taxation  is  the  difierence  between  thirty  and  twenty-eight 
and  a  half,  or  between  thirty  and  twenty-seven  per  cent.  Will  you, 
I  repeat  the  question,  when  it  is  absolutely  and  confessedly  neces- 
sary that  more  revenue  shall  be  raised,  and  the  mode  in  which  it  may 
be  done  is  fraught  with  so  many  and  so  great  benefits  to  the  country, 
as  I  shall  presently  show,  will  you  disturb  a  great  and  vexed  national 
question  for  the  sake  of  eking  out  in  so  trifling  a  degree  the  amount 
to  be  raised  ?  But  let  us  look  at  the  subject  in  another  view.  The 
resources  on  which  government  should  depend  for  paying  the  public 
creditor  and  maintaining  inviolate  the  national  faith  and  credit,  ought 
to  be  such  as  to  admit  of  some  certain  estimate  and  calculation.  But 
what  possible  reliance  can  be  placed  on  a  fund  so  fluctuating  and 
variable  as  that  which  is  derivable  from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands } 
We  have  seen  it  rise  to  the  extraordinary  hight  of  $26,000,000  in 
one  year,  and  in  less  than  six  years  afterwards  fall  down  to  the  low 
amount  of  $1,500,000  !    The  next  resolution  affirms  a  proposition 


ft-10  '  SPEECHIt  or  HEURT  CLAT* 

which  T  hope  will  receive  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Senate,    h 
is  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  government,  at  all  timet,  but  more  emciallyia 
a  8eat>on  buch  as  now  exists,  of  general  einbarrasBnient  and  pecuniary  oistreMi,  to 
abotihh  ail  useless  institutions  and  ollices,  to  curtail  ail  onneceflaaiy  expenses,  and 
to  practice  rigid  economy. 

And  the  seventh  declares — 

Rndred,  That  the  contingfnt  expenses  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  ought  to 
be  greatly  reduced  ;  and  the  mileage  ol  members  of  Congress  ocight  to  be  regulated 
and  more  clearly  defined. 

It  has  appeared  to  me  that  the  process  of  retrenchment  of  the  pub- 
lic expenses  and  reform  of  existing  abuses  ooght  to  begin  in  an  es- 
pecial manner  here,  with  ourselves,  in  Congress  itself^  where  is  found 
one  of  the  most  extravagant  of  all  the  branches  of  the  government 
We  should  begin  at  home,  and  encourage  the  work  of  retrenchment 
by  our  own  example.  I  have  before  me  a  document  which  exhibits 
the  gradual  progress  in  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress  from  1820  to  184U,  embracing  a  period  of  twenty  years, 
divided  into  terms  four  years  apart,  and  it  shows  that  the  amount  of 
the  contingent  fund  has  advanced  from  $86,000,  which  it  was  in 
1824,  to  $121,000,  in  1828,  a  rate  of  increase  not  greater  than  wu 
proper  considering  the  progress  of  the  coifntry;  to  $165,000  in 
1832;  to  $263,000  in  1836,  and  in  1840  it  amounted  under  an  ad- 
ministration which  charo;ed  that  in  1824  with  extravagance,  to  the 
enormous  sum  of  $384,333 !  I  am  really  sorry,  for  the  credit  of 
Congress,  to  be  obliged  to  read  a  statement  exhibiting  such  shameful, 
such  profligate  waste.  And  allow  me  here  to  say,  without  any  in- 
tention of  being  unkind  to  those  able  and  competent  officers,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Senate  and  the  Clerks  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, (not  the  present  clerk,)  that  they  ought  to  bear  a  share  of  the 
responsibility  for  the  great  and  sudden  growth  of  this  expenditure. 
How  did  it  arise  ?  The  clerk  presents  his  estimate  of  the  sum  that 
will  be  necessary,  and  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  being 
busily  occupied  in  matters  of  greater  moment,  take  it  without  suffi- 
cient examination,  and  insert  it  at  once  in  the  appropriation  bill. 
But  I  insist  that  it  should  be  cut  down  to  a  sum  of  which  members 
of  Congress  may  with  some  decency  speak  to  their  constituents.  A 
salutary  reform  has  been  commenced  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, which  ought  to  be  followed  up  here.     They  have  already 


OR  A  TRVS  PUBUC  POLICY. 


64l 


stricken  $100,000  from  the  contingent  fund  for  both  Houses;  but 
they  should  go  mucb  lower.  1  hope  there  will  be  another  ilem  of 
retrenchment,  in  fixing  a  reasonable  maximum  amount  to  be  allowed 
for  stationary  furnished  to  the  members  of  Congress.  If  this  shall 
be  adopted,  much  will  have  been  done,  for  this  is  one  of  the  most 
fruitful  sources  of  Congressional  extravagance.  I  am  told  that  the 
stationary  furnished  during  the  25th  Congress  averages  more  than 
$100  per  head  to  each  member.  Can  any  man  believe  that  any  such 
amount  as  this  can  be  necessary  ?  Is  it  not  an  instance  of  profligate 
waste  and  profusion  ?  My  next  resolution  is  directed  to  the  expensee 
of  the  Judicial  department  of  the  government : 

Resolved,  That  the  expenses  of  the  Judicial  Department  of  Government  have,  of 
late  yeursy  been  greatly  increased,  and  ought  to  be  diminished. 

In  this  department,  also,  there  has  been  a  vast  augmentation  of 
the  expenses,  and  such  an  one  as  calls  for  a  thorough  investigation. 
The  amount  of  the  appropriation  for  the  Judicial  Department  has 
sprung  up  from  $209,000,  which  it  was  in  1824,  to  $471,000  at 
which  it  stood  for  the  year  1840.  Can  any  man  believe  that  thif 
has  all  been  fairly  done  ?  that  that  department  actually  requires  the 
expenditure  every  year  of  nearly  $500,000  ?  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  District  Judges  and  the  Marshatls  who  have  great  control  of  the 
expenditure  of  the  fund,  and  the  Clerks,  ought  to  be  held  responsible 
for  this  enormous  increase.  Without  any  intention  to  indulge  in  any 
invidious  distinctions,  I  think  I  could  name  a  district  in  which  great 
abuses  prevail,  and  the  expenditures  are  four  or  five  times  greater 
than  they  are  in  any  other  district  throughout  the  country.  I  hope 
this  whole  matter  will  be  thoroughly  investigated,  and  that  some 
necessary  restraints  will  be  imposed  upon  this  branch  of  the  public 
service.  I  am  truly  sorry  that  in  a  bianch  of  the  government  which, 
for  its  purity  and  uprightness,  has  ever  been  distinguished,  and 
which  so  well  merits  the  admiration  of  the  whole  country,  there 
should  have  occurred  so  discreditable  an  increase  in  the  expenses  of 
its  practical  administration.     The  next  asserts — 

Risdved,  That  the  Diplomatic  Relations  of  th?  United  States  with  foreign  pow- 
ers have  been  unneceaaiily  extended  during  the  last  twelve  years,  and  ought  to  b« 
reduced. 

I  will  not  dwell  long  on  this  subject.  I  must  remark,  howerer, 
that  since  the  days  of  Mr.  Adam's  administration  the  number  of 


64d  SPEECHES  or  HENRT  CLAT. 

f<»eigii  ministers  of  the  first  grade  has  nearly  doubled,  and  that  of 
ministers  of  the  second  grade  has  nearly  trigled.  Why,  we  have 
ministers  abroad  who  are  seeking  for  the  govei  nments  to  which  they 
are  accredited,  and  the  governments  are  not  to  be  found !  We  have 
ministers  at  Constantinople  and  Vienna — and  for  what  ?  We  have 
an  unreciprocated  mission  to  Naples — and  for  what?  There  was  at 
the  last  session  an  attempt  to  abolish  this  appointment,  but  it  unfor- 
tunately failed.  One  would  think  that  ip  such  a  one-sided,  unrecipro- 
cated diplomacy,  if  a  regard  to  economy  did  not  prompt  us  to  discon- 
tinue the  relation,  national  pride  would.  In  like  manner,  we  might 
look  round  the  coasts  of  Europe  and  of  this  continent,  and  find  mis- 
sion after  mission  which  there  seems  to 'be  no  earthly  utility  in  re- 
taining.    But  I  forbear. 

On  the  subject  of  mileage,  I  hope  there  may  be  an  effort  to  equal- 
ize it  justly,  and  render  it  uniform,  and  that  the  same  allowance  will 
be  made  for  the  same  distance  travelled,  whether  by  land,  by  water, 
01^  by  steam-route,  or  whether  the  distance  be  ascertained  by  hori- 
zontal or  surface  measurement.  I  think  the  former  the  best  mode, 
because  it  limits  us  to  a  single  and  simple  inquiry,  and  leaves  no  opea 
door  for  abuses.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  we  shall  adopt  it.  The  next 
resolution  of  the  series  reads  thus : 

Rncived,  That  the  franking  privilege  ought  to  be  further  restricted,  the  abnave 
uses  of  it  restrained  and  punitlied,  the  postage  on  letters  reduced,  the  mode  of  etd- 
mating  distances  more  clearly  defined  and  prescribed,  and  a  smell  addition  to  poit> 
age  made  on  books,  pamphlets,  and  packagPH  transmitted  by  mail,  to  be  graduated 
and  increased  accordmg  to  their  respective  weights. 

The  franking  privilege  hss  been  most  direfully  abused.  We  have 
already  reached  a  point  of  abuse,  not  to  say  corruption,  though  the 
Government  has  been  in  operation  but  about  fifty  years,  which  it 
has  taken  Great  Britain  centuries  to  attain.  Blank  envelopes,  1  have 
heard  it  said,  ready  franked,  have  been  incloseli  to  individuals  at  a 
distance,  who  have  openly  boasted  that  their  correspondence  is  free 
of  charge.  The  limitation  as  to  weight  is  now  extended,  I  believe, 
to  two  ounces.  But  what  of  that,  if  a  man  may  send  under  his  frank 
a  thousand  of  these  two-ounce  packages  ?  The  limitation  sliould  be 
to  the  total  weight  included  in  any  single  mail,  whether  the  packages 
be  few  or  many.  The  report  of  the  Postmaster  General,  at  a  former 
session,  states  the  astounding  fact,  that,  of  the  whole  amount  trans- 
ported in  the  mails,  mneiy-five  per  ceni,  goes  free  of  all  duty,  and  lei- 


cm   A  TBUB  PUBLIC  POUCT.  M3 

ten  of  business  and  private  correspondence  have  to  defray  the  expen- 
ses of  the  whole.  It  is  monstrous,  and  calls  loudly  for  some  provi* 
sion  to  equalize  the  charge.  The  present  postage  on  letters  is  enor* 
mously  high  in  proportion  to  the  other  business  of  the  country  If 
you  will  refuse  to  carry  those  packages,  which  are  now  transmitted 
by  mail,  simply  because,  in  that  mode,  they  can  travel  free  of  coat, 
you  will  greatly  relieve  the  business  interests  of  the  country,  which 
now  bear  nearly  the  whole  burden  for  all  the  rest.  This  it  is  your 
duty  to  do.  Let  us  throw  at  least,  a  fair  portion  of  the  burdens  on 
those  who  receive  at  present,  the  whole  of  the  benefit.  Again. 
The  law  is  very  loose  and  uncertain  as  to  the  estimation  of  distances. 
Since  the  introduction  of  steam-travel  the  distance  traveled  has  in 
many  cases  been  increased,  while  the  time  consumed  has  been 
shortened.  Take,  as  an  illustration,  a  case  near  at  hand.  The  near- 
est distance  from  here  to  Frederick  City,  in  Maryland,  is  forty-four 
miles  ;  but  if  you  go  hence  to  the  depot  on  the  Baltimore  road,  and 
thence  take  the  train  to  Frederick,  you  arrive  sooner,  but  the  dis- 
tance is  increased  to  one  hundred  miles.  Now,  as  letters  are  charged 
according  to  the  miles  traveled,  I  hold  it  very  wrong  to  subject  a 
letter  to  this  more  than  double  charge  in  consequence  of  adopting  a 
longer  route  in  distance,  though  a  shorter  in  time.  Such  cases  ought 
to  be  provided  against  by  specific  rules.  I  come  now  to  the  last 
resolution  ofiered  ;  which  is  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  State,  of  the  Treasury,  of  War,  mnd  of  the  Navy 
TVpartment,  and  the  Postmoater  General,  be  sfnre rally  directed,  as  soon  as  practica 
ble,  to  report  what  offices  can  be  abolished,  and  what  retrenchments  of  public  eipei^ 
diture  can  be  made,  without  public  detriment,  in  the  respective  branches  of  the  public 
service  under  their  charge. 

We  all  know  that,  if  the  heads  of  Departments  will  not  go  to  work 
with  us  honestly  and  faithfully,  in  truth  and  sincerity,  Congress  thus 
unaided,  can  effect  comparatively  but  little.  I  hope  they  will  enter 
with  us  on  this  good  work  of  retrenchment  and  reform.  I  shall  be 
the  last  to  express  in  advance  any  distrust  of  their  upright  intentious 
in  this  respect.  The  only  thing  that  alarms  me  is,  that  two  of  these 
departments  have  come  to  us  asking  for  appropriations  far  beyond 
any  that  have  heretofore  been  demanded  in  time  of  peace,  and  that 
with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  fact  of  an  empty  Treasury.  But  I  still 
hope,  when  they  shall  see  Congress  heartily  in  earnest,  engaged  in 
retrenching  useless  expenditure,  and  reducing  estimates  that  cannot 
be  complied  with,  that  they  will  boldly  bring  out  to  Tiaw  all  abuaes 


544  tPKBCHES  OP  RBHKT  CULT. 

-which  exists  in  their  several  spheres  of  action,  and  let  us  apply  the 
pruning-knife  so,  as  to  reduce  the  national  expenditure  within  some 
proper  and  reasonable  amount.  At  all  events,  they  are,  of  course, 
most  &miliar  with  the  details  of  the  subject  as  it  relates  to  their 
several  branches  of  the  administration.  Among  other  items,  there 
are  several  useless  mints  which  only  operate  to  waste  the  public 
money.  A  friend,  occupied  in  investigating  this  subject,  has  told  me 
that  the  mint  in  New-Orleans  has  already  cost  the  country  $500,000 
for  getting  ready  to  coin  bullion  not  yet  dug  out  of  the  mine  I  Every 
piece  of  coin  made  by  these  useless  establishments  could  just  as 
well  be  coined  by  the  central  mint  at  Philadeldhia. 

And  now,  having  gone  through  with  all  the  details  of  this  series 
of  resolutions,  which  1  thought  it  my  duty  to  notice,  allow  me,  in 
drawing  to  a  conclusion  of  these  remarks,  to  present  some  of  the 
advantages  which  it  appears  to  me  should  urge  us  to  adopt  the  sys* 
tern  of  financial  arrangement  contemplated  in  the  resolutions. 

And  first.  The  Government  will,  in  this  way,  secure  to  itself  aa 
adequate  amount  of  revenue,  without  being  obliged  to  depend  on 
temporary  and  disreputable  expedients,  and  thus  preserve  the  public 
credit  unsullied — which  I  deem  a  great  advantage  of  the  plan.  Credit 
is  of  incalculable  value,  whether  to  a  nation  or  an  individual.  Ens- 
land,  proud  England,  a  country  with  which  we  may  one  day  again 
come  in  conflict — though  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  say  that  I  cannot 
perceive  at  present  the  least  "  speck  of  war"  in  the  political  horizon 
— owes  her  greatness,  her  vastness  of  power,  pervading  the  habitable 
globe,  mainly  to  her  strict  and  uniform  attention  to  the  preservation 
of  the  National  credit. 

2.  The  next  thing  recommended  is  retrenchment  in  the  National 
expenditure,  and  greater  economy  in  the  administration  of  the  gov- 
ernment. And  do  we  not  owe  it  to  this  bleeding  country,  to  our- 
selves, and  the  un'paralelled  condition  of  the  times  to  exhibit  to  the 
world  a  fixed,  resolute,  and  patriotic  purpose  to  reduce  the  public 
expenditure  to  an  economical  standard  ? 

3.  But  a  much  more  important  advantage  than  either  of  those  1 
have  yet  adverted  to  is  to  be  found  in  the  check  which  the  adoption 
of  this  plan  will  impose  on  the  efHux  of  the  precious  metals  from  this 


Oir  A  TRU*  PUBUO  POUCT.  545 

country  to  foreign  countries.  I  shall  not  now  go  into  the  causes  hy 
which  the  country  has  been  brought  down  from  the  elevated  condi* 
tion  of  prosperity  it  once  enjoyed  to  its  present  state  of  general  em- 
barrassment and  distress.  I  think  that  those  causes  are  as  distinctly 
in  my  understanding  and  memory  as  any  subjects  were  ever  impress- 
ed there  ;  but  I  have  no  desire  to  go  into  a  discussion  which  can  only 
revive  the  remembrance  of  unpleasant  topics.  My  purpose,  my  fixed 
purpose  on  this  occasion,  has  been  to  appeal  to  all  gentlemen  on  all 
political  sides  of  this  Chamber  to  come  out  and  make  a  sacrifice  of 
all  lesser  differences  in  a  patriotib,  generous  and  general  effort  for  the 
relief  of  their  country.  I  shall  not  open  those  bleeding  wounds  which 
have,  in  too  many  instances,  been  inflicted  by  brothers'  hands — es- 
pecially will  I  not  do  so  at  this  time,  and  on  this  occasion.  I  shall 
look  merely  at  facts  as  they  are.  I  shall  not  ask  what  have  been  the 
remote  causes  of  the  depression  and  wretchedness  of  our  once  glori- 
ous and  happy  Country.  I  will  turn  my  view  only  on  causes  which 
are  proximate,  indisputable^  and  immediately  before  us. 

One  great,  if  not  sole  cause  is  to  be  found  in  the  withdrawal  of 
coin  from  the  Country  to  pay  debts  accrued  or  accruing  abroad  fbr 
foreign  imports,  or  debts  contracted  during  former  periods  of  pros- 
perity, and  still  hanging  over  the  Country.  How  this  withdrawal 
operates  in  practice  is  not  difficult  to  be  understood.  The  Banks  of 
the  Country,  when  they  are  in  a  sound  state,  act  upon  this  coin  as 
the  basis  of  their  circulation  and  discounts  ;  the  withdrawal  of  it  not 
only  obliges  the  Banks  to  withhold  discounts  and  accommodations, 
but  to  draw  in  what  is  due  from  their  debtors,  at  the  precise  time 
when  they,  sharing  in  the  general  stricture,  are  least  able  to  meet  the 
calls.  Property  is  then  thrown  into  the  market  to  raise  means  to 
comply  with  those  demands,  depression  ensues,  and  as  is  invariably 
the  case  when  there  is  a  downward  tendency  in  its  value,  it  falls 
below  its  real  worth.  But  the  foreign  demand  for  specie  to  pay  com- 
mercial and  other  public  debt  operates  directly  upon  the  precious 
metals  themselves,  which  are  gathered  up  by  Bankers,  Brokers  and 
others, obtained  fromMhese  depositories,  and  thence  exported.  Thus 
this  foreign  denuind  has  a  double  operation,  one  upon  the  Banks,  and 
through  them  upon  the  community,  and  the  other  upon  the  coin  of 
the  Country.  Gentlemen,  in  my  humble  opinion,  utterly  deceive 
themselves  in  attributing  to  the  Banking  Institutions  all  the  distren 
of  the  Couotry.    Doubtlew  the  erroneoai  and  fraudaleiit  admi&iiCra- 


546  SPKBCHEI  or  hknet  clay. 

tion  of  some  of  them  has  occasioned  much  local  and  individual 
tress.  But  this  would  be  temporary  and  limited,  while  the  other 
cause — the  continued  efflux  of  specie  from  the  Country — if  not  ar- 
rested, woyld  perpetuate  the  distress.  Could  you  annihilate  everj 
Bank  in  the  Union,  and  burn  every  bank  note,  and  substitute  in  their 
place  a  circulation  of  nothing  but  the  precious  metals,  as  long  as  such 
a  tarifif  continues  as  now  exists,  two  years  would  not  elapse  till  you 
would  find  the  imperative  necessity  of  some  paper  medium  for  con- 
ducting the  domestic  exchanges. 

I  announce  only  an  historical  truth,  when  I  declare,  that  during 
and  ever  since  our  colonial  existence,  necessity  has  given  rise  to  the 
existence  of  a  paper  circulation  of  some  form  in  every  colony  on  this 
continent ;  and  there  was  a  perpetual  struggle  between  the  Crown 
and  Royal  Governors  on  one  hand,  and  Colonial  Legislatures  on  the 
other,  on  this  very  subject  of  paper  money.  No,  if  you  had  to-mor- 
row a  circulation  consisting  of  nothing  but  the  precious  metals,  they 
would  leave  you  as  the  morning  dew  leaves  the  fields,  and  you 
would  be  left  under  the  necessity  of  devising  a  mode  to  fill  the  chasm 
produced  by  their  absence. 

I  am  ready  to  make  one  concession  to  the  gentlemen  on  the  other 
side.  I  admit  that,  if  the  circulation  were  in  coin  alone,  the  ther- 
mometer of  our  monetary  fluctuations  would  not  rise  as  high  or  fall 
as  low  as  when  the  circulation  is  of  a  mixed  character,  consisting 
partly  of  coin  and  partly  of  paper.  But  then  the  fluctuations  them- 
selves, within  a  more  circumscribed  range,  would  be  quite  as  numer- 
ous, and  they  will  and  must  exist  so  long  as  such  a  tariff  remains  as 
forces  the  precious  metals  abroad.  I  again  repeat  the  assertion  that, 
could  you  annihilate  to-morrow  every  Bank  in  the  country,  the  very 
same  description  of  embarrassment,  if  not  in  the  same  degree,  would 
still  be  found  which  now  pervades  our  country. 

What,  then,  is  to  be  done  to  check  the  foreign  drain  ?  We  have 
tried  free  trade.  We  have  had  the  principles  of  free  trade  operating 
on  more  than  half  the  total  amount  of  our  imports  for  the  greata 
part  of  nine  years  past.  That  will  not  do  it,  we  see.  Do  let  me 
recall  to  the  recollection  of  the  Senate,  the  period  when  the  protec- 
tive system  was  thought  about  to  be  permanently  established.  What 
was  the  great  argument  then  urged  against  its  establishment?    Il 


OH   A   TRUS  PUBUC   POXJCT.  547 

was  this :  that,  if  duties  were  laid  directly  for  protection,  then  wt 
must  resort  to  direct  taxation  to  ireet  the  wants  of  the  Government ; 
every  body  must  make  up  their  minds  to  a  system  of  internal  taxa- 
tion.  Look  at  the  debate  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  1824, 
and  you  will  find  that  that  was  the  point  on  which  the  great  stress . 
was  laid.  Well,  it  turned  out  as  the  friends  of  protection  told  you  it 
would.  We  said  that  such  would  not  be  the  effect.  True,  it  would 
diminish  importation,  as  it  did  ;  but  the  augmented  amount  of  taxes 
would  more  than  compensate  for  the  reduced  amount  of  goods.  This 
we  told  you,  and  we  were  right. 

How  has  free  trade  operated  on  other  great  interests  ?  I  well  rs* 
member  that,  ten  years  ago,  one  of  the  most  gifled  of  the  sons  of 
South  Carolina,  (Mr.  Hayne,)  after  drawing  a  most  vivid  and  fright- 
ful picture  of  the  condition  of  the  South-M>f  fields  abandoned — ^hoa* 
ses  dilapidated — overseers  becoming  masters,  and  masters  overseen 
— general  stagnation  and  approaching  ruin — a  picture,  which,  I  coin 
fessed,  filled  me  with  dismay — cried  out  to  us,  abolish  your  tariff-^ 
reduce  your  revenue  to  the  standard  of  economical  Government — and 
once  more  the  fields  of  South  Carolina  will  smile  with  beauty — her 
embarrassments  will  vanish— commerce  will  return  to  her  harboiB,* 
labor  to  her  plantations,  augmented  prices  for  her  staples,  and  con- 
tentment and  prosperity  and  universal  happiness  to  her  oppressed 
people.  Well,  we  did  reduce  the  tariff,  and  after  nine  years  of  pro- 
tection, we  have  had  nine  years  of  a  descending  tariff  and  of  free 
trade.  Nine  years  (from  1824  to  1833)  we  had  the  protective  policy 
of  a  high  tariff;  and  nine  years  (from  1833  to  1842)  we  have  had 
the  full  operation  of  free  trade  on  more  than  a  moiety  of  the  whole 
amount  of  our  imports,  and  a  descending  tariff  on  the  residue.  And 
what  is  the  condition  of  South  Carolina  at  this  day  ?  Has  she  re- 
gained her  lost  prosperity  ?  Has  she  recovered  from  the  desolation 
and  ruin  so  confidently  imputed  to  the  existence  of  a  high  tariff?  I 
believe  if  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  could  be  interrogated 
here,  and  would  respond  in  candor,  unbiassed  by  the  delusions  engen 
dered  by  a  favorite  but  delusive  theory,  he  would  tell  us  that  she  h«s 
not  experienced  the  promised  prosperity  which  was  dwelt  upon  with 
so  much  eloquence  by  his  fellow-citizen.  How  is  it  in  regard  to  the 
great  staple  of  the  South  ?  How  stand  the  prices  of  cotton  duriiig 
these  nine  years  of  the  descending  Tariff  and  the  prevalence  of  Free 
Trade  ?    HowMo  these  years  compere  with  the  nue  yean  of  proCe^- 


I 


548  tPnCHIl  OP  HBHET  CLAT. 

tion  and  high  tariff?  Has  the  price  of  cotton  increased,  as  ve  were 
told  it  would,  by  the  talented  South  Carolinian  ?  It  has  happened 
that  during  the  nine  tariff  yeais  the  average  price  of  cotton  was,  from 
1824  to  1833,  higher  than  during  the  nine  years  of  descending  Tarifi 
and  Free  Trade  ;  and  at  the  instant  I  am  speaking,  1  understand  that 
cotton  is  selling  at  lower  rates  than  have  ever  been  realized  since  the 
war  with  Great  Britain.  1  know  with  what  tenacity  theorists  adhere 
to  a  favorite  theory,  and  seaich  out  fur  imaginary  causes  of  results 
before  their  eyes  and  deny  the  true.  1  am  not  going  into  the  land  of 
abstractions  and  of  metaphysics.  There  are  two  great,  leading,  iocon* 
testible  iacts,  which  gentlemen  must  admit :  first,  that  a  high  tariff 
did  not  put  down  the  prices  of  staple  commodities ;  and,  second,  that 
a  low  Taiiff  and  Free  Trade  have  not  been  able  to  save  them  from 
depression.  These  are  the  facts,  let  casuists  and  theorists,  and  the 
advocates  of  a  one-sided  paralytic  Free  Trade,  in  which  we  turn  our 
sound  side  to  the  world,  and  our  blighted  and  paralyzed  and  dead  side 
toward  our  own  people,  make  of  them  what  they  can.  At  the  very 
moment  that  England  is  pushing  the  resources  of  Asia,  cultivating 
the  fields  of  India,  and  even  contemplating  the  subsidizing  of  Africa, 
for  the  supply  of  her  factories  with  cotton,  and  when  the  importa- 
tions from  India  have  sv^elled  from  200,000  bales  to  580,000|  we  are 
told  that  there  are  to  be  no  restrictions -on  Free  Trade. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood,  and  let  me  entreat  that  I  may  not 
be  misrepresented.  I  am  not  advocating  the  revival  of  a  high  pro- 
tective tariff.  I  am  for  abiding  by  the  principles  of  the  compromise 
act;  I  am  for  doing  what  no  Southern  nian  of  a  fair  or  candid  mind 
has  ever  yet  denied — giving  to  the  country  a  revenue  which  may 
provide  for  the  economical  wants  of  the  Government,  and  at  the  same 
time  give  an  incidental  protection  to  our  home  industry.  If  there  be 
here  a  single  gentleman  who  will  deny  the  fairness  and  propriety  of 
this,  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  and  hear  who  he  is. 

The  check  on  the  flow  of  specie  abroad,  to  pay  either  a  comnier 
cial  or  a  public  debt,  will  operate  by  the  impobilion  of  duties  to  meet 
the  wants  of  the  government — will  keep  the  precious  metals  at  home 
to  a  much  greater  extent  than  is  now  possible.  I  hope  that  we  shall 
learn  to  live  within  our  own  means,  and  not  remain  so  dependent  as 
we  now  are  on  the  mere  good  pleasure  and  domestic  policy  of  foreign 
governments.      We  go  for  revenue — for  an  amount  of  revenue  ade 


ON  A   TRUK  PUBUC  POLICT.  K49 

quate  to  an  economical  administration  of  the  Goveroment,  We  can 
get  such  revenue  nowhere  else  than  from  a  tarifif  on  importations. 
No  man  in  his  senses  will  propose  a  resort  to  direct  or  interna)  taxes. 
And  this  arrangement  of  the  tariff,  while  it  answers  this  end  will  at 
the  same  time  operate  as  a  check  on  the  cfHux  of  the  precious 
metals,  and  retain  wliat  is  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  exchange  and 
circulation. 

The  fourth  advantage  attending  the  adoption  of  the  system  proposed 
will  (}e,  that  the  States  will  be  left  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of 
the  land  fund  secured  to  them  by  the  act  of  the  last  session,  and  which 
was  intended  to  aid  them  in  the  embarrassment  under  which  some  of 
them  are  now  laboring. 

X 

And  the  last  is  that  to  which  I  have  already  adverted,  viz.  that  il 
will  afford,  indirectly,  protection  to  the  interests  of  American  indoa- 
try.  And  the  most  bi'ter  and  persevering  opponent  to  the  protective 
policy  1  ever  met  with,  has  never  denied  that  it  is  both  the  right  and 
the  duty  of  Government  to  lay  the  taxes  necessary  to  the  public  ser- 
vice so  as  to  afford  incidental  protection  to  our  own  home  industry. 

But  it  is  said  that,  by  the  adoption  of  one  fixed  arbitrary  maximum 
of  ad  valorem  duty,  we  shall  not  derive  that  measure  of  protection 
which  is  expected ;  and  I  admit  that  there  may  be  certain  articles, 
the  product  of  the  mechanic  arts — such,  for  example,  as  shoes,  hats, 
and  ready-made  clothing,  and  sugar,  iron,  and  pepper^— some  or  all 
of  which  may  not  derive  the  protection  which  they  need  under  the 
plan  I  propose.  On  that  subject  I  can  only  say,  what  I  said  at  the 
time  of  the  passage  of  the  compromise  act,  if  some  few  articles  shall 
not  prove  to  be  sufficiently  protected  beneath  the  established  maxi- 
mum rate,  I  should  hope  that  in  the  spirit  of  harmony. and  compro- 
mise, additional  duties  above  that  rate,  sufficient  to  afibrd  reasonable 
protection  to  those  few  articles,  by  general  consent  would  be  imposed, 
I  am  not  at  present  prepared  to  say  whether  the  rule  I  have  suggest- 
ed will  afford  adequate  protection  to  these  particular  interests  or  not; 
I  fear  it  may  not.  But  if  the  subject  shall  he  looked  at  in  this  spirit 
of  patriotism,  without  party  bias  or  local  influences,  it  will  he  found 
that  the  few  articles  alluded  to  are  so  distributed,  or  are  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  furnish  the  grounds  of  a*  friendly  adjustment.  The  id* 
terests  of  the  sugar  of  the  Soiitb  mmj  then  be  set  against  the  iron  of 

•KK 


) 


550  fPIICHII  OP  HINBT  CLAT. 

the  centre  and  the  productions  of  the  mechanic  arts,  which,  although 
prevailing  every  where,  are  most  concentrated  at  the  North.  With 
respect  to  these,  without  reference  to  any  general  system  of  protec- 
tion, they  have  been  at  all  times  protected.  And  who  that  has  a 
heart,  or  the  sympathies  of  a  man,  can  say  or  feel  that  our  hatters, 
tailors,  and  shoemakers,  should  not  be  protected  against  the  rival 
productions  of  other  countries  ?  Who  would  say  that  the  shoema- 
ker, who  makes  the  shoes  of  his  wife — his  own  wife,  according  to 
the  proverb,  being  the  last  woman  in  the  parish  that  is  supplied  with 
hers — ^shall  not  be  protected  ?  That  the  tailor,  who  furnishes  him 
with  a  new  coat,  or  the  hatter,  that  makes  him  a  new  hat,  to  go  to 
church,  to  attend  a  wedding  or  christening,  or  to  visit  his  neighbor, 
shall  not  be  adequately  protected  ? 

Then  there  is  the  essential  article  of  iron — that  is  a  great  central 
interest.  Whether  it  will  require  a  higher  degree  of  protection  than 
it  will  derive  from  such  a  system  as  1  have  sketched,  I  have  not  au^ 
ficient  information  to  decide ;  but  this  1  am  prepared  to  say,  that, 
question  will  be  with  the  Representatives  of  those  States  which  are 
chiefly  interested,  and,  if  their  iron  is  not  sufficiently  protected,  tfaej 
roust  take  the  matter  up  and  make  out  their  case  to  be  an  exception 
to  the  general  arrangement.  When  I  speak  of  the  Representatives 
of  these  States,  1  mean  their  entire  delegation  without  regard  to  po* 
litical  denominations  or  distinctions.  They  must  look  into  the  mat- 
ter, and  if  they  take  it  up  and  bring  forward  their  propositions,  and 
make  out  a  clear  case  of  exception  to  the  general  rule,  I  shall  be  an 
humble  follower  of  their  lead,  but  I  will  not  myself  take  the  lead  in 
any  such  case.  If  these  Slates  want  certain  interests  protected,  thej 
must  send  delegates  here  who  are  prepared  to  protect  them.  Such  a 
State  cannot  reasonably  expect  Senators  from  other  States,  having 
no  direct  local,  or  particular  concern  in  such  interests,  to  force  on  her 
the  protection  of  her  own  interests  against  her  own  will,  as  that  will 
is  officially  expressed  by  her  Representatives  in  Congress.  I  agaii 
say,  I  am  ready  to  follow,  but  I  will  not  lead. 

With  me,  from  the  first  moment  I  conceived  the  idea  of  creating, 
at  home,  a  protection  for  the  production  of  whatever  is  needed  ta 
supply  the  wants  of  man,  up  to  this  moment,  it  has  always  beet 
purely  a  question  of  expediency.  I  never  could  comprehend  the 
constitutional  objection  which  to  some  gentlemen  seem  so  extremly 


OK  A  TXUK   PUBLIC  POLICY.  651 

ffbrious.  I  could  comprehend,  to  be  sure  what  these  geotlemen 
mean  to  argue,  but  1  nRver  had  the  least  relief  in  the  const itulional 
objection  which  slept  from  1789,  (or  rather,  which  reverses  the  doc- 
trine of  17S9,)  till  it  suddenly  walked  up  in  1$20.  Then,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  existence  of  the  Conslilution,  was  the  doctrine  ad- 
vanced that  we  could  not  legilimalely  afibnl  any  protection  to  oar 
own  home  industry  against  foreign  and  adverse  industry.  I  say  that 
with  me  it  always  was  a  question  of  expediency  only-  If  the  nation 
does  not  want  protection  I  certainly  never  would  vote  to  force  it 
upon  the  nation;  but,  viewing  it  as  a  question  of  expediency  wholly, 
I  have  not  hesitated  heretofore,  on  the  broad  and  comprehensive 
ground  of  expediency,  to  give  my  assent  to  all  suitable  measures  pro- 
posed with  a  view  to  that  end.  The  Senate  will  perceive  that  1  have 
forborne  to  go  into  detail.  I  have  presented  to  it  a  system  of  policy 
embodied  in  these  resolutions  containing  those  grent  principles  in 
which  I  believe  that  the  interest,  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the 
country  are  deeply  involved — principles,  the  adoption  of  which  alone 
can  place  the  finances  of  the  Government  upon  a  respectable  footing, 
and  free  us  from  a  condition  of  servile  dependence  on  the  legislation 
of  foreign  nations.  1  have  perjiuaded  myself  that  the  system  now 
brought  forward  will  be  met  in  a  rpirit  of  candor  and  of  patriotism, 
and  in  the  hope  that,  whatever  may  have  been  the  differences  jn  the 
Senate  in  days  past,  we  have  now  reached  a  period  in  which  we  can 
forget  our  prejudices  and  agree  to  bury  our  transient  animositie* 
deep  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  our  common  country,  and  come  to- 
gether as  an  assemblage  of  friends  and  brothers  and  compatriots  met 
in  common  consultation  to  devise  the  best  mode  of  relieving  the  pub- 
lic distress.  It  is  in  this  spirit,  that  1  have  brought  forward  my  pro- 
posed plan ;  and  I  trust  in  God — invoking,  as  I  humbly  do,  the  aid 
and  blessing  of  His  providence— that  the  Senators,  on  all  sides  of  the 
Chamber,  will  lay  aside  all  party  feelings,  and  more  especially  that 
h^tual  suspicion  to  which  we  are  all  more  or  less  prone,  (and  from 
which  I  profess  not  to  be  exempted  more  than  other  men,)  that  im- 
pels us  to  reject  without  examination,  and  to  distrust  whatever  pro- 
ceeds from  a  quarter  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of  opposing.  Let 
x»  lay  aside  prejudice  j  let  ns  look  at  the  distresses  of  the  country, 
and  those  atone.  1  trust  that  in  this  spirit  we  shall  examine  theao 
resolutions,  and  decide  upon  them  according  to  the  dictates  of  oar 
own  consciences,  and  in  a  pure  and  patriotic  r^nrd  to  the  wellan  of 
ov  country. 


ON  RETIRING  FROM  THE  SENATE. 


In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  March  31,  1842. 


IMr.  Clat  had  intended  to  retire  from  the  Senate  at  the  close  of  the  Extra  Se»- 
flion,  but  was  prevented  by  the  entreaties  of  hia  friends,  and  the  anaettled  state  of 
our  Public  Afikire.  He  early,  however,  gave  notice  to  the  Legislature  of  Keotncky, 
that  he  should  resign  by  the  end  of  March,  in  order  that  hta  saecenor  might  bt 
chosen  and  in  readiness  to  take  his  place.  Mr.  Cbxttkhdbii  having  been  unani- 
mously elected,  and  having  arrived  at  Washington,  Mr.  Clat  was  at  length  at  libe^ 
ty  to  withdraw,  and  on  the  81st  of  March  he  addressed  the  Senate  aa  follows :] 

Before  proceediDg  to  make  tbe  motion  for  which  I  have  rigeo,  1 
beg  leave  to  submit,  on  the  onl j  occasion  affi)rded  me,  an  obsenratioa 
or  two  on  a  different  subject.  It  will  be  remembered  that  I  cSati 
on  a  former  day,  some  resolutions  going  to  propose  certain  amend- 
ments to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  l^ates.  They  have  nixier- 
gone  some  discussion,  and  I  have  been  desirous  of  obtaimng  an  ex- 
pression  of  tbe  sense  of  the  Senate  upon  their  adoption  ;  but  owing 
to  the  in6rm  state  of  my  health,  to  the  pressure  of  business  in  the 
Senate,  and  especially  to  the  absence  at  this  moment  of  several  of 
my  friends,  I  have  concluded  this  to  be  unnecessary  ;  nor  should  I 
deem  myself  called  upon  to  reply  to  the  arguments  of  such  gentlemeo 
as  have  considered  it  their  duty  to  oppose  the  resolutions.  I  shall 
commit  the  subject,  therefore,  to  the  hands  of  the  Senate,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  as  their  judgment  shall  dictate  ;  concluding  what  I  have  to 
say  in  relation  to  them  with  tbe  remark,  that  the  convictions  I  have 
before  entertained  in  regard  to  the  several  amendments,  I  still  delibe- 
rately hold,  after  all  that  I  have  heard  upon  the  subjects  of  them. 

And  now,  allow  me  to  announce,  formally  and  officially,  my  retire- 
ment from  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  to  present  tbe  Isit 
motion  I  shall  ever  make  in  this  body.  Bat,  before  I  make  that  mo- 
tion, 1  trust  I  shall  be  pardoned  if  I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  to 
make  a  few  observations  which  are  suggested  to  my  mind  by  the 
present  occasion. 


Oir  RETIEItrO   FROM   TH£  SXNATB.  553 

I  entered  the  Senate  of  the  Uuited  States  in  Decemher,  1806.  I 
regarded  that  body  then,  and  still  contemplate  it,  as  a  body,  which 
may  compare,  without  disadvantage,  with  any  legislative  assembly, 
either  of  ancient  or  modern  times,  whether  I  look  to  its  dignity,  the 
extent  and  importanee  of  its  powers,  or  the  ability  by  which  its  indi* 
vidual  members  have  been  distinguished,  or  its  constitution.  If  com- 
pared in  any  of  these  respects  with  the  Senates  either  of  France  or 
of  England,  that  of  the  United  States  will  sustain  no  derogation. 
With  respect  to  the  mode  of  its  constitution,  of  those  bodies  1  may 
observe  that  in  the  House  of  Peers  in  England,  with  the  exception 
but  of  Ireland  and  of  Scotland — and  in  that  of  France  with  no  excep- 
tion whatever — the  members  hold  their  places  under  no  delegated 
authority,  but  derive  them  from  the  grant  of  the  Crown,  transmitted 
by  descent,  or  expressed  in  new  patents  of  nobility  ;  while  here  we 
have  the  proud  title  of  Representatives  of  sovereign  States,  of  distinct 
and  independent  Conunonwealths. 

If  we  look  again  at  the  powers  exercised  by  the  Senates  of  France 
and  England,  and  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  we  shall  find 
that  the  aggregate  of  power  is  much  greater  here.  In  all  the  mem- 
bers possess  the  legislative  power.  In  the  foreign  Senates,  as  in  this, 
the  judicial  power  is  invested,  although  there  it  exists  in  a  larger  de- 
gree than  here.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  that  vast,  undefined,  and 
undefinable  power  involved  in  the  right  to  co-operate  with  the  Ex- 
ecutive in  the  formation  and  ratification  of  treaties,  is  enjoyed  in  all 
its  magnitude  and  weight  by  this  body,  while  it  is  possessed  by  nei- 
ther of  theirs  ;  besides  which,  there  is  another  of  very  great  practical 
importance — that  of  sharing  with  the  executive  branch  in  distribu- 
ting the  vast  patronage  of  the  Government.  In  both  these  latter  re- 
spects^ we  stand  on  grounds  different  from  the  House  of  Peers  either 
<k  England  or  France.  And  then  as  to  the  dignity  and  decorum  of 
its  proceedings,  and  ordinarily  as  to  the  ability  of  its  members,  I  can 
with  great  truth  declare,  that  during  the  whole  long  period  of  mj 
knowledge  of  this  Senate  it  can,  without  arrogance  or  presumption, 
sustain  no  disadvantageous  comparison  with  any  public  body,  in  an- 
cient or  modern  times. 

Full  of  attraction,  however,  as  a  seat  in  this  Senate  is,  sufficient 
to  fill  the  aspirations  of  the  most  ambitious  heart,  I  have  long  deter- 
mined to  forego  it,  and  to  seek  that  repose  which  can  be  enjoyed  only 


554  SPXECHBS  OF  BIMRT   CLAT. 

in  the  shades  of  private  life,  and  amid  the  calm  pleasures  which  be 
long  to  that  beloved  'word,  "  home." 

It  was  my  purpose  to  terminate  my  connection  with  this  body  m 
November  1840,  after  the  memorable  and  glorious  political  straggle 
which  distinguished  that  year ;  but  1  learned  soon  after,  what  indeed 
I  had  for  some  time  anticipated  from  the  result  of  my  own  reflections, 
that  an  extra  session  of  Congress  would  be  called  ;  and  I  felt  desi- 
rous to  co-operate  with  my  personal  and  political  friends  in  restoring, 
if  it  could  be  effected,  the  prosperity  of  the  country  by  the  best  mea- 
sures which  their  united  counsels  might  be  able  to  devise ,  and  I 
therefore  attended  the  extra  session.  It  was  called,  as  all  know,  by 
the  lamented  Harrison  ;  but  his  death  and  the  consequent  accession 
of  his  successor  produced  an  entirely  new  aspect  of  public  af&irs. 
Had  he  lived,  I  bave  not  one  particle  of  doubt  that  every  important 
measure  for  which  the  country  had  hoped  with  so  confident  an  ex- 
pectation, would  have  been  consummated  by  the  co-operation  of  the 
Government.  And  here  allow  me  to  say,  only,  in  regard  to  that  so 
much  reproached  extra  session  of  Congress,  that  I  believe  if  any  of 
those  who,  through  the  influence  of  party  spirit  or  the  bias  of  politi- 
cal prejudice,  have  loudly  censured  the  measures  then  adopted,  will 
look  at  them  in  a  spirit  of  candor  and  of  justice,  their  conclusion,  and 
that  of  the  country  generally,  will  be  that  if  there  exists  any  just 
ground  of  complaint,  it  is  to  be  found,  not  in  what  was  done,  but  in 
what  was  left  unfinished. 

Had  President  Harrison  lived,  and  the  measures  devised  at  that 
session  been  fully  carried  out,  it  was  my  intention  to  have  resigned 
my  seat.  But  the  hope  (I  feared  it  might  prove  a  vain  hope,)  that 
at  the  regular  session  the  measures  which  we  had  left  undone  might 
even  then  be  perfected,  or  the  same  object  attained  in  equivalent 
form,  induced  me  to  postpone  the  determination  ;  and  events  which 
arose  after  the  extra  session,  resulting  from  the  failure  of  those  mea- 
sures which  had  been  proposed  at  that  session,  and  which  appeared 
to  throw  on  our  political  friends  a  temporary  show  of  defeat,  confirm- 
ed me  in  the  resolution  to  attend  the  present  session  also,  and,  whe- 
ther in  prosperity  or  adversity,  to  share  the  fortune  of  my  friends. 
But  I  resolved  at  the  same  time  to  retire  as  soon  as  I  could  do  so  with 
propriety  and  decency. 


ON   RKTIRINO   FBOlf  THB  SEHATB.  505 

From  1806,  the  period  of  my  entry  on  this  noble  theatre,  "with 
short  intervals,  to  the  present  time,  I  have  been  engaged  in  the  pub- 
lic councils,  at  home  and  abroad.  Of  the  nature  or  the  value  of  the 
services  rendered  during  that  long  and  arduous  period  of  my  life,  it 
does  not  become  me  to  speak  ;  history,  if  she  deigns  to  notice  me,  or 
posterity,  if  the  recollections  of  my  humble  actions  shall  be  trans- 
mitted to  posterity,  are  the  best,  the  truest,  the  most  impartial  judges. 
When  death  has  closed  the  scene,  their  sentence  will  be  pronounced, 
and  to  that  I  appeal  and  refer  myself.  My  acts  and  public  conduct 
are  a  fair  subject  for  the  criticism  and  judgment  of  my  fellow-men ; 
but  the  private  motives  by  which  they  have  been  prompted,  they 
are  known  only  to  the  great  Searcher  of  the  human  heart  and  to  my- 
self; and  I  trust  1  may  be  pardoned  for  repeating  a  declaration  made 
some  thirteen  years  ago,  that,  whatever  errors — and  doubtless  there 
have  been  many — may  be  discovered  in  a  review  of  my  public  service 
to  the  country,  I  can  with  unshaken  confidence  appeal  to  that  Divine 
Arbiter  for  the  truth  of  the  declaration,  that  I  have  been  influenced 
by  no  impure  purposes,  no  personal  motive — have  sought  no  personal 
aggrandizement ;  but  that  in  all  my  public  acts  I  have  had  a  sole  and 
single  eye,  and  a  warm  and  devoted  heart,  directed  and  dedicated  to 
what  in  my  judgment  1  believed  to  be  the  true  interest  of  my  country. 

During  that  period,  however,  I  have  not  escaped  the  fate  of  other 
public  men,  nor  failed  to  incur  censure  and  detraction  of  the  bitterest 
most  unrelenting,  and  most  malignant  character ;  and  though  not 
always  insensible  to  the  pain  it  was  meant  to  inflict,  1  have  borne  it 
in  general  with  composure,  and  without  disturbance  here,  [pointing 
to  his  breast,]  waiting  as  I  have  done,  in  perfect  and  undoubting  con- 
fidence, for  the  ultimate  triumph  of  justice  and  truth,  and  in  the  en- 
tire persuasion  that  time  would,  in  the  end,  settle  all  things  as  they 
should  be,  and  that  whatever  wrong  or  injustice  I  might  experience 
at  the  hands  of  man,  He  to  whom  all  hearts  are  open  and  fully  known, 
would  in  the  end,  by  the  inscrutable  dispensations  of  his  providence, 
rectify  all  error,  redress  all  wrong,  and  cause  ample  justice  to  be  done. 

But  I  have  not  meanwhile  been  unsustained.  Every  where 
throughout  the  extent  of  this  great  continent,  1  have  had  cordial 
warm-hearted,  and  devoted  friends,  who  have  known  me  and  justly 
appreciated  my  motives.  To  them,  if  language  were  susceptible  of 
lolly  expressing  my  acknowledgments,  1  would  now  ofler  them,  as  all 


556  tPticnHi  OF  HuniT  ci.at. 

the  retains  I  have  ik>w  to  make  for  their  geDaine,  disinterested  and 
pemevering  fidelity,  and  devoted  attachment.  But  if  I  fail  in  suitable 
language  to  express  my  gratitude  to  them  for  all  the  kindness  they 
have  shown  me — what  vhall  I  say — ^what  can  I  say  at  all  commensn* 
rate  with  those  feelings  of  gratitude  which  I  owe  to  the  State  whose 
humble  representative  and  servant  I  have  been  in  this  Chamber  ? 

I  emigrated  from  Virginia  to  the  State  of  Kentucky  now  nearly  forty- 
five  years  ago :  I  went  as  an  orphan  who  had  not  yet  attained  the 
age  of  majority — who  had  never  recognized  a  father's  smile  nor  ielt 
his  caresses — poor,  pennyless — without  the  favor  of  the  g^eat ;  with 
an  imperfect  and  inadequate  education,  limited  to  the  ordinary  busi- 
ness and  common  pursuits  of  life  ;  but  scarce  had  1  set  my  foot  upon 
her  generous  soil  when  I  was  seized  and  embraced  with  paiental 
fondness,  caressed  as  though  I  had  been  a  favorite  child,  and  patro- 
nized with  liberal  and  unbounded  munificence.  From  that  period 
the  highest  honors  of  the  State  have  been  freely  bestowed  upon  me ; 
and  afterwards,  in  the  darkest  hour  of  calumny  and  detraction,  when 
I  seemed  to  be  forsaken  by  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  she  threw  her 
broad  and  impenetrable  shield  around  me,  and  bearing  me  up  aloft  in 
her  courageous  arms,  repelled  the  poisoned  shafts  that  were  aimed  at 
my  destruction,  and  vindicated  my  good  name  against  every  false  and 
unfounded  assault. 

But  the  ingenuity  of  my  assailants  is  never  exhausted,  and  it  seems 
I  have  subjected  myself  to  a  new  epithet,  which  I  do  not  know  whe- 
ther it  should  be  taken  in  honor  or  derogation  :  I  am  held  up  to  the 
country  as  a  '  Dictator.'  A  Dictator  !  The  idea  of  a  dictatorship  is 
drawn  from  Roman  institutions  ;  and  at  the  time  the  office  was  crea- 
ted, the  person  who  wielded  the  tremendous  authority  it  conferred, 
concentrated  in  his  own  person,  an  absolute  power  over  the  lives  and 
property  of  all  his  fellow-citizens  ;  he  could  raise  armies  ;  he  could 
man  and  build  navies  ;  he  could  levy  taxes  at  will,  and  raise  any 
amount  of  money  he  might  choose  to  demand ;  and  life  and  death 
rested  on  his  fiat.  If  I  had  been  a  Dictator,  as  I  am  said  to  have 
been,  where  is  the  power  with  which  I  ha?e  been  clothed  ?  Had  I 
any  army  ?  any  navy  ?  any  revenue  ?  any  patronage  ?  in  a  word, 
any  power  whatever  ?  If  I  had  been  a  Dictator,  I  think  that  even 
those  who  have  the  most  freely  applied  to  me  the  appellation,  must 
be  compelled  to  make  two  admissions :  first,  that  my  dictatorship  hat 


ON  KBTIBtVO  ntOK  THC  flirATB.  557  . 

Deen  distinguiahed  by  no  crael  executions,  staiDed  by  no  blood,  dot 
soiled  by  any  act  of  dishonor ;  and  in  the  second  place  I  think  they 
must  own  (though  I  do  not  exactly  know  what  date  my  commission 
of  Dictator  bears  ;  I  imagine,  however,  it  must  have  commenced  with 
the  extra  session)  that  if  I  did  usurp  the  power  of  a  Dictator,  I  at 
least  voluntarily  surrendered  it  within  a  shorter  period  than  was  al- 
lotted for  the  duration  of  the  dictatorship  of  the  Roman  Common- 
wealth. 

If  to  have  sought,  at  the  extra  session  and  at  the  present,  by  the 
co-operation  of  my  friends,  to  carry  out  the  great  measures  intended 
by  the  popular  majority  of  1840,  and  to  have  desired  that  they  should' 
all  have  been  adopted  and  executed  ;  if  to  have  anxiously  desired  to 
see  a  disordered  currency  regulated  and  restored,  and  irregular  ex- 
changes equalized  and  adjusted  ;  if  to  have  labored  to  replenish  the 
empty  coffers  of  the  Treasury  by  suitable  duties  ;  if  to  have  endear 
vored  to  extend  relief  to  the  unfortunate  bankrupts  of  the-xountrji 
who  had  been  ruined  in  a  great  measure  by  the  erroneous  policy,  aa 
we  believed,  of  this  Government ;  if  to  seek  to  limit,  circumscribe, 
and  restrain  executive  authority ;  if  to  retrench  unnecessary  expen- 
diture and  abolish  useless  offices  and  institutions  ;  if,  while  the  pub- 
lic money  is  preserved  untarnished  by  supplying  a  revenue  adequate 
to  meet  the  national  engagements,  incidental  protection  can  be  afford- 
ed to  the  national  industry  ;  if  to  entertain  an  ardent  solicitude  to  re- 
deem every  pledge  and  execute  eyery  promise  fairly  made  by  my 
political  friends  with  a  view  to  the  acquisition  of  power  from  the 
hands  of  an  honest  and  confiding  People  ;  if  these  objects  constitute 
a  man  a  Dictator,  why  then,  I  suppose  I  must  be  content  to  bear, 
though  I  still  only  share  with  my  friends,  the  odium  of  the  honor  or 
the  epithet,  as  it  may  be  considered  on  the  one  hand  or  the  other. 

That  my  nature  is  warm,  my  temper  ardent,  my  disposition,  espe- 
cially in  relation  to  the  public  service,  enthusiastic,  I  am  fully  ready 
to  own  ;  and  those  who  supposed  that  I  have  been  assuming  the  dic- 
tatorship, have  only  mistaken  for  arrogance  or  assumption,  that  fer- 
vent ardor  and  devotion  which  is  natural  to  my  constitution,  and 
which  I  may  have  displayed  with  too  little  regard  to  cold,  calculating 
and  cautious  prudence,  in  sustaining  and  zealously  supporting  impor- 
tant national  measures  of  policy  which  I  have  presented  and  proposed. 


6&8  tPBECaKt  OF  HKIIBT  GLAT., 

During  a  long  and  arduous  career  of  service  in  the  public  coancils 
of  my  country,  especially  during  the  last  eleven  years  I  have  held  a 
■eat  in  the  Senate,  from  the  same  ardor  and  enthusiasm  of  character,  1 
have  no  doubt,  in  the  heat  of  debate,  and  in  an  honest  endeavor  to 
maintain  my  opinions  against  adverse  opinions  equally  holiestly  enter- 
tained, as  to  the  best  course  to  be  adopted  for  the  public  welfare,  1 
may  have  often  inadvertently  or  unintentionally,  in  moments  of  ex- 
cited debate,  made  use  of  language  that  has  been  offensive  and  sus- 
ceptible of  injurious  interpretation  towards  my  brother  Senators.  If 
there  be  any  here  who  retain  wounded  feelings  of  injuiy  or  dissatis- 
fiu^tion  produced  on  such  occasions,  1  beg  to  assure  them  that  1  now 
oflfer  the  amplest  apology  for  any  departure  on  my  part  from  the  es- 
tablished rules  of  parliamentary  decorum  and  courtesy.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  assure  the  Senate,  one  and  all,  without  exception  and  with- 
out reserve,  that  I  retire  from  this  Senate  Chamber  without  carry- 
ing with  me  a  single  feeling  of  resentment  or  dissatisfaction  to  the 
Senate  or  to  any  one  of  its  members. 

I  go  from  this  place  under  the  hope  that  we  shall  mutually  con- 
sign to  perpetual  oblivion,  whatever  personal  collisions  may  at  any 
time  unfortunately  have  occurred  between  us ;  and  that  our  recollec- 
tions shall  dwell  in  future  only  on  those  conflicts  of  mind  with  mind, 
those  intellectual  struggles,  those  noble  exhibitions  of  the  powers  of 
logic,  argument  and  eloquence,  honorable  to  the  Senate  and  to  the 
country,  in  which  each  has  sought  and  contended  for  what  he  deem- 
ed the  best  mode  of  accomplishing  one  common  object,  the  greatest 
interest  and  the  most  happiness  of  our  beloved  country.  To  these 
thrilling  and  delightful  scenes  it  will  be  my  pleasure  and  my  pride  to 
look  back  in  my  retirement. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  allow  me  to  make  the  motion  which  it 
was  my  object  to  submit  when  I  rose  to  address  you.  I  present  the 
credentials  of  my  friend  and  successor.  If  any  void  has  been  created 
by  my  own  withdrawal  from  the  Senate,  it  will  be  filled  to  overflow* 
ing  by  him  ;  whose  urbanity,  whose  gallant  and  gentlemanly  bearing, 
whose  steady  adherence  to  principle,  and  whose  rare  and  accom- 
plished powers  in  debate,  are  known  already  in  advance  to  the  whole 
Senate  and  country.  I  move  that  his  credentials  be  received,  and 
that  the  oath  of  office  be  now  administered  to  him. 


OH   RETIRING   FROM   THE  SENATE. 


559 


In  retiring,  as  I  am  about  to  do,  for  ever  from  the  Senate,  suBet 
me  to  express  my  heartfelt  wishes  that  all  the  great  and  patriotic  ob- 
jects for  which  it  was  constituted  by  the  wise  framers  of  the  Consti- 
tution may  be  fulfilled  ;  that  the  high  destiny  designed  for  it  may  be 
fully  answered  ;  and  that  its  deliberations,  now  and  hereafter,  may 
eventuate  in  restoring  the  prosperity  of  our  beloved  country,  in  main- 
taining its  rights  and  honors  abroad,  and  in  securing  and  upholding 
its  interests  at  home.  I  retire,  I  know  it,  at  a  period  of  infinite  dis- 
tress and  embarrassment .  I  wish  I  could  take  my  leave  of  you  un- 
der more  favorable  auspices  ;  but,  without  meaning  at  this  time  to 
say  whether  on  any  or  on  whom  reproaches  for  the  sad  condition  of 
the  country  should  fall,  I  appeal  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  world  to 
bear  testimony  to  my  earnest  and  anxious  exertions  to  avert  it,  and 
that  no  blame  can  justly  rest  at  my  door. 


May  the  blessing  of  Heaven  rest  upon  the  whole  Senate  and  each 
member  of  it,  and  may  the  labors  of  every  one  redound  to  the  benefit 
of  the  nation  and  the  advancement  of  his  own  fame  and  renown. 
And  when  you  shall  retire  to  the  bosom  of  your  constituents,  may 
you  meet  the  most  cheering  and  gratifying  of  all  human  rewards ; 
their  cordial  greeting  of  ^^  Well  done,  good  and  fiuthful  seivanti." 


ON  RETURNING  TO  KENTUCKY. 


Near  Lkxington,  Juke  9,  1842^ 


[Mr.  Clat  having  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  and  returned  to  his  home  u 
AAland,  near  Lexington,  Ky.  was  enthusiastically  received  by  his  fellow-citizens, 
who  pressed  him  to  partake  of  a  public  entertainment  or  Bail^cuPi  ^vt*B  \h  his 
honor.  He  consented ;  and,  the  repast  being  over,  and  his  health  hanny  beea 
proposed  in  an  eloquent  Speech  by  Hon.  Georox  Robertsoit,  Chief  Jae«it:r  of  the 
State,  Mr.  Clay — the  enthusiastic  and  prolonged  applause  having  .sioiBtded— ad- 
dwwed  the  immense  concourse  as  follows :] 

Mb.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — It  was  given  to  our 
countryman,  Franklin,  to  bring  down  the  lightning  from  Heaven. 
To  enable  me  to  be  heard  by  this  immense  multitude,  I  should  have 
to  invoke  to  my  aid,  and  to  throw  into  my  voice,  its  loudest  1  bun- 
ders. As  I  cannot  do  that,  I  hope  I  shall  be  excused  for  such  an 
use  of  my  lungs  as  is  practicable  and  not  inconsistent  with  the  pre- 
servation of  my  health.  And  I  feel  that  it  is  our  first  duty,  to  ex- 
press our  obligations  to  a  kind  and  bountiful  Providence,  for  the 
copious  and  genial  showers  with  which  he  has  just  blessed  our  land 
— a  refreshment  of  which  it  stood  much  in  need.  For  one,  I  offer 
to  Him  my  humble  and  dutiful  thifnks.  The  inconvenience  to  us, 
on  this  festive  occasion,  is  very  slight,  while  the  sum  of  good  which 
these  timely  rains  will  produce  is  very  great  and  encouraging. 

Fellow  citizens,  I  find  myself  now  in  a  situation  somewhat  like 
one  in  which  I  was  placed  a  few  years  ago  when  traveling  through 
the  State  of  Indiana,  from  which  my  friend  (Mr.  Rariden)  near  me 
comes.  I  stopped  at  a  village  containing  some  four  or  five  hundred 
inhabitants,  and  I  had  scarcely  alighted  before  I  found  myself  sur- 
rounded in  the  Bar-room  by  every  adult  male  resident  of  the  place. 
After  a  while,  I  observed  a  group  consulting  together  in  one  corner 
of  the  room,  and  shortly  after,  I  was  diffidently  approached  by  one 
of  them,  a  tall,  lank,  lean,  but  sedate  and  sober  looking  person,  with 


OK  RKTURimrO  TO  KIHTUCKT.  961 

a  long  face  and  high  cheek  bonea,  who,  addressing  me  said  he  was 
commissioned  by  his  neighbors,  to  request  that  1  would  say  a  few 
words  to  them.  Why  my  good  friend,  said  I,  I  should  be  very  hap- 
py to  do  any  thing  gratifying  to  yourself  and  your  neighbors,  but  I 
am  very  much  fatigued  and  hungry  and  thirsty,  and  I  do  not 
think  the  occasion  is  exactly  suitable  for  a  speech,  and  1  wish  you 
would  excuse  me  to  your  friends.  Well,  says  he,  Mr.  Clay,  I  con- 
fess I  thoua;ht  80  myself,  especially  as  we  have  no  wine  to  oftr 
you  to  drink ! 

Now,  if  the  worthy  citizen  of  Indiana  was  right  in  supposing, 
that  a  glass  of  wine  was  a  necessary  preliminary,  and  a  precedent 
condition,  to  the  delivery  of  a  speech,  you  have  no  just  right  to  ex- 
pect one  from  me  at  this  time  ;  for  during  the  sumptuous  repast  from 
which  we  have  just  risen,  you  offered  me  nothing  to  drink  but  cold 
water— excellent  water  it  is  true,  from  the  classic  fountnin  of  our 
lamented  friend  Mr.  Maxwkll,  which  has  so  often  r^aled  us  on 
celebrations  of  our  great  anniversary. 

I  protest  against  any  inference  of  my  being  inimical  to  the  Temper- 
ance cause.  Qn  the  contrary,  1  think  it  an  admirable  cause  that  has 
done  great  good,  and  will  continue  to  do  good  as  long  as  legal  coer- 
cion is  not  employed,  and  it  rests  exclusively  upon  persuasion,  and 
its  own  intrinsic  merits. 

I  have  a  great  and  growing  repugnance  to  speaking  in  the  opcm 
air  to  a  large  assemblage.  But  while  the  faculty  of  speech  remains 
to  me,  I  can  never  feel  that  repugnance,  never  feel  other  than  grate- 
ful sensations,  in  malcing  my  aclcnowledgments  under  such  circum- 
stances as  those  which  have  brought  us  together.  Not  that  I  am  00 
presumptuous  as  to  believe  that  I  have  been  the  occasion  solely  of 
eoUecting  this  vast  multitude.  Among  the  inducements,  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  the  fat  white  virgin  Durham  Heifer  of  my  friend 
Mr.  Brrrtman,  that  cost  $600,  which  has  been  just  served  up,  and 
the  other  good  things  which  have  been  so  liberally  spread  before  us, 
exerted  some  influence  in  swelling  this  unprecedently  large  meeting. 
[Great  laughter.] 

I  cannot  but  feel,  Mr.  President,  In  offering  my  respectful  acloMml* 
«dgment8  for  the  honor  done  moi  in  the  eloquent  wMress  which  joa 


902  tpncHBi  or  RmBT  clat. 

bare  just  delirered,  and  id  the  sentifnent  with  which  yon  concluded 
it,  that  your  warm  partiality,  and  the  fervent  friendship  which  has  to 
long  existed  between  us,  and  the  kindness  of  my  neighbors  and  friends 
around  me,  have  prompted  an  exaggerated  description,  in  too  glow- 
ing colors,  of  my  public  services  and  my  poor  ftbilities. 

I  seize  the  opportunity  to  present  my  heartfelt  thanks  to  the  whole 
people  of  Kentucky,  for  all  the  high  honors  and  distinguished  favors 
which  I  have  received,  during  a  long  residence  with  them,  at  their 
hands ;  for  the  liberal  patronage  which  I  received  from  them  in  mv 
professional  pursuit ;  for  the  eminent  places  in  which  they  have  put 
me,  or  enabled  me  to  reach ;  for  the  generous  and  unbounded  confi- 
dence which  they  have  bestowed  upon  roe,  at  all  times ;  for  the  gal- 
lant and  unswerving  fidelity  and  attachment  with  which  they  stood 
by  roe,  throughout  all  the  trials  and  vicissitudes  of  an  eventful  and 
arduous  life ;  and,  above  all,  for  (he  scornful  indignation  with  which 
they  repelled  an  infamous  calumny  directed  against  my  name  and 
fame  at  a  momentous  period  of  my  public  career.  In  recalling  to  our 
memory  the  circumstances  of  that  period,  one  cannot  but  be  filled 
with  astonishment  at  the  indefatigability  with  which  the  calumny 
was  propagated  and  the  zealous  partisan  use  to  which  it  was  applied, 
not  only  without  evidence,  but  in  the  face  of  a  full  and  complete  refu 
tation*  Under  whatever  deception,  delusion  or  ignorance,  it  was 
received  elsewhere,  with  you,  my  friends  and  neighbors,  and  with 
the  good  people  of  Kentucky,  it  received  no  countenance  ;  but  in 
proportion  to  the  venom  and  the  malevolence  of  its  circulation  was 
the  vigor  and  the  magnanimity  with  which  I  was  generously  sup- 
ported. Upheld  by  a  consciousness  of  the  injustice  of  the  charge,  I 
should  have  borne  myself  with  becoming  fortitude,  if  I  had  been 
abandoned  by  you  as  1  was  by  so  large  a  portion  of  my  countrymen  ; 
but  to  have  been  sustained  and  vindicated  as  I  was  by  the  people  of 
my  own  State,  by  you  who  knew  me  best,  and  whom  I  had  so  many 
reasons  to  love  and  esteem,  greatly  cheered  and  encouraged  me  in 
my  onward  progress.     Eternal  gratitude  and  thanks  are  due  from  roe. 

I  thank  you  my  friends  and  fellow  citizens,  for  your  distinguished 
and  enthusiastic  reception  of  me  this  day  ;  and  for  the  excellence  and 
abundance  of  the  Barbecue  that  has  been  provided  for  our  entertain- 
ment. And  I  thank  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,. my  fair  country* 
for  honoring  and  gracing  and  adding  brillianoy  to  this 


ON   RBTUEimiO  TO  KKNTUCXT.  563 

•ion  by  tbeir  numerous  attendance.  If  the  delicacy  and  refinement 
of  their  sex  ivill  not  allow  them  to  mix  in  the  rougher  scenes  of 
human  life,  we  may  be  sure  that  whenever,  by  their  presence,  their 
smiles  and  approbation  are  bestowed,  it  is  no  ordinary  occurrence. 
That  presence  is  always  an  absolute  guaranty  of  order,  decorum  and 
respect.  I  take  the  greatest  pleasure  in  beafing  testimony  to  their 
▼alue  and  their  virtue.  1  have  ever  found  in  them  true  and  stead- 
hsi  friends,  generously  sympathizing  in  distress,  and,  by  their  coQ- 
rageous  fortitude  in  bearing  it  themselves,  encouraging  us  to  imitate 
their  example.  And  we  all  know  and  remember  how,  as  in  1840, 
they  can  powerfully  aid  a  great  and  good  cause,  without  any  depar- 
ture from  the  propriety  or  dignity  of  their  sex. 

In  looking  back  upon  my  origin  and  progress  through  life,  I  haye 
great  reason  to  bo  thankful.  My  father  died  in  1781,  leaving  me  an 
infant  of  too  tender  years  to  retain  any  recollection  of  his  smiles  or 
endearments.  My  surviving  parent  removed  to  this  State  in  179d| 
leaving  ir.e,  a  boy  of  fifteen  years  of  age,  in  the  office  of  the  High 
Court  of  Chancery,  in  the  Cityof  Richmond,  without  guardian,  with- 
out pecuniary  means  of  support,  to  steer  my  course  as  I  might  or 
could.  A  neglected  education  was  improved  by  my  own  irregular 
exertions,  without  the  benefit  of  systematic  instruction.  I  studied 
law  principally  in  the  office  of  a  lamented  friend,  the  late  Grovemor 
Brookf.,  then  Attorney  General  of  Virginia,  and  also  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  venrriible  and  lamented  Chancellor  Wythe,  for  whom  I 
had  acted  as  an  amanuensis.  I  obtained  a  license  to  practice  the 
profession  from  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Virginia,  and 
established  myself  in  Lexington  in  1797,  without  patrons,  withont 
the  favor  or  countenance  of  the  great  or  opulent,  without  the  means 
of  paying  my  weekly  board,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  Bar  uncommonly 
distinguished  by  eminent  members.  I  remember  how  comfortable  I 
I  thought  1  should  be,  if  I  could  make  jSlOO  Virginia  money  per 
year,  and  with  what  delight  I  received  the  first  fifteen  shilling  fee. 
My  hopes  were  more  than  realized.  I  immediately  rushed  into  a 
successful  and  lucrative  practice. 

In  1803  or  4,  when  I  was  absent  from  the  County  of  FayettOi  at 
the  Olympian  Springs,  without  my  knowledge  or  previous  consent,  I 
Wis  brought  forward  as  a  candidate  and  elected  to  the  General  As- 
semUj  of  thb  State.    I  served  ia  that  body  sevoral  years,  and 


064  ■PKiCHn  OP  Hnrar  clat. 

then  transferred  to  the  Senate,  and  aflerwardi  to  the  House  of  Re|M^- 
se'ntatives  of  the  United  States.  I  will  not  now  dwell  on  the  subse- 
quent events  of  my  political  life,  or  enumerate  the  ofiices  which  I 
have  filled.  During  my  public  career,  I  have  had  bitter,  implacable, 
reckless  enemies.  But  if  I  have  been  the  object  of  misrepresenialion 
and  unmerited  calumny,  no  man  has  been  beloved  or  honored  by 
more  devoted,  faithful  and  enthusiastic  friends.  I  have  no  reproaches 
—none — to  make  towards  my  country,  which  has  distinguished  and 
elevated  me  for  beyond  what  I  had  any  right  to  expect.  1  forgive 
my  enemies,  and  hope  they  may  live  to  obtain  tlie  forgiveness  o( 
their  own  hearts. 

It  would  neither  be  fitting  nor  is  it  my  purpose  to  pass  judgment 
on  all  the  acts  of  my  public  life ;  but  i  hope  i  shiall  be  excused  for  one 
or  two  observations,  which  the  occasion  appears  to  me  to  authorize. 
I  never  but  once  changed  my  opinion  on  any  great  meabure  of  Na- 
tional policy,  or  on  any  great  principle  of  construction  of  the  National 
Ck>nstitution.  -In  early  life,  on  deliberate  consideration,  1  adopted 
the  principles  of  interpreting  the  Federal  Constitution  which  has 
been  so  ably  developed  and  enforced  by  Mr.  Madison,  in  his  mc-mor- 
able  report  to  the  Virginia  Legislature,  and  to  them,  as  I  understood 
them,  1  have  constantly  adhered.  Upon  the  question  coming  up  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  recharler  the  first  Baok'of  the 
United  States  thirty  years  ago,  I  opj)osed  the  recharter,  upon  con- 
victions which  I  honestly  entertained.  The  experience  of  the  War, 
which  shortly  followed,  the  condition  into  which  the  currency  of  the 
country  was  thrown,  without  a  Bank,  and,  I  may  add,  later  and 
more  disastrous  experience,  convinced  me  I  was  wrong.  1  publicly 
stated  to  my  constituents  in  a  speech  in  Lexington,  (that  which  1 
had  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  Stales  not 
having  been  reported,)  iry  reasons  for  that  change,  and  they  are 
preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  country.  1  appeal  to  that  record : 
and  I  am  willing  to  be  judged  now  and  hereafter  by  their  validity. 

I  do  not  advert  to  the  fact  of  this  solitary  instance  of  change  of 
opinion,  as  implying  any  personal  merit,  but  because  it  is  a  fact.  1 
will,  however  say,  that  1  think  it  very  perilous  to  the  utility  of  any 
public  man  to  make  frequent  changes  of  opinion,  or  any  change  but 
«pon  grounds  so  sufficient  and  palpable,  that  the  public  can  cleariy 
and  approve  them.    If  we  could  look  through  a  window  into  the 


ON  RETURNING   TO   KENTUCKY.  565 

human  breast,  and  there  discover  the  causes  which  led  to  changes  of 
opinion,  they  might  be  made  without  hazard.  But  as  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  penetrate  the  human  heart,  and  distinguish  between  the  sinister 
and  honest  motives  which  prompt  it,  any  public  man  that  changes 
his  opinion,  once  deliberately  formed  and  promulgated,  under  other 
circumstances  than  those  which  I  have  stated,  draws  around  him  dis- 
trust, impairs  the  public  confidence,  and  lessens  his  capacity  to  serve 
his  country. 

I  will  take  this  occasion  now  to  say,  that  I  am,  and  have  been  long 
satisfied,  that  it  would  have  been  wiser  and  more  politic  in  me  to  have 
declined  accepting  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  in  1825.  Not  that 
my  motives  were  not  as  pure  and  as  patriotic  as  ever  carried  any  man 
into  public  office.  Not  that  the  calumny  which  was  applied  to  the  fact 
was  not  as  gross  and  as  unfounded  as  any  that  was  ever  propagated. 
[Here  somebody  cried  out  that  Mr.  Carter  Beverly,  whp  had  been 
made  the  organ  of  announcing  it,  had  recently  borne  testimony  to 
ils  beins:  unfounded.  Mr.  Clat  said  it  was  true  (hat  he  had  vo- 
luntarily  borne  such  testimony.  But,  with  great  earnestness  and  em- 
phasis, Mr.  Clay  said,  I  want  no  testimony — here — here — here, 
repeatedly  touching  his  heart,  amidst  tremendous  cheers,  here  is  the 
best  of  all  witnesses  of  my  innocence.]  Not  that  valued  friends,  and 
highly  esteemed  opponents  did  not  unite  in  urging  my  acceptance  of 
the  office.  Not  that  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams  will  not,  I 
sincerely  believe,  advanti^eously  compare  with  that  of  any  of  his 
predecessors,  in  economy,  purity,  prudence  and  wisdom.  Not  that 
Mr.  Adams  was  himself  wanting  in  any  of  those  high  qualifications 
and  upright  and  patriotic  intentions  which  were  suited  to  the  office. 
Of  that  extraordinary  man,  of  rare  and  varied  attainments,  whatever 
diversity  of  opinion  may  exist  as  to  his  recent  course  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  (and  candor  obliges  me  to  say  that  there  are  some 
things  in  it  which  I  deeply  regret,)  it  is  with  no  less  truth  than  plea- 
sure, I  declare  that  during  the  whole  period  of  his  administration, 
annoyed,  assailed  and  assaulted  as  it  was,  no  man  could  have  shown 
a  more  devoted  attachment  to  the  Union,  and  all  its  great  interests ; 
a  more  ardent  desire  faithfully  to  discharge  his  whole  duty,  or  brought 
to  his  aid  more  useful  experience  and  knowledge  than  he  did.  I 
never  transacted  business  with  any  man  in  my  life,  with  more  ease, 
satisfaction  and  advantage  than  I  did  with  that  most  able  and  inde- 
fatigable gentlemad,  as  President  of  the  United  States.  And  I  will 
add,  fhat  more  harmoDj  never  prevailed  in  anj  Cabinet  than  in  his. 

•LL 


566  tF£KCH£«  OF   HftKRT    CLAY* 

But  my  error,  in  accepting  the  office,  arose  out  of  my  underrating 
the  power  of  detraction  and  the  force  of  ignorance,  and  abiding,  with 
too  sure  a  confidence  in  the  conscious  integrity  and  uprightners  of 
my  own  nK)tives.  Of  that  ignorance,  1  had  a  remarkable  and  laugh- 
abJe  example  on  an  occasion  which  1  will  relate.  I  was  traveling, 
in  182S,  through,  I  believe  it  was,  Spottsylvania  county  in  Virginia, 
on  my  return  to  Washington,  in  conijmny  with  some  young  friends. 
We  halted  at  night  at  a  tavern,  kept  by  an  aged  gentleman,  who,  1 
quickly  j)c?rceived,  from  the  disorder  and  confusion  which  reigntn.', 
had  not  the  happin(>6s  to  have  a  wife.  AAer  a  hurried  and  bad  sup- 
per, tht^  old  gentleman  sat  down  by  me,  and  without  hearing  my 
name,  but  understanding,  that  I  was  from  Kentucky,  remarked  that 
he  had  four  sons  in  that  State,  and  that  he  was  very  sorry  they  wore 
divided  in  politics,  two  being  for  Adams  and  two  for  Jackson ;  he 
wished  they  were  all  for  Jackson.  Why  ?  I  asked  him.  Bt*eause, 
be  said,  thiit  feilofw  Clay  and  Adams  had  cheated  Jackson  out  of  the 
Presidency.  Hjjve  you  ever  seen  any  evidence  my  old  Griend,  said  I, 
of  that  ?  No,  he  replied,  none,  and  he  wanted  to  see  none.  But,  I 
observed,  looking  him  directly  and  steadily  in  the  face,  suppose  Mr. 
Clay  were  to  come  here  and  assure  you,  upon  his  honor,  that  it  was 
all  a  vilo  calumny,  and  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it,  would  you  believe 
him  ?  No,  replied  the  old  gentleman,  promptly  and  em[>haticalfy. 
1  said  to  him  in  conclusion,  will  you  be  good  enough  to  show  me  to 
bed,  and  bid  him  good  night.  The  next  morning,  having  in  the  i.n 
terval  learned  my  mime,  he  came  to  me  full  of  apologies,  hut  I  at 
once  put  him  at  his  ease  by  assuring  htm  that  I  did  not  H^el  in  the 
slightest  degree  hurt  or  oilended  with  him. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  been  accused  of  ambition,  often  accused  (tf 
ambition.  I  believe,  however,  that  my  accusers,  will  be  generally 
found  to  be  political  opponents,  or  the  friends  of  aspirants  in  whosa 
way  I  was  supposed  to  stand,  and  it  was  thought  therefore,  necessary 
lo  shove  me  aside.  I  defy  my  enemies  to  point  out  any  act  or  in- 
■tance  of  my  life,  in  which  I  have  sought  the  attainment  of  office  by 
dishonorable  or  unworthy  means.  Did  I  display  inordinate  ambition, 
when,  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison,  I  declined  a  foreign 
mission  of  the  first  grade,  and  an  Executive  Department,  both  of 
which  he  successively  kindly  tendered  to  me  }  When,  under  that  d 
his  successor,  Mr.  Moztroe,  I  was  first  importuned  (as  no  one  knowi 
better  thin  that  tterliag  old  patriot ^  Jonathaxi  Robsbtbi  now  tbiea 


«K   BETVItKINfi   TO  XBVTUCXT.  667 

lened,  as  tbc  papers  tell  us,  with  oxpulsiou  fi-om  an  oCicc  whiuti  was 
never  filleU  with  more  hoDosty  and  uprightness,  becauiw  ha  declines 
to  be  a  scrvili;  inslrument,)  to  accept  a  St-cre tar j ship,  and  was  afler- 
wards  offered  a  carle  blanche  of  all  the  KorcJf;ii  missions  ?  Al  the 
epoch  of  the  election  of  lS:Jo,  1  t>elieve  no  ooe  doubled  at  Wtfihing- 
loQ  that,  if  I  luid  felt  it  ray  tluty  to  vole  for  General  Jackson,  ha 
would  bavi-  invited  iur  to  take  chargr  of  a  DepartnieaL  And  such 
undoubtedly  Mr.  CrAuford  would  liave  done,  if  he  had  been  elected. 
When  ihe  Harrisburg  Coavvntion  aiisemblcd,  the  general  r^xpectation 
■was  Ibal  the  nuininuLion  would  be  given  t«  me.  It  was  given  to  the 
lamented  Harhisdk.  Did  1  exhibit  extraordlaary  ambitii>D  when, 
dieerfully  acquiescing,  1  threw  myself  into  tlie  canvass  aod  maile 
every  cxerlioii  in  my  power  to  insure  it  success  ?  Was  it  evidence 
of  unchastened  ambition  in  me  to  resign,  as  1  recently  did,  my  seat  in 
llie  Senate — to  resign  the  Dictatorship,  with  which  my  enemies  had 
BO  kindly  invested  rait,  and  «ome  borne  to  tbe  quiet  walks  of  private 
Jife  ? 

But  I  am  ambitious  because  aonie  of  my  countrymen  have  seen  fit 
io  aasociale  my  name  with  the  succession  for  the  Presidential  office. 
Do  those  who  prefer  the  charge  know  what  1  have  done,  or  not  done, 
in  connection  with  that  object.'  Have  they  given  themselves  th« 
trouble  to  enquire  at  all  into  any  agency  of  mine  in  respect  to  it  >  I 
beliove  not.  It  is  a  subject  which  I  approach  with  all  the  delicacy 
which  belongs  to  it,  and  with  a  daa  regard  to  the  dignity  of  the  ex> 
alted  station  ;  but  on  which  1  ahall,  at  the  same  lime,  speak  to  you, 
my  friesda  and  neighboca,  withoot  reserve,  and  with  the  utmost 
candor. 

I  have  prompted  none  of  those  movements  among  the  people,  of 
which  we  have  seen  accounts.  As  far  as  I  ara  concerned,  they  an 
altogether  spontaneous,  and  not  only  without  concert  with  me,  but 
most  generally  without  any  sort  of  previous  knowledge  on  my  part. 
That  I  am  thankful  and  grateful — profoundly  grateful — for  lhes« 
manifestations  of  confidence  and  allAchment,  I  will  not  conceal  nor 
deny.  Bui  I  have  been,  and  mean  to  remain,  a  passive,  if  not  indif- 
ferent spectator.  I  have  reached  a  time  of  life,  and  seen  enough  of 
high  official  stations  to  enable  me  justly  to  appreciate  their  value, 
Ib^r  carea,  their  reoponsibilitieB,  Iheit  ceuekaa  datiea.  That  eati- 
.aateof  .tbdrvattbilaaiKnaml  imBt«fTinr,inraU  nMnia^Bw 


M8  tPBCRV  tW  RUTBT  CLAT.' 

firom  seeking  to  fill  any  one,  the  highest  of  them,  in  a  scramhle  of 
douhtful  issue,  with  political  opponents,  much  less  with  political 
friends.  That  I  should  feel  greatly  honored  hy  a  call  from  a  majority 
of  the  People  of  this  country,  to  the  highest  office  within  their  gift, 
I  shall  not  deny ;  nor,  if  my  health  were  preserved,  might  I  feel  at 
liberty  to  decline  a  summons  so  authoritative  and  commanding.  But 
I  declare  most  solemnly,  that  I  have  not,  up  to  this  moment,  deter- 
mined whether  •!  will  consent  to  the  use  of  my  name  or  not  as  a  can- 
-didate  for  the  Chief  Magistracy.  That  h  a  grave  question,  which 
should  be  decided  by  all  attainable  lights,  which  I  think,  is  not  neces- 
sary yet  to  be  decided,  and  a  decision  of  which  I  reserve  to  myself, 
as  fiur  as  I  can  reserve  it,  until  the  period  arrives  when  it  ought  to  be 
solved.  That  period  has  not,  as  I  think,  yet  arrived.  When  it  does, 
an  impartial  survey  of  the  whole  ground  should  be  taken,  the  state 
of  public  opinion  properly  considered,  and  one's  personal  condition, 
physical  and  intellectual,  duly  examined  and  weighed.  In  thus  an- 
nouncing a  course  of  conduct  for  myself,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
remark  that  it  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  condemn,  or  express  any . 
opinion  whatever  upon  those  popular  movements  which  have  been 
made,  or  may  be  contemplated,  in  respect  to  the  next  election  of  a 
President  of  the  United  States. 

If  to  have  served  my  country,  during  a  long  series  of  years,  with 
fervent  zeal  and  unshaken  fidelity  in  seasons  of  peace  and  war,  at 
home  and  abroad,  in  the  Legislative  Halls  and  in  an  Executive  De- 
partment, if  to  have  labored  most  sedulously  to  avert  the  embarrass- 
ment and  distress  which  now  overspread  this  Union  ;  and  when  they 
came,  to  have  exerted  myself  anxiously,  at  the  Extra  session,  and  at 
this,  to  devise  healing  remedies ;  if  to  have  desired  to  introduce 
economy  and  reform  in  the  general  administration,  curtail  enormous 
Executive  power,  and  amply  provide,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  wants 
of  the  Government  and  the  wants  of  the  People  by  a  Tariff  which 
would  give  it  revenue  and  them  protection ;  if  to  have  earnestly 
sought  to  establish  the  bright  but  too  rare  example  of  a  party  in 
power,  faithful  to  its  promises  and  pledges  made  when  out  of  power 
**if  these  services,  exertions  and  endeavors  justify  the  accusation  of 
ambition,  I  most  plead  guilty  to  the  charge. 

1  have  wished  the  good  opmion  of  the  worid  ;  but  I  defy  the  most 
iBaHgiMiit  of  mj  enemies  to  Aom  that  I  bare  attempted  to  gain  it  bj 


ON  RSTURNIKO  TO  KEMTUCKT.  569 

«Dy  low  or  grovelling  arts,  by  any  mean  or  unworthy  sacrifices^  bj 
the  violation  of  any  of  the  obligations  of  honor,  or  by  a  breach  of 
any  of  the  duties  which  I  owed  to  my  country. 

I  turn.  Sir,  from  these  personal  allusions  and  reminiscences,  to  the 
vastly  more  important  subject  of  the  present  actual  condition  of  thii 
country.  If  they  could  ever  be  justifiable  or  excusable,  it  would  be 
on  such  an  occasion  as  this,  when  I  am  addressing  those  to  whom  I 
am  bound  by  so  many  intimate  and  friendly  ties. 

In  speaking  of  the  present  state  of  the  country,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  me  to  touch  with  freedom  and  independence  upon  the  past 
as  well  as  the  present,  and  upon  the  conduct,  spirit  and  principles 
of  parties.  In  doing  this,  I  assure  my  democratic  brethren  and  fel- 
low citizens,  of  whom  I  am  told  there  are  many  here  present,  (and  I 
tender  them  my  cordial  thanks  fbr  the  honor  done  me  by  their  at- 
tendance here  this  day,  with  as  much  sincerity  and  gratitude  as  if 
they  agreed  with  me  in  political  sentiment,)  that  nothing  is  farther 
from  my  intention  than  to  say  one  single  word  that  ought  to  wound 
their  feelings  or  give  offence  to  them.  But  surely,  if  there  ever  were, 
a  period  in  the  progress  of  aay  People  when  all  Vere  called  upoui 
with  calmness  and  candor,  to  consider  thoroughly  the  present  posture 
of  public  and  private  affairs,  and  deliberately  to  inquire  into  the  cau- 
ses and  remedies  of  thi«  unpropitious  state  of  things,  we  have  arrived 
at  that  period  in  the  United  States.  And,  if  ever  a  People  stood 
bound  by  the  highest  duties  to  themselves  and  to  their  posterity,  to 
sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  their  country,  cherished  prejudices  and 
party  predilections  and  antipathies,  we  are  now  called  upon  to  make 
that  sacrifice,  if  necessary. 

What  is  our  actual  condition  ?  It  is  oBe  of  unexampled  distress 
and  embarrassment,  as  universal  as  it  is  intense,  pervading  the  whole 
community,  and  sparing  none.  Property  of  all  kinds,  and  every 
where,  fallen  and  falling  in  value ;  agricultural  produce  of  every  de- 
scription at  the  most  reduced  prices ;  money  unsound  and  at  the  same 
time  scarce,  and  becoming  more  scarce  by  preparations,  of  doubtful 
and  uncertain  issue,  to  increase  its  soundness ;  all  the  departments  of 
business  inactive  and  stagnant;  exchanges  extravagantly  high  and 
constantly  fluctuating ;  credit,  public  and  private,  at  the  lowest  ebb, 
«iid  confidence  loat ;  and  a  fiselipg  of  genend  discouiageoient  and  de- 


97D  tPKCCHV  or  henrt  clat. 

pretsioQ.  And  what  darkens  the  gloom  which  hangs  over  the  coun^ 
tfy,  no  one  can  discern  any  termination  of  this  sad  state  of  things, 
nor  see  in  the  future  any  glimpses  of  light  or  hope. 

Is  not  this  a  faithful,  although  appalling  picture  of  the  United 
States  in  1S42  ?  I  appeal  to  all  present,  Whigs  and  Democrats,  In- 
dies and  Gentlemen,  to  say  if  it  be  at  all  too  high  colored. 

Now  let  us  see  what  was  our  real  condition  only  the  short  time  of 
ten  years  ago.  1  had  occasion,  in  February  1832,  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  when  I  was  defending  the  American  System, 
against  the  late  Colonel  ITayne  of  South  Carolina,  to  describe  it; 
aiid  I  refer  to  this  description  as  evidence  of  what  I  believed  to  be  the 
state  of  the  country  at  that  time.  That  it  conformed  to  the  truth  of 
the  case,  I  appeal  with  confidence  to  those  now  present.  On  thai 
occasion,  among  other  things,  I  said  : 

**  I  have  now  to  peTfonn  the  more  nleasinx  ta&k  of  exhibiting  an  imperfect  sketch 
of  the  existing  state  of  the  unpuralleltd  prosperity  of  the  country.  On  a  general 
•iinrey,  we  bcTioId  cultivation  extended,  the  arts  ilourishingr,  the  face  of  the  conntry 
iiniiroved,  our  i>eopIe  fully  und  profitably  einpioyed,  and  tiie  public  countenance  ex- 
hibiting tranquility,  contentment  and  happinettj.  And,  ii  we  descend  into  pdrtieu> 
lare,  wc  hnve  the  agreeHble  contemplation  of  a  people  mn  of  debt,  land  risiuR  slowly 
in  value,  but  in  a  secure  and  salutaiy  degree  :  a  ready,  though  not  exlruv;igani. 
market  tor  nil  the  surplus  productions  of  our  industry ;  innumerable  flockit  and  herris 
browsing  and  gambolling  on  ten  thousand  hills  and  plains,  covered  with  rich  and 
verdant  grasses:  our  cities  expanded,  and  whole  villages  spriui^iug  uj»,  as  it  were, 
by  encbantmcnt :  our  exf>orts  and  our  importtj  increa&ed  and  increasing;  ouriou- 
na^c,  foreign  and  coastwise,  swelling  and  fully  occupied  ;  the  rivers  of  our  inlirior 
animated  by  the  perpetual  thunder  and  lightnmg  of  countlchS  steamboat^,  the  cur- 
rency sound  and  abundant;  the  public  debt  of  two  wars  nearly  redeemed  :  and,  to 
crown  all,  the  pnblic  treasury  overflowing,  embarrnFflng  Congress,  not  to  find  tuU 
•  iecta  of  taxation,  but  to  select  the  objects  which  shall  be  liberated  from  the  impoj^t. 
If  the  term  of  seven  yeans  xivre  to  bt;  jielecied,  of  the  greatest  prosperity  which  thi« 
people  have  enjoyed,  Bincc  the  establishment  of  their  present  Constitution,  it  would 
be  exactlv  that  iieriud  of  seven  years  v^hich  immediately  followed  the  iias^ag*'  of 
the  Tariff  of  1824.'» 

And  that  period  embraced  the  whole  term  of  the  administration  of 
Mr.  John  Q.  Adans,  which  has  been  so  unjustly  abused  ! 

The  contrast  in  the  state  of  the  country,  at  the  two  periods  of 
1832  and  1842,  is  most  remarkable  and  startling.  What  has  prec^ 
pitated  us  from  that  great  height  of  enviable  prosperity  down  to  the 
lowest  depths  of  pecuniary  embarrassment  ?  What  has  occasioned 
the  wonderful  change  ?  No  foreign  foe  has  invaded  and  desolateil 
the  country.  We  have  had  neither  famine  nor  earthquakes.  That 
there  exists  a  cause  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  I  think  it  equally 


ox   BSTURNINO  TO  KBIfTUCKT.  571 

clear  that  the  cause,  whatever  it  may  be,  must  be  a  general  one ;  for 
nothing  but  a  general  cause  could  have  produced  such  wide-spread 
ruin  ;  and  every  where  we  behold  the  same  or  similar  effects,  every 
interest  affected,  every  section  of  the  Union  suffering,  all  descriptions 
of  produce  and  property  depressed  in  value.  And  while  1  endeavor 
to  find  out  that  cause,  and  to  trace  to  their  true  source  the  disastrous 
effects  which  we  witness  and  feel,  and  lament,  1  entreat  the  Demo- 
cratic portion  of  my  audience,  especially,  to  listen  with  patience  and 
candor,  and,  dismissing  for  a  moment  party  biases  and  prejudices,  to 
decide  with  impartiality  and  in  a  spirit  of  genuine  patriotism. 

It  has  been  said  by  those,  in  high  authority,  that  the  People  are 
to  blame  and  not  the  Government ;  and  that  the  distresses  of  the 
country  have  proceeded  from  speculation  and  overtrading.  The 
people  have  been  ever  reproached  for  expecting  too  much  from  Go- 
vernment, and  not  relying  sufficiently  upon  their  own  exertions. 
And  they  have  been  reminded  that  the  highest  duty  of  the  Govern- 
ment is  to  take  care  of  itself,  leaving  the  People  to  shift  for  them- 
selves as  well  as  they  can.  Accordingly  we  have  seen  the  Govern- 
ment retreating  from  the  storm  which  it  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel, 
itself  created,  and  taking  shelter  under  the  Sub-Treasury. 

That  there  has  boen  some  speculation  and  over-trading,  may  h^ 
true ;  but  all  have  not  speculated  and  over-traded  ;  while  the  dis- 
tress reaches,  if  not  in  the  same  degree,  the  cautious  and  the  pru- 
dent, as  well  as  the  enterprising  and  adventurous.  The  error  of  the 
argument  consists  in  mistaking  the  effect  for  the  cause.  What  pro- 
duced the  overtrading  ?  What  was  the  cause  of  speculation  }  How 
were  the  people  tempted  to  abandon  the  industrious  and  secure  pur- 
suits of  life  and  embark  in  doubtful  and  perilous,  but  seducing  enter- 
prizes  }    That  is  the  important  question.  ' 

Now,  fellow  citizens,  I  take  upon  myself  to  show  that  the  people 
have  been  far  less  to  blame  than  the  General  Government,  and  that 
whatever  of  error  they  committed,  was  the  natural  and  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  unwise  policy  of  their  rulers.  To  the  action  of 
Government  is  mainly  to  be  ascribed  the  disorders  the  embarrass- 
ment and  distress  which  all  have  now  so  much  reason  to  deplore. 
And,  to  be  yet  more  specific,  I  think  they  are  to  be  fairly  attributed 
to  the  action  of  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Federal  Government. 


^72    '  8PEECHCS  OP  -HKVRT    CLAT. 

Three  facts  or  events,  all  happening  about  the  same  time,  if  their 
immediate  effects  are  duly  considered,  will  afford  a  clear  and  satis&c- 
tory  solution  of  all  the  pecuniary  evils  which  now  unhappily  afflict 
this  country. 

The  first  was  the  veto  of  the  recharter  of  the'Bank  of  the  United 
States.  The  second  was  the  removal  of  the  deposites  of  the  United 
States  from  that  Bank  to  local  hanks.  And  the  third  was  the  refu- 
sal of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  an  arbitrary  stretch  of 
of  power,  to  sanction  the  passage  of  the  Land  Bill.  These  events 
all  occurred,  in  quick  succession,  in  1833-34,  and  each  of  them  de- 
serves particular  consideration. 

1.  When  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  fully  recovered  from 
the  errors  of  its  early  administration,  and  at  a  period  when  it  was 
proposed  to  re-charter  it,  it  furnished  the  best  currency  that  ever  ex- 
isted, possessing  not  merely  unbounded  confidence  in  the  United 
States,  but  throughout  the  whole  commercial  world.  No  institution 
was  ever  more  popular,  and  the  utility  of  a  Bank  of  the  United 
States  was  acknowleged  by  President  Jackson  in  his  Veto  message, 
in  which  he  expressly  stated,  that  he  could  have  suggested  to  Con- 
gress the  plan  of  an  unexceptionable  charter,  if  application  had 
been  made  to  him.  And  I  state  as  a  fact,  what  many,  I  am  sure, 
will  here  remember  and  sustain,  that  in  the  canvass  then  going  on 
for  the  Presidency,  many  of  his  friends  in  this  State  gave  assurances, 
that,  in  the  event  of  his  re-^ection,  a  Bank  of  the  United  States 
would  be  established.  , 

It  was  held  out  to  the  people,'  that  a  better  currency  should  be 
supplied,  and  a  more  safe  and  &ithful  execution  of  the  fiscal  duties 
towards  the  Government  would  be  performed  by  the  local  banks, 
than  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

What  was  the  immediate  effect  of  the  overthrow  of  that  institu- 
tion ?  The  establishment  of  innumerable  local  banks,  which  sprung 
up  every  where,  with  a  rapidity  to  which  we  cannot  look  back  with- 
out amazement.  ,  A  respectable  document  which  I  now  hold  in  my 
hand,  I  believe  correctly  states,  that  ''  in  1830  the  aggregate  bank- 
ing capital  of  the  Union  was  $145,190,268^  Within  two  years  af- 
ter the  removal  of  the  deposites,  the  banking  capital  had  swollen  to 


ON   RSTUKNIHO  TO  KKZfTUCKT.  573 

1^331  ^250,337,  and  in  1837  it  reached  $450,195,710.  While  the 
United  States  Bank  was  in  existence,  the  local  banks,  not  aspiring 
to  the  regulation  of  the  currency,  were  chartered  with  small  capi- 
tals, as  occasion  and  business  required.  After  1833,  they  were  char* 
tered  without  necessity  and  multiplied  beyond  example.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1837,  there  were  no  less  than  709  State  banks.  Nearly  four 
hundred  banks  sprung  up  upon  the  ruins  of  the  United  States  Bank, 
and  $250,000,000  of  capital  was  incorporated,  to  supply  the  uses 
formerly  discharged  by  the  $35,000,000  capital  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  The  impulse  given  to  extravagance  and  speculation 
by  this  enormous  increase  of  banking  capital  was  quickened  by  the 
circulars  of  the  Treasury  Department  to  these  pet*  State  banks  that 
were  made  the  custodiers  of  the  National  Revenue." 

A  vast  proportion  of  these  new  banks,  more  I  believe  than  four- 
fifths,  were  chartered  by  Legislatures  in  which  the  Democratic  party 
had  the  undisputed  ascendancy.  I  well  remember  that,  in  this  State, 
the  presses  of  that  party  made  a  grave  chaige  against  me  of  being 
inimical  to  the  establishment  here  of  State  banks  ;  and  I  was  op- 
posed to  their  establishment,  until  all  prospect  vanbhed  of  getting  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States. 

The  effect  upon  the  country  of  this  sudden  increase,  to  such  an 
immense  amount,  of  the  banking  capital  of  the  country,  could  not 
fail  to  be  very  great,  if  not  disastrous.  It  threw  out,  in  the  utmost 
profusion.  Bank  accommodations  in  all  th^  variety  of  forms,  ordi- 
nary Bank  notes,  post<iotes,  checks,  drafts,  bills,  &c.  The  curren- 
cy thus  put  forth,  the  people  had  been  assured  was  better  than  that 
supplied  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ;  and,  after  the  removal 
of  the  depositet,  the  Local  Banks  were  urged  and  stimulated,  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  freely  to  discount  and  accommodate  upon 
the  basis  of  those  deposites.  Flooded  as  the  country  was,  by  these 
means  and  in  this  way,  with  all  species  of  Bank  money  and  fiicilities, 
is  it  surprising  that  tliey  should  have  rushed  into  speculation,  and 
freely  adventured  in  the  most  desperate  enterprises  ?  It  would  have 
been  better  to  have  avoided  them ;  it  would  have  been  better  that 
the  people  should  have  been  wiser  and  more  prudent  than  Govern- 
ment ;  but  who  is  most  to  blame,  they  who  yielded  to  temptation  so 
thrown  before  them — ^they  who  yielded  confidence  to  their  rulers — 
they  who  could  not  see  when  thk.  inordinate  issue  ot  money  was  to 


574  tPlKCHEt  OF  HEURT  CLAT. 

cease  or  to  become  vitiated ;  or  Government,  that  tempted,  aeduoed 
and  betrayed  them  ? 

And  now,  fellow  citizens,  do  let  us  in  calmness  and  candor,  revert 
for  a  moment  to  some  of  the  means  which  were  employed  to  break 
down  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  to  inflict  upon  the  country 
all  the  sad  consequences  which  ensued.  I  shall  not  stop  to  expose 
the  motives  of  the  assault  upon  that  institution,  and  to  show  that  it 
was  because  it  refused  to  make  itself  basely  and  servilely  instrumen- 
tal to  promotion  of  political  views  and  objects. 

The  Bank  wa!^  denounced  as  a  monster,  aiming  as  was  declared,  to 
rob  the  people  of  their  liberties,  and  to  subvert  the  Government  of 
the  country.  The  Bank  to  subvert  the  Government!  Why  how 
could  the  Bank  continue  to  exist  after  the  overthrow  of  that  Govern, 
ment  to  which  it  was  indebted  for  its  existence,  and  in  virtue  of  whose 
authority  it  could  alone  successfully  operate  ?  Convulsions,  revolu- 
tions, civil  wars,  are  not  the  social  conditions  most  favoiable  to  Bank 
prosperity  ;  but  they  flourish  most  when  order,  law,  regularity,  punc- 
tuality and  successful  business  prevail. 

Rob  the  people  of  their  liberties  ?  And  pray  what  would  it  do 
with  them  after  the  robbery  was  perpetrated  ?  It  could  not  put 
them  in  its  vaults,  or  make  interest  or  profit  upon  them,  the  leading, 
if  not  sole  object  of  a  Bank.  And  how  could  it  destroy  the  liber- 
ties of  the  people,  without  at  the  same  time  destroying  the  liberties 
of  all  persons  interested  or  concerned  in  the  Bank  ?  VMiat  is  a 
Bank  ?  It  is  a  corporation,  the  aggregate  of  whose  capital  is  contri- 
buted by  individual  shareholders,  and  employed  in  pecuniary  opera- 
tions, under  the  management  of  official  agents,  called  President,  Di- 
rectors, Cashier,  Teller  and  Clerks.  Now  all  these  persons  are  usu- 
ally citizens  of  the  United  States,  just  as  much  interested  in  the  pre- 
servation of  the  liberties  of  the  country,  as  any  other  citizens. 
What  earthly  motive  could  prompt  them  to  seek  the  destruction  of 
the  liberty  of  their  fellow  citizens  and,  with  it  their  own  ? 

The  fate  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  clearly  demonstrated 
where  the  real  danger  to  the  public  liberty  exists.  It  was  not  in  the 
Bank.  Its  popularity  had  been  great,  and  the  conviction  of  its  utili  ty 
strong  and  general,  up  to  the  period  of  the  Bank  Veto.     Unbounded 


oif  KmnmiNe  to  TttmcKT-  575 

M  waa  the  influence  of  President  JacVoD)  and  undisgained  u  Ijis  hos- 
tility was  to  the  Bank,  he  could  not  prevent  the  pasaage  through  Con- 
gceas  ofa  bill  to  re-charter  it.  In  such  favor  and  esteem  was  it  held, 
that  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  in  which  his  friends  had  uncon- 
trolled sway,  almost  unanimously  recommended  there-charier-  But 
his  Veto  came  ;  hfc  blew  his  whistle  for  its  destruction  ;  it  was  neces- 
sary to  sustain  his  parly,  which  couM  only  be  done  by  sustaining 
him,  and  instantly,  and  every  where,  down  with  the  Bank  and  huz- 
Koh  for  the  Veto,  became  the  watch-words  and  the  rallying  cry  of 
his  partisans.  That  same  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  now  with 
eijual  unanimity,  approved  the  destruction  of  an  institulion  which 
they  had  believed  to  be  indispensable  to  the  public  prosperity,  and 
the  deluded  people  fell  as  if  they  had  fortunately  escaped  a  great 
National  calamity  !  ^ 

The  Veto  notwithstanding,  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  a  large 
majority,  resolved  that  the  public  dt'posiles  were  safe  in  the  custody 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  Stales,  where  they  were  placed,  under  the 
sanction  and  by  the  command  of  the  law  ;  and  it  was  welt  known  at 
Washington,  that  this  resolution  was  passed  in  anticipation  and  to 
prevent  the  possibility  of  their  removal.  In  the  face  and  in  contempt 
of  this  decision  of  the  Bepresentatives  of  the  people,  and  in  violation 
of  a  positive  law,  the  removal  was  ordered  by  the  President  a  few 
months  after,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  having  been  previously 
himself  removed  to  accomplish  the  object.  And  this  brings  tne  to 
consider, the  eSect  produced  npoo  the  business  and  intereata  of  the 
country,  by  the 

2nd  event  to  which  I  have  alluded.  It  is  welt  known  to  be  the 
usage  of  the  Banks,  to  act  upon  the  standing  average  amount  of  their 
deposiles,  as  upon  a  permanent  fund.  The  Bank  of  the  United 
Slttes  had  so  regulated  its  transactions  upon  the  deposites  of  the 
United  Slates,  and  had  granted  accommodations  and  extended  bcili- 
ties  as  far  as  could  be  safely  done  on  that  basis.  The  deposites  were 
removed  nnd  dispersed  among  various  local  Banks,  which  were  ui^ed 
by  an  authority  not  likely  to  be  disregarded,  especially  when  aecond- 
jng,  as  it  did,  their  own  pecuniary  interests,  to  discount  and  accom- 
modate freely  on  them-  They  did  so  ;  and  thus  these  deposites  per- 
formed a  double  office,  by  being  the  basis  of  Bonk  facilities,  first,  ip 
the  hands  of  the  ISank  of  the  United  States,  and  aftemrdi  in  tlw 


576  tPSBCHBi  or  bbhrt  clat. 

possession  of  the  local  Banks.  A  vast  addition  to  the  circolatioii  of 
the  country  ensued,  adding  to  that  already  so  copiously  put  forth  and 
putting  forth  by  the  multitude  of  new  Banks  which  were  springing 
up  like  mushrooms.  That  speculation  and  overtrading  should  hate 
followed,  were  to  haye  been  naturally  expected.  It  is  surprising 
that  there  were  not  more.  Prices  rose  enormously,  as  another  con- 
sequence ;  and  thousands  were  tempted,  as  is  always  the  case  in  an 
advancing  market,  to  hold  on  or  to  mi^e  purchases,  under  the  hope 
of  prices  rising  still  higher.  A  rush  of  speculators  was  made  upon 
the  public  lands,  and  the  money  invested  in  their  purchase,  coming 
back  to  the  deposite  Banks,  was  again  and  again  loaned  out  to  the 
same  or  other  speculators,  to  make  other  and  other  purchi 


Who  was  to  blame  for  this  artificial  and  inflated  state  of  things  ? 
Who  for  the  speculation  which  was  its  natural  ofipring  ?  Tlie  poli- 
.  cy  of  Grovernment,  which  produced  it,  or  the  people?  The  sedoctr, 
or  the  seduced  ?  The  people,  who  only  used  the  means  so  abun- 
dantly supplied  in  virtue  of  the  public  authority,  or  our  rulers,  whose 
unwise  policy  tempted  them  into  ruinous  speculation  ? 

3.  There  was  a  measure,  the  passage  of  which  would  have  greatly 
mitigated  this  unnatural  state  of  things.  It  was  not  dl£5cult  to  ibie* 
see,  after  the  Veto  of  the  Bank,  some  of  the  consequences  that 
would  follow.  The  multiplication  of  Banks,  a  superabundant  cur 
rency,  rash  and  inordinate  speculation,  and  a  probable  ultimate  sus- 
pension of  specie  payments.  And  the  public  domain  was  too  bril- 
liant and  tempting  a  prize,  not  to  be  among  the  first  objects  that 
would  attract  speculation.  In  March  1833,  a  bill  passed  both  Hoosei 
of  Congress,  to  distribute  among  the  States  the  proceeds  of  sales  of 
the  public  lands.  It  was  a  measure  of  strict  justice  to  the  States, 
and  one  of  sound  policy  as  it  respects  the  revenue  of  the  United 
States ;  but  the  view  which  I  now  propose  to  take  of  it,  appb'es  alto- 
gether to  the  influence  which  it  would  have  exerted  upon  circula- 
tion and  speculation.  It  was  the  constitutional  duty  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  have  returned  the  bill  to  Congress  with  his  objections,  if  he 
were  opposed  to  it,  or  with  his  sanction,  if  he  approved  it ;  but  the 
bill  fell  by  his  arbitrarily  withholding  it  from  Congress. 

Let  hs  here  pause  and  consider  what  would  have  been  the  opera- 
tion of  that  most  timely  and  salutary  measure,  if  it  had  not  been 


ON  EBTURNIIfO  TO  KKNTUCKT.  577 

arrested.  The  bill  pessed  in  1833,  aod  in  a  short  time  after,  the 
sales  of  the  pnbUc  lands  were  made  to  an  unprecedented  extent ;  in 
so  mach,  that  in  one  year  they  amounted  to  about  $25,000,000,  and 
in  a  few  years  to  an  aggregate  of  about  $50,000,000.  It  was  mani- 
fest that,  if  this  fund,  so  rapidly  accumulating,  remained  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  local  Banks,  in  conformity  with  the  Treasury  circular, 
and  with  their  interests,  it  would  be  made  the  basis  of  new  loans, 
new  accommodations,  fresh  bank  facilities.  It  was  manifest  that  the 
same  identical  sum  of  money  might  as  it  in  fact  did,  purchase  many 
tracts  of  land,  by  making  the  circuit  from  the  land-offices  to  the 
Banks,  and  from  the  Banks  to  the  land-offices,  besides  stimulating 
speculation  in  other  forms. 

Under  the  operation  of  the  measure  of  distribution,  that  great  fund 
would  have  been  semi-annually  returned  to  the  States,  and  would 
have  been  applied,  under  the  direction  of  their  respective  Legisla- 
tures, to  various  domestic  and  useful  purposes.  It  would  have  fallen 
upon  the  land,  like  the  rains  of  heaven,  in  gentle,  genial  and  general 
showers,  passing  through  a  thousand  rills,  and  fertilizing  and  beauti- 
fying the  country.  Instead  of  being  employed  in  purposes  of  specu- 
lation, it  would  have  been  applied  to  the  common  benefit  of  the  whole 
people.  Finally,  when  the  fund  had  accumulated  and  was  accumu- 
lating in  an  alarming  degree,  it  was  distributed  among  the  States  by 
the  deposite  act,  but  so  suddenly  distributed,  in  such  large  masses, 
and  in  a  manner  so  totally  in  violation  of  all  the  laws  and  rules  of 
finance,  that  the  crisis  of  suspension  in  1837,  was  greatly  accelerated. 
This  would  have  been  postponed,  if.  not  altogether  avoided,  if  the 
land  bill  of  1833  had  been  approved  and  executed. 

To  these  three  causes,  fellow-citizens,  the  Veto  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  consequent  creation  of  innumerable  local 
Banks,  the  removal  of  the  deposites  of  the  United  States 'from  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  their  subsequent  free  use,  and  the 
failure  of  the  land  bill  of  1833, 1  verily  believe,  all,  or  nearly  all  of 
the  pecuniary  embarrassments  of  the  country  are  plainly  attributable. 
If  the  Bank  had  been  re-chartered,  the  public  deposites  suffered  to 
remain  undisturbed  where  the  law  required  them  to  be  made,  and  the 
land  bill  had  gone  into  operation,  it  b  my  firm  conviction  that  we 
should  have  had  no  more  individual  distress  and  ruin  than  is  com- 
mon, in  ordimury  and  regular  times,  to'  a  trading  and  oommerohl 
conununity. 


^78  tPKKCHfiS  OF   UJENRT    CLAT, 

Aikl  do  just  now  take  a  rapid  review  of  the  experimeota  of  our 
rulers.  They  began  with  inconteslibly  the  best  currency  in  the 
world,  and  promised  a  belter.  The  better  current  was  to  be  sup- 
plied by  the  local  Banks  ;  and,  in  the  first  stages  of  the  experiment, 
after  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  they  were  highly  commended, 
from  high  authority,  for  their  beneficial  and  extensive  operations  i& 
exchange,  the  financial  facilities  which  they  afforded  to  the  Govern- 
ment, iic.,&c.  But  the  day  of  trouble  and  difficulty  which  had  been 
predicted,  for  the  want  of  a  United  States  Bank,  came.  They  coulil 
not  stand  the  shock,  but  gave  way,  and  the  suspension  of  1837  took 
place.  Then  what  was  the  course  of  those  same  rulers  ?  They  had 
denounced  and  put  down  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  It  was  a 
monster.  They  had  extolled  and  lavished  praises  on  the  local  Banks. 
Now,  they  turned  round  against  the  objects  of  their  own  creation  and 
commendation.  Now  they  were  a  brood  of  little  monsters,  corrD|it 
and  corrupting,  with  separate  privileges,  preying  upon  the  vitals  of 
the  State.  They  vehemently  call  out  for  a  divorce  of  State  and  Bank. 
And  meanly  retreating  under  the  Sub-Treasury,  firom  the  storm  whick 
themselves  had  raised,  leaving  the  people  to  sufier  under  all  its  peltr 
ing  and  pitiless  rage,  they  add  insult  to  injury,  by  telling  them  thai 
they  unreasonably  expect  too  much  from  Government,  that  they  must 
take  care  of  themselves,  and  that  it  is  tlie  highest  and  most  patriotic 
duty  of  a  free  Government,  to  take  care  of  itself,  without  regard  to 
the  sufferings  and  distresses  of  the  people  ! 

They  began  with  the  best  currency,  promised  a  better,  and  end 
with  giving  none  !     For  we  might  as  well  resort  to  the  costumes  of 
our  original  parents  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  as,  in  this  enlightened 
age,  with  the  example  of  the  whole  commercial  world  before  us,  lo 
cramp  this  energetic  and  enterprizing  people  by  a  circulation  exclu- 
sively of  the  precious  metals.     Let  us  see  how  the  matter  stands 
with  us  here  in  Kentucky,  and  I  believe  we  stand  as  well  as  the  peo* 
pie  do  in  most  of  the  Slates.     We  have  a  circulation  in  Bank  notes 
amounting  to  about  $2,500,000,  founded  upon  specie  in  their  vaults, 
amounting  to  about  $1 ,250,000,  half  the  actual  circulation.    Have  we 
too  much  money  ?     [No !    no !   exclaimed  many  voices.]     If  all 
Banks  were  put  down,  and  all  Bank  paper  were  annihilated,  we 
should  have  just  one  half  of  the  money  that  we  now  have.     I  am 
quite  sure  that  one  of  the  immediate  causes  of  our  present  difficolties, 
is  a  defect  in  quantity  as  well  as  the  quality  of  the  circulating  nMdi- 


ON   RrrURNIlffQ   TO  KKZTTUCKT.  579 

tun.  And  it  woald  be  impossible,  if  we  were  redaced  to  sudi  a  regi* 
men  as  is  proposed  by  the  hard*money  theorists,  to  avoid  stop  laws, 
relief  laws,  repudiation,  bankruptcies,  and  perhaps  civil  commotion. 

1  have  traced  the  principal  causes  of  the  present  embarrassed  con- 
dition of  the  country,  1  hope  in  candor  and  fairness,  without  giving 
offence  to  any  of  my  fellow  citizens,  who  may  have  diffeied  in  politi- 
cal opinion  from  me.  It  would  have  been  far  more  agreeable  to  my 
feelingR  to  have  dwelt,  as  1  did  in  1832,  during  the  third  year  of  the 
first  term  of  President  Jackson's  administration,  upon  bright  and 
cheering  prospects  of  general  prosperity.  1  thought  it  useful  to  con- 
trast that  period  with  the  present  one,  and  to  inquire  into  the  causes 
which  have  brought  upon  us  such  a  sad  and  dismal  reverse.  A 
much  more  important  object  remains  to  me  to  attempt,  and  that  is  to 
point  oat  remedies  for  existing  evils  and  disorders. 

And  the  first  I  would  suggest,  requires  the  cp-operatiop  of  the 
Government  and  the  people — it  is  economy  and  frugality,  strict  and 
pertevering  economy,  both  in  public  and  private  afiairs.  Govern* 
ment  should  incur  or  continue  no  expense  that  can  be  justly  and 
honorably  avoided,  and  individuals  should  do  the  same.  The  pros- 
perity of  the  country  has  been  impaired  by  causes  operating  tlirough- 
out  several  years,  and  it  will  not  be  restored  in  a  day  or  a  year,  per^ 
haps  not  in  a  period  less  than  it  has  taken  to  destroy  it.  But  wa 
must  not  only  be  economical,  we  must  be  industrious,  indefatigably 
industrious.  An  immense  amount  of  capital  has  been  wasted  and 
lK|aandered  in  visionary  and  unprofitable  enterprizes,  public  and  pri- 
vate.    It  can  only  be  reproduced  by  labor  and  saving. 

m 

The  second  remedy  which  I  would  suggest,  and  that  without  which 
Others  must  prove  abortive  or  inefiectual,  is  a  sound  currency,  of  oni* 
form  value  throughout  the  Union,  and  redeemable  in  specie  upon  the 
demand  of  the  holder.  1  know  of  but  one  mode  in  which  that  object 
can  be  accomplished,  and  that  has  stood  the  test  of  time  and  practical 
experience.  If  any  other  can  be  devised  than  a  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  which  should  be  safe  and  certain,  and  free  from  the  influence 
of  Government,  and  especially  not  under  the  control  of  the  Executive 
Department,  I  should  for  one,  gladly  see  it  embraced.  I  am  not 
exdusively  wedded  to  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  nor  do  I  desire 
toeee  one  eatablished  against  the  will  and  without  the  consent' ef 


580  ipncHBi  or  hbvet  clat. 

the  people.  But  all  my  obsenration  and  reflection  haye  aerred  ta 
atrengthen  and  confirm  my  conviction^  that  aach  an  inatiiution,  ema- 
nating from  the  authority  of  the  general  €k>yemmenty  properly  le* 
atricted  and  guarded,  with  such  improvements  as  experience  hai 
pointed  out,  can  alone  supply  a  reliable  currency. 

■  Accordingly,  at  the  Extra  Session,  a  bill  passed  both  Houses  of 
Congress,  which,  in  my  opinion,  contained  an  excellent  charter,  with 
one  or  two  slight  defects,  which  it  was  intended  to  cure  by  a  supple- 
mental bill,  if  the  Veto  had  not  been  exercised.  That  charter  con- 
tained two  new  and  I  think  admirable  features ;  one  was  to  seperate 
the  operation  of  issuing  a  circulation  from  that  of  banking,  coafiding 
these  fiusulties  to  different  boards ;  and  the  other  was  to  limit  the  div- 
idends of  the  Bank,  bringing  the  exceaa  beyond  the  prescribed  amount, 
into  the  public  treasury.  In  the  preparation  of  the  charter,  every 
sacrifice  was  made  that  could  be  made,  to  accommodate  it,  especially 
m  regard  to  the  branching  power,  to  the  reputed  opinions  of  the  Pre- 
aident.  But  instead  of  meeting  ua  in  a  mutual  apirit  of  conciliation, 
he  fired,  as  was  aptly  said  by  a  Virginia  Editor,  upon  the  flag  of 
truce  aent  firom  the  capitoL 

Congreas,  anxious  to  fulfil  the  expectations  of  the  people,  another 
Bank  bill  was  prepared,  in  conformity  with  the  plan  of  a  Bank  sketch* 
ed  by  the  acting  President  in  his  Veto  message,  after  a  previous  con- 
sultation between  him  and  some  distinguished  members  of  Congress, 
and  two  leading  members  of  his  Cabinet.  The  bill  was  shaped  in 
precise  conformity  to  his  views,  as  coDununicated  to  others,  and  was 
submitted  to  his  inspection  after  it  was  so  prepared ;  and  he  gave 
assurances  that  he  would  approve  such  a  bill.  I  was  no  party  to  the 
transaction,  but  I  do  not  entertain  a  doubt  of  what  I  state.  The  bill 
passed  both  Houses  of  Congress  without  any  alteration  or  amendment 
whatever,  and  the  Veto  was  nevertheless  again  employed. 

It  is  painful  for  metoadvert  toa  grave  occurrence,  marked  by  such 
dishonor  and  bad  fiiith.  Although  the  President,  through  his  recog- 
nized organ,  derides  and  denounces  the  Whigs,  and  disowns  being 
one ;  although  he  administers  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  contempt  of  their  feelings  and  in  violation  of  their  principles ; 
and  although  all  whom  he  chooees  to  have  denominated  as  ultra 
Whiga,  that  is  to  say  the  great  body  of  the  Whig  party,  have  conoe 


<m   RBTURimiO  TO  KBITTUOKT.  6B1 

under'  his  ban,  and  those  of  them  la  office  are  threatened  with  hia 
expulsion,  I  wbh  not  to  say  of  him  one  word  that  is  not  due  to  truth 
and  to  the  country.  I  will,  however,  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  the 
Whigs  cannot  be  justly  held  responsible  for  his  administration  of  tha 
Executive  Department,  for  the  measures  he  may  recommend,  or  hia 
failure  to  recommend  others,  nor  especially  for  the  manner  in  which 
he  distributes  the  public  patronage.  They  will  do  their  duty,  I  hope, 
towards  the  country,  and  render  all  good  and  proper  support  to 
Government ;  but  they  ought  not  to  be  held  accountable  for  his  coo* 
duct.  They  elected  him  it  is  true,  but  for  another  office,  and  he 
came  into  the  present  one  by  a  lamentable  visitation  of  Providence. 
There  had  been  no  such  instance  occurring  under  the  Government 
If  the  Whigs  were  bound  to  scrutinize  his  opinions,  in  reference  to 
an  office  which  no  one  ever  anticipated  he  would  fill,  he  was  bound 
in  honor  and  good  faith  to  decline  the  Harrisburg  nomination,  if  he 
could  not  conscientiously  co-operate  with  the  principles  that  brought 
him  into  office.  Had  the  President  who  was  elected  lived,  had  thai 
honest  and  good  man,  on  whose  face,  in  that  picture,  we  now  guzei 
been  spared,  I  feel  perfectly  confident  that  all  the  measures  which 
the  principles  of  the  Whigs  authorized  the  country  to  expect,  incia* 
ding  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  would  have  been  carried. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  a  sound  currency,  such  as  I  have  desribed, 
la  unattainable  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Tyler.  It  will  be| 
if  it  can  only  be  obtained  through  th^  instrumentality  of  a  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  unless  he  changes  his  opinion,  as  he  has  done  in 
regard  to  the  land  bill. 

Unfortunately,  our  Chief  Magistrate  possesses  more  powers,  ig 
some  respects,  than  a  King  or  Queen  of  England.  The  crown  ii 
never  separated  from  the  nation,  but  is  obliged  to  conform  to  its  wilL 
If  the  ministry  holds  opinions  adverse  to  the  nation,  and  is  thrown 
into  the  minority  in  the  House  of  Commons,  the  crown  is  constrained 
to  dismiss  the  ministry,  and  appoint  one  whose  opinions  coincide 
with  the  nation.  This  Queen  Victoria  has  recently  been  obliged  to 
do ;  and  not  merely  to  change  her  ministry,  but  to  dismiss  the  official 
attendants  upon  her  person.  But  here,  if  the  President  holds  an 
<^inion  adverse  to  that  of  Congress  and  the  nation  upon  important 
public  measures,  there  is  no  remedy  but  upon  the  periodical  retm 
of  the  rights  of  the  ballot  box. 

•MM 


6(3  mCHIS  OF  HKMRr  CLAY. 

Another  remedy,  powerfully  demanded  by  the  necessities  of  tba 
times,  and  requisite  to  maintaining  the  currency  in  a  sound  state,  is  t 
Tariff  which  will  lessen  importations  from  abroad,  and  tend  to  is- 
crease  supplies  at  home  from  domestic  industry.  I  have  so  of^n  ex- 
pressed my  views  on  this  subject,  and  so  recently  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  that  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  occcsion  for  my 
enlarging  upon  it  at  this  time.  I  do  not  think  that  an  exhorbitant  or 
re'ry  high  Tariff  is  necessary  ;  bnt  one  that  shall  insure  an  adequate 
rerenue  and  reasonable  protection ;  and  it  so  happens  that  the  inte- 
Tests  of  the  Treasury  and  the  wants  of  the  people  now  perfectly  coin- 
cide. Union  is  our  highest  and  greatest  interest.  No  one  can  look 
beyond  its  dissolution  without  horror  and  dismay.  Harmony  is  essen- 
tial to  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  It  was  a  leading,  although  not 
tbe  only  motive,  in  proposing  the  compromise  act,  to  preserve  that 
harmony.  The  power  of  protecting  the  interests  of  oar  own  coun- 
tryi  can  never  be  abandoned  or  surrendered  to  foreign  nations,  with- 
out a  culpable  dereliction  of  duty.  Of  this  truth,  all  parts  of  the 
natfen  are  every  day  becoming  -more  and  more  sensible.  In  the 
meantime,  this  indispensable  power  should  be  exercised  with  discre- 
tion and  moderation,  and  in  a  form  least  calculated  to  revive  preju- 
dices, or  to  check  the  progress  of  reform  now  going  on  in  public  opinion. 

In  connection  with  a  system  of  remedial  measures,  I  shall  only 
allude,  without  stopping  to  dwell  on  the  distribution  bill,  to  that  just 
and  equitable  settlement  of  a  great  National  question,  which  sprung 
up  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  which  has  seriously  agitated  the 
country,  and  which  it  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  had  not  been  settled 
ten  years  ago,  as  then  proposed.  Independent  of  all  other  considera- 
tions, the  fluctuation  in  the  receipts  from  sales  of  the  public  lands  is 
so  great  and  constant,  that  it  is  a  resource  on  which  the  general  Go- 
vernment ought  not  to  rely  for  revenue.  It  is  far  better  that  the 
advice  of  a  Democratic  land  committee  of  the  Senate,  at  the  head  of 
Which  was  the  experienced  and  distinguished  Mr.  King  of  Alabama, 
given  some  years  ago,  should  be  followed,  that  the  Federal  Treasury 
be  replenished  with  duties  on  imports,  without  bringing  into  it  any 
part  of  the  land  fund. 

I  have  thus  suggested  measures  of  relief  adapted  to  the  present 
•late  of  the  country,  and  I  have  noticed  some  of  the  diflferences  which 
unfortunately  exist  between  the  two  leading  parties  into  which  ou/ 


ON  MTUBVmO  TO  KBNTVCKT.  fi8S 

people  are  unhappily  divided.  In  considering  tlie  qneation  whether 
the  counsels  of  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  parties  are  wisest,  and 
best  calculated  to  advance  the  interests,  the  honor,  and  the  prosperi- 
ty of  the  nation,  which  every  citizen  ought  to  do,  we  should  discard 
All  passion  and  predjudice^  and  exercise,  as  far  as  possible,  a  perfect 
impartiality.  And  we  should  not  confine  our  attention  merely  to  tbi 
particular  measures  which  those  parties  respectively  espouse  or  op* 
pose,  but  extend  it  to  their  general  course  and  conduct,  and  to  the 
spirit  and  purposes  by  which  they  are  animated.  We  should  anx- 
iously enquire,  whither  shall  we  be  led  by  following  in  the  lead  of 
one  or  the  other  of  those  parties — shall  we  be  carried  to  the  achieve- 
ment of  the  glorious  destiny,  which  patriots  here,  and  the  liberal  por- 
tion of  mankind  every  where,  have  fondly  hoped  awaits  us  ?  or  shall 
we  ingloriously  terminate  our  career,  by  adding  another  melancholy 
example  of  t)^  instability  of  hunr^an  afiairs,  and  the  folly  with  which 
ielf-government  is  administered  ? 

I  do  not  arrogate  to  myself  more  impartiality,  or  greater  freedom 
firom  party  bias,  than  belong  to  other  men  ;  but,  unless  I  deceive  my- 
self, I  think  I  have  reached  a  time  of  life,  and  am  now  in  a  position 
of  retirement,  from  which  I  can  look  back  with  calmness,  and  speak, 
I  hope  with  candor  and  justice.  I  do  not  intend  to  attempt  a  general 
oontrast  between  the  two  parties  as  to  their  course,  doctrines  and 
^irit.  That  would  be  too  extensive  and  laborious  an  undertaking 
for  this  occasion  ;  but  I  purpose  to  specify  a  few  recent  instances,  in 
frhich  I  think  our  political  opponents  have  exhibited  a  spirit  and 
bearing,  disorganizing  and  dangerous  to  the  permanency  and  stabilit]^ 
of  our  institutions,  and  I  invoke  the  serious  and  sober  attention  to 
them,  of  all  who  are  here  assembled. 

The  first  I  would  notice  is  the  manner  in  which  Territories  have 
been  lately  admitted,  as  States,  into  the  Union.  The  early  and  regu- 
lar practice  of  the  Government  was  for  Congress  to  pass  previously  a 
law  authorising  a  Convention,  regulating  the  appointment  of  mem- 
bers to  it,  specifying  the  qualification  of  voters,  &c.  In  that  way 
most  of  the  States  were  received.  Of  late,  without  any  previous 
sanction  or  authority  from  Congress,  several  territories  have  proceeded 
of  themselves  to  call  conventions,  form  C^onstitutions,  and  demand 
admission  into  the  Union ;  and  they  were  admitted.  1  do  not  deny 
that  their  population  and  condition  entitled  them  to  admissioa  $  bat  I 


564  tFKKCHES  OP  HKNRT  CLAT. 

-iuist  that  it  should  have  been  done  in  the  regular  and  established 
mode.  In  the  case  of  Michigan,  aliens  were  allowed  to  vote,  as 
aliens  have  been  allowed  to  become  pre-emptioners  in  the  publie 
lands.  And  a  majority  in  Congress  sanctioned  the  proceeding. 
When  foreigners  are  naturalized  and  incorporated,  as  citizens,  in  our 
oommunity,  tbey  are  entitled  to  all  the  privileges,  within  the  limits 
of  the  Constitution,  which  belong  to  a  native  born  citizen ;  and,  if 
necessary,  they  should  be  protected  at  home  and  abroad — the  thun- 
der of  our  artillery  should  roar  as  loud  and  as  efiectually  in  their  de- 
fence, as  if  their  birth  were  upon  American  soil.  But  I  cannot  hot 
think  it  wrong  and  hazardous,  to  allow  aliens,  who  have  just  landed 
upon  our  shores,  who  have  not  yet  renounced  their  allegiance  to 
Foreign  Potentates,  nor  sworn  fidelity  to  our  constitution,  with  all  the 
influences  of  monarchy  and  anarchy  alM>ut  them,  to  participate  in  our 
elections,  and  affect  our  legislation. 

2.  The  New  Jersey  election,  in  which  the  great  seal  of  the  Staiei 
and  the  decision  of  the  local  authorities  were  put  aside  by  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  a  majority  thus  secured  to  the  demoaatic 
party. 

3.  Nullification,  which  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  an  assump> 
iion  by  one  State  to  abrogate  within  its  limits,  a  law  passed  bjtbe 
twenty Hsix  States  in  Congress  assembled. 

4.  A  late  revolutionary  attempt  in  Maryland  to  subvert  the  exist- 
ing government,  and  set  up  a  new  one,  without  any  authority  of  law. 

5.  The  refusal  of  a  minority  in  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee,  to  co- 
operate with  the  majority  (their  Constitution  requiring  the  presenca 
of  two-thirds  of  the  members)  to  execute  a  positive  injunction'of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  appoint  two  United  States  Sen- 
ators. In  principle,  that  refusal  was  equivalent  to  announcing  the 
willingness  of  that  minority  to  dissolve  the  Union.  For  if  thirteen 
or  fourteen  of  the  twenty-six  States  were  to  refuse  altogether  to  elect 
Senators,  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  would  be  the  consequence.  That 
minority,  for  weeks  together,  and  time  after  time,  deliberately  refused 
to  enter  npon  tlie  election.  And,  if  the  Union  is  not  in  fact  dissolved, 
it  is  not  because  the  principle  involved  would  not  lead  to  a  dissolu- 
tion, but  because  twelve  or  thirteen  other  States  have  not  like  theoa- 


ON   RITURinifa   TO  KINTUCKT.  £65 

ielves  jrefaied  to  perforin  a  high  constitational  duty.  And  why  did 
they  refuse  ?  Simply  because  they  apprehended  the  election  to  the 
Senate  of  political  oponents.  The  seats  of  the  t^'o  Tennessee  Sena*> 
•tors,  in  the  United  States  Senate,  are  now  vacant,  and  Tennessee 
Jias  no  voice  in  that  branch  of  Congress,  in  the  genera)  legislation. 
One  of  the  highest  compliments  which  I  ever  received,  waj  to  have 
been  appointed,  at  a  popular  meeting  in  Tennessee,  one  of  her  Sena* 
tors,  in  conjunctionwith  a  distingaished  Senator  from  South  Carolina, 
with  ail  the  authority  that  such  an  appointment  could  bestow.  1 
repeat  here  an  expression  of  my  acknowledgements  for  the  honor, 
which  I  most  ambitiously  resigned,  when  I  gave  up  my  Dictatorship, 
and  my  seat  as  a  Kentucky  Senator. 

6.  Then  there  is  Repudiation,  that  foul  stain  upon  the  American 
character,  cast  chiefly  by  the  Democrats  of  Mississippi,  and  which  it 
will  require  years  to  efface  from  our  bright  escutcheon. 

7.  The  support  given  to  Executive  usurpations,  and  the  expui^ging 
(he  records  of  the  United  States. 

8.  The  recent  refusal  of  State  Legislation  to  pass  laws  to  carry 
into  efiect  the  act  of  distribution.  An  act  of  Congress  passed  accord- 
ing to  all  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  after  ample  discussion  and 
deliberate  consideration,  and  after  the  lapse  of  ten  years  from  the 
period  it  was  first  proposed.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  to  submit  to  the 
bws,  regularly  passed.  They  may  attempt  to  get  them  repealed ; 
they  have  a  right  to  test  their  validity  before  the  Judiciary ;  but 
.while  the  laws  remain  in  force  unrepealed,  and  without  any  decision 
against  their  constitutional  validity,  submission  to  them  is  not -merely 
a  constitutional  and  legal  but<a  moral  duty.  In  this  case,  it  is  true, 
that  those  who  refuse  to  abide  by  them,  only  bile  their  own  noses. 
But  it  is  the  principle  of  the  refusal  to  which  I  call  your  attention. 
If  a  minority  may  refuse  compliance  with  one  law,  what  is  to  prevent 
minorities  from  disregarding  all  law  ?  Is  this  any  thing  but  a  modifi- 
cation of  nullification  ?  What  right  have  the  servants  of  the  people 
4(the  Legislative  bodies)  to  withhold  from  their  masters,  %ieir  as- 
signed quotas  of  a  great  public  fund  ? 

'.  9.  The  last,  though  not  least,  instance  of  the  manifestation  of  a 
iqpirit  of  disorganizatuHu  which  I  shall  Mtke,  is  the  >reoent  'coimd-* 


568  cptacHis  or  hbhrt  clat. 

don  in  Rhode  Itland.  That  little  but  gallant  and  patriotic  State 
had  a  Charter  derived  from  a  Brilish  King,  ia  operation  between  otte 
4Bd  two  hundred  years.  There  had  been  engraAed  upon  it  laws  aii4 
usages,  from  time  to  time,  and  altogether  a  practical  Constitutioa 
spiung  up,  which  carried  the  State  as  one  of  the  'glorious  thtrteeai 
through  the  Revolution  and  brought  her  safely  into  the  Union.  Un* 
der  it,  her  Greens  and  Perrys,  and  other  distinguished  men  were 
b<Mm  and  rose  to  eminence.  The  Legislature  had  called  a  Conven- 
tion to  remedy  whatever  defects  it  had,  and  to  adapt  it  to  the  progres- 
aive  improvements  of  the  age.  In  that  work  of  Reform  the  Doir 
party  might  haVe  co-operated ;  but,  not  choosing  so  to  co-operate, 
and  in  wanton  defiance  of  all  established  authority,  they  undertook 
subsequently  to  call  another  Convention.  The  result  was  two  Con- 
stitutions, not  essentially  di£Ebring  on  the  prineipal  point  of  conlro- 
tersy,  the  right  of  suffrage. 

Upon  submitting  to  the  people  that  which  was  formed  by  the  rega« 
lar  Convention,  a  small  majority  voted  against  it,  produced  by  a 
union  in  casting  votes  between  the  Dorr  party,  and  some  of  the 
friends  of  the  old  Charter,  who  were  opposed  to  any  change.  The 
other  Constitution,  being  also  submitted  to  the  People,  an  apparent 
majority  voted  for  it,  made  up  of  every  description  of  votes,  legal  and 
illegal,  by  proxy  and  otherwise,  taken  in  the  most  irregular  and  un- 
authorized manner. 

The  Dorr  party  proceeded  to  put  their  Constitution  in  operatioi, 
by  electing  him  as  the  Governor  of  the  State,  members  to  the  mock 
Legislature  and  other  Officers.  But  they  did  not  stop  here  ;  they 
proceeded  to  collect,  to  drill,  and  to  marshal  a  military  force,  and 
pointed  their  cannon  against  the  Arsenal  of  the  State. 

The  President  was  called  upon  to  interpose  the  power  of  theUnkm 
to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  State,  in  conformity  with  an  express 
provision  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  And  I  have  as  much  plea- 
sure in  expressing  my  opinion  that  he  faithfully  performed  his  duty, 
in  responding  to  that  call,  as  it  gave  me  pain  to  be  obliged  to  ani- 
madvert on  other  parts  of  his  conduct. 

The  leading  presses  of  the  Democratic  party  at  Washington,  Al- 
.  knoy^  New  York  aad  Richmond,  and  ebewhere^  came  out  in  support 


>.  OH  BBTUtmiKI  TO  KIMTUCKT.  fKH 

of  tho  Dorr  portj,  oncouraging  thorn  id  their  work  of  Rebellion  and 
Treaooa.  And  when  matters  had  got  to  a  crisis,  and  the  two  partiea 
were  prepared  for  a  Civil  War,  and  every  hour  it  was  expected  t# 
Uaxo  out,  a  great  Tammany  meeting  was  held  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  headed  by  the  leading  men  of  the  party,  the  Cambreiings,  tho 
Vanderpools,  the  Aliens,  &c.,  with  a  perfect  knowledge  that  the  mili- 
tary power  of  the  Union  was  to  be  employed,  if  necessary,  to  sup- 
pfoaa  the  insurrection,  and,  notwithstanding,  they  passed  resolutions 
lendiiig  to  awe  the  President,  and  to  countenance  and  cheer  tho 
Treason. 

Fortunately,  numbers  of  the  Dorr  party  abandoned  their  Chiaf ; 
be  fled,  and  Rhode  Island,  unaided  by  any  actual  force  of  the  Federal 
anthority,  proved  herself  able  alone  to  maintain  law,  order  and  go« 
Tenunent  within  her  borders. 

I  do  not  attribi(te  to  my  fellow  citizena  here  assembled,  from  whom 
1  diffisr  in  opinion,  any  disposition  to  countenance  the  Revolutionary 
proceedings  in  Rhode  Island.  1  do  not  believe  that  they  approve  it, 
I  do  not  believe  that  their  party  generally  could  approve  it,  nor  sonskO 
of  the  Other  examples  of  a  spirit  of  disorganization  which  I  have 
enumerated ;  but  the  misfortune  is,  in  time  of  high  party  excitement, 
that  the  leaders  commit  themselves,  and  finally  commit  the  body  of 
their  party,  who  perceive  that  unless  they  stand  by  and  sustain  their 
leaders,  a  division  and  perhaps  destruction  of  the  party  would  be  tho 
consequence.  Of  all  the  springs  of  human  action,  party  ties  are  per- 
haps the  most  powerful.  Interest  has  been  supposed  to  be  more  so ; 
but  party  ties  are  more  influential,  unless  they  are  regarded  as  a  modi- 
fication of  imaginary  interest.  Under  their  sway,  we  have  seen  not 
only  individuals  but  whole  communities  abandon  their  long  cherished 
iBfeerests  and  principles,  and  turn  round  and  oppose  them  with  violence. 

Did  not  the  Rebellion  in  Rhode  Island  find  for  its  support  a  preoe* 
dent  established  by  the  majority  in  Congress,  in  the  irregular  admis^ 
aion  of  Territories,  as  States,  into  the  Union,  to  which  1  have  hereto- 
fore  aUuded  ?  Is  there  not  reason  to  fear  that  the  example  which  Coo* 
greM^iad  previously  presented  encouraged  the  Rhode  Island  rebellion  ? 

Jt  has  been  attempted  to  defend  that  Rebellion  upon  the  doctrines 
of. tho  American  Declaration  of  Independence;  but  no  countenaMO 


an  tptBomt  or  Hmn  cuit. 

lb  it  can  be  fiiirly  derived  from  them.  T^bni  decltrmtion  aaierts,  it  k 
trae,  that  whenever  a  Grovernment  becomes  destructive  of  th«i  ends 
of  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  for  the  security  of  whid 
it  was  instituted,  it  is  the  right  of  the  People  to  alter  or  abolish  it, 
said  institute  new  government ;  and  so  undoubtedly  it  is.  But  this  is 
a  right  only  to  be  exercised  in  grave  and  extreme  cases.  '^  Prudence 
indeed  will  dictate,"  says  that  venerated  instrunoent,  *'  that  Govern, 
ments  long  established  should  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient 
causes."  '<  But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursu- 
ing invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under 
absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  their  duty,  to  throw  off*  such 
Government." 

Will  it  be  pretended  that  the  actual  Govermment  of  Rhode  Idand 
is  destructive  of  life,  liberty,  or  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ?  That  it 
has  perpetrated  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  the 
same  invariable  object,  to  reduce  the  people  under  absolute  despot- 
ism }  Or  that  any  other  cause  of  complaint  existed  but  such  is 
night  be  peacefully  remedied,  without  violence  and  without  blood  ? 
Such,  as  m  point  of  fact,  the  legitimate  Government  had  regularly 
summoned  a  Convention  to  redress,  but  for  the  results  of  whose  de- 
liberations the  restless  spirit  of  disorder  and  rebellion  had  not  the 
patience  to  wait  ?  Why,  fellow  citizens,  little  Rhody  (God  blem 
and  preserve  her,)  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous,  enterprizing  and 
enlightened  States  in  this  whole  Union.  No  where  is  life,  liberty 
and  property  more  perfectly  secure. 

How  is  this  right  of  the  people  to  abolish  an  existing  Govemment, 
and  to  set  up  a  new  one  to  be  practically  exercised  ?  Our  Revolu- 
tionary ancestors  did  not  tell  us  by  words,  but  they  proclaimed  it  by 
gallant  and  noble  deeds.  Who  are  the  People  that  are  to  tear  up  the 
whole  fabric  of  human  society,  whenever  and  as  often  as  caprice  or 
passion  may  prompt  them  ?  When  all  the  arrangements  and  ordi- 
nances of  existing  and  organized  society  are  prostrated  and  subverted, 
as  must  be  supposed  in  such  a  lawless  and  irregular  movement  as 
that  in  Rhode  Island,  the  established  privileges  and  distinctions  be- 
tween the  sexes^  between  the  colors,  between  the  ages,  betweer  na- 
tives and  foreigners,  between  the  sane  and  Insane,  and  between  the 
innocent  and  the  guilty  convict,  all  the  ofispring  of  positive  institu- 
tions, are  cast  down  and  abolished,  and  society  is  thrown  into  one 


,  OH  tmrvwmo  to  kihtvckt.  680 

boterogeneous  and  vmregulnted  mum.  And  it  is  contended  that  the 
najor  part  of  this  Babel  congregation  ia  invested  with  the  right  to 
bmiid  up,  at  its  pleasure,  a  new  Govemirent  ?  That  as  often,  and 
whenever  society  can  be  drommed  up  and  thrown  into  such  a  siiape- 
lois  mass,  the  major  part  of  it  may  establish  another,  and  another  new 
Government  in  endless  succession  ?  Why  this  would  overturn  all 
social  organization,  make  Revolutions^-the  extreme  and  last  resort 
of  an  oppressed  people — the  commonest  occurrence  of  human  life, 
and  the  standing  order  of  the  day.  How  such  a  principle  would  ope* 
tate  in  a  certain  section  of  this  Union,  with  a  peculiar  population^ 
jou  will  readily  conceive.  No  community  could  endure  such  an  in* 
tolerable  state  of  things  any  where,  and  all  would,  sooner  or  latefi 
take  refug«,  from  such  ceaseless  agitation,  in  the  calm  repose  of  abso* 
\mie  despotism. 

.  I  know  of  no  mode  by  which  an  existing  Government  can  be  over- 
thrown and  put  aside,  and  a  new  one  erected  in  its  place  but  by  the 
eooeent  or  authority  of  that  Government,  express  or  implied,  or  hy 
tecible  resistance,  that  is  Revolution. 

Fellow  Citizens — I  have  enumerated  these  examples  of  a  danger- 
ous spirit  of  disorganization,  and  disregard  of  law,  with  no^iurpoae 
of  giving  ofieoce,  or  exciting  bitter  and  unkind  feelings,  here  or  else- 
where ;  but  to  illustrate  the  principles,  character  and  tendency  of 
the  two  great  parties  into  which  this  country  is  divided.  In  all  of 
these  examples,  the  Democratic  party,  as  it  calls  itself,  (a  denomina- 
tion to  which  I  respectfully  think  it  has  not  the  least  pretension,)  or 
large  portions  of  that  party,  extending  to  whole  States,  united  with 
af^arent  cordiality.  To  all  of  them  the  Whig  party  was  constantly 
and  firmly  opposed.  And  now  let  me  ask  you,  in  all  candor  and  sin* 
cerity,  to  say  truly  and  impartially  to  which  of  these  two  parties  can 
the  interests,  the  happiness,  and  the  doctrines  of  this  great  people  be 
most  safely  confided  ?  I  appeal  especially,  and  with  perfect  confi- 
dence, to  the  candor  of  the  real,  the  ancient  and  long  tried  Demo- 
cracy— that  old  Republican  party,  with  whom  I  stood  side  by  side^. 
during  some  of  the  darkest  days  of  the  Republic,  in  seasons  of  both 
War  and  Peace. 

Fellow  Citizens  of  all  parties !    The  present  situation  of  our  coun- 
try is  one  of  unexampled  distress  and  difficulty ;  hut  there  is  no  oo* 


600  tnUGBBl  AF  BMMKf  CLAT. 

casion  for  anj  despondencj.  A  kind  and  bountifbl  Prorideiioe  kii 
neyer  deaerted  ui — ^punifhed  ut  he,  perhapsi  haS|  for  our  neglect  of 
his  blessing!  and  our  misdeeds.  We  have  a  varied  and  fertile  soil, 
a  genial  climate  and  free  institutiotts.  Our  whole  land  is  covered,  in 
profusioui  with  the  means  of  subsistence  and  the  comforts  of  life. 
Our  gallant  Ship,  it  is  unfortunately  true,  lies  helpless,  tossed  on  a 
tempestous  sea,  amid  the  conflicting  billows  of  contending  4)arties, 
without  a  rudder  and  without  a  faithful  pilot  But  in  that  Ship  is  our 
whole  people,  bj  whatever  political  denomination  they  are  known. 
If  she  goes  down,  we  all  go  down  together.  Let  us  remember  the 
dying  words  of  the  gallant  and  lamented  Liawrence.  ^'  DoD^t  giTe  op 
the  Ship.'*  The  glorious  Banner  of  our  country,  with  its  unstained 
Stars  and  Stripes,  still  proudly  floats  at  its  masthead.  With  stoirt 
hearts  and  strong  arms  we  can  surmount  all  our  difficulties.  Let « 
all — all — ^rally  round  that  Banner  and  firmly  resolve  to  perpetuate 
our  liberties  and  regain  oor  lost  prosperity. 

Whigs !  Arouse  firom  the  ignoble  supineness  which  encompasses 
you — awake  from  the  lethargy  ii  which  you  lie  bounds-cast  froHi 
you  that  unworthy  apathy  which  seems  to  make  you  indiflerent  to 
the  &te  of  your  country — Arouse,  awake,  shake  off  the  daw  drops 
that  glitter  on  your  garments,  and  once  mon  march  to  Battle  and  la 
Vklory. 


ON  REPLY  TO  MR.  MENDENHALL. 


At  Richmond,  Indiana,  Octobcr  1, 1842 


I  HOP!  that  Mr.  Mendenhall  may  be  treated  with  the  greatest  lor* 
bearance  and  respect.  I  assure  my  fellow  citizens  here  collected  that 
the  presentation  of  the  petition  has  not  occas^ioncd  the  slightest  paia^ 
WK  excited  one  solitary  disagreeable  emotion.  If  it  were  to  be  pre- 
•ented  to  me,  I  prefer  that  it  should  be  done  in  the  face  of  this  yast 
assemblage.  I  think  I  can  give  it  such  an  answer  as  becomes  me  and 
the  subject  of  which  it  treats.  At  all  events,  I  entreat  and  beseech 
my  feiiow  citisens,  for  their  sake,  for  my  country's  sake,  for  my  sake, 
to  oflfer  no  disrespect,  no  indignity,  no  violence,  in  word  or  deed,  to 
Mr.  Mendenhall. 


I  will  now,  sir,  make  to  you  and  to  this  petition  such  a  response 
aa  becomes  me.  Allow  me  to  say  that  1  think  you  have  not  con* 
focmed  to  the  independent  character  of  an  American  citizen  in  pr»- 
senting  a  petition  to  me.  I  am,  like  yourself,  but  a  private  citizen. 
A  petition,  as  the  term  implies,  generally  proceeds  from  an  inferior  m 
power  or  station  to  a  superior  ;  but  between  us  there  is  entire  equali- 
ty. And  what  arc  the  circumstances  under  which  you  have  chosen 
to  ofier  it  ?  1  am  a  total  stranger,  passing  through  your  State,  on 
mj  way  to  its  capital,  in  consequence  of  an  invitation  with  which  I 
have  been  honored  to  visit  it,  to  exchange  friendly  salutations  with 
inch  of  my  fellow-citizens  of  Indiana  as  think  proptT  to  meet  me,  and 
to  accept  of  their  hospitality.  Anxious  as  I  am  to  see  them,  and  to 
Tiew  parts  of  this  State  which  I  had  never  seen,  I  en  me  hero  witk 
h^talion  and  reluctance,  because  I  apprehended  that  the  motives  of 


09d  fPBBCHn  OP   HKlfRT   CLAT. 

my  journey  might  be  misconceived  and  penrerted.  But  when  the 
ftilfilment  of  an  old  promise  to  visit  Indianapolis  was  insisted  upon,  I 
yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  friends,  and  have  presented  myself 
among  you. 

Such  b  the  occasion  which  has  been  deliberately  selected  for  ten- 
dering this  petition  to  me.  I  am  advanced  in  years,  and  neither  my« 
•elf  nor  the  place  of  my  residence  is  altogether  unknown  to  the  world. 
You  might  at  any  time  within  these  last  tweiity-five  or  thirty  years 
have  presented  your  petition  to  me  at  Ashland.  If  you  had  gone 
there  for  that  purpose,  you  should  have  been  received  and  treated 
with  perfect  respect  and  liberal  hospitality. 

Now,  Mr.  Mendenhall,  let  us  reverse  conditions,  and  sappose  that 
you  had  been  invited  to  Kentucky  to  partake  of  its  hospitality ;  and 
that,  previous  to  your  arrival,  I  had  employed  such  means  as  I  un- 
derstand have  been  used  to  get  up  this  petition  to  obtain  the  signa- 
tures of  citizens  of  that  State  to  a  petition  to  present  to  you  to  relin- 
qiiist  your  &rm  or  other  property,  what  would  you  have  thought  of 
such  a  proceeding  ?  Would  you  have  deemed  it  courteous  and  §/> 
oofding  to  the  rites  of  hospitality  r 

I  know  well,  that  you  and  those  who  think  with  you  controvert 
the  legitimacy  of  slavery,  and  deny  the  right  of  property  in  slaves. 
But  the  law  of  my  State  and  other  States  has  otherwise  ordained. 
The  law  may  be  wrong  in  your  opinion,  and  ought  to  be  repealed ; 
but  then  you  and  your  associates  are  not  the  lawmakers  for  us,  and 
unless  you  can  show  some  authority  to  nullify  our  laws  we  must 
continue  to  respect  them.  Until  the  law  is  repealed,  we  must  be 
excused  for  asserting  the  rights — ay,  the  property  in  slaves  which  it 
sanctions,  authorizes,  and  vindicates. 

And  who  are  the  petitioners  whose  organ  you  assume  to  be  ?  I 
have  no  doubt  that  many  of  them  are  worthy,  amiable  end  humane 
persons,  who,  by  erroneous  representations,  have  been  induced  incon- 
siderately to  affix  their  signatures  to  this  petition,  and  that  they  will 
deeply  regret  it.  Others,  and  not  a  few,  I  am  told,  are  free  blacks, 
men,  women  and  children,  who  have  been  artfully  deceived  and  im- 
posed upon.  A  very  large  portion,  1  have  been  credibly  informed, 
are  the  political  opponents  of  the  party  to  which  I  belong — Demo- 


ON  REPLY   TO  MR.  MBHDBRHALL.  69S 

cntii,  as  thej  most  undeservedly  call  themselves,  who  have  eagerlj 
seised  this  opportunity  to  wound,  as  they  imagine,  my  feelings,  and 
to  aid  the  cause  to  which  they  are  attached.  In  other  quarters 
of  the  Union,  Democrats  claim  to  be  the  exclusive  champions  of 
Southern  interests,  the  only  safe  defenders  of  the  rights  in  slare  pro- 
perty, and  unjustly  accuse  us  Whigs  with  abolition  designs  wholly 
incompatible  with  its  security.  What  ought  those  distant  Demo- 
crats to  think  of  the  course  of  their  friends  here  who  have  united  io 
this  petition  ? 

And  what  is  the  foundation  of  this  appeal  to  me  in  Indiana  to  Iib(> 
rate  the  slaves  under  my  care  in  Kentucky  ?  It  is  a  general  decla* 
ration  in  the  act  announcing  to  the  world  the  independence  of  the 
thirteen  American  Colonies,  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now, 
m  an  abstract  principle,  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  that  decla- 
ration ;and  it  isdesirable,  in  the  original  construction  of  society,  and 
in  Organized  societies,  to  keep  it  in  view  as  a  great  fundamental  prin- 
ciple. Bat,  then,  I  apprehend  that  in  no  society  that  ever  did  exist, 
or  ever  shall  be  formed,  was  or  can  the  equality  asserted  among  the 
njembers  of  the  human  race,  be  practically  enforced  and  carried  oat* 
There  are  portions  of  it,  large  portions,  women,  minors,  insane,  cul- 
prits, transient  sojourners,  that  will  always  probably  remain  subject 
to  the  goveTDment  of  another  portion  of  the  conmiunity. 

That  declaration,  whatever  may  be  the  extent  of  its  import,  wis 
made  by  the  delegations  of  the  thirteen  States.  In  most  of  them 
slavery  existed,  and  had  long  existed,  and  was  established  by  ]aw« 
It  was  introduced  and  forced  upon  the  Colonies  by  the  paramount 
law  of  England.  Do  you  believe  that,  in  making  that  declaration, 
the  States  that  concurred  in  it  intended  that  it  should  be  tortured 
into  a  virtual  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves  within  their  respective 
limits  ?  Would  Virginia  and  the  other  Southern  States  have  ever 
united  in  a  declaration  which  was  to  be  interpreted  into  an  abolition 
of  slavery  among  them  ?  Did  any  one  of  the  thirteen  States  enter- 
tain such  a  design  or  expectation  ?  To  impute  such  a  secret  and 
unavowed  purpose  would  be  to  charge  a  political  fraud  upon  the 
noblest  hand  of  patriots  that  ever  assembled  in  council — a  fraud  upon 
the  confederacy  of  the  Revolution — a  fraud  upon  the  Union  of  those 
States,  whose  constitution  not  only  recognized  the  lawfulness  of 
ilivefy'^bat  permitted  the  importation  of  slaves  from  Africa  until  the 


5M  SPBtCBBi  OF  BKIfBT  CLAT. 

year  1808.  And  I  am  bold  to  say  that,  if  the  doctrinei  of  ultra 
litkal  abolitionists  had  been  seriously  promulgated  at  the  epoch  of 
our  Revolution,  our  glorious  Independeiice  would  never  have  beeo 
achieved — ^never,  never. 

1  know  the  predominant  sentiment  in  the  Free  St|ktes  is  adverse  to 
slavery ;  but,  happy  in  their  own  exemption  from  whatever  evils 
may  attend  it,  the  great  mass  of  our  fellow  citizens  there  do  not  seek 
to  violate  the  Constitution  or  to  disturb  the  harmony  of  these  States. 
I  desire  no  concealment  of  my  opinions  in  regard  to  the  institution  of 
slavery.  I  look  upon  it  as  a  great  evil,  and  deeply  lament  that  we 
have  derived  it  from  the  parental  Government,  and  from  our  anoea* 
tors.  I  wish  every  slave  in  the  United  States  was  in  the  country  of 
Ua  ancestors.  But  here  they  are,  and  the  question  is  how  they  can 
be  best  dealt  with  ?  If  a  state  of  nature  existed,  and  we  were  ahoul 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  society,  no  man  would  be  more  atrongly  op- 
posed than  I  should  be  to  incorporate  the  institution  of  slavery  among 
its  elements.  But  there  is  an  incalculable  difference  between  the 
original  formation  of  society  and  a  long  existing  organized  society, 
with  its  ancient  laws,  institutions,  and  establishments.  Now,  great 
aa  1  acknowledge,  in  my  opinion,  the  evils  of  slavery  are,  they  are 
nothing,  absolutely  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  far  greater  evils 
which  would  inevitably  flow  from  a  sudden,  general,  and  indiscnmi- 
nate  emancipation.  In  some  of  the  States  the  number  of  slaves  ap- 
proximates towards  an  equality  with  that  of  the  whites ;  in  one  or 
two  they  surpass  them.  What  would  be  the  condition  of  the  two 
races  in  those  States  upon  the  supposition  of  an  immediate  emanci- 
pation ?  Does  any  man  suppose  that  they  would  become  blended 
into  one  homogeneous  mass  r  Does  any  man  recommend  amalgama- 
tion— that  revolting  admixture,  alike  offensive  to  God  and  man ;  for 
those  whom  He,  by  their  pbysical  properties,  has  made  unlike  and 
put  asunder,  we  may,  \i  ithout  presumptuousness,  suppose  were  never 
intended  to  be  joined  together  in  one  of  the  holiest  rites.  And  let 
me  tell  you,  sir,  if  you  do  not  already  know  it,  that  such  are  the 
feelings — prejudice,  if  you  please,  (and  what  man  claiming  to  be  a 
statesman  will  overlook  or  disregard  the  deep-seated  and  unconquer- 
able prejudicrs  of  the  People) — in  the  slave  States  that  no  human 
law  would  enforce  a  union  between  the  two  races. 

What  then  would  certainly  happen  ?    A  struggle  for 


19   ITfePLT  TO  MR.  BnilI>GNHAU..  b96 

eendeocy ;  the  blacks  seeking  to  acquire,  and  the  whites  to  maintain 
IKWsession  of  the  Groyernment.  Upon  the  supposition  of  a  general 
inunediate  emancipation  in  those  States  where  the  blacks  outnumber 
tlie  whites,  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  insist  upon  another 
part  of  the  same  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  Dorr  and  his  de- 
luded democratic  followers  recently- did  in  Rhode  Island  ;  according 
lo  which  an  undefined  majority  have  the  tight,  at  their  pleasure,  lo  ^ 
subvert  an  existing  Government  and  institute  a  new  one  in  its  place, 
and  then  the  whites  would  be  brought  in  complete  subjection  to  the 
blacks !  A  contest  would  inevitably  ensue  between  the  two  races-^ 
civil  war,  carnage,  pillage, 'conflagration,  devastation,  and  the  ulti- 
mate extermination  or  expulsion  of  the  blacks.  Nothing  is  more  cer- 
tain. And  are  not  these  evils  far  greater  than  the  mild  and  continu- 
ally improving  state  of  slavery  which  exists  in  this  country  ?  1  saj 
continually  improving  ;  for  if  this  gratifying  progress  in  the  amdiora^* 
tion  of  the  condition  of  the  slaves  has  been  checked  in  some  of  thd 
States,  the  responsibility  most  attach  to  the  unfortunate  agitation  of 
the  subject  of  abolition  In  consequence  of  it,  increased  rigor  in  the 
police  and  further  restraints  have  been  imposed ;  and  I  do  believi 
that  gradual  emancipation  (the  only  method  of  liberation  that  hei 
ever  been  thought  safe  or  wise  by  any  body  in  any  of  the  slave  States) 
has  been  postponed  half  a  century. 

Without  any  knowledge  of  the  relation  in  which  I  stand  to  my 
daves,  or  their  individual  condition,  you,  Mr.  Mendenhall,  and  your 
associates,  who  have  been  active  in  getting  up  this  petition,  call  upon* 
me  forthwith  to  liberate  the  whole  of  them.  ""Now  let  me  tell  you 
that  some  half  a  dozen  of  them,  from  age,  decreptitude,  or  infirmity, 
are  wholly  unable  to  gain  a  livelihood  for  themselves,  and  are  a  heavy 
charge  upon  me.  Do  you  think  that  I  should  conform  to  the  dictates 
of  hunaanity  by  ridding  myself  of  that  charge,  and  sending  them  forth 
into  the  world,  with  the  boon  of  liberty,  to  end  a  wretched  existence 
in  starvation  ?  Another  class  is  composed  of  helpless  infants,  with 
or  without  improvident  mothers.  Do  you  believe,  as  a  Christian, 
that  I  should  perform  my  duty  towards  them  by  abandoning  them  to 
their  fate  ?  Then  there  is  another  class  who  would  not  accept  their 
freedom  if  I  would  give  it  to  them.  1  have  for  many  years  owned  m 
slave  that  I  wished  would  leave  me,  but  he  will  not.  What  shall  I 
do  with  thai  class.  ? 


i 


696  tPBlCHIt  OP  HKVRT  CLAY. 

What  my  ireatmeDt  of  mj  elaves  is  you  may  learn  fix>in  Charka, 
who  accompanies  me  on  this  journey,  and  who  has  travelled  with  oat 
over  the  greater  part  of  the  United  States,  and  in  both  the  Canadaa, 
and  has  had  a  thousand  opportunities,  if  he  had  chosen  to  em  bract 
them,  to  leave  me.  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Mendenhall,  for  saying  that 
my  slaves  are  as  well  fed  and  clad,  look  as  sleek  and  hearty,  and  are 
quite  as  civil  and  respectful  in  their  demeanor,  and  as  little  disposed 
to  wound  the  feelings  of  any  one^  as  you  are. 

Let  me  recommend  you,  sir,  to  imitate  the  benevolent  example  of 
tb^  Society  of  Friends,  in  the  midst  of  which  you  reside.  Meek, 
gentle,  imbued  with,  the  genuine  spirit  of  our  benign  religion,  ^rhik 
in  principle  they  are  firmly  opposed  to  slavery,  they  do  not  seek  to 
fccomplish  its  extinction  by  foul  epithets,  coarse  and  vulgar  abuse, 
and  gross  calumny.  Their  ways  do  not  lead  through  blood,  revoln* 
tion  and  disunion.  Their  broad  and  comprehensive  philanthropy  em- 
braces, as  they  believe,  the  good  and  the  happiness  of  the  white  as 
well  as  the  black  race  ;  giving  to  the  one  their  commiseration,  to  the 
pther  their  kindest  sympathy.  Their  instruments  are  not  those  of 
detraction  and  of  war,  but  of  peace,  persuasion  and  earnest  appeab 
to  the  charities  of  the  human  heart.  Unambitious,  they  have  do 
political  objects  or  purposes  to  subserve.  My  intercourse  with  them 
throughout  life  has  been  considerable,  inlerestins:,  and  agreeable: 
and  I  venture  to  say  nothing  could  have  induced  them  as  a  society, 
whatever  a  few  individuals  might  have  been  tempted  to  do,  to  seize 
the  occasion  of  my  casual  passage  through  this  State  to  offer  me  a 
personal  indignity 

I  respect  the  motives  of  rational  abolitionists,  who  are  actuated  by 
a  sentiment  of  devotion  to  human  liberty,  although  I  deplore  and 
deprecate  the  consequences  of  the  agitation  of  the  question.  1  have 
even  many  friends  among  them.  But  they  are  not  monomaniacs, 
who,  surrendering  themselves  to  a  single  idea,  look  altogether  to  the 
black  side  of  human  life.  They  do  not  believe  that  the  sum  total  of 
all  our  efibrts  and  all  our  solicitude  should  be  abolition.  Thev  be- 
lieve  that  there  are  duties  to  perform  towards  the  white  man  as  well 
as  the  black.  They  want  good  government,  good  administration, 
and  the  general  prosperity  of  their  country. 

I  shall,  Mr.  Mendenhall,  take  your  petition  into  respectful  and 


m   REPLY   TO  MR.  MEirDBVBALL. 


697 


deliberate  consideration ;  but  before  I  come  to  a  final  decision,  I 
should  like  to  know  what  you  and  your  associates  are  willing  to  do 
for  the  slaves  in  my  possession  ;  if  I  should  think  proper  to  liberate 
them.  I  own  about  fifty,  who  are  probably  worth  fifteen  thousand 
dollars.  To  turn  them  loose  upon  society  without  any  means  of  sub- 
sistence or  support  would  be  an  act  of  cruelty.  Are  you  willing  to 
raise  and  secure  the  payment  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  for  their 
benefit,  if  I  should  be  induced  to  free  them  ?  The  security  of  the 
payment  of  that  sum  would  materially  lessen  the  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  their  emancipation. 


And  now  Mr.  Mendenhall,  I  must  take  respectful  leave  of  you. 
We  separate,  as  we  have  met,  with  no  unkind  feelings,  no  excited 
anger  or  dissatisfaction  on  my  part,  whatever  may  have  been  your 
motives,  and  these  I  refer  to  our  common  Judge  above,  to  whom  we 
are  both  responsible.  Go  home,  and  mind  your  own  business,  and 
leave  other  people  to  take  care  of  theirs.  Limit  your  benevolent 
exertions  to  your  own  neighborhood.  Within  that  circle  you  will  . 
find  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  all  your  charities.  Dry  up  the 
tears  of  the  afflicted  widows  around  you,  console  and  comfort  the 
helpless  orphan,  clothe  the  naked,  and  feed  and  help  the  poor,  black 
and  white,  who  need  succor.  And  you  will  be  a  better  and  wiser 
man  than  you  have  this  day  shown  yourself. 

•NN 


^ 


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