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Fortification Bill.

doubts it? Let those things succeed, and it is idle to talk about a free Government. We may have the ex ́terior of freedom, but it will be a whitened sepulchre, fair and beautiful to took on, but full of corruption and rottenness within.

I commit no man nor no party, but I here take opportunity to lay down the doctrine that he who comes into power under such circumstances, comes in, to all intents and purposes, as much a usurper as if he had come in by the sword of revolution. Such a Government is to be obeyed merely from political expediency, and not constitutional obligation. What difference, in fact, is there between a Government brought upon the country by presidential dictation, fraud and patronage, and one forced upon us by the arms of a conqueror?

In those countries where the succession may be fixed by the hereditary laws of the land, where things have grown up from time immemorial, and become the fixed principles of the constitution, a people can make claims to freedom, if the succession take place consistent with their institutions. But in this country, where we have a written constitution, every line of which maintains the freedom of the elective franchise, from the highest to the lowest, if we submit to dictation or appointment, directly or indirectly, from any earthly power, we are slaves in feeling and in fact, and shall deserve our destiny. The janissaries of Turkey could at one time bow-string a sultan, and enthrone his successor. A Roman despot could at one time make his horse a consul, while his degenerate countrymen cowered beneath the imperial eagles waving along the lines of prætorean bands. Cromwell anointed himself as one prepared to be a martyr, and called upon his round-head followers to baptize him in the blood of Charles I, that he might come out a saint fit to wear the robes of a dictator, and claim the sworn allegiance of a deluded and enslaved people.

True, we have no janissaries--no prætorean bands-no army of the commonwealth, as yet. But we have what is meaner, baser, and more degrading-we have a hundred thousand office-holders and office-seekers-moneyed corporations from one end of the Union to the other-we have the patronage of this Government and the power and popularity of the President--all, all acting together in concert, and devoted to the sole object of appointing a successor, and transmitting ill-gotten power to those who will fawn to receive it. I care not what may be the principles to be avowed by such an administration, I make open, uncompromising war against the mode and manner of appointment.

How long are these things to last? Are they to be borne by a free people? Think you that one half of this great nation is forever to be ruled over by the other half, upon such principles as these? Think you that the intellectual and virtuous of a great people are forever to be trampled over and spurned by ignorance and brutal numbers? No, sir; it is not nature to bear it. The worm that crawls in the dust will turn when tread on. And shall man, rational man, sink himself lower than the vilest of creation? Sir, if these things are to be borne, go first and tear from the pages of history those leaves which transmit to posterity our glory and our honor--go first and gather together the declarations of our independence, and make of them a bonfire-go first to the graves of our gallant dead, harrow up their bones, and scatter to the four winds of heaven their dust and their ashes-tell our little children these men are unworthy to be remembered, and their deeds to be imitated; we must then do more-change the very names of our own children--ay, we must change their very natures- turn back the current that now runs warm from their hearts, and run it into new channels--pull down the star-spangled banner, and trample it in the dust beneath your feet--then, and not till then, shall we be prepared to

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wear in peace the chains of slaves and the livery of bondmen.

Mr. Chairman, I am aware that I have uttered sentiments ill calculated to suit the public ear. I know, sir, that I have uttered sentiments which forever cut me off from all hope of favor from this Government, or with those who are destined to control it. But I stand here to speak the truth to my country. What is a man born for? Is it that, through deception and sycophancy, he may wind his way to power? Is it that, for the day, he may catch passing popularity, that miserable mushroom thing which springs up in the moisture and darkness of night, only to wither and die under the beams of the noonday sun? No, sir; man lives that he may live hereafter, in the hearts and affections of his countrymen, for having vindicated their interests, their honor, and their liberties. This, in my opinion, is the highest destiny that awaits an earthly career.

When Mr. PICKENS had taken his seat,

Mr. UNDERWOOD obtained the floor, and moved that the committee rise; which was decided in the negative: Yeas 49, nays 87.

Mr. UNDERWOOD then rose and said:

Mr. Chairman: The debate which has grown out of the amendment proposed to the bill under consideration has embraced almost every topic connected with the policy of the Government and its administration. Parties, the press, the conduct of the Executive, the proper system of public defence, the surplus revenue, the propriety of distributing it among the States, the public lands, and a variety of other subjects, have been brought before the committee in the progress of the discussion. I do not propose to notice all that has been said deserving, as I think, the severest reprehension; but, sir, I feel the duty which I owe to those who sent me here to utter on this occasion what I believe to be their sentiments and their opinions on some of the great questions of this debate.

In relation to the parties into which the people of this country are at this time divided, I have a few remarks to make. The old landmarks which distinguished the federal and republican parties have been destroyed. The federal party of 1801 were overthrown because of the opinion, justly entertained, that they were disposed to enlarge and extend the powers of the General Government beyond the limits of the constitution. The alien and sedition acts, passed by the federal party, constitu ted the evidence upon which their condemnation was based. The contest between the federal and republican parties was one for the establishment of great principles of government. The republican party triumphed. I rejoice in its success. In the progress of events, those who succeeded as heirs to the political inheritance left by the republicans of 1798 and 1801 deemed it proper to change the name of their party. They assumed the appellation of the democratic party, with a view to express and enforce the idea of a complete identity in feeling and interest with the great body of the people. Under this name, those who elected our present Chief Magistrate have acted and been known. But, sir, with the change of their name from the republican to the democratic party, they have changed their principles; and, if we are to know their creed from their conduct, they are now the political worshippers of an elective despotism. Those who lead the party have violated every promise made to the people; and their idol, the President, has, in his conduct, utterly disregarded most, if not all, of his avowed principles.

In the present aspect of our political affairs I recog nise but two parties. The separation between them is marked by strong and obvious lines. One of these par. ties ardently desires to elevate and improve the moral, intellectual, religious, and physical, condition of society.

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Devotion to equal laws, and opposition to artificial differences and distinctions, such as result from unjust and partial legislation, constitute the creed of this party. Its members would open the avenues which lead to wealth, to fame, to all the heights of human glory, and allow every citizen, no matter how humble his origin, to enter for the race, untrammelled by legal impediments. With this party, intellectual and moral worth, patriotism, and talents, are sought after, when office is to be conferred. The members of this party neither ask nor desire any exclusive privileges. They are opposed to all laws conferring advantages or benefits on one or more individuals, which are denied or withheld from the people at large. They desire to see no other distinctions among men than those which result from greater industry, more care, superior natural endowments, and higher moral qualities. Such distinctions are founded in the nature of things, and produce differences enough among men, without the aid of human laws, favoring any one class or set of men at the expense of others.

The other party feels but little solicitude for the moral, intellectual, religious, and physical improvement of their race. Judging from the conduct of the members of this party, we should be led to the conclusion that they deemed it proper, if not commendable, to play upon the prejudices and credulity of mankind, to secure any personal profit or emolument. Their professions frequently seem to proceed from correct principles, but their practices prove that the sound doctrines they preach, and the clamor made in their propagation, are nothing more than a component part of a cunningly devised system of popular deception, by which the unhallowed schemes of corrupt ambition are made to prosper, and the interests of the country at large are sacrificed. The members of this party constitute a banditti in search of "spoils." Judging of others by the suggestions and feelings of their own corrupt hearts, they are ever ready to attribute the basest motives and designs to those who oppose them; and, with a view to prostrate all opposition, it is a part of their policy to endeavor to overwhelm their adversaries by defamation and lies. They purchase the venal with office and gold, and intimidate the honest by proscription. Such a party is not properly designated by any party appellation heretofore known, and I shall take the liberty of giving them a name suited to their grovelling purposes and infamous principles. Sir, it should be denominated the sop party, because those who compose it resemble Judas Iscariot in this: that they will sit down at the same table, and dip in the same dish, with their master, and then rise up and betray him for thirty pieces of silver. No confidence can be reposed in them; for they are altogether sordid, selfish, and unprincipled.

That there is such a party in this country, at this time, no one can doubt who will attentively examine and consider passing events. I will not affirm, nor do I believe, that all the members of this party, those who co-operate in prosecuting its worst measures, are acquainted with the extent, the height, and depth, of the wickedness of their leaders. Paul, the apostle, at one time, sincerely thought he was rendering God service by persecuting unto death the disciples of Christ. There may be pure motives in performing deleterious actions.

Party power and misrule have not yet obtained a complete ascendency over public opinion. Some respect is yet paid to any strong demonstration of popular sentiment. But, sir, the cunning of party has devised a plan to give tone and direction to the sentiments and opinions of the people. The device consists in the use of a pensioned press, devoted to the interests of particular men, and feeling no sympathy for the community. Every species of misrepresentation and falsehood in regard to measures, and every sort of detraction and slander in

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regard to men, are printed and published for the pur pose of deceiving the people and controlling the elections. Corrupt politicians use corrupt editors for the purpose of corrupting, deceiving, and ruling, the people. These editors, without the least shame, will accept a bribe in the shape of patronage from the hand of power, and then turn and vilify those whom they have eulogized, and, with the servility of slaves, flatter those whom they have abused and cursed. It is their vocation to endeavor to bring suspicion and odium upon every one who will not worship their idol; and hence it is that a corrupt and bribed press teems with the grossest calumnies against the purest and best men of the nation. Sir, I regret that this House has been deemed a fit place, by many members of Congress, to vindicate themselves against attacks made upon them in the newspapers. I do not consider this the proper place to notice the falsehoods which editors may print and publish with a view to ruin my reputation; and I regret that any gentleman, in the course of this or any other debate, should have deemed it proper to consume time by noticing the statements of the Globe. I would as soon think of descending to the level of a polecat, and waging war with that animal. In such a contest, however successful a man may be, he is very apt to remain in bad odor, even with his friends, for a long time after it is ended.

Mr. Chairman, the people of the district I represent understand the tricks of political knaves, played off through the instrumentality of a corrupt press. The' press, when honestly conducted, is truly the palladium of liberty; but, when prostituted to subserve the base purposes of a sop party, it becomes a formidable engine of tyranny. The chief who suborns and uses a corps of scandalous and calumniating editors thereby evinces to the world his infamous means and his reckless corruption in using them.

I shall now call your attention, Mr. Chairman, to the surplus revenue, and the propriety of distributing it among the States, in proportion to their federal population. Upon this subject three questions present themselves: 1st. Is there any surplus to distribute? 2d. Has Congress constitutional power to distribute it? 3d. Does good policy require its distribution? I propose to answer these questions in their order.

Upon the first point I shall be very brief. The lucid remarks of the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. CUSHING] have satisfactorily proved the existence of a large surplus, and I will not fatigue the committee by going over the ground which he has travelled before me. According to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, there was in the deposite banks, to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, on the 1st day of April, 1836, the sum of $33,294,024 08. If the accruing revenues, during the last three quarters of the year, should be equal to the expenditures, then that sum might be distributed among the States, without injury to the operations of the General Government. Will the money daily coming into the Treasury supply the demand, and meet the daily disbursements necessary to be made?

In the estimates of the Secretary of the Treasury, presented at the commencement of the session, he required for the service of 1836 the sum of $23,133,640. Admitting that this sum should be increased to $26,000,000, in consequence of the Indian wars prevailing in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, then we should ask, will the reve nues of the year supply that sum? We know, from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, that the amount of revenue received during the first quarter exceeds $10,725,000; at the same rate for the three remaining quarters, the total revenue of the year will exceed $42,900,000. Deduct the sum of $26,000,000, which may be required for the service of the current year, and

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Fortification Bill.

there will be a balance left, of the revenue accruing in 1836, of $16,900,000; which, when added to the balance remaining in the Treasury on the 1st of January last, of $21,169,455, would produce a surplus of $38,069,455 on the 1st of January, 1837, without taking into consideration the $7,000,000 of stock in the Bank of the United States. But, sir, if it be conceded that the revenue of 1836, for the three remaining quarters, will not, in any one of them, equal that of the first quarter, then, I ask, how many millions will it fall short? For such is the state of things, that you may deduct millions, and yet be able to distribute among the States thirty millions of the surplus. I do not admit, however that there will be any material diminution in the revenue during the balance of this, or in many years to come. There is danger to be apprehended, and great danger too, from the number and condition of the six hundred banks which cover the country from Missouri to the Atlantic, and from Maine to Louisiana. The great disparity between the paper circulation and the amount of specie in their vaults is such, that a sudden panic may burst the bubble, and reproduce the scenes of 1819-20. But the disastrous consequences of such an event, however lasting and fatal to the hopes and fortunes of particular individuals, would only give a temporary shock to the onward movement of this young and growing nation. The nation, as heretofore, would soon recover from the effects of such calamity, and the customs and public lands would again replenish our Treasury to overflowing.

It has been said that the progressive diminution of du. ties on imports, under the compromise act of 1833, will lessen the amount of revenue; and it has been predicted that the sales of the public domain will greatly decline in a few years. I do not believe these predictions will be verified. In the first place, a diminution of the tax or duty on an article does not necessarily produce a corresponding diminution of the revenue. The amount of revenue depends upon the quantity of dutiable articles consumed; and as goods are sold cheaper in consequence of lessening the duties, the consumption will be greater, and thus an increased consumption will more than balance the decrease of duty. Turn your attention, Mr. Chairman, for a moment, to the great West: ask yourself what is it now, and what was it during the last war? At that time, the whole, a few districts excepted, might be considered a wilderness, in comparison with its present condition. The farms newly settled, in many instances, did not yield a support for their owners and their families. The dwelling-houses were log cabins, and comfortable stables, barns, and out-houses were not to be seen. In this state of things, whenever the labor of clearing and cultivating new land produced something for sale, after subsisting the family, the money arising was necessarily expended in erecting more comfortable dwellings, barns, &c. Thus there was nothing to spare for the merchant, or to purchase articles of foreign growth or manufacture, upon which more than half our revenue is raised. How is it now? Vast multitudes, by their industry and labor, have placed themselves in comfortable houses, upon productive farms, well provided with every convenience, and yielding them annually, in surplus grain, or tobacco, or cotton, or live stock, a handsome income. No longer compelled to expend it in clearing lands and building houses, they can now afford to treat their wives and daughters and sons with foreign articles; and the West now proves what has been found to be true in all ages, that people who have money, and who are not restricted in its expenditure by an overruling necessity, will use it to gratify their appe. tites and tas'e for luxuries and dress. The consequence is, an immense increase in the consumption of foreign merchandise; and hence our Treasury will be kept full to overflowing, notwithstanding the gradual diminution of

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duties on imports. In proof of the now large and increasing consumption of the West, only look at the heavy business done upon the railroads and canals connecting the Atlantic ports with the Mississippi valley; and behold the increasing hundreds of steamboats which are now actively engaged upon the waters of the West, Sir, a survey of the condition of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, in the Atlantic States would equally denote the continuance of a full Treasury. Everywhere we behold industry prosper, generating and accumulating wealth. The inevitable result is an increased consumption of foreign productions, upon which the amount of revenue depends.

In regard to the sales of public lands, there will be no decrease in the quantity sold, so long as profitable investments can be made by purchasing them. Those who own small tracts in thickly settled neighborhoods, and which can be sold at high prices, will find it their interest to sell out, and emigrate to the new States and Territories, where they can with the money get as good or better land, and ten times the quantity. So long as the value of lands in the new States and Territories is increasing at the rate of from ten to one hundred per cent. per annum, capitalists will purchase, rather than invest their funds in stocks or in trade. The tide of emigration to the new States and Territories, the demand for the productions of their fertile soil in market, and the profit which can be realized in a short time from a good farm, will operate as permanent causes to produce an annual increase in the value of lands in the new States and Territories. Men of discernment understand all this; and hence the large purchases of public lands made du. ring the last year will be continued through the present, and probably for years to come. Nothing can arrest this course of things but the entire change of the present land system, or the derangement of the currency, and the general pressure for money which may result from the breaking up of the excessive issues of bank notes. I have no expectation that either of these causes will affect the sales of land during the present year. Let them operate when they may, no argument can be thence drawn adverse to the distribution of the existing surplus revenue among the States.

The conclusion to which my mind has arrived is, that there exists a large surplus, and that it will continue to accumulate, notwithstanding the constant drain going on to sustain all the necessary operations of the Government. Can Congress constitutionally distribute this surplus among the States? I will not contend for the power to impose taxes, with a view to raise money for distribution. Such an object does not seem to me to fall within the scope of the delegated powers of the constitution; but where taxes have been imposed in good faith, for the purposes of the constitution, and Congress finds at its disposal a large surplus which it cannot expend with propriety in accomplishing some purpose of the constitution, I do not perceive any reason why it may not be divided out among the States. If it be not wanted for the use of the Government, it would certainly be competent to return it to those from whom it had been collected, if they could be ascertained. A poll or direct tax, levied under the expectation of war, may be released, in case of the sudden adjustment of the dispute without war; and so, if it had been actually collected, and, in consequence of the settlement of all difficulties, the Government no longer wanted the money, it could not be a violation of the constitution to return the money to those from whom it had been received, and who, from the nature of the tax, could be known with certainty. But in the case of money arising from customs, and which is paid directly to the Government by the importing merchant, and afterwards reimbursed to him by the consumer, the Government cannot return it, when it is not

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wanted, to the citizen in person; because there is no means of ascertaining the persons who paid the money, and the sums paid by each. As that is impossible, why may not this Government place the fund in the hands of a trustee, to be used for the general benefit of those who cannot be individually designated, but who are known as a community to have furnished the money? There is no reason against it. In the selection of a trustee in such a case, the State Governments, for reasons too numerous and obvious to mention, should be chosen. There is no sensible distinction between returning money not wanted to those who are known to have paid it, and placing money in the hands of a trustee for the benefit of a whole community, who advanced the money under circumstances rendering it impossible to ascertain what portion came from each individual. The question of constitutional power is the same in both cases.

But, sir, there is, in my opinion, a great deal of difference between the money arising from the sales of public land and that from the customs; and were I to concede that the last could not be constitutionally distributed among the States, I should still deny that the first stands upon the same ground. It is a common error to regard the money arising from the sales of public lands as so much revenue received from taxing the people; and I have heard it contended that the price of the public lands should be reduced, in order to lighten the burden of taxation! A dollar and a quarter received for an acre of land sold is no tax on the purchaser. He gets the value of his money. He is as rich, and generally more 90, after parting with his money, as he was when he had it in his pocket. Suppose you disband your regiment of dragoons, and sell the horses belonging to the Government; must you take half price, lest you should inflict onerous taxes on the purchasers? Suppose you sell ground purchased in New York or Boston, on which to erect custom-houses, or ground purchased for a lighthouse, because you wish to change the site, or because you have no further use for it; is it necessary to take half the value of the property, in order to escape the charge of cruel taxation? Where is the difference between these cases and the sales of your public domain; There is none. Our land system is an exchange of equivalents, in which the advantage, if any, is uniformly on the side of the purchaser. May we not give the lands we own to the States, without violating the constitution? The language of the second clause of the 3d section of the 4th article of the constitution is this: "The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or other property belonging to the United States." We have already given millions of acres to the new States, (which will appear more at large in a table I shall hereafter present,) and no one has imagined that the constitution was violated by the donation. We have stipulated with the new States to allow them, respectively, five per cent. on the nett proceeds of the sales of the public lands within their limits; and we have passed laws directing the payment to them of three parts of the five per cent. so allowed. I have heard no voice raised against the propriety of these proceedings upon constitutional grounds. The former practice of the Government is an assertion of the power not only to give away the lands, but the money likewise arising from their sale. Can it be said, this is constitutional in regard to the new States, but unconstitutional in relation to the old?

My preceding remarks apply to the constitutional question, unconnected with any special and particular consideration which should influence the judgment of the committee; but, sir, there are reasons to be drawn from the acts of the States ceding their right to large portions of the public domain to the General Govern

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ment, which place the propriety of distributing the money arising from the sales of land thus ceded beyond all doubt. Virginia and Georgia ceded to the General Government much the largest and most valuable portion of the public lands, excluding those acquired by the purchase of Louisiana and Florida. Virginia ceded hers in 1784, before the adoption of the present federal constitution. Georgia ceded in 1802. The purposes for which the cessions were made were indicated by nearly the same language in the conveyance of each State. The deed executed by Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and others, on the part of Virginia, uses the following language: "That all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved for [certain uses mentioned,] shall be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said States, Virginia inclusive, according to their usual respective proportions to the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever." By the confederation, the common Treasury was to be supplied by the several States, in proportion to the value of all lands within each State, granted to or surveyed for any person, and the improvements thereon. As the States were to be charged in proportions, to be fixed by the relative value of their lands and the improvements thereon, I have heard it suggested that the rule should be the same for distributing among the States the pro-ceeds of the sales of the public lands, especially that ceded by Virginia. I admit, if the expenditures of the Government were now defrayed by taxes imposed and assessed upon lands and the improvements thereon, according to the above rule, and no revenue were collected from any other source, that we should be bound to observe the same rule in distributing among the States the money arising from the sales of land ceded by Virginia; But when the Treasury is not filled by taxes imposed on land, or upon the people of the States, according to the relative value of land and the improvements thereon within the States, I deny that the rule given in the articles of the confederation, by which the Treasury was to be supplied, is the rule by which the distribution is to be made. The deed of cession by Virginia does not refer to the rule for filling the common Treasury as prescribed in the articles of the confederation, and then declare that the uses and benefits secured to each State in the land ceded shall be proportionate to the contribu tions of the States under that rule. Instead of that, the deed of cession declares that the States shall participate in the use of the land, "according to their usual respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure;" not as then fixed by any given rule, but leaving Congress thereafter free to apportion the benefits, so as to make them correspond with the burdens imposed on the States. That such was the intention of Virginia in the act of cession, is too manifest to need further remark; and, as there is nothing to direct the partition of the benefits according to a rule then fixed, we are now at liberty to carry into effect the liberal and benevolent design of that State, according to its spirit, and to make the apportionment with a view to the burdens imposed by the existing system of taxation. Under this view of the subject, what ought the rule to be? By the constitution, direct taxes are to be levied on the people of the States according to federal numbers. Indirect taxes, or duties on imports, are burdens upon consumers; and, as it is reasonable to conclude that the States consume in proportion to their federal numbers, a division of the lands, or the money arising from their sale, according to federal numbers, will do equal justice to the people of all the States, and accomplish the object of Vir

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ginia. Her deed of cession imperatively demands such a division, because there is no other way by which you can give each State a proper share of the benefits derived from the public lands since the national debt has been wholly discharged. You are bound to use the fund for the benefit of the States. They are capable of managing the fund for themselves, and are willing to relieve you of the trust. Why not, then, hand over the estate to those who own it, and who are laboring under no disability? The States are not infants or lunatics. They require no guardians or trustees.

Under the articles of confederation, the lands ceded by Virginia and Georgia were accepted for the purposes I have stated. The confederation was bound to dispose of them for the uses mentioned, and the 6th article of the constitution of the United States declares that "all debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States, under this constitution, as under the confederation." We are therefore bound to respect and comply with the engagement made relative to the lands ceded by Virginia before the adoption of the constitution. The second clause in the 3d section of the 4th article of the constitution saves and recognises the claims of Virginia and every other State to an interest in the public land, and leaves the subject to abide the principles established under the confederation. Under that clause, Congress has power "to dispose of" the land, and good faith requires such disposition as was contemplated by the ceding States. The money arising from the sale of the land may be "disposed of" as the land itself. Converting the land into money facilitates the disposition of the land in regard to the ultimate objects to which the land itself must be applied. There is no distinction between the money raised by the sale of the land and the land, in reference to the constitutional power of Congress in disposing of them. If you can give the land itself to the States, so may you give the money for which you sell the land, and so may you give the crops and rents which issue out of the land.

I am done, Mr. Chairman, with the question of constitutional power. A committee of this House (and I believe of the Senate likewise) has reported that we can receive the bequest made by Smithson. If millions are placed in your Treasury by donors and testators, restricted indeed is your power if you cannot make gifts as well as receive them. But, in regard to the public lands, the people of the States ask for no gift; they demand what belongs to them; what they have purchased and paid for with their money and their blood; what was theirs by conquest and by treaty; and that which is now theirs in a strictly legal sense-this Government being nothing more than the stakeholder for their use and benefit. I will now proceed to show that every consideration of policy requires a distribution among the States of the surplus millions in the Treasury. The policy of the measure will be best shown by inquiring how the States will use the money if they get it; and how you, sir, and those associated with you, will use it if you keep it.

First. How will the States use it? They are now (or most of them) borrowing money for the purpose of improving their internal condition. They are engaged in constructing railroads and canals, in Macadamizing turnpikes, and rendering their rivers permanently navigable. The progress already made in such works, and the benefits already derived from them, have stimulated the States to put forth all their energies in completing im provements heretofore commenced, and beginning new works which cannot fail to promote the public welfare. Those States which folded their arms, and did nothing to open and improve the channels of commerce and intercourse which nature had furnished in magnificent

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[MAY 23, 1836.

rivers, but which were useless in consequence of some trifling obstructions-States which seemed never to have conceived the idea of creating a channel of trade and travel entirely artificial-have been roused from their lethargy by the prosperous examples around them. They now see that they are doomed to perpetual inferiority, unless they create for themselves the same kind of facilities which have elevated their neighbors, and poured in upon them a flood of prosperity. The farmers of the West are no longer content to break down wagons, kill horses, and fret and curse in a rencounter with a mud hole; they are no longer content to place their produce upon the margin of some river, and there let it lie until a freshet enables them to take it to a distant market. Sir, I speak for my constituents, (and I believe it is true in regard to the whole West,) when I say that they are determined to have the same advanta ges which other people enjoy, and that we feel that we have intelligence and energy enough to accomplish what other people have accomplished. Kentucky and the West have embarked in making rivers navigable, in making railroads and canals; and, to go on with the work, we have found it necessary to borrow money. The State I in part represent has authorized her Governor to contract for $2,000,000; other Western States have borrowed much more. Now, sir, if you will distribute $30,000,000, the share which Kentucky would receive, according to federal numbers, will exceed $1,500,000. This, with the future dividends of the surplus which may hereafter accrue, would enable Kentucky to complete her public works without paying interest on borrowed capital, and would avoid the necessity of imposing taxes upon her citizens. The money arising from the sales of public lands may, in all time to come, be regarded as a surplus for distribution, unless war or some other great national calamity should afflict us; for the revenue derived from customs and other sources will be equal to meet every useful expenditure which the Government ought to make. What would you think of a farmer, Mr. Chairman, who desired to improve his estate, and who should borrow money at a high interest with which to do it, when he had his chest full of dollars owned by him, and which he might use without paying interest to any one? A strait jacket and a lunatic asylum should be his portion. And yet, sir, such conduct is a fair illustration of the conduct of the present Congress, if we fail to divide among the States the surplus millions in the Treasury. We behold the States, in every direction, borrowing at interest to carry on their public works; and we sit here playing the dog in the man. ger over surplus millions. The real or pretended scruples of the President, and his unintelligble distinctions between national and not national works, between that part of a river above and that part of the same river below a port of entry, and his ready exercise of the veto power, have paralyzed the action of the General Gov. ernment in regard to internal improvements, except in the most partial manner. When the broad and liberal system, sanctioned by former administrations, has been broken up, and when we see the people of the States taking it up, and determined to progress with it, we should give them the means which belong to them to go on with the work. If you will do it, I shall be reconciled, in a great degree, to the destruction of the system as a part of the business of this Government.

Only think, for a moment, of the great works which the States would accomplish with the money. New York might even surpass her splendid Erie canal, by the construction of her contemplated railroads and ship canals. Indiana and Illinois, following the example of Ohio, would soon unite the waters of the lakes with those of the Mississippi. Charleston and New Orleans might, in a few years, be connected with Cincinnati and

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