the public mind. The circulating medium was every where unnaturally abundant, but nowhere so much so as in Alabama. About seventy banks were just instituted in the neighboring States of Tennessee and Kentucky. If they were without capital what did that signify? Their paper was receivable in your land offices where it was as good as gold or silver. They were anxious to lend. Everybody who could muster a couple of endorsers could borrow. Capital was not necessary either to the banks or their customers. Credit was all, and credit was universal. Everything was fictitious. No man was without money, or the representative of money. Cotton was selling at twenty-five cents the pound, and all other articles in proportion that being there the common standard of appraisement, the measure of value. This state of things was naturally calculated to produce the most unhappy results. But there was another circumstance which must not be forgotten. It aggravated these evils unspeakably. It had a prime agency in the events which followed; of which agency you were directly the authors. This was the Mississippi stock, the fruit of the Yazoo compromise, upwards of four millions of which were issued by you, and made receivable in payment for lands in Alabama and Mississippi, and nowhere else. This stock, bearing no interest and owned chiefly in the East, was bought up at a large discount for the purpose of being invested in lands. It doubled the money of Alabama. It destroyed the salutary proportion between the circulating medium and the commodity in the market. It produced an artificial scarcity of land, and the high prices induced by scarcity. The holder of the stock thought himself warranted to bid beyond the specie value, to the extent of his discount, forgetting that the remaining instalments must, after the absorption of the stock, be paid in cash. Those who had no stock were compelled to go up to the stock price, or lose the lands on which they had fixed their affections.

SENATE.

one-half. The seventy banks whose paper inun-
dated Alabama have shut up shop, or are curtail-
ing their discounts, and pressing for payment of
those very loans which they were so eager to make,
What is left floating of Mississippi stock is nearly
at par. Cotton has fallen to ten cents, and every
thing else in the same proportion. But the paper
which buys cotton at ten cents will not pay the
debt of Alabama. You have repudiated the sev-
enty banks. You will not receive their notes; and
the planter who owes you must exchange one hun-
dred dollars in these vile rags for eighty-five dol-
lars of such as will pass muster at the land office.
You must have specie or the paper of specie pay-
ing banks, and these are at a premium of fifteen
per cent. This fact you have in a memorial on
your table, and it is indisputably true.
To expect
payment of ten millions from a people so distressed
is to expect impossibilities, is to call for a miracle
which will not be wrought in our day. The Sen-
ate cannot have forgotten the strong expression of
an eloquent gentleman, (Mr. KING, of New York,)
whose long experience, rich and various attain-
ments, and great abilities are so well known and
appreciated, and whose opinions in regard to all
questions touching the public lands, have always
commanded respect and influence. Speaking on
this subject at the last session, he said that the debt
of Alabama grew out of "a contract which never
would be enforced, which never could be en-
forced, and which never ought to be enforced;
and that, as an individual, if the case were his
own, he could not, in equity and good conscience,
'enforce it." I rejoiced to hear him add, frankly
and emphatically, that relief of some sort must be
granted; and that, at the proper time, he would
go all reasonable lengths to make that relief ef-
fective and ample. The time has arrived, and I
call upon him to redeem his pledge, and I have no
doubt that he will redeem it.

Once more, sir, to the bill. Without transfer, no reasonable man can expect a speedy extinguishThe madness was general, it was epidemic. ment of the Alabama debt. To pay ten millions, The most prudent and calculating men were car- according to the contract, is out of the question. ried away with the rest. Land was the philoso- Nor will your second section, which offers a prepher's stone. To buy it was to be rich. Alas! mium for prompt payment, accomplish that object, the mines which it promised to the distempered because the money is not to be had. The comfancy of the purchaser have proved to be like those mittee contemplate a deduction of three-eighths of the fable on which repose the ends of the boy's from the balance due. The debt being $10,000,000, rainbow. We have seen the consequence of this this discount would reduce it to $7,500,000, a sum excessive excitement, this paroxysm of speculation certainly not within the power of the State to -an enormous debt which never will be paid, command by the 30th September next. It is clear which never can be paid. Yes, sir, I say it cannot to me that the principle on which the committee be paid. The white population is about one hun- proceed, demands that the deduction should be dred thousand. The debt is one hundred dollars made from the original price, the entire purchase each. Say that the sexes are equal, and the debt is money, since the current value of the whole land two hundred dollars for every male. Say that the is lessened in that proportion by the change of sysheads of families, the real buyers of the land, and tem. If you legislate on that principle at all, as I the actual debtors, are twenty thousand, and the think you ought, you should give it full scope; and debt is five hundred each! And what is the situa- I shall, at a proper time, move to amend the secation of Alabama now, and what are her means tion accordingly. But, even suppose the amendof payment? Sir, it is a fearful question for her. ment made, and a discount of thirty-seven and a Remember that you are told from high authority half per cent. allowed on the original price, there that the total currency of the Union has been sud- would then remain to be paid upwards of six mildenly reduced from one hundred and ten to forty-lions of dollars, a sum still far beyond the reach of five millions of dollars, fifty-four per cent. more than the State within the limited period.

You must

SENATE.

Relief to Land Purchasers.

JANUARY, 1821.

resort, then, to other principles, or expect general Mr. President, a word or two more, and I have forfeiture and distress. Transfer is one of those done. It was proposed at the last session to incorprinciples. It is best for you and for your debtor. porate the principles of relief in the bill then beLet us look at its operation. Let us assume that fore the Senate. Gentlemen said, "No, it is not one-fourth only has been paid; and let us suppose, time yet. Change the system, and we will give for the sake of illustration, what, however, is cer- you relief-reasonable, adequate, full relief. Put tainly not the fact, that all the lands are of equal a stop to the further increase of the debt, and you value, and have cost the same price. Suppose shall have your own terms; but we will not emhalf to be surrendered to the United States. This barrass the bill with any thing extraneous to the would reduce the debt one-half, viz: to five mil- change, lest we endanger its passage. Call upon lion dollars, and that without any deduction of us next year, and your griefs shall be healed." price. Transfer the payment of one-fourth already Well, sir, we now make the call; we set forth our made on the part surrendered, and apply it towards case. The President recommends relief; your a discharge on the part retained, and the debt | Minister of Finance advises; your committee rewould then amount to $3,750,000, a prodigious ports; the nation expects it. Individuals petition; difference, certainly; but even this sum could not nay, whole States supplicate your clemency, inbe reasonably expected by the 30th September. voke your magnanimity, and demand the measure This shows the necessity of calling in the last prin- of a just and liberal equity at your hands. Their ciple of the bill-the prolonged credit by instal- prosperity is also that of the Union, of which they ments. And this is the more necessary for that are the fruit, and which they have gallantly demeritorious class who have not the means of trans- fended with their blood. Nothing can give to fer, owning but one tract, and who will not be foreign nations so grand and imposing an idea of able to make prompt payment. your extent, your strength, and your resources, as this rapid expansion of the Republic, and the almost magical filling up of so many new States, won from the savage and the wilderness, for the use and habitation of freemen-your sons and brothers. Seven of these new States and two Territories await with solicitude the fate you are preparing for them. Your decree can make them flourish, or make them fade; can cripple them for a long series of years, or strike off the bonds which fetter them; cramping their young limbs, and retarding their free growth. It is for you now to determine whether they shall be stifled by the horrible incubus of this debt, which presses upon their vitals, paralyizing their energies, and arresting the wholesome play of their organs: whether they shall be crushed by this gigantic Colossus, which bestrides the vast and fertile region of the West, with one foot in the Gulf of Mexico, and the other I know not where on the shores of the lakes, on the summit of the Stony Mountains, under whose "huge legs" your fellow citizens in that quarter "must peep about" to find the grave of their hopes and fortunes!

Sir, I repeat that the change of system imperatively calls upon you to grant relief. Many of the Representatives of the debtor States approved the change, and contributed by their votes to effect it. They thought the credit system injurious to the communities whose interests it was their peculiar province to guard. That system exhausted the new States, and kept them poor and in debt. Men laid out all their money in the first instalment, and staked their hopes and mortgaged their future earnings for the payment of the residue. The system quadrupled the power and inducement to buy, without increasing adequately the ability to pay. The quantity purchased was almost always measured by the amount of the first instalment. The new system deals not in hopes and fears; it leaves no man in suspense; it offers no check to the march of improvement. The purchaser feels erect and independent; he dreads no accident; he dreams not of forfeiture. He has the patent at once in his pocket; and the soil he tills is emphatically He erects his cabin with a sturdy delight, and he sows in the confident hope of reaping the increase. Happy had it been for Alabama, in particular, had the change been made before Áugust, 1817. How vastly different would have been her situation! She could have laid out no more money, for she laid out all; but she would have had her lands for the same money, and been free from debt; she would have had patents instead of certificates. The Representatives of the new States, therefore, gave their sanction to the change of system. But they warned you at the same time of the immediate and necessary effects of that change. The abolition of credit was not all. You reduced the price of your lands from two dollars to one dollar and twenty-five cents the acre. They pointed out to you how this would affect former purchasers, and reduce the value of their lands; and they contended that this reduction gave those purchasers a fair and equitable claim to relief to the full extent of that deduction. The justness of the claim was not denied.

his own.

When Mr. W. had concludedMr. MORRIL spoke briefly in support of the bill as it stood, and against recommitment.

On the question to agree to the above motion, Mr. SMITH asked to be excused from voting on this, and all other questions that may arise on said bill in the Senate, and stated as a reason why he should be excused, that, being a purchaser of public lands in Alabama, and not residing therein, he was interested in the provisions of the bill; and on the question to grant the leave asked, it was determined in the negative.

The question being taken on the motion to recommit the bill, it was negatived without a division.

Mr. THOMAS then offered a substitute for the first section of the bill, (not affecting any principle of the bill, but intended to render its meaning clearer,) which was ordered to be printed; and the Senate adjourned.

Proceedings.

The Senate proceeded to consider the motion of yesterday, instructing the Committee on Public Lands to inquire into the expediency of granting to actual settlers on the public lands on the bank of the Mississippi, in Louisiana, the right of preemption on certain conditions; and agreed thereto. The Senate proceeded to consider the report of the Committee of Claims on the petition of Nathaniel Mc Warren; and, in concurrence therewith, resolved that the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee on Public Lands on the petition of the trustees of Worthington College, in Ohio; and, on motion by Mr. RUGGLES, it was laid on the table.

The Senate took up and considered, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill to continue in force the act, entitled "An act for establishing tradinghouses with the Indian tribes; and the consideration thereof was postponed to Friday next.

The Senate took up and considered, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill for the better regulation of the trade with the Indian tribes; and, on motion by Mr. TRIMBLE, to amend the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting a new draught, the consideration of the bill was postponed to Friday next.

The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill authorizing the payment of a sum of money to John Gooding and James Williams; and it was postponed until to

morrow.

The bill explanatory of the act of the last session for the relief of James L. Cathcart; the bill for the relief of John Coffee; and the bill for the relief of Nicholas Perkins, were severally considered in Committee of the Whole, and were ordered to a third reading.

JANUARY, 1821.

Mr. EATON spoke at some length against the
bill, and the reasoning of the report.
The bill and report were supported by Mr.
LowRIE and Mr. VAN DYKE.

Mr. JOHNSON, of Louisiana, offered an amendment to the bill, expressly to prevent its interference with any of the Spanish grants, which have been recommended for confirmation by the board of commissioners of the western land district of Louisiana, and since confirmed by Congress-and he spoke to show the necessity of such a provision in the bill. Whereupon, the bill was, on motion of Mr. KING, of Alabama, postponed to Friday.

The Senate again took up the bill granting relief to the purchasers of public lands prior to the 1st of July, 1820.

A good deal of discussion again took place on this bill, principally on amendments offered to it; none of which, however, of a material character, were agreed to. The bill was, after some time, again laid on the table.

THURSDAY, January 25.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have passed a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of the family of the late Oliver Hazard Perry, Esq.," a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of Jacob Hunsinger;" a bill, entitled an act extending the time for issuing and locating military land warrants to officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary army;" a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of Joseph McNiel ;" a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of Alexander Milne;" a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of Lewis H. Guerlain ;" a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of John Rodriguez;" a bill, entitled "An act to regulate the location of land warrants, and the issuing of patents in certain cases;" a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of Francis B. Languille;" a bill, entitled "An act for the relief of James Brady" a bill, entitled "An act for the

The bill granting to the Governor of Louisiana, (for the time being) two tracts of land in the county of Point Coupee, (for the benefit of the people of that county, for the purpose of estab-relief of Bartholomew Duverge;" and a bill, enlishing thereon a public seminary of education,) was taken up.

titled "An act to alter the times of holding the District Court in the northern District of New The bill was explained and supported by Mr. York;" and also, a "Resolution to suspend the JOHNSON, of Louisiana, and, having been amend-recruiting service for a limited time;" in which ed, was postponed until to-morrow.

bills and resolution they request the concurrence of the Senate.

The said bills and resolution were severally read the first and second times by unanimous consent.

MARQUIS DE MAISON ROUGE. The Senate next took up the bill reported by the Committee on the Public Lands, confirming the title of the Marquis de Maison Rouge to a The bill, entitled "An act for the relief of Jacob tract of land on the Washita river, in the State Hunsinger;" the bill, entitled "An act extending of Louisiana, granted to him by the Spanish the time for issuing and locating military land Government, on the 20th of June, 1797. [The warrants to officers and soldiers of the Revolutitle covers a tract of thirty square leagues, and tionary army;" the bill, entitled "An act to regucomes before Congress for confirmation by peti-late the location of land warrants, and the issuing tion from Daniel W. Coxe, who claims under the title of de Maison Rouge, and holds the greater part of the immense tract which that title embraces.]

The bill was accompanied by a long report from the committee, setting forth the facts of the case, and the principles on which the bill was predicated.

of patents in certain cases;" and the bill, entitled "An act for the relief of James Brady," were severally referred to the Committee on Public

Lands.

The bill, entitled "An act for the relief of the family of the late Oliver Hazard Perry, Esq.," was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

The bill, entitled "An act for the relief of Jo