SPEECH OF ME. RAYNER, 
 
 OF NORTH CAROLINA, 
 
 1 = R OX THE 
 
 TREASURY NOTE BIM,. 
 
 6 i 
 
 5 s [gi Delivered in the House of Representatives, on the 5th of February, 1841. 
 
 g he bill authorizing the issue of Treasury notes to the amount of five millions 
 
 7 ^=S ollars being under consideration and Mr. BARNAKD of New York having 
 =!^= fid to strike out the enacting clause of the bill ; giving notice that, if the mo- 
 prevailed, and a report to that effect should be made to the House, he would 
 
 men offer the following resolution : 
 
 Kf solved, That the subject of making provision for the wants of the Treasury be referred back 
 to the Committee of Ways and Means, with instructions 
 
 First. To bring in a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow ten millions of 
 dollars on the credit of the Government, and to issue bonds or scrip therefor. 
 
 Second. To bring in a bill imposing duties for additional revenue on wines, silks, linens, 
 spices, and other articles, being luxuries, imported into the United States ; but in such manner 
 as not to conflict with the principles, policy, and spirit of the act of March, 1833, commonly 
 called " the Compromise Act." 
 
 Mr. RAYNER, of North Carolina, spoke as follows: 
 
 He said he should vote against the issue of Treasury notes now, as he did, at 
 the last session ; but that hewas willing to vote for a loan, and for additional 
 duties on articles of luxury, as contemplated by the resolution of the gentleman 
 from Ne'w York. Setting aside the disputed question, as to the constitutional 
 power of Congress to issue Treasury notes, about which (said Mr. R.) I shall 
 venturerfio opinion novv^ yet I oppose the measure on grounds of inexpediency. 
 I believe that a crisis has arrived in our financial affairs, which requires a remod- 
 elling of the system, which must soon be met ; and that this issue of Treasury notes 
 is calculated to put off to a future day, that, which requires immediate attention. 
 I look upon it as deceptive in its character, and calculated to conceal from the 
 knowledge of the country, the embarrassed and ruinous condition of the national 
 Treasury. It is also calculated to screen from a just responsibility, the condemned 
 authors of that system of misrule which has bankrupted the Treasury, and well 
 nigh dishonored the nation. For whilst it, in fact, entails upon the Government 
 a debt a national debt, in every sense of the word yet, so much magic is there 
 in a name, that those who have for years been resorting to this system, have as 
 uniformly denied that they have imposed upon the country a national debt ; but 
 insisted, that they were only using temporarily the credit of the Government. 
 
 Now, sir, it is right that there should no longer be practised any deception on 
 this subject. It is right that the true situation of the Treasury should be made 
 known to the country. It is right that the authors of the financial embarrassments 
 under which we are now suffering, should be held to a strict accountability. Let 
 them, in the few days of power which they have left, confess that the Treasury is 
 empty, that the country is in debt, that funds are necessary to save the honor and 
 credit of the nation, and bring in a bill authorizing a loan : 1 will vote for it, 
 although it shall be with a prntestando against the wasteful extravagance which 
 has rendered it necessary. Sir, if the Government is in debt, without the means 
 of paying, the people should know it ; they should also know the amount of that 
 debt, under whose management it has been incurred, and the manner and terms 
 on which it is to be paid. 
 
 The issue of Treasury notes, as I have before said, is only putting off the day 
 of settlement, and throwing it on those who, while they have foretold and pro- 
 tested against the present evils, will yet be charged, when the day of reckoning
 
 comes, with having incurred the debt, for the payment of which they are now 
 making provision. 
 
 If Treasury notes be constitutional about which, as I said before, I deem it 
 unnecessary to express an opinion yet I do not consider this to be an occasion 
 when it is proper to resort to them. It may be, that in cases of emergency which 
 cannot be foreseen or provided for as war, or a sudden revulsion in the trade and 
 revenue of the country the issue pf Treasury notes might not only be expedient, 
 but absolutely necessary ; when the interest, the honor, and the plighted faith of the 
 country, were in danger of being compromised. Sudden and unexpected difficul- 
 ties not only require, but justify, extreme and unusual remedies. But such is not 
 the case at the present time. The horrors of war have not suddenly burst upon 
 us, and the difficulties which beset the trade and commerce of the country, so far 
 from being sudden and unexpected, have been gradual in,their approach, long seen, 
 and long felt. Then, not being suddenly called upon to provide against some un- 
 foreseen disaster, I insist upon it that tot should take time to view the whole field 
 of difficulty, throw the responsibility where it properly belongs, and resort to such 
 means as shall be consistent with the obligations we owe to the country, and the 
 duty which we owe to ourselves. 1 speak as a member of the Whig part}' ; as a 
 member of that party which long foresaw and long forewarned the country, against 
 the measures which have reduced us to this ruinous and almost degraded condition. 
 Sir, I do not choose to be driven by this cry of the " immediate wants" of the Gov- 
 ernment, about which we have heard so much, to the commission of an act, which 
 I not only believe to be inexpedient and unwise at the present time, but which, 
 while it is calculated to relieve the guilty from responsibility, will throw the odium 
 of their misdeeds upon those who are to succeed them. 
 
 As to the indebtedness of the Government, without the means of making pay- 
 ment, there is no difference of opinion here. That more money will be required, 
 than can be supplied by the accruing revenue for the present year, must be 
 admitted on all hands. As to the deficit which exists, .ana* the amount which will 
 be required for present wants and future demands during the year, it is a point of 
 controversy. 1 shall attempt to show, before I conclude, that it is much larger 
 than can be gathered from the obscure and cunningly-devised report of the Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury. The question is, how is the requisite sum to be raised? 
 After a great and unexampled victor}', the Whig party is about to come into 
 power, and they find the Government crippled in its resources, and bent down by 
 years of pressure. We now have to apply the remedy. W r e now have to raise 
 the means of enabling the country to comply with its obligations, to repair its 
 shattered defences, and to save the national honor. I am willing to do this, but I 
 cannot consent that a discomfited enemy shall dictate the way in which it is to 
 be done. Still less am I willing to aid in screening that enemy from public indig- 
 nation, by assuming the responsibilily which should rest on him. And if we have 
 nothing to hope from an obstinate and perverse majority here if this measure is 
 presented to us as the ultimatum, as the only relief which they will consent to 
 give, I, for one, am for " biding my time," and am willing to wait, till those who 
 truly represent the interests and wishes of the people, shall have assembled here. 
 
 1 have sta.ted that I am willing to vote for a loan, and feeling assured, as I do, 
 that five millions will not be more than half sufficient to meet the deficit for the 
 present year, I am willing to vote for the ten millions contemplated by the reso- 
 lution of the gentleman from New York. I prefer a loan, because it will reveal 
 to the country the actual condition of the Treasurv, and I prefer that it should be 
 authorized by the same men, whose measures have forced us to this alternative. 
 Those who have contracted the debt, and squandered the means of carrying on 
 the Government, should take the responsibility of making provision for both. 
 Paying a debt is not incurring a debt. It may be, and it will be, that the admin- 
 istration to succeed the one now in power, will be compelled to provide the means
 
 
 of paying the debt already incurred^ and of meeting the deficit growing out of 
 the shock given to trade and commerce, by the deslructive policy of the present 
 party in power. And I wish now, in advance, to call the attention of this House, 
 and of the country, to the fact, that any measure of relief hereafter to be resorted 
 to by the coming administration, will be the inevitable result of the policy of the 
 present administration. If the country is in debt, that debt must be paid ; if there 
 is a deficiency in the revenue for the present year, that deficiency, must be pro- 
 vided for; and if, in applying the means for either, the country is pressed, let not 
 those be blamed who make the provision, but those who forced it upon them. 
 Sir, I make these remarks, because it is very apparent, from the tone of the de- 
 bate on the other side, as well as of the presses in their support, that this is to be 
 the basis of an organized opposition against General Harrison's administration. 
 And now, I charge in anticipation and I call upon gentlemen on the other side 
 to note what 1 say you have squandered the public treasure ; you have crippled 
 the resources of the country, by your war upon commerce and credit ; you are 
 about to go out of power, after having plunged the country in debt, and deprived 
 it of the means of meeting its necessary expenditures ; and upon your heads, and 
 yours alone, let the responsibility rest. And in providing the means, as we shall 
 hereafter be compelled to do, to pay for your extravagance, and to supply the 
 deficiency caused by your warfare upon commerce, let it not be said, for in truth 
 it cannot, that we have imposed upon the country a national debt. 
 
 If the interest of the country, in a pecuniary point of view, is to be consulted, 
 a loan must be preferable to Treasury notes. Treasury notes, with four and a 
 half millions now outstanding, and bearing an interest of six per cent., are now, I 
 learn, from one-half to three-fourths per cent, below specie par. These Treasury 
 notes are reissuable, let it be recollected, until the 31st March, of the present year. 
 Authorize the issue of five millions more, or ten millions, as contemplated by the 
 amendment of the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. WISE,) and as you thus in- 
 crease their amount, you lessen their value. It may be said, these Treasury notes are 
 paid out to the public creditor at par, and received from the public debtor at par. 
 But, sir, is it right, with all your professions about a specie currency, and all your 
 denunciations of paper, to receive the public dues in a medium less valuable than 
 specie, whilst, according to the provisions of the sub-Treasury law, you are com- 
 pelled to collect one-half of the revenue in gold and silver after the 4th July 
 next? And is it right to compel the public creditor or leave him no other alter- 
 native, which is the same thing to receive the amount due him in a medium less 
 valuable than specie, after all the clamor we have heard about the impositions of 
 banks, and the worthlessness of paper money? Treasury notes, iike all other 
 bills of credit, cannot long maintain their nominal value, as has been proven by 
 the history of all Governments that have ever resorted to them. In fact, they 
 are a sort of revolutionary currency at best, never resorted to by Governments 
 except when in extremis ; and when they have no other mode of supplying 
 their coffers, and of sustaining their credit. They remind me too strongly of 
 Continental paper money, and the assignats of revolutionary France, to receive 
 my sanction. Owing to their uncertain and fluctuating character, as to the time 
 and amount of their issues, capitalists are afraid to invest in them ; and, as a cur- 
 rency, they are entirely unsuited to the public convenience. And all the patch- 
 work of legislation to which you may resort, cannot acquire for them the confi- 
 dence and countenance of the commercial community. But resort to a loan, issue 
 your scrip, redeemable on time, with a fixed rate of interest, and you create a 
 stock in which capitalists will seek to invest their money ; and this stock, so far 
 from soiling at a discount, will command a premium. I understand that the stock 
 issued by the Government in 1822, '23, and '24, although redeemable at plea- 
 sure, sold at a premium of two per cent. If issued on time it would be worth 
 more ; but at two per cent, the Government would save $200,000 in a loan of
 
 ten millions. If you issue Treasury notes made returnable in one year, you are 
 only postponing the evil, which will be aggravated when the time of presentation 
 arrives. For, as I shall attempt to show, the deficit in the Treasury is not a tem- 
 porary one, but a permanent one which cannot be supplied, unless the imports 
 should be increased beyond any reasonable calculation, or the duties on those 
 imports, or a portion of them, should be raised. So that, at the time these Trea- 
 sury notes shall return, the Treasury will need all its available means in order to 
 meet the necessary and current demands of the Government. 
 
 That there is a deficit all agree. The question is, how large is it likeJy to be 
 during the present year? I have no doubt that it will be more than ten millions; 
 it certainly will, if Congress passes the appropriations that are absolutely neces- 
 sary for the country. It is true, we can make the expenditures any amount we 
 please, no matter how small, if we are disposed to disband the army, to lay up 
 the navy, desert our fortifications, suspend our foreign intercourse, &c. In'read- 
 ing the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, I was struck with the time-serv- 
 ing and disgraceful proposition he has made, for the purpose of preserving a bal- 
 ance in the Treasury at the end of the year. He says : 
 
 " But the preservation of a suitable balance in the Treasury nviy require more than what will 
 probably be left after satisfying other purposes. The raising of any sum for that object in 1841 
 could, however, be obviated by authorizing a contract to be made, under proper restrictions, ex- 
 tending the period of payment for a portion of the temporary liabilities falling due in that year^ 
 Yet, in the opinion of the undersigned, the best mode of providing for this case would be, with- 
 out either an extension of this kind, or a loan, or a further issue of Treasury notes, or a change 
 in the tariff; but merely by lessening the appropriations for the service of 1841 below Ike esti- 
 mates, or by passing such declaratory clauses as to the present tariff, and such acts as to the 
 public lands, as have heretofore been urged on the consideration of Congress." 
 
 Now, here is the Secretary of the Treasury, an officer whose especial duty it 
 is to submit an estimate of all the expenditures necessary for the Government, 
 proposing in one sweeping clause to lessen the appropriations below the estimates, 
 without specifying any items of expenditure which he would cut down, without 
 considering the absolute wants and sufferings of the country merely for the 
 purpose of making a show of economy, now upon his retirement from office, and 
 of withdrawing attention from that profligacy and extravagance that have bankrupt- 
 ed the Government. And this is the same Levi Woodbury, under whose adminis- 
 tration of the finances $39,000,000 per annum have been expended, without a 
 murmur against extravagance escaping him. No, sir, I hope no such illiberal, 
 narrow-minded policy is to be pursued here. As statesmen entrusted with the 
 interests of the country, it is our bounden duty to see that its honor and character 
 shall be preserved, and all its main branches of defence shall be sustained; and if 
 there is a deficiency in the revenue, growing out of a long period of misrule, we 
 must resort to other means to the credit of the Government ; relying upon the 
 future, for the return of prosperity, and a replenished Treasury. 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury estimates the expenditures for the year 1841 
 as follows, viz: 
 
 Civil, diplomatic, and miscellaneous - $3,450,740 13 
 
 Military 7,725,440 94 
 
 Naval - - 5,445,339 21 
 
 Besides these, certain permanent appropriations under existing laws will be- 
 come chargeable on the Treasury duringthe nextyear, in sums as follows : 
 
 For ordinary purposes. 
 Military 864,000 OG> 
 
 For other purposes. 
 
 Public debt, including interest and first instalment for the District of Columbia 149,200 00 
 
 Redeeming Treasury notes - - 4,500,000 00 
 
 Amounting in all to ------- $22,134,72028
 
 The receipts for the same year, he estimates as follews : 
 
 From customs - r $19,000,00f> 
 
 From lands - - ' '*?'* 3,500,000 
 
 From miscellaneous - - 80,OOO 
 
 Expected balance in the Treasury available on 1st January, 1841 1,580,855 
 
 Available from banks - - . - - 320,000 
 
 Treasury notes. yet issuable under the act of 31st March, 1840 - 342,618 
 
 Amounting in all to - - ! -V L - ' - $24,723,473 
 
 Thus leaving a balance on 1st of January, 1842, of - $824,000 
 
 These estimates of the Secretary have been proven to be entirely illusory and 
 deceptive. The tables in his report have .all been got up, worked out, and 
 arranged, to meet a conclusion to which he had resolved to arrive that the ex- 
 .penditures for the present year should fall within the receipts. Heads of bureaus 
 have declared to gentlemen on this floor, that, in making their reports, they were 
 required to cut down their estimates of the appropriations for the public service, 
 so as to make them square with the predetermined estimates of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury. It is enough to make one blush for the degradation of his country, 
 when he sees the Minister of Finance so far forgetful of the duties of his station, 
 and the great interests of the nation, as to frame his report, not to suit the wants 
 and exigencies of the country, but to save his party from the charge of extrava- 
 gance, and himself from that of mismanagement. 
 
 I shall not attempt a detailed examination of the various items of income and 
 expenditure for the present year, submitted in the Secretary's report; for their fal- 
 lacy and duplicity have been fully and ably exposed. The gentlemen from New 
 York, Maine, and Tennessee, (Messrs. BARNARD, EVANS, and BELL,) have placed 
 this matter in so clear a point of view, that no one can misunderstand it who is 
 not wilfully ignorant. And the feeble attempts that have been made to refute 
 their calculations, have tended to make the conviction still stronger, that they are 
 founded on data which cannot be controverted. 
 
 As before stated, the Secretary estimates the receipts for the present year at 
 $24,380,855, including the Treasury notes issuable under the act of March 31, 
 1840. Of this he estimates $19,000,000 from customs. Now, sir, is it reasonable 
 to suppose that this amount will be received from customs during the present 
 year? As to the Secretary's opinion, what is that worth "? In his annual report 
 of December, 1839, he estimated the receipts from customs for 1840 at $15,000,000, 
 and they fell short $2,000,000 ; and I learn that is nearer than he ever arrived 
 at the truth in any financial calculation. Is it reasonable to suppose, that the in- 
 come from customs for 1841 will be six millions more than in 1840 ? Why 
 should it be 1 Gentlemen say last year was one of great pressure, but that 
 trade is now reviving, and that the importations during the present year are likely 
 to be heavy. It is true that, since the election of General Harrison, confidence 
 has revived, and business begins to prosper ; but yet, in the efforts of the banks to 
 resume specie payments, which is one of the fruits of a restoration of confidence, 
 the pressure in the money-market must for a time continue. It is only gradually, 
 that business, when once depressed, can regain its former prosperous condition. 
 And if the sub-Treasury is executed according to the express provisions of the 
 law, as General Harrison is bound to see that it shall be, and one-half of the pub- 
 lic dues after July are collected in actual specie, it will create an additional de- 
 mand for specie, at the very time when the banks will be endeavoring to 
 strengthen themselves, and when they will be least able to spare it. And my 
 word for it, if the subjTreasury is executed according to the letter of tlin law, you 
 will have another revulsion the banks will again suspend, business will be pros- 
 trated, confidence destroyed, and the scenes of '37 be enacted over again. Th
 
 6 
 
 gentleman from Mississsippi (Mr. THOMPSON) spoke of the large importations now 
 on their way here across the Atlantic, the duties on which were to fill the Treas- 
 ury. Why, I suppose, that is always the case about this season of the year. The 
 importing merchants have ordered out their spring supplies, and although your 
 ports may he crowded for a short time, about the latter part of the winter or be- 
 ginning of spring, yet, during the summer months, you may scarcely hear of an 
 importation. But 1 think it may be safely set down, that the importations next 
 fall will be very thin ; for it must be recollected that, according to the terms of the 
 compromise act, the duties on all articles are to come down on the 1st January 
 next, in the proportion of one-half of their excess over twenty per cent. Then, 
 is it not reasonable to suppose, that the merchants will withhold their importations 
 till after the 1st January, except in such small quantities as will meet a ready sale? 
 Most assuredly they will. Otherwise, their stock remaining on hand could be un- 
 dersold by those importing after the first of the year. Owing to these circum- 
 stances, I do not believe that the income from customs for 1841 is likely to ex- 
 ceed that of 1840. But putting it at a medium between $119,000,000, as esti- 
 mated by the Secretary, and $13,000,000, the amount received in 1840, and we 
 have $16,000,000, which is a liberal, and, as I believe, an over estimate. 
 
 Next is the estimate of receipts from public lands, which the Secretary puts 
 down at $3,500,000. This I am willing to allow, although I understand the Com- 
 missioner of the General Land Office has given it as his opinion that it will not 
 exceed $2,500,000. Add to this " miscellaneous," " expected balance available on 
 the 1st January next" the sum " due from banks which is likely to be made avail- 
 able," and " additional means arising from Treasury notes authorized to be issued 
 under the act of March 31, 1840," and you have the whole means for the support 
 of Government for the year 1841, amounting to $21,723,473. 
 
 Let us now look at the probable expenditures; not with reference to the very 
 smallest amount with which the Government can possibly get on, but with refer- 
 ence to the actual wants and necessities, the honor and character, of the country. 
 I see from House document No. 265 of the last session, the appropriations for the 
 "civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse for the year 1840" amounted to 
 $4,512,545 05; whereas, in the estimates for the year 1841, it is put down at 
 $3,450,740 13. Why is this ? The member from South Carolina (Mr. RHETT) 
 insisted that $300,000 would be saved in consequence of the shortness of this ses- 
 sion compared with the last. But then, gentlemen on the other side insist, that we 
 intend lo have an extra session. The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. THOMPSON) 
 said he could see we were determined on this. If we do have an extra session, it 
 will be a charge on the Government. And if gentlemen know this, why not pro- 
 vide the means of meeting it 1 I certainly know nothing of the purposes of Gen- 
 eral Harrison, or of those whose counsel he will seek; I have, however, but little 
 doubt an extra session will be inevitable. General Harrison will find the Treasury 
 empty, with pressing demands against it daily, and nothing to discharge them with. 
 In that case, he will be compelled to convene Congress, in order to obtain the means 
 of carrying on the Government. In addition to this, the country requires reform 
 at our hands a speedy and thorough reform. Millions of freemen are calling for 
 the repeal of the odious sub-Treasury. A prostrate commerce and ruined cur- 
 rency require the remedial hand of the Government. I speak only my own. 
 opinion. I believe an extra session indispensable. And if it takes place, the ex- 
 pense attending it will be more than the difference between that of the present 
 session and the last. I discover the Secretary has sent in no estimates for the 
 outfits of ministers abroad, and the infits of those who are already there. Does 
 he suppose General Harrison will not change the diplomatic corps ? Does he 
 suppose the honor and interests of the country will any linger be entrusted to 
 those, who now represent the national foreign courts ? Or is this a part of his 
 system of retrenchment, that it will be better not to recall ministers, because the
 
 appointment of new ones will be attended with expense? These extra charges 
 falling upon the civil list of the present year, will be fully equal to any of the 
 last year, not incident to this. I have therefore sufficient data for assuming that the 
 " civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse," for the present year, will amount 
 to at least 4,500,000. 
 
 Next come the estimates for the military service. And these the Secretary 
 puts down at $7,725,440 94. Now,, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. EVANS) 
 has so effectually exposed the imposition attempted in this estimate, that I am 
 sure there is not one who heard him that is not fully satisfied on the subject. I 
 see, from the same document to which I have before referred, (No. 265,) that 
 the appropriations for this branch of the service, at the last session, amounted to 
 $8,343,900 83. And so far from the expenses necessary for the same being less 
 this year than they were the last, they must necessarily be more. Not one word 
 is said about the Florida war. House document, No. 70, of the present session, 
 is a letter from the Secretary of War, containing an estimate of the appropria- 
 tions necessary for the Florida war during the year, of which, it seems, $250,690 01 
 is due for service already performed, as follows : 
 
 For arrearages to militia called into service by the Governor of Florida - $221,244 02 
 
 For pay of a battalion of Georgia volunteers for 3 months' service in 1840 - : 29,446 08 
 
 $250,690 10 
 
 It seems that there are already, in addition to the regular army in Florida, two 
 thousand militia, 1,200 of them mounted men, and proposed to be increased to 
 1,500; and, as slated by the Paymaster General, " the President, having subse- 
 quently sanctioned this service, places their claims on a footing with those of the 
 militia regularly called into the service of the United States." According to the 
 estimates submitted in the same document, by the Paymaster General, the Com'mis- 
 sary General of Subsistence, the Surgeon General, and the Ordnance Department, 
 the expenses of paying and subsisting this force for the year 1841, in addition to 
 the arrearages already due, will amount to $2,385,329 75, the whole of which 
 will fall on the year 1841. And, what is remarkable, the chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Ways and Means had this letter in his possession since the 17th De- 
 cember, without suffering it to be brought to public view here. 
 
 Mr. JONES. I beg leave to correct the gentleman from North Carolina. The 
 letter was in the possession of the committee, subject to the inspection of all its 
 members. There was no attempt on my part to conceal it. 
 
 Mr. R. But, sir, I insist it was your duty to have brought it before the 
 notice of the House. In the speech which you made at the commencement of 
 this debate, in which you attempted to sustain the views of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, in submitting your estimates of receipts and expenditures for the 
 year 1841, you did not include this item of expense for the Florida war. Mr. 
 Chairman, (addressing the Chair,) I repeat, it was the duty of the honorable 
 chairman of the Ways and Means, in his character as Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer, with this knowledge in his possession, to have submitted estimates for 
 this Florida war, when he unfolded his budget for 1841, in the speech with 
 which he opened this debate. But he failed to do so ; and the first notice we 
 have of it, rs in a letter laid on our desks, from the Secretary of War to the chair- 
 man of the Ways and Means, dated December 17, 1840. Here, then, is an ad- 
 ditional charge falling upon the year 1841 of $2,385,329, not even alluded to by 
 the Secretary of the Treasury ; which, added to the estimates submitted by him, 
 amounts to the sum of $10,110,770 69 ; and which, added to the appropriations 
 of last year for the same service, amounts to $10,729,230 58. 
 
 But, says the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. RHETT,) the Florida war 
 will probably soon be terminated. Probably soon be terminated ! This is the
 
 language we have heard for years. It has long been the theme of Executive re- 
 ports, and of the despatches of commanders-in-chief. Let a few miserable 
 squaws be taken, or starving old men surrender themselves, and it is immediately 
 heralded throughout the land that the power of the Indians has been destroyed ; 
 that they are all coming in ; and that the war will soon be at an end. And the 
 next account we hear is, that blood has been flowing in torrents, and houses have 
 been wrapt in flames.' For every brave destroyed, two seem to spring up in his 
 place. We have, within the last day or 'two, heard of the capture of 60 or 70 
 Indians; but how often has this been the case heretofore 1 It is impossible to 
 estimate the number of Indians in Florida. Years ago, it was. said there were 
 only a few hundred ; and although we have been destroying them all the while, 
 yet the work of murder and ravage has continued. As soon as the army relaxes 
 its operations, they become emboldened, leave their inaccessible haunts, and com- 
 mence anew their course of pillage and death. You may suppose there is not an 
 Indian in Florida, you may suddenly withdraw your army, and the first thing you 
 hear, may be, that the Indians have reappeared in all their power. Sir, the Flor- 
 ida war is not at an end, nor is it soon likely to be. Sam Jones and Tiger-tail 
 yet lead their merciless bands through the everglades of that ill-fated region ; to- 
 day doing " the deed of death," and to-morrow concealed in the impenetrable 
 swamps. The bloody Mickasukies yet rove through the forests of Florida, leav- 
 ing death and desolation in their track. To legislate with a view to the early dis- 
 bandment of the army in Florida, is to leave your own countrymen exposed to the 
 horrors of savage warfare. To do this through a false economy, is to sell the 
 blood of your citizens for money. It is to surrender a portion of your territory to 
 the savage, and to confess, in the face of the world, that a predatory band of 
 Seminoles has successfully resisted all the boasted power of the Government. To 
 stop the war at this stage, is to compromise the honor of the country. You must, 
 you are compelled to, prosecute it to a successful issue. I therefore take it for 
 granted that, in estimating the appropriations for the military service, you must 
 include the $2,385,329 proposed in the letter from the Secretary of War. 
 
 It seems that the Secretary of the Treasury, in estimating the reductions for 
 the present year, cuts down the expenses of the Indian department $174,000 be- 
 low the appropriations of last year. I know not whether this is on account of there 
 being funds in the hands of agents yet unpaid, on account of outstanding ap- 
 propriations, or whether it is in pursuance of that system of gradual retrenchment 
 recommended in his report ; for it will be seen by reading the report of the Sec- 
 retary, that he undertakes to read Congress a lecture on economy, after having 
 exhausted the Treasury by his extravagance and mismanagement. And, in point- 
 ing out the causes of, and grounds for, future retrenchment, he says that " fewer 
 Indians remain to be removed," Certainly there are fewer to be removed. But are 
 there fewer that ought to be removed this year than were removed the last ? Judg- 
 ing from the rapid settlement of the Western States, and the consequent pressure 
 around the Indians remaining, I should suppose there were more. I appeal 
 to gentlemen from the Western States from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Mis- 
 souri and I ask them, if they are not anxious to have the Indian title to the 
 lands in their States extinguished, and to have those Indians removed to the West? 
 Are they not every day becoming more inconvenient to the whites, and the whites 
 to them ? And yet the Secretary seems to think this system of Indian relations 
 will soon be at an end, and the expense attending it will be lessened every year. 
 This is a most absurd idea'. The Indian relations of this country will constitute a 
 permanent, standing charge upon this Government for one hundred years to come. 
 And as the population of the country increases, and its frontier is extended, tho 
 more complicated and expensive will our Indian relations become. This must be 
 the case, till the vast region from the Mississippi to the Pacific is settled by the 
 white man, and not an Indian is left remaining.
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury further says, in pursuance of his pretended 
 anxiety for retrenchment, that the pensions are diminished by deaths. Not so 
 very much, sir. Some of the old revolutionary pensioners die off, to be sure, and 
 I am sorry for it. I wish they could live forever. They serve as a connecting 
 link between the past and the present. They would serve to remind us of our 
 departure from the pure and virtuous principles of the Revolution. And these old 
 men hold on to life well. The same physical vigor which enabled them to perform 
 such deeds of daring in the Revolution, yet preserves to them health and strength. 
 The gentleman from Maine, (Mr. EVANS,) demonstrated that, if they had died off 
 last year at the rate of ten per cent., it would not reduce the pension appropria- 
 tion more than $200,000 ; whereas, the truth is they did not die in near so large 
 a proportion. But, sir, it must be recollected that, whilst the pension list is an- 
 nually lessened by death, it is still annually increasing from additions to the list. . 
 Look at the annual reports of the Commissioner of Pensions, and you will see that 
 this is the case. Look at the quantity of bills on your table for placing additional 
 names on the pension roll many and most of which will probably pass, as soon 
 as time can be obtained to pass upon then). Owing to these facts, I have no doubt 
 but that, for the next five years, the additions, with the arrearage-pay in such 
 cases, will be equal to the diminution from deaths. 
 
 Assuming, then, that the military service will cost as much this year as it did 
 last, which was $8,343,900 83, and adding the $2,385,329 stated to be necessary 
 by the Secretary of War for the Florida service, and you have an aggregate of 
 $10,729,230, for the military service, which will be found indispensably necessary. 
 
 Next come the estimates for the navy, which the Secretary puts down at 
 $5,445,399 21. Although I believe this to be much too small, yet, for the pres- 
 ent, I will assume it as a sufficient sum. There is one item, however, of $150,000 
 for the pay of navy pensioners, which must be added, for which a bill has already 
 passed this House, and for which the Secretary has sent in no estimate, but which 
 will be a charge on the year 1841. But, says the gentleman from South Caroli- 
 na, we do not know that the Senate will pass the bill. Perhaps it may not ; for, 
 until that body is purged, which it is soon likely to be, I believe it capable of any 
 injustice. But that is not the question. The question is, is it right to pass it? 
 Shall we legislate -here under a supposition that one of the branches of the Le- 
 gislature will not do its duty ? You might as well strike out of your estimates any 
 other appropriation for the public service, (the army for example,) because we 
 are not certain the Senate will pass it. You are in duty bound to pay these navy 
 pensioners. You have squandered a fund which was properly theirs, and you are 
 bound, by every consideration of honor, to pay them what is strictly theirs ; and 
 by every principle of gratitude, to reward them for their services. This $150,000, 
 added to the Secretary's estimates, will make the naval service for the year 
 amount to $5,595,399. 
 
 According to the data I have assumed, and I have placed them at the lowest 
 probable amount, the items of expenditure for the present year will appear as 
 follows, viz : 
 
 Civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse - $4,500,000 
 
 Military service, including Florida war - j -" 10,729,230 
 
 Navy pensions - - , " - 150,000 
 
 Naval service - - - ... -' - 5,595,399 
 
 Appropriations made for the service of the year 1841, by former 
 
 acts of Congress .--.-- 1,013,200 
 Balances of appropriations made in 1840 and previously, standing 
 
 over on the 1st January, 1841, and which will be a charge on 
 
 the Treasury in 1841, after deducting so much as may remain 
 
 not called for, and standing over at the close of 1841 - 2,000,000
 
 10 
 
 Relief of the corporate cities in the District of Columbia, per act 
 of 26th May, 1836, $139,200; and public debt payable at the 
 Treasury, per act of 3d March, 1817, $10,000 - 149,200 
 
 Required to finish public buildings, according to the estimates of 
 
 the architect - 400,000 
 
 Treasury notes and interest, allowing for $500,000, which may not 
 
 come in during the year - 4,350,000 
 
 Amounting in the whole to - - $28,887,029 
 
 which is the amount necessarily chargeable upon the year 1841. 
 
 Here, then, with a probable income of $21,723,473, we must meet an almost 
 inevitable expenditure of $28,887,029. Sir, how can you do it, without borrow- 
 ing money ? You will be compelled to borrow ; and, whether you do it by Treas- 
 ury notes, or, loan, how are you to repay it, unless you raise the duties on imports, 
 or resort to direct taxation? And how are you to sustain the heavy expenditures 
 of coming years, unless you regulate your tariff to meet the demands upon the 
 Treasury 1 But, exclaims the gentleman from Mississippi, (Mr. THOMPSON,) the 
 cry of the Whigs has been reform, and by reform he understands a retrenchment 
 in the expenditures. I can also inform the gentleman that it means honesty in 
 the expenditures. It is not so much the amount expended, of which we have 
 complained, as the manner in which it has been expended : paying $450 a day 
 for steamboats, $20 a cord for wood, purchasing splendid furniture and silver 
 spoons for mud boats, paying high salaries to crowds of loungers attached to your 
 custom-houses, giving high and expensive jobs and contracts to political favorites, 
 &.c. It is such corruption as this, of which we have so muchjcomplained, and 
 which we have promised to reform. If the money which has been collected had 
 been spent for the interest of the country, in disciplining our army, increasing 
 our navy, completing our fortifications, erecting harbors, and other conveniences 
 of commerce, <fcc., why, then, sir, we could not have complained. But, what is 
 remarkable, whilst this vast expenditure of money has been going on for the last 
 four years, ranging from thirty to forty millions annually, all the interests and de- 
 fences of the country have been languishing and going to ruin. 
 
 Well now, sir, in legislating to meet the wants of the Government, I feel bound 
 to look to the future as well as to the present. By profligacy, mismanagement, 
 and corruption, all the great defences of the country have gone to wreck. The 
 present rate of duties will not yield a sufficient income to put the country in a 
 state of defence, and to repair the evils of the last twelve years of misrule. In 
 addition to the deficit of about seven millions of dollars for the present year, there 
 is about $5,580,000, consisting of sums and annuities payable to Indians, and 
 amounts pledged to be invested in safe, permanent stocks for their benefit, the in- 
 terest on which we are now paying. Then, there is the navy pension fund which 
 has been squandered or invested in worthless stocks, amounting to $1,200,000, 
 which you are bound to make good. Due on trust funds, other than Indian, 
 .$500,000. Old funded and certificate debt $100,000. Debts of the cities in the 
 District of Columbia, assumed by the Government, with interest, $1,750,000. 
 To these are to be added claims on account of Indian affairs, growing out of the 
 Florida war, allowed or to be allowed by the departments, or pending before 
 Congress, say $5,000,000 ; although I learn from gentlemen better acquainted 
 with the subject than I am, they will reach nearer $10,000,000. Other claims 
 now before Congress, and which have been accumulating for the last two years, 
 for want of time to act' on them, allowing for those that may be rejected, say 
 $2,000,000 ; and I also learn that these latter will probably be double that sum. 
 These amount in the whole to $16,280,000, of permanent debt falling upon the next 
 administration ; and which, added to the deficit of seven millions in the revenue of 
 ihe present year, shows an almost certain liability of more than $23,000,000 by
 
 11 
 
 the Government, over and above the current expenditures. And this, too, with a 
 revenue continually decreasing by the gradual operation of the compromise act. 
 
 Now, sir, I am for abiding by the spirit of the compromise act. The circum- 
 stances under which it was passed, require that no violence should be done to the 
 feelings of either of the great interests that were the parties to it. That act was the 
 voluntary offering of patriotism, to save the effusion of human blood. It snatched 
 the uplifted sword from the hand of the tyrant, who, with tiger ferocity, was 
 raving and thirsting for the blood of freemen. It stands as an enduring monu- 
 ment of the patriotism, the wisdom, and the magnanimity of Kentucky's distin- 
 guished son. And I am free to admit, that if the public sentiment of either of 
 the two great interests that were parties to that compromise, should, with any 
 thing like unanimity, insist upon its remaining inviolate and untouched, it would 
 be unwise to disturb it. It is, however, for the majority here, in their wisdom, 
 to examine and decide what may be the wishes of the country, and the feelings of 
 the two great sections, in regard to the modification of this measure. But, in 
 submitting this measure to the test of public feeling in the two great interests that 
 were parties to it, reference must be had to the calm and unbiassed wishes of the 
 popular mind, and not to the wild ravings of party madness. No one man here 
 has a right to speak for the whole North or the whole South ; neither has the del- 
 egation of any one State a right to speak for its entire section. It is for the ma- 
 jority here, in their discretion, and upon their responsibilit}', to judge of the pub- 
 lic will, upon a dispassionate survey of the whole question. -If two parties enter 
 into a covenant, for the observance of which their honor and faith may be plighted, 
 neither has the right to violate its provisions, whilst the other insists upon their 
 enforcement. But certainly they are not estopped from modifying it by mutual 
 agreement. And so with the compromise act of '32. If the North or the South, 
 with any thing like unanimity, insist upon its inviolability, I, for one, should be 
 opposed to touching it. But if, by mutual agreement, they are willing to modify 
 it now, where can be the objection? 
 
 This brings me to the immediate consideration of the proposition of the gentle- 
 man from New York, (Mr. BARNARD,) to impose a duty on silks and wines, which 
 are now admitted free of duty. I think this proposition presents a medium, on, 
 which the moderate on both sides of the question may meet with safety. I am 
 aware that the ultra tariff men may oppose it, because they may hope that, in re- 
 modelling the system after the expiration of the limit fixed to the compromise 
 act, they will be enabled to exempt luxuries from any duty, and collect the whole 
 of the duties from articles of necessity, and thereby protect the same articles of 
 domestic manufacture. They may suppose that, by our imposing duties on lux- 
 uries now, they will find it more difficult to exempt them hereafter. I can assure 
 gentlemen entertaining these opinions, that the South, so far as I am acquainted 
 with its feelings, will never quietly submit to this discrimination. We are for 
 equal benefits, and for equal burdens. We never will consent that articles of 
 luxury, which are consumed by the. rich, shall be imported free of dut3', and arti- 
 cles of necessity, consumed by the poor, shall be burdened with all the means of 
 taxation, merely for the benefit of the manufacturers. That has been the source 
 of all our struggles and difficulties heretofore. It came well nigh once plunging 
 this country in all the horrors of civil commotion. By all the exciting associations 
 connected with that gloomy period, I entreat gentlemen who yet cherish the fa- 
 vorite idea of discrimination and protection, to abandon it forever. You cannot 
 enforce it without endangering the stability of the Union. 
 
 Then there are ultra men on the other side, who oppose this measure simply 
 because it is an imposition of duty, without reference to the objects on which it 
 is intended to operate, or without looking at the real cause of that long and uni- 
 form opposition which was waged by the South against the tariffs of '24 and '28. 
 The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. THOMPSON) seems perfectly horrified at
 
 12 
 
 this new tariff, as he calls it, and asks if this same measure of a duty on imports 
 has not long been the great cause of complaint and difficulty between the South 
 and the North. I can answer his question, and I tell him, no. The South 
 never complained of the revenue for the support of the Government being col- 
 lected from a duty on foreign articles. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON begged leave to explain. He said he did not mean to intimate 
 that the South was opposed to raising a revenue from customs. What he said 
 was, that a tax on foreign importations iiad been the great cause of complaint on 
 the part of the South. 
 
 Mr. R. A tax on foreign importations ! Exactly, sir. That is the same 
 thing. I still take issue with the gentleman. I deny that the South has ever 
 complained that the revenue for the support of the Government, wa raised by a 
 tax on foreign importations. 
 
 The South well knows, and always has known, that it is the only practicable 
 mode of supporting the Government, among a people as sensitive as ours are on 
 *he subject of direct taxation. It is the principle of discrimination, for the pro- 
 tection of the manufacturers in a certain section, of which the South has always 
 complained. A protection which, while it increases the cost of consumption to 
 all sections alike, yet diffuses its advantages in the vicinity of the manufactures 
 of the North, without bringing any correlative blessings to us of the South. The 
 South is not only willing to contribute its revenue and its wealth, but its blood, if 
 need be, in support of the Government and the Union. The object contempla- 
 ted by the proposition of my friend from New York, is the very thing that we 
 liave always contended for. The North has heretofore refused to grant it to us 
 they would not concede it in the compromise act but now, if I understand them 
 aright, they are willing to yield it, and can we hesitate to accept it 1 My elo- 
 quent friend from South Carolina, (Mr. THOMPSON,) who addressed us so ably 
 the other day, has put this matter in its proper light. He has proven, from the 
 record, that an equalisation of duties, upon the protected and the unprotected 
 articles, was the great object contended for by the distinguished Southern states- 
 men who mingled in the political conflicts of '32 and '33. Sir, we are now es- 
 topped, virtually estopped from objecting to this proposition. I thank my friend 
 from South Carolina for the gallant manner in which he has lliet this question at 
 the very threshold. It came with a peculiar fitness from him. He comes from 
 a region of political darkness, though still from an oasis in a desert waste. His 
 position is one of high moral sublimity. Despire all the efforts of persecution at 
 home, he has stood up for years, almost single-handed and alone, as the unterri- 
 fied advocate of liberty and truth. With a heroic courage, he has refused to 
 quail before power and proscription, and whether at home or on this floor, he 
 has, with a giant's arm, shaken off his assailants, as " the lion would shake the 
 dew drops from his mane." He says he is aware that the demagogue cry of 
 Tariff! Tariff! will be raised for the* purpose of exciting popular prejudice 
 against him at home. That is probable. I am aware that, humble as 1 am, I 
 shall be subjected to the same charge. But my friend (General THOMPSON) 
 need give himself no uneasiness on that account. Calumny and misrepresenta- 
 tion are the common lot of all who pursue the path of duty, regardless of conse- 
 quences. Denunciation by the wicked, is the price which honesty and patriot- 
 ism always have to pay, for the esteem and approbation of the virtuous and the 
 good. I repeat it, my friend from Sou;h Carolina deserves the thanks of the 
 country for the fearless manner in which he has met this question. It will en- 
 dure in the records of the country, as a lasting memorial of his patriotism, and 
 will constitute the richest legacy he can leave to his children who are to succeed 
 him. The tribute of the country's praise is also due to my friend from Georgia 
 (Mr. NISBET) for his able and eloquent speech on this subject. I was equally 
 pleased with the cogency of his argument, and the pathos of his eloquence. With
 
 13 
 
 such advocates the South has nothing to fear ; and in such hands the interest o^ 
 the whole country will be safe. 
 
 The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. THOMPSON) asked how it was that the 
 North was now willing to impose a tax on luxuries; for, said he, this has always 
 been a favorite measure with the South, and it never before has been able to ob- 
 tain it. Charity compels me to believe, it'ls from a principle of patriotism, that 
 our .Northern brethren are now willing to yield this ; but whether it be from a 
 sense of justice, or from some other motive, it matters not to us. So we 
 obtain what we desire, it is a matter of indifference what may be the motive of 
 concession. What would be thought of the prudence of any man in private life, 
 who would refuse to receive, by the voluntary concession of an enemy, that, which 
 he had been striving to obtain* and without success, for years? But with all the 
 gentleman's horrors at the prospect of a disturbance of the tariff question, he 
 seems perfectly willing to go into it, provided he can be allowed to adjust it upon 
 his own terms. He distinctly stated, that when the proper time arrived, he wa& 
 willing to go into a revision of the whole system. Ay, sir, and when will the 
 proper time arrive 1 It certainty must have arrived, when it is necessary to do 
 something, in order to replenish the Treasury. I fear if this matter is postponed, 
 we shall not have the pleasure of the gentleman's assistance. Unless the people 
 of Mississippi change their minds as easily as certain Southern gentlemen have 
 changed their grounds upon this very subject, the honorable gentleman is" not 
 likely to he troubled with the burdens of legislation here for some time' to come. 
 The gentleman went on to tell of the great injury that would result to the cotton- 
 growing interest of his State, by an imposition of 20 per cent, on French silks 
 and wines. -And yet he seems willing to sacrifice this great interest of his con- . 
 stituents, provided he can be allowed to settle the matter in his own way. He 
 says, take off the duties altogether from necessaries, and impose them on lux- 
 uries. That for every cent taken off from sugar he will vote to put two on 
 wines ; for every cent off from salt, he will impose two on silk, &c. Then, ia 
 order to raise revenue sufficient for the Government, you must go higher than 20 
 per cent. ; and in propo/yon, according to the gentleman's reasoning, you sacri- 
 fice the interests of Mississippi. 
 
 It is very evident, from the indications here, as well as from the movements 
 out of doors, that there are two classes of opponents to this measure, operated 
 upon by different views. The first class consists of those who have been 
 trying to mix up the tariff question with the conflicts of part} 7 ; who have declared, 
 in anticipation, that the policy of the coming administration would be a resort to 
 a high tariff, and who no doubt hope to effect a counter-revolution in the South, 
 by getting up an excitement on this subject. They are astonished that the 
 Northern whigs should ask for nothing more than an equalisation of duties, and" 
 now discover that one of their hobbies is about to tumble down beneath them. 
 They no doubt hope that, by a little postponement, the ultra tariff men of the 
 North may be emboldened to ask for higher protective duties, and that thus the 
 ends of party may be answered. To gentlemen actuated by this motive I would 
 say, the day of humbugs has passed. Reason and truth have regained theft- 
 dominion. The same spirit of conciliation that carried us so successfully through 
 the late contest, will still continue to guide and direct our course. 
 
 The other class of opponents to this proposition, consists of the ultra enemies of 
 the tariff system, who are uncompromisingly opposed to it in every shape and" 
 form ; and who are conscientiously opposed to it on principle. They look forward 
 to the time when the duties on the protected articles are to come off entirely, and 
 the whole revenues of the Government are to be collected on the unprotected 
 articles. And they no doubt suppose that an imposition of duty on luxuries now, 
 will be presenting an obstacle to the consummation of their favorite designs here- 
 after. If I understood the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. WISE,) he expressed
 
 14 
 
 the opinion that the whole of the duties for the support of Government should be 
 collected from articles of luxury, and that articles of necessity should come in 
 free. Sir, this is entirely a Utopian scheme. It is consistent with neither possibili- 
 ty nor justice. I would appeal to Southern gentlemen, who are actuated by this ob- 
 ject, and ask them if it is reasonable to suppose that we, who have for years been 
 unable, by remonstrance and even resistance, to obtain a modification of this ques- 
 tion to suit us that we, I say, shall be able to dictate terms to the North? We 
 are the weaker portion ; so far as the mere exercise of power is concerned, we are 
 at the mercy of the balance of the Union. As a Southern man, I approve of the 
 proposition, because I conceive it to be our interest to do so. It not only gives 
 us all we ought to ask it not only puts both sections on an equality but it gives 
 us as much as we may ever expect by possibility to obtain. I go for the duties 
 on luxuries, as an opponent of the protective system. 
 
 It is true the duties on the protected articles, although no higher than on the 
 unprotected, will benefit our Northern brethren engaged in manufactures, more 
 than it will the South. We pursue agriculture, because it is more congenial to 
 our tastes, and conducive to our interests ; whilst the people of the North, for the 
 same reasons, pursue manufacturing. And shall we grudge to them the small 
 benefit they derive from the duties on those foreign articles, that come in com- 
 petition with theirs, when we are not injured by it 1 It is imitating the dog in 
 the manger, to deprive them of a benefit, without profiting ourselves. Besides, 
 even if we had the power, which we have not, would it be justice to make a dis- 
 crimination, which would curtail their profits, whilst it would not increase ours? 
 The very ground on which we so much complained of them, in the high tariffs of 
 '24 and '28, was, that they were oppressing Southern interests for the benefit of 
 Northern manufactures. And it would be worse, if we had it in our power, to op- 
 press Northern manufactures, without benefiting Southern interests. 
 
 The gentlemen from Mississippi and South Carolina, both took the ground that 
 a duty on French silks and wines would disturb our commercial relations with 
 France, and that, as Southern cotton was exchanged for those articles, it would to 
 that extent operate as a drawback on Southern interests. Now, even if this were 
 so, which I am sure it is not, do gentlemen see where *th*is argument would lead 
 them ? Sir, it is protection, the very protection which we have so long complain- 
 ed of. The argument of the Northern manufacturers has been this: we have large 
 amounts invested in manufactures; if yeu equalise the duties, if you reduce them 
 on, the protected articles as low as they should be on the unprotected, you bring 
 foreign manufactures in competition with ours, and thus destroy our profits. They 
 have insisted, that whilst the Government was exercising the constitutional power 
 of laying a duty for revenue, it should do so with reference to the protection of 
 their interests. And now we hear the same argument used on this floor by mem- 
 bers from the South. What is the tenor of the argument used here 1 It is this : 
 We have large capital invested in growing cotton ; if you equalise the duties, if 
 you raise them on the unprotected articles, as high as they are on the protected, 
 you disturb our commercial relations with those countries, for whose productions 
 our cotton is exchanged, and thus destroy our profits. This is a principle we must 
 not recognise. We are the weaker portion, and if we use the argument now, it 
 may hereafter be turned against us to our injury and destruction. 
 
 But, sir, I deny the position, that a duty on silks and wines will disturb our re- 
 lations with France. I deny that it will operate injuriously to the South. Why 
 should gentlemen harp so much upon France ? It is not intended to make a dis- 
 crimination between France and other countries. Not one-half the silks and 
 wines imported into this country come from France, and we propose to subject 
 them all to the same restriction. Gentlemen have reasoned on the ground that 
 the imposition of 20 per cent, upon silks and wines, will either bring about pro- 
 hibitory duties on American cotton in France, or such high countervailing duties,
 
 15 
 
 as will raise the price of cotton so high in that country, that the people will not 
 be able to use cotton fabrics as an article of clothing ; and that thus a market 
 for 18 millions of dollars worth of cotton annually would be cut off. This was the 
 argument of the member from South Carolina, (Mr. RHETT.) Is this argument a 
 sound one 1 1 learn that the duty on American cotton in France, at the present 
 time, is nearly as high as we propose to rake it here, on their silks and wines.* 
 Besides, they are compelled to take our cotton ; they cannot get it elsewhere ; and 
 the employment to labor, which is afforded by the manufacture of cotton fabrics 
 in France, is too immense to be attempted to be destroyed by prohibitory duties. 
 And suppose the French Government should lay an additional duty of 20 per cent, 
 upon American cotton, as gentlemen seem to dread what of that? It might 
 slightly enhance the price of the article to the French importer and manufacturer; 
 but then, a very great portion of the cotton imported into France is, as I learn, 
 manufactured into laces and other fabrics of the most costly materials ; where the 
 cost of the raw material forms but a very small item in the value of the fabrics 
 when ready for market. An additional cost of 20 per cent, upon the price of 
 the raw material, could scarcely be seen in the price of the manufactured article. 
 So that France cannot prohibit our cotton without cutting off one of the main 
 sources of employment for her labor, and throwing loose upon the. country 
 thousands of indigent and discontented artizans, ready to pull down her Govern- 
 ment and institutions. If she raises the duty on our cotton, in an equal ratio with 
 our impost upon her silks and wines, it will only increase the cost to the manufac- 
 turer there, which will hardly be felt by the consumer. But the gentleman 
 from Mississippi (Mr. THOMPSON) seems to think that a countervailing duty in 
 France of 20 per cent, upon our cotton would have the effect of bringing down 
 the price of the article in the same proportion. He made a calculation of the 
 amount of exportation from Mississippi, and the consequent loss that would befall 
 her. He says, if her twenty millions of dollars of exports are subject to a duty 
 of 20 per cent., the price of them in those countries where they are sent, must, in 
 a similar ratio, come down, and that thus Mississippi would receive 20 per cent, 
 less in return than she otherwise would. If the gentleman reasons upon the 
 theory of separating Mississippi from the rest of the world, as it will be recollect- 
 ed he did in stating his argument, he must, to be consistent, go still further, 
 and suppose that she trades with some country exclusively, that is also separated 
 from the rest of the world. If Mississippi traded with France alone, and France 
 purchased cotton from no other country than Mississippi, then a duty of 20 per 
 cent, upon the cotton of the latter might, to some extent, bring down its price. 
 But the gentleman is reasoning upon false premises altogether. In arranging 
 our commercial relations, the entire Union must be looked to as a unit, and 
 our legislation should net he with a view to the aid of sectional interests, but with 
 a view of diffusing an average of benefits and of burdens, as near as may be, in 
 every section alike. The gentleman should recollect, that not one-fifth of the 
 cotton exported is sent to France. England is the great cotton market of 
 the world ; tho price in other countries must be regulated by that of Liverpool 
 and London. France must pay as much for it as it is worth in England, or 
 s\\e cannot get it. A tax upon our cotton, will be, to that extent, a tax upon 
 her own citizens. But is it reasonable to suppose that France will impose 
 these countervailing duties upon our cotton, when she already imposes a duty 
 of about 17 per cent, upon it, and subjects our tobacco to a Government 
 monopoly, which is equal, as I learn, to a duty of 1400 per cent. ? My friend 
 from Virginia (Mr. WJSE) admitted that, taking an average for the last ten or 
 twelve years, the balance of trade against this country, and in favor of France, 
 
 * The duty on American cotton in France is 20 francs per 100 Killogrammes which is $3 75 
 per 200 Ibs. At an average of 12 cents per pound, this would be a duty of about 17 per cent.
 
 16 
 
 had been about 10 per cent annually. Hearn from others who are conversant with 
 such subjects, that it has been at least 20 per cent. This, according to the laws of 
 trade, has to be paid off in specie ; and, to that extent, it operates as an annual 
 drain upon the specie basis of our currency. As some compensation for this, we 
 should make this balance of trade against us conducive to supplying our coffers 
 with revenue. And suppose France should impose prohibitory or high counter- 
 vailing duties on our cotton let her do it ; we shall see who will be most in- 
 jured, she or we. Does it become the legislators of a free people to hesitate to 
 do their d-.ity, for fear of th6 spiteful resentment of other countries? I feel in- 
 dignant when I hear the argument used here, that we must not supply our coffers 
 with revenue in the only practicable mode to which we can resort, for fear that 
 other countries may take umbrage, and attempt retaliation. National pride and 
 national honor revolt at the idea of hesitating here, to see how the exercise of 
 legislative duty will be received by other countries. Has France any right to 
 expect her productions to enter our ports free, whilst ours are subjected to heavy 
 exactions in her ports? But it is idle to talk about prohibitory or high retaliatory 
 duties on Southern staples. Nations, in regulating their commercial intercourse, 
 are governed by their interests. Why did not England prohibit our cotton during 
 the operation of the high tariff of '28? Because the spindles and the looms of 
 Birmingham and Leeds would have stopped still in a moment. Because hund- 
 reds of thousands of poor laborers are dependent on its manufacture for a support. 
 If England were to prohibit our cotton, she would then have chartism with a 
 vengeance. An army of infuriated paupers would soon be on their march to Lon- 
 don. The same influences operate in France, to the extent to which she con- 
 sumes our cotton. 
 
 But the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. RHETT) seems to think that a 
 duty of 20 per cent upon French silks and wines, will operate as a prohibition of 
 the importation of those articles into this country. And after assuming this 
 position, he went on to -show the disastrous consequences to the cotton-growing 
 region, resulting from it. Well, this is a very convenient way of proving a prop- 
 osition. Let this system of logic once be adopted, and it will dispense with all 
 mental labor for the future. It puts all men upon a level in argument. The 
 member has made a discovery much greater than that of Archimides. The 
 latter said, give him a fulcrum for his lever and he would lift the globe. The 
 member from South Carolina has already found a fulcrum for his lever, by which 
 he turns over the whole world of argument in a moment. And that is, to give 
 him his premises, and he will prove any proposition, confute any theory. A duty 
 of 20 percent, prevent the importation of silks and wines! Why does not a 
 duty of 40 per cent, prevent the importation of broadcloths? And the case is 
 much stronger than this, in favor of the non-prohibition of American cotton in 
 France ; for whilst we manufacture broadcloths in this country, and could obtain 
 them at home, (although of not so good a quality, and that is the cause of their 
 importation,) yet in France they raise no cotton, and cannot eel it elsewhere than 
 from us. Why does not the enormous duty exacted upon our tobacco in France, 
 Germany, and Holland, prevent its importation there ? Because the wealthy will 
 enjoy the luxuries of life, and the greater the difficulty of procuring them, the 
 greater luxuries they become. My friend from South Carolina (Gen. THOMPSON) 
 proved conclusively, that a moderate increase of price on luxuries, never lessens 
 their consumption. Would any man who wears broadcloth, cease to do so if it 
 were to cost 20 per cent, more than at present? Would any lady who wears silk, 
 cease to do so if it were to advance 20 per cent, in value ? Would any one wha 
 rrow indulges himself with costly wines, cirink less if they were to cost 20 per cent, 
 more ? It appears to me tlrat no one who is at all acquainted with the human 
 character, and the habits and customs of our people, can for a moment believe 
 that a duty of 20 per cent, on luxuries will lessen their consumption. And if
 
 17 
 
 perchance it should do it, to the extent of 20 per cent even, it will then serve to 
 restore the balance of trade between this country and France, and thus prevent 
 the annual exportation of our specie to supply that balance. So it roust be of some 
 advantage in either point of view. 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. WISE,) who addressed us so ably and elo- 
 quently on this question, argued at great length to prove that the compromise act 
 of '32 was a settlement of the question, having all the binding obligation of a 
 solemn compact; obligatory in respect to faith and honor, not only until, but 
 after, July '42. And yet, a few moments afterwards, he admitted that it might 
 be revised, when it was necessary to raise revenue for an economical administra- 
 tion of the Government. This is my view exactly. We both agree that there is 
 a deficit of revenue of at least ten millions ; and yet he refuses to apply his prin- 
 ciples to the emergency, when it has arrisen. He remarked that the admitting 
 the unprotected articles free of duty, was one of the advantages secured to the 
 protective system in the compromise act. I know that ; and if he is so much op- 
 posed to the protective policy, why does he not now attempt to deprive its friends 
 of this advantage, by equalising the duties, and thus prevent the imposition of 
 higher duties on the protected articles? He admitted we were the weaker party, 
 and warned us to stand on the defensive. Would -it not be better for us to anti- 
 cipate the enemy, and put it beyond his power to injure us? The gentleman 
 from Virginia admitted that this compromise act can be revised without a breach 
 of faith, whenever there is a necessity to raise revenue for an economical admin- 
 istration of the Government. The gentleman also admitted that there was nw a 
 deficit often millions. Then 1 call upon him, as a Southern man, as an anti-pro- 
 tective man, to unite with me in preventing the impositions of further duties on 
 the protected articles, and let us equalise the duties by imposing them on luxu- 
 ries. But the gentleman insisted that, by moving in this business now, we afford a 
 pretext to the tariff men to raise the duties to 20 per cent, on that class of pro- 
 tected articles now paying less than that rate. Sir, when that is necessary for 
 revenue, 1 for one am willing to do it. I am for equalisation of duties. That is 
 the platform on which the South should stand. We are the weaker party ; and if 
 we insist on discrimination now, we are preparing a " chalice" which we may 
 hereafter have " commended to our own lips." 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia labored to prove that the present was only a 
 temporary and not a permanent deficiency ; and that as soon as confidence is re- 
 stored, and trade revives, the revenue under the compromise act will be sufficient 
 to meet the expenditures of the Government. I differ with him entirely. I have 
 attempted to show that there is a debt of more than twenty millions, that will fall 
 upon the next four years, and this must be paid in addition to the current expend- 
 itures. But I believe that, if we were entirely out of debt, in the present ru- 
 inous and defenceless condition of the country, the revenue would not be suffi- 
 cient to meet the necessary expenditures. Sir, the public money has been squan- 
 dered, wastefully squandered, upon favorite partisans, and by faithless agents. 
 We must not only provide for the present, but for the neglect and misrule of the 
 past, and the exigencies of the future. Why, what is our present condition? 
 Our nrmy brought into disrepute our navy going to wreck our fortifications 
 deserted without barracks, without foundries, without harbors, without every 
 thing, in fact, which is calculated to prove our pride in peace, and our defence 
 in war. 
 
 I shall not shrink from a discharge of duty for fear of the demagogue cry that 
 I am in favor of a splendid and expensive Government. Those who know me, 
 know that I am no friend to consolidation, or to an unnecessary strengthening of 
 the powers of the General Government. I believe a great crisis is approaching 
 in the history of the world, and that it behooves the United States of America to 
 put herself in a situation to protect our flag and our commerce abroad, and our 
 2
 
 18 
 
 free institutions at home. Although 1 am opposed to standing armies in time of 
 peace, in the spirit and for the purpose for which they are kept up in the mon- 
 archies of Europe, yet I do believe that our army should be put in such a state 
 of discipline as to form a nucleus, around which the military feeling of the nation 
 may rally, whenever our yeomanry shall have to leave their firesides and their 
 homes, in order to defend them from a foreign foe. The civilized world is on 
 the eve of a great convulsion. Throughout the Slates of Europe, liberal princi- 
 ples, ready to burst forth into action, are suppressed by the sword and bayonet; 
 national differences are widening every day ; the wisdom and forbearance of 
 statesmen can scarcely repress the fervor of excitement ; and after a peace of 
 twenty-five years, three millions of armed men stand ready to shed each other's 
 blood. When the collision does take place, it will be to tho political world what 
 the shock of the earthquake is to the natural ; and thrones and dominions, prin- 
 cipalities and powers, will be shaken to their base. Can we, intimately connect- 
 ed as we are getting to be in our commercial relations, with the great Powers of 
 Europe can we expect to steer clear of difficulty 1 And if we maintain an armed 
 neutrality, as we ought, and no doubt should attempt to do, ought we not to pre- 
 pare ourselves for such a position ? 
 
 Gentlemen may say this is all conjecture. If so, let us look at something a little 
 more tangible. Every one must admit that our present relations with England 
 augur any thing else than peace and harmony. The bayonet of the Briton is 
 gleaming on our Northeastern border, and a portion of the American soil is now 
 trodden, forcibly trodden, by foreign feet. Sir, this is no Northern question no 
 sectional question but a great national question, involving national honor and 
 national rights. And if force does become necessary to vindicate the national 
 character, we of the South, as well as the North, will not only pour out our reve- 
 nue, but we will pour out our blood. England has also taken possession of the 
 mouth of the Columbia river, the great outlet through which the commerce of pos- 
 terity will go freighted to the bosom of the Pacific, and in a territory which we 
 claim as indisputably ours. We cannot much longer submit to these aggressions; 
 and when we do act, we should be in a position to sustain ourselves with honor. 
 Let it not be said, I am endeavoring to get up a war-excitement against England. 
 1 shall be the last one to insist upon war, whilst the country is in its present de- 
 fenceless condition. Mr. Chairman, with all my admiration for the greatness and 
 the glory of England, yet I look with fearful apprehension upon the dangers of a 
 collision with that gigantic Power. With an ambition more grasping than that of 
 Rome in her palmiest days, she is extending her Briarean arms into every region of 
 this mighty globe. Her flag is floating in every breeze, her ships are covering every 
 sea. Universal dominion seems to be her object and her aim. Suppose we should 
 be precipitated into a war with England what would be our condition 1 Our 
 army reduced to a handful, and they in the swamps of Florida, held at bay by the 
 savage. Our navy consisting of but a few frigates, and still fewer ships, and they 
 unfit for service. Our fortifications ynmanned and decaying for w<tnt of repairs. 
 Without barracks, without ordnance, without munitions of war; and, what is still 
 worse than all these, with an empty Treasury and no means of supplying it. 
 With twenty thousand veterans on our Northern border, England would invade our 
 territory and lay our frontiers in ruins. With a fleet of steam ships, she would 
 ravage our coasts, and lay our cities in ashes. By throwing a few regiments of 
 her manumitted West India slave troops upon our Southern coast, she would ex- 
 cite a domestic insurrection there. Her machinations would soon reach the sixty 
 thousand Indian warriors that are congregated on our Western border, whose yell 
 would resound from the Mississippi to the Alleganies. This Indian population is 
 already restless and discontented. With a lingering eye they look back upon the 
 d-eserted graves of their fathers ; and with feelings exasperated and almost goaded 
 jnto madness, by the infliction of their acccumulatcd wrongs, they are prepared for
 
 19 
 
 a sudden outbreak, whenever there is the least prospect of success. Thus hemmed in 
 on all sides on the North, on the West, on the Eastern and Southern coasts what 
 would be our situation 1 Gentlemen may say these dangers are all imaginary, and 
 that we should triumph over all these difficulties. I know it, sir ; I know it. 
 American patriotism and American prowess would save us in the end, and expel 
 the invader from our soil. But how much suffering would it cost us how much 
 blood would it shed ? How many a widowed heart would it wring with anguish 
 how many an orphan would it leave parentless in the world? In the mean time, 
 what would become of our commerce, which is extending itself into every part of 
 the world? Exposed to the power and rapacity of our enemies, our little navy 
 would be shattered to pieces, and our commerce driven from the ocean. 
 
 I said I was opposed to large standing armies in time of peace. Not so with a 
 navy. There are associations connected with our gallant navy, which should en- 
 dear it to the heart of every American patriot. Its heroic exploits during the last 
 war, taught England what she had to fear from American valor, even on her own 
 favorite element. And owing to the relative position of our country to the European 
 i owers, if we ever have a protracted war with any of them, it must be a maritime 
 war mainly. What protection could our small navy afford to our commerce, against 
 the numbers and the strength of theirs? Look to England, France, Russia, even 
 Turkey and Egypt ; they are increasing their naval power daily. The Mediter- 
 ranean is literally shingled over with the fleets of the European Powers. The East 
 and West Indian Archipalagoes are covered with English ships, and the commercial 
 system of China and the East, in danger of being entirely revolutionized, or put on a 
 new footing. France is sending her hostile naval armaments almost to our own 
 doors. One day we see her battering down the castle of St. Juan de Ulloa in Mexi- 
 co, and the next blockading the port of Buenos Ayres. And all this, too, whilst, 
 according to the official organ, as quoted by my friend from Kentucky, (Mr. DAVIS,) 
 there is not a port beyond our own shores, where American commerce can float in 
 safety. England and France and Russia are building steam-ships daily ; not one 
 or two, by stinted appropriations as we are, but whole fleets of them. 
 Mr. GJUNNELL. Yes, building them in this country. 
 
 Mr. R. Yes, sir, building them in our own country here in our own ship yards, 
 to be sent back perhaps at some future time, for the purpose of battering down 
 our cities and destroying our commerce. 
 
 With these facts before me, I deem it the part of prudence to prepare for 
 danger before ' it arrives. Let us organize our army, increase it sufficiently to 
 man our fortifications, and provide military posts for our frontier defence. Let 
 us erect barracks for our soldiers, and establish foundries for the manufacture of 
 munitions of war. Above all, let us increase our navy, for the protection of our 
 commerce, and send the American flag to float in triumph in every part of the 
 world. Let us build steam-ships for the protection of our harbors and depots, and 
 for the defence of our coasts. More especially ought we to do this, since it is be- 
 ginning to be admitted, that the application of steam to vessels of war is likely to 
 change the whole system of naval warfare ; and that vessels of this description 
 are, above all others, calculated for coast defence. In order to do this, we 
 must have money the only practicable way of obtaining money, is from a duty 
 on imports ; and in laying this duty, reference should be had to the great leading 
 interests of the country; the benefits should be diffused and the burdens equalised. 
 This can be done only by an equalisation of duties; and that is what is contem- 
 plated by the proposition of my friend from New York. 
 
 And, Mr. Chairman, in organizing our revenue system, I take the distinct 
 ground now, that I am in favor of raising sufficient revenue from customs, for the 
 support of the Government, exclusive of that arising from the sales of the public 
 lands. That I am in favor of distributing among the States. I shall not go into 
 a discussion of this question now ; when the subject fairly comes up, I will give
 
 20 
 
 my views upon it. Suffice it to say, that whilst I am for providing for our na- 
 tional defence, I am also in favor of providing for the moral and intellectual im- 
 provement of our people, and extending to them the means of prosperity and 
 comfort, as far as is consistent with the limits of the constitution. As to the lands 
 ceded, you are bound by the deeds of cession to dispose of them " for the com- 
 mon use and benefit of all the States;" and as to those acquired by purchase, you 
 may, in your discretion, " dispose" of them as you may think most conducive to 
 the public good. Let us, then, dispose of them by distributing them among the 
 States, to be applied by them, either to education, internal improvement, the pay- 
 ment of their debts, or to any other purpose they may prefer. Thus, whilst pro- 
 viding for our national defence, we shall be extending the blessings and conve- 
 nience! of domestic prosperity and happiness. 
 
 I was surprised at the zeal with which my friend from Virginia (Mr. WISE) 
 opposed this proposition of a distribution of the proceeds of the public lands. I 
 had always supposed that this was a cardinal principle of the Whig creed, and 
 whilst I do not presume to arraign that gentleman for his opinion, yet I do not 
 recognise in him the right to arraign me for mine. When he says no States-right 
 man can go for this system, I put in " a plea to the jurisdiction." Upon the 
 question of State rights, humble as my course has been, I am ready to compare 
 it with his, without any fear of suffering by the comparison. He attempted to 
 cast ridicule upon the proposition of distribution, by calling it a proposition to 
 " distribute a deficiency." Why, no one ever thought of distributing a revenue 
 from this source before it had accrued for suth a thing would be an absurdity 
 although they might wish to make provision for its distribution after collection. 
 But there is not so great an absurdity in "distributing a deficiency," after all, if 
 he ?<n7/have it so. It can only be done, by distributing the burdens necessary to 
 supply a deficiency ; and as we can do that only by a duty on imports, we pro- 
 pose to distribute the burdens, by an equalisation of duties, which will operate 
 equally on all sections of the Union. 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia, in the course of his remarks, did me the honor 
 to refer to me as a nullifier, who stood ready to oppose the march of an invading 
 army to South Carolina, in the dark period of '32. He appealed to my State- 
 rights principles, and warned rue against what he is pleased to call a revival of 
 the tariff, lest the same stirring scenes may again return. Yes, sir, 1 was a nulli- 
 fier then ; and no matter what may have been the motives of those who were most 
 prominent in that contest, for myself, I must say, I was actuated by the youthful 
 impulse of patriotic feeling. And when he referred to that dark period, when the 
 cloud of civil commotion was seen in the distant horizon, he touched a chord in 
 my bosom, which vibrated throughout my frame. It revived some of the most 
 stirring associations, which have not been destroyed by the lapse of years. And 
 I know not whether I was most excited, at the thrilling picture which he drew of 
 our determination to maintain our rights at the hazard of our blood ; or mortified 
 when, a moment after, I reflected upon the present time-serving policy of those 
 men, on whom all the enthusiastic admiration of my youthful heart was once lav- 
 ished. Yes, I was then in favor of State interposition not from any factious 
 opposition to the execution of the laws not from any wish to dismember this 
 glorious and happy Union not that I cared for the fine-spun theories and sophis- 
 tical arguments with which this question was mystified and enveloped ; but because 
 South Carolina was struggling against the same system, which I believed lo be 
 founded in unconstitutional oppression. The most aggravating circumstance of 
 that event, was not the attempt of the Genrral Government to execute its laws; 
 but the cold and heartless scorn which prevailed in a certain section the careless 
 indifference with which it was threatened to force freemen into submission at the 
 point of the bayonet ; and that, too, when a tyrant, raving and thirsting for blood, 
 urged on by the demon of revenge that was gnawing at his heart, with as insatiable
 
 21 
 
 an appetite, as that of the vulture that preyed upon the liver of the fabled Prome- 
 theus ; when this tyrant, I say, was profanely swearing " by the Eternal" that he 
 would hang on a gallows as high as Haman's, men whom I then believed to be 
 actuated by the purest impulses of patriotism. Gentlemen may say this was a youth- 
 ful indiscretion ; still it was the honest conviction of my heart. And 1 yet believe 
 that there must be a conservative principle in the States of this Union, to arrest 
 the progress of federal usurpation, when the dangers of resistance become prefer- 
 able to further submission. In other words, I believe that the action of a State, 
 in her highest sovereign capacity, establishes a relation between such State and 
 the Federal Government, as forbids the idea of force by the latter, until con- 
 ciliation and compromise have been tried in vain. And that when collision does 
 take place, that such action on the part of a State, prevents the relation between 
 that State and the General Government, of rebel on the one hand, and sovereign on 
 the other. It might be a cause of war; but the idea of the General Government 
 punishing as rebels, men shielded by State authority, is consolidation. It is 
 making State rights about which we hear so much nothing more than those 
 revolutionary rights which are possessed by serfs of Russia or the slaves of Mus- 
 cat. This, sir, in a few words, is my idea of State interposition. Call it nullifi- 
 cation, revolution, or what you will, still I believe it to be the great balance-wheel 
 of our system the great conservative principle that is to preserve the federative 
 feature of our Government, and to save it from consolidation. 
 
 Sir, I do not wish to be misunderstood on this subject. I do not insist that nul- 
 lification is a remedy, under the constitution, necessarily peaceful in its operation. 
 I have no idea that a collision between a State and the General Government, 
 was ever contemplated by the framers of the constitution, or provided for in that 
 instrument. But I insist that, when such collision does take place, that, owing to the 
 peculiar character of our institutions, owing to the fact that the constitution is a 
 compact between sovereign States, it establishes the relation between the contend- 
 ing parties of belligerent sovereigns, who are to be governed and restricted by the 
 laws of nations. Neither do I believe that the General Government is rendered 
 powerless for action, whenever a State declares, that an act of Congress shall be 
 inoperative within its limits. Whenever that contingency happens, it becomes a 
 matter of consideration with the General Government, whether it will yield its 
 construction'of the law to that of the State whether it will pause temporarily, for 
 the sake of conciliation, as I believe it should or whether it will immediately en- 
 force its own construction by physical. force. I can hardly conceive a case of State 
 resistance to national laws, where physical force would not necessarily follow ; 
 and, rny word for it, no State will ever nullify a law of Congress, until it has pre- 
 pared itself to fight. But here is the great value and advantage of State interpo- 
 sition : when force is used by the General Government, and open war follows, as 
 it necessarily must, the citizens of a State, acting under State authority, when 
 taken with arms in their hands, cannot be hung as traitors against the nation, but 
 must, from the nature and genius of our institutions, be treated as prisoners of 
 war. It never can be, that men, acting in obedience to State authority, are to be 
 placed on the same footing with a lawless band of individuals assembled together 
 for the purpose of arresting the execution of the laws, without having any political 
 organization er legal sanction whatever. 
 
 I am aware there is still a lingering prejudice in a certain quarter against all who 
 have ever favored this principle of Slate interposition. 1 can assure my Whig 
 friends here, that it is in a great measure, to the energy, the daring, and patrioticjen- 
 thusiasm of the advocates of State rights, that our victory in the Southern States is 
 to be attributed in the late contest. The error of our Northern friends consists in 
 this : they identify Slate rights with South Carolina, and the course and conduct 
 of South Carolina politicians. There never was a greater mistake. No one can 
 feel more indignant than we do, at witnessing the despotic and high-toned federal
 
 22 
 
 measures, to which a profession of State rights is made subservient in that quarter. 
 It would be as unjust to condemn the Christian religion for all the cruellies and 
 persecutions committed in its name, during the dark ages, as to condemn State 
 rights for all the political heresies and federal oppressions that are now practised 
 in their name. 
 
 But I am told by gentlemen on the other side, that the principles I advocate are in 
 opposition to State rights. It has become very fashionable with that parly of late, to 
 talk of State rights. Men who have been the uniform supporters of the most federal 
 administration that ever existed in this country, now, when they are driven from 
 power, begin to prate about State rights and the constitution. The gentleman 
 from Mississippi, (Mr. THOMPSON,) from Alabama, (Mr. HUBBARD,) and from 
 New York, (Mr. VANDERPOEI.,) delivered to us homilies upon economy, and the 
 duty of keeping within the limits of the constitution. Why, what do those gentle- 
 men know about State rights and constitutional restrictions! Have they not been 
 the consistent supporters of an administration that is steeped, doubly steeped, in 
 the darkest dye of federalism 1 Have they forgotten their course on the New 
 Jer-ey question? Have they forgotten the course of their co-laborers in the Sen- 
 ate, in arraigning the States of this Union for daring to go in debt! When I 
 think of these things, and then hear these gentlemen talking of State rights, 1 am 
 reminded of Robespierre haranguing the Jacobin club on the blessings of freedom, 
 whilst the heads of innocent victims were, borne on pikes through the streets of 
 Paris. I cannot afford to learn State rights in such a school. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I must confess that I was not only surprised but pained at the 
 general tenor of the speech of my friend from Virginia. In the outset of his re- 
 marks, he alluded to certain misrepresentations and suspicions which, he said, 
 had been indulged in towards him. As to me, he knows, or he ought to know, 
 that I am the last one in the world to do him injustice. He is " grappled 
 to my heart with a hook of steel," too strong to be broken by any political 
 developments here. I have hung upon his eloquence with too much raplure, I 
 have gazed upon his brilliant and gallant career with too intense an admiration, 
 to indulge the least censure against his course. Fer me to attempt to admonish 
 him, or to criticise his conduct, would be, like a raw recruit attempting to 
 lecture an experienced general upon the art of war. Suspect him ! No, sir. No 
 one suspects him ; no one can. No one has any right to suspect him. His ser- 
 vices have been too great, his devotion to the best interests of his country has 
 been too well proven, to allow any one to suspect for 'a moment the purity of his 
 motives, although we may feel grieved that a sincere conviction of duty may lead 
 him to differ with his friends. And, sir, I must say, my feelings compel me to 
 say, that his speech fell ominously upon my<ear. And ought the gentleman to 
 complain that his views have been the subject of conversation and conjecture! It 
 is the highest compliment that could be paid him. We know the strength of his 
 giant arm too well, not to feel annoyed, even at the possibility of losing his aid in 
 carrying out the great system of reform which we have promised to the country. 
 We know that lie was one of the first who dared to " beard the Douglass in his 
 hall, and the lion in his den." We know that he risked not only his political but 
 his personal safety, in dragging from their hiding places the foul agents of corrup- 
 tioo, and exposing their enormities to the light of day. And will he not allow us 
 to express our regret, our sorrow, at the prospect of a difference of opinion be- 
 tween him and us! It appeared to me that he travelled out of his way to attack 
 most of the great principles under which we have marched to victory, and to 
 which we stand pledged to the people to conform our action. Whilst bearing tes- 
 timony to the utility and necessity of a national bank, yet he says he is opposed 
 to mooting the subject until confidence is restored. Sir, have we not advocated 
 such an institution, as the great agent/or restoring confidence ! Would he leave 
 in operation, and unrepealed, the sub-Treasury, which has so long been the theme
 
 UC SOUTHERN^REGIONA^LIBRAR^FACILITY _ 
 
 23 
 
 "A 000 654 467 
 
 of his withering denunciation 1 Or would he .v,aun temporarily to the State bank 
 system, which he has equally condemned ? Is he for waiting until there is no 
 commerce to foster, no revenue to preserve? 
 
 He protested in advance against an extra session, and yet says he is for consul- 
 tation and compromise. Why, then, not wail until General Harrison has had an 
 opportunity of consulting his friends on such a step? Why furnish, in advance, 
 our enemies with an argument against us, in case an extra session shall be found 
 to be indispensable? He says such a measure would be unwise in the present 
 excited state of political feeling, and tells us to go home and consult our constit- 
 uents. Is there a member here who does not know the feelings and wishes of his 
 constituents 1 My friend certainly does not mean to insinuate that the great polit- 
 ical excitement through which we have just passed, was the mere effervescence of 
 popular feeling, and not the result of calm and dispassionate conviction. If so, 
 he has himself been deceived, for he marched in the front of the battle. Has not 
 reform a thorough and speedy reform been our watch-word? Has it not 
 floated on our banners? has it not been constantly on our lips? has it not 
 nerved and animated our hearts? The glory of our triumph has been, that it was 
 the result of an impulse that came bounding from the hearts of a wronged and in- 
 dignant" people. We have labored under the same grievances, and been anima- 
 ted by the same enthusiasm, from the Aroostook to the Sabine, and from the 
 ocean to the mountains. And never was there a representative body so well cal- 
 culated to reflect the views, and carry out the wishes of their constituents, as the 
 Congress that is to succeed us. And, after having conquered in a great battle, 
 shall we slop short, like Hannibal at the gates of Rome, without possessing our- 
 selves of the citadel ? No, sir, no, sir, Let us press forward. Let us carry out 
 the system of reform which we have promised to the people a reform not only 
 of men, but of measures. And now is the time, when the popular impulse is up, 
 before the enemy has time to recover from his defeat ; and the sooner we act, the 
 more speedy will be the relief to the country. For if, after all the promises we 
 have made, and all the high hopes and expectations we have excited, we now stop 
 short, and leave to time to effect what can only be done by prompt and decisive 
 action if we leave the currency of the country still to suffer, the commerce to 
 languish, the public money unprotected, the Treasury bankrupt, the places of 
 trust and honor in the hands of political gamblers, we shall soon find that our 
 triumph will be as short-lived as it will be barren in its fruits, and that, after all, 
 we shall have but 
 
 " A barren sceptre in our gripe," 
 
 Soon "to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, 
 
 No" friend " of ours succeeding." 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia said he was opposed to proscription for opinion's 
 sake. And who is not? Yet why indulge the supposition, the probability, or 
 even possibility, of General Harrison removing any one from office for this cause 
 alone? I, too, am opposed to such a course; yet I believe that, if "honesty, 
 capability,, and faithfulness to the constitution," are to constitute the criterion for 
 office, the official corps will be thoroughly reorganized; and if the opinions of my 
 friend are not changed, he must entertain the same views. I know he would not 
 retain in office that band of plunderers and defaulters whose peculations he has 
 himself so ably exposed ; and, if I do not mistake his opinions, he believes a 
 system of investigation would expose the same corruption in every branch of the 
 public service. 
 
 My friend from Virginia, in the course of his remarks, made an allusion to my 
 State, in reply to a playful remark of my friend and colleague, (Mr. STANLY,) 
 which I thought a little unkind, knowing, as he said, our sensitiveness on the sub- 
 ject. He remarked that North Carolina had so long followed Virginia, that she 
 now felt like an apprentice just set free. Sir, North Carolina needs no defender
 
 24 
 
 here; and if she did, she would be unfortunate in having no abler advocate than 
 myself. She disregards the reproaches and the vauntings of her Northern and her 
 Southern neighbor. She stands not still whilst the rest of the Union is marching 
 on in the career of prosperity and improvement to deal with the vague abstractions 
 of the one, nor does she run mad after all the wild vagaries of the other. But there 
 she rests, calm and quiet as the surface of her eastern bays, yet firm and unshaken 
 as her western hills. It is sufficient compliment to her to say that, whilst on the 
 North and the South of her, the spirit of reform has been unable to contend with the 
 demon of faction, yet, on entering her borders, the flag of freedom floats in triumph 
 from her Atlantic beach to her mountain tops. She reposes not on the fame of 
 her ancestors ; she boasts not of their former renown. And if she has not as many 
 bright names to adorn her history as those who revile her, she is saved the dis- 
 grace of violating their dying precepts, and of dishonoring their shades. Let it 
 be recollected that Athens was once the proudest and noblest State of Greece. 
 All the other members of that confederacy were proud to do her honor. Yet, in 
 process of time, she was the first to surrender her freedom to the golden bribes of 
 Philip; whilst the Thebans, who had once been the objects of her reproach, per- 
 ished nobly on the field of Chseronea with the expiring liberties of Gruece. My 
 friend from Virginia may take the allusion and apply it at his leisure. 
 
 I will not suffer myself to indulge in any apprehensions or misgivings as to the 
 policy of General Harrison's administration. He is the mere ag'ent of a great 
 popular movement. He cannot, he will not, he dare not, attempt to check the 
 progress of that great political revolution through which we have just passed. Let 
 him but throw himself in the current of that popular impulse, which has swept 
 like a deluge over the land, and which now, when the storm is passed, will flow 
 on in one smooth and placid stream, until it is lost in the great ocean of national 
 prosperity and national glory. Let him but do this, and the history of the period 
 through which we have just come, will serve as a lesson to tyrants in all future 
 time, that they are not to treat with scorn the sufferings of a free and noble people.