BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 o 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
SPEECH 
 
 HON. JOHN MINOR. JBOTTS, 
 
 DELIVERED ON TUB OCCASION OF A 
 
 C0mplimentarg g inner, 
 
 AT NEWARK, N. J., 
 
 ON THE 19th OF SEPTEMBER, 1853 
 
 NEWARK, N. J. 
 
 PRINTED <)X THE STEAM PRESS OF THE DAILY MERCURY. 
 
 1853. 
 
at 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 HON. J-OHN MINOR BOTTS, 
 
 DELIVERED ON THE OCCA8TO.V OF A 
 
 COMPLIMENTARY DINNEB, 
 
 AT NEWARK, N.-J., 
 
 ON THE 19th OF SEPTEMBER, 1853. 
 
 NEWARK, N. J. 
 
 PRINTED ON THE STEAM PRESS OF THE DAILY MERCURY. 
 1853. 
 

 B 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 NEWARK, N. J., SEPTEMBER 9, 1853. 
 HON. JOHN M. BOTTS, 
 
 DEAR SIR : Having learned that you propose to spend a few days in the 
 city of New York, we venture to hope that you will embrace this opportunity 
 to visit our city and exchange friendly salutions with your many warm to 
 and grateful admirers here. 
 
 As Jerseymen and Whigs, we cherish a lively recollection of the valuable 
 services you have rendered, both in and out of Congress, and it would be ex- 
 ceedingly gratifying to us to extend to you the hospitality of a public dinner. 
 
 Be kind enough to inform us when you can make it convenient to meet 
 your friends here. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 A. C. M. PENNINGTON, JAMES M. QUINBY, 
 
 WM. E. ROBINSON, JOS. C. IIORNBLOWER, 
 
 DAVID A. HAYES, SILAS MERCHANT, 
 
 DAVID C. DODD, H. N. CONGAR, 
 
 THEO. P. HO WELL, STEPHEN CONGAR, 
 
 DANIEL T. CLARK. W. E. LAYTON. 
 
 ASTOR HOUSE, SEPTEMBER 12, 1853. 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge your very kind invitation to accept a 
 public dinner from my friends at Newark, for what you are pleased to term 
 the valuable services I have rendered you as Jerseymen arid Whigs both in 
 and out of Congress. 
 
 Whatever I may have done, gentlemen, in either position, to entitle me to 
 the good opinion and good will of the people of New Jersey, was prompted 
 by a sense of obligations that as a public man I owed to you, to the country, 
 and to myself; and whilst I disclaim all pretensions to your gratitude for the 
 discharge of a simple duty that my nature could not have resisted, I nevep- 
 theless feel proud that my humble efforts in behalf of the broad seal of New 
 
iv CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Jersey as a memorable period of her history, or in behalf of the great Whig 
 party of the country at a latter day, should have secured your approbation 
 and esteem. 
 
 This is not the first time that the citizens of New Jersey have manifested 
 their kindness towards me, and, having now no good excuse to offer, I do not 
 feel at liberty again to decline the hospitality that has been so generously 
 extended, and, therefore, witli great gratification I accept your invitation, and 
 would indicate Monday, the 19th inst., as the earliest day that it would suit 
 my convenience to attend. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, with great sincerity, your obliged fellow citizen. 
 
 JOHN M. BOTT3. 
 PENNTNGTON, and others. 
 
 The above correspondence will be read with gratification by the host of 
 gallant and true-hearted Whigs in this city, who will recognize in the Hon. 
 JOHN MINOR BOTTS, one of the best and worthiest Whigs of the Union. As a 
 genuine representative of the National Whigs, it is pleasure to do him honor, 
 for we know that to him the South is nothing more than the North and the 
 whole a glorious country, to be divided by no Mason and Dixon's line. Few 
 of our public men are so thoroughly national in all their feelings, as Mr. 
 Botts, and this may be somewhat attributed to the Clay school in which he 
 was educated. His -speeches are full of power and afford food for reflection, 
 and he never alters the style of them to suit the different latitudes of New 
 Jersey and Virginia. Bold and forcible in his enunciation of important prin- 
 ciples, he does not stop to enquire whether a measure is popular, but whether 
 it is right. Such a man is honorable, of course, in his conduct and instincts. 
 He is not the tool of time servers, but as a true and glorious statesman, takes 
 his place among the great men of the nation. Newark Mercury, Sept. 14. 
 
 NEWARK, N. J., SEPTEMBER, 24, 1868 
 HON. JOHN M. BOTTS, 
 
 DEAR. SIR: Having listened with much satisfaction to the very able address 
 delivered by you at the public dinner, given by your Whig friends and admi- 
 rers in this city on the 19th inst., and believing that its general circulation at 
 this time, would be productive of good in setting forth clearly and favorably, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. V 
 
 the position and the duty of the Whig party, we feel constrained to ask 
 yon to write out your remarks on that occasion for publication. 
 
 Be pleased to give us a favorable response to this request, and you will 
 
 greatly oblige, 
 
 Your friends and fellow Whigs, 
 
 A. C. M. PENNINGTON, JAMES M. QUINBY, 
 
 SILAS MERCHANT, DAVID C. DODD, 
 
 JOS. C. HORNBLOWER, STEPHEN CONGAR, 
 
 II. N. CONGAR, WM. E. LAYTON, 
 
 WM. E. ROBINSON, D. T. CLARK, 
 
 DAVID A. HAYES, THEO. P. HO WELL. 
 
 HOUSE, OCTOBER 3, 1853. 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 Just as I was leaving here last week, I received your letter asking me to 
 write out, for publication, the speech delivered on the occasion of the dinner 
 lately given me by my friends in Newark. 
 
 Anxious to comply with any request that such friends could make, I have 
 stolen the time from other and pressing occupations since I have been here, 
 to commit to paper the views and opinions I then expressed, which you will 
 receive herewith. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, with the highest esteem and regard, your fellow citizen 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN M. BOTTS. 
 
 To the Committee. 
 
 
[FROM TH NEWARK DAILY MERCURY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1853.] 
 BANCROFT U5RARY 
 
 inner to pm |0|n f$l 
 
 The dinner tendered to the Hon. J. M. Botts, of Virginia, came 
 off last evening at the City Hotel, and was the occasion of a most 
 genial gathering of the Whigs of our city. On every side were to 
 be seen, those who have battled through good and evil report, in 
 storm and sunshine, for the success of the Whig cause. The work- 
 ing Whigs of the city were on hand exhibiting that old spirit which 
 is ever the forerunner of a triumph. Steadily and truly they have 
 labored in the ranks regardless, alike of defeat or treachery, waiting 
 for the victory certain to result from their continued conflict. 
 
 The company, consisting of some seventy-five individuals, sat 
 down to a most sumptuous entertainment about nine o'clock. The 
 Hon. A. C. M. PENNINGTON, occupied the head of the table, with 
 the Hon. J. M. BOTTS, Dr. LEVIN JONES, of Texas, and Mayor 
 QUINBY, on the right, and the venerable Ex-Chief Justice HORN- 
 BLOWER, and RICHARD Fox, Esq., of Eichuiond,Virginia, on the left. 
 After the full discussion of the excellent entertainment, the Presi- 
 dent announced the first regular toast : 
 
 1. Our Country The North, the South, the East and the West as Whigs 
 and Jerseymen we know and love them all. 
 
 Hon. A. C. M. Pennington, the President, rose and said : 
 I rise to propose the health of a Whig who has been ever faithful 
 and ever true a man who, whether in success or defeat, in storm 
 or sunshine, in glory or in gloom, has ever stood by the Whig 
 party a man, I may add, who is a Whig because he loves the 
 Whig party, and not because he wishes to profit by it. [Cheers.] 
 He comes from the good old State of Virginia a State said to be 
 the mother of Presidents. She certainly has been the mother of 
 statesmen, and not the least of them, of him in whose honor I rose 
 to propose this sentiment. [Great cheering.] 
 
8 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 2. Our Guest, the Hon. John M. Botts, of Virginia Independent in his 
 opinions, and fearless in advocating them, the Whig party are proud of him 
 as a champion of the good old Whig cause. 
 
 Mr. Botts arose and responded as follows : 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN. I should be but treading in 
 an old and beaten path if I were to engage in a labored effort to ex- 
 press what I sincerely feel on this, to me, interesting and gratifying 
 occasion. I must leave much of what I would say, to the imagina- 
 tion of those who have done me the distinguished honor, to extend 
 to me this evidence of their kind regard. Let it suffice, when I 
 assure you, that I am profoundly grateful, not for this manifestation 
 only, but for other, and repeated occasions on which I have received 
 assurances of the respect and esteem of the people of New Jersey. 
 Sir, I shall never cease to feel that you have over estimated the small 
 service, that some twelve years since, it was my humble part to render 
 in the councils of the nation, in defence of the broad seal of New 
 Jersey. 
 
 It was not for you Mr. Chairman, it was not for you gentlemen, 
 who occupy seats at this festive board, that I took a part in that 
 remarkable and never-to-be-forgotten struggle, in which the laws, and 
 sovereign rights of a State, were shamefully trodden down, by those 
 who are loudest in their professions of devotion to the rights of the 
 States, for you were then strangers to me ; what I did, was done in 
 defence of a great principle, which my duty and inclination would 
 alike have urged me, to render as promptly to any other people or 
 State, as to the people and State of which you form a part. 
 
 In offering the sentiment, Mr. Chairman, which you have just 
 announced, you did me the honor to make reference to my unwa- 
 vering devotion, whether in sunshine or in gloom, whether in triumph 
 or defeat, to the Whig party and its principles ; and from the en- 
 thusiastic response with which those remarks were received, I cannot 
 but natter myself, that I stand in the presence of those, who still 
 believe in the existence of a Whig party. 
 
 Since I have been in New York (the great political, as well as the 
 great commercial emporium of the nation), I have scarcely taken up 
 a paper that did not speak of that great party, as dead, and its 
 principles as obsolete ; I knew that from the day on which our last great 
 national struggle for ascendancy resulted so disastrously for our 
 cause, and the welfare of our country, that there had been an 
 unceasing effort on the part of the Democratic press to frighten the 
 timid, to bewilder the weak, to betray the ignorant, into conviction 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 9 
 
 and confession, that the Whig party was a thing to be heard of here- 
 after " never no more forever ;" but it was not until my present 
 visit to the North, that I was prepared to believe it possible, that any 
 part of the Whig press would also unite in such an effort to destroy 
 our organization; and, Mr. President, it suggests itself tome as 
 being not entirely unsuitable or inappropriate to the present occa- 
 sion, to examine the question of the existence, or non-existence of 
 this, the only sound and conservative party in the country ; what 
 is the position it at present occupies, what are its claims upon the 
 confidence and support of the country, as contrasted with what is 
 called " Democracy," and what is likely to be its ultimate destiny ; 
 and whatever I may say here to-night, Mr. Chairman, I beg to be un- 
 derstood as said by an humble private in the ranks, who has no 
 political aspirations to gratify, and no personal ends to accomplish. 
 I have found public life not only a laborious and unprofitable, but 
 most thankless occupation. I have found many of those for whose 
 interests and welfare I have devoted the energies of bo th mind and 
 body for twenty years or more, prompt to surrender their own great 
 inestimable natural rights, for which I had struggled, to the dictation 
 of party, and to the vulgar prejudice of hollow, deceptive, unmeaning 
 party names ; under the flimsy disguise of a spurious Democracy, every 
 wrong has been perpetrated, and every perpetration has been sus- 
 tained by those upon whom those wrongs most severely oparated. 
 No, Sir ; I am sick of political life, and shall never seek to fill another 
 public station ; if any services shall be demanded of me at any time 
 hereafter, in a position where I can promote the interests of the 
 masses, where I can sustain and uphold the power of the people ? 
 against the power of the politicians, and selfish office seekers of the 
 land, I shall be ready to obey the call ; but when it does come, it 
 must come (in the language of some Kentuckian I believe,) u by 
 spontaneous combustion ;" if any political mantle should light on my 
 shoulders, I would endeavor to wear it gracefully and becomingly, 
 but I shall not seek it. 
 
 Understanding as I trust you do then, that it is only in the 
 character of an unaspiring citizen that I speak, I will proceed with 
 the several topics that I have suggested. 
 
 The first enquiry is, When did the Whig party die ? If dead, it 
 died on the third day of November. 18,%, and on that day it re- 
 corded one million three hundred and eightv-Sve thousand, true, 
 genuine, undismayed Whig votes ; such vote as was never given 
 
1 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 before, for that, or any other party since the foundation of the gov- 
 ernment ; and it only required about th : oy-five thousand votes, 
 properly distributed, to have secured success to its candidate. Never 
 was a party surrounded by so many adverse circumstances as was ours 
 on that day : with a patched up peace and harmony, between all the 
 " isms and seisms," and factions of the country, in support of a gen- 
 tleman that nobody knew, and that it seems now but one of the fac- 
 tions (the Free-Soilers) understood ; and with a prejudice deep rooted 
 and immoveable, in our own ranks, that lost us thousands, and tens 
 of thousands for the candidate whom the Whig party had selected ; 
 with the influence of many of the most prominent men of our party, 
 in position and out of position, actively or secretly exerted against 
 us ; still we cast that vote of one million three hundred and eighty- 
 five thousand for G-eneral Winfield Scott, and wanted but the thirty- 
 five thousand, as I have said, properly distributed, to have secured a 
 triumphant victory, which it was in the power of a, few, occupying 
 prominent positions in the government, to have given us, at such 
 points as they were most needed, but which they did not think proper 
 to do, but in point of fact, by their influence withheld from 
 us. And yet we are told, that this extraordinary strength, thus ex- 
 hibited, furnished the indication of our weakness, and the necessity 
 for our dissolution ; yet, these were the circumstances under which 
 we went into that struggle, and this was our condition when we came 
 out of it ; and now, when we see the evidence of decay in the ranks 
 of those by whom we were defeated, when we see every where around 
 us, old hostilities and dissensions breaking out afresh and with in- 
 creased rancor, in the Democratic ranks, in a general scramble for 
 the spoils, we are gravely told that the Whig party is 'no more, and 
 we are advised to set to work to get up a new organization ; for one, 
 I say I am satisfied to stay where I am, adhering with true and strict 
 fidelity to my principles, my country, and my party under its present 
 organization. 
 
 It has been told of one of the Kings of France, that on a certain 
 occasion he visited one of the smaller cities of his dominions, when 
 the Mayor of the place commenced an apology for not offering him a 
 salute on his arrival, saying " Sire, there are a thousand reasons why 
 it was not done ; in the first place we had no powder." " Stop," said 
 the King, " that one is sufficient ; you can reserve the other nine hun- 
 dred and ninety-nine for another occasion." So it is here Mr. Chair- 
 man, there arc a thousand reasons why we should not disband ; but 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 1 1 
 
 one is insurmountable and unsuperable with me ; it is, that if wo give 
 up this our present national organization, it will degenerate into con- 
 temptible sectional factions all over the country ; the other nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine I shall also reserve for another occasion. 
 
 I incline to think that we should derive some advantage by as- 
 suming our old and true name, of " National Republicans ;" for 
 whilst there is no particular meaning attached to the word "Whig," 
 and the masses do not know what it imports, " Nationality " and 
 "Republicanism" have each a clear and distinct definition, that every 
 body understand, and that no sound man can object to ; but a 
 change to an old name does not involve re-organization, and there, 
 fore 1 am for adhering to the organization as it is. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I have been a member of the Whig party Irom the 
 day it was first organized. I may claim to be one of the fathers of 
 the party. I was one of that old National Republican party which 
 constituted the nucleus upon which the present Whig party was 
 formed, and which was first christened the " Whig party " by John 
 C. Calhoun, who then belonged to it, because it had for its basis, 
 opposition to executive power, which came in conflict with the power 
 of the people as expressed through their representatives in Congress ; 
 this was the origin of the party ; these were the circumstances under 
 which it was unfortunately changed in name from that of " National 
 Republican " to " Whig," at the time of the bank veto, removal of 
 the deposits, the celebrated protest of -G-eneral Jackson, expunging 
 resolutions, &c., &c. It had " nationality " and popular rights then 
 as its basis and foundation ; it has maintained both in its superstruc- 
 ture to this day, and the day that it drops its nationally or ceases to 
 vindicate the rights and the power of the people, that day I drop it 
 and abandon it forever ; until then, through good and evil report, in 
 adversity and success, I shall always be found in my place ; and in 
 the meantime nothing could be more ridiculous than the attempt now 
 made to identify the great national Whig party with the local politics 
 of New York. 
 
 Yes, sir ; I helped to rock the baby in its infancy, and to nurse 
 it into manhood. I have seen it grow up and assume a collossal 
 statue, and while I have rejoiced in its triumphs, I have never been 
 disheartened nor discouraged by its defeat, nor by a succession of 
 defeats. 
 
 The great curse of the Whig party has been its timidity ; its wil- 
 lingness to lay down its arms and surrender at discretion upon every 
 
12 SPEECH OP THE 
 
 reverse of fortune ; there arc too many of our leading men who 
 cannot live in a minority, who cannot breathe easily unless they are 
 sustained by power ; -and upon each successive defeat, we are admon- 
 ished by them, of the necessity of abandoning this measure and that, 
 because (they say) we can never get into power until we do. Sir, 
 with me it is not a question of power ; it is a question of right and 
 of propriety. I ask mysolf the question, is this a proper measure for 
 the government to adopt ? Will it advance the general prosperity ? 
 Will it benefit the people ? Will it promote the arts of peace ? 
 Will the great agricultural, commercial, manufactui ing, and laboring 
 interests of the country be advanced by its adoption ? and if these 
 questions are answered in the affirmative, why should I, or you, or 
 any of us surrender them, because we happen to be beaten in a 
 political contest involving a thousand other minor issues as well as 
 these ? 
 
 While we owe our defeats in a great measure to this practised 
 timidity, our opponents arc largely indebted for their occasional suc- 
 cess, to a different system of tactics. I have always admired them 
 for their boldness and courage, if for nothing else ; the more you 
 whip them to-day the readier they are for the light to-morrow ; and 
 that is just what I want to sec the Whig party do ; how else did 
 they succeed in fastening that contemptible humbug, the Sub- 
 Treasury, (which never has, and never can be practically executed 
 without immense loss to the government and injury to the people,) 
 upon the country ? When they were so badly beaten upon that issue 
 in 1840, did they abandon it? Did they give it up ? And if by 
 their perseverance they could thus succeed in . establishing a bad 
 measure, why could not we by a similar perseverance, succeed in 
 establishing a good one ? And at this moment when we know that 
 there is not one sensible and well .informed man in the country, 
 whether Whig or Democrat, who believes in the wisdom or practica- 
 bility of the law, as it now stands, we see all submitting to it, and 
 the Whig party seem afraid to throttle the monster, and to crush 
 its enormities ; but something more of this Sub-Treasury hereafter. 
 
 Let us take up these measures for which we have Contended for 
 twenty years, one by one, and see if any good reason exists for 
 abandoning them ; if upon fair trial they shall have proved to be in- 
 jurious to the public good, let them go ; but surely, no sane man can 
 be convinced of their injurious tendency, because we cannot always 
 retain the power of the government in our own hands ; and I might 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 13 
 
 here remark, that if the people are supposed to have decided against 
 them in '44 and '52, they as surely decided in their favor in '40 and 
 '48, and are most likely to do so again in '56. 
 
 How is it with the question of protection to home labor ? Has 
 that great principle become obsolete ? Are we ready to give it up ? 
 Is free trade indeed in the ascendancy ? The tariff of '46 I grant 
 you has taken the place of the tariff of '42, but then is the tariff of 
 '46 a free trade tariff? Does not everybody of good sense know, 
 that any tariff that ranges in its duties from ten and fifteen, to forty 
 and fifty per cent., and upwards, is a discriminating tariff? and don't 
 every body know that discrimination is a recognition of the principle 
 of protection ? The question is, is it a judicious discrimination, and 
 does it protect where protection is most needed ? But discrimina- 
 tion in itself recognizes the principle, and in any alteration that 
 may be made of the present tariff, the party in power will not 
 fail to adopt that principle. You may call things by what names 
 you choose, but the tariff of '46, Mr. Chairman, is no more a free 
 trade tariff than my State is a free State ; but at the same time, I do 
 not agree that it judiciously discriminates, or affords proper protec- 
 tion to such articles as most need it. I moan such articles as we caai 
 supply at home, and must consume. 
 
 It may become, perhaps it has become necessary, that the tariff 
 should be revised and modified, if only to diminish the superabund- 
 ant revenue that is accumulating in the public treasury, and it may 
 be found indispensable to diminish the duties on some articles, and 
 equally indispensable to increase them on others, but you will find 
 that under no circumstances, will any party in this country, venture 
 upon an equal rate of duties on all articles that we import. They 
 must and will discriminate, and so discriminate, as to give protection 
 to certain interests ; and if I am right in this, let us, instead of sur- 
 rendering the principle, maintain that we have established the wisdom 
 of the system, and claim the credit for our party, that its sagacity 
 and wisdom has entitled it to receive at the hands of our opponents. 
 
 But let us see how their tariff of '46 has operated, practically ; 
 that it has furnished a sufficient amount of revenue cannot be ques- 
 tioned ; but at what cost it has done so, remains to be seen. We all 
 know how common it is for the public men of the Democratic party, 
 (they have usurped that name, and in it, consists their only strength,) 
 to claim infinite credit for the acquisition of California, which with 
 its untold millions of gold, they say has staved off such a commer- 
 
 
14 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 cial crisis, as has been heretofore unknown to our people ; well 
 admit that to be so ; what I desire they should next tell us, is, 
 what would have produced this crisis ; and then what resort would 
 have been necessary had not the golden sands of California so op- 
 portunely come, to avert the calamity and distress which would have 
 befallen us. 'I will tell you. First, it was the vicious (or perhaps it 
 would be more appropriate to say unsound) system of legislation, by 
 which our people were induced to encourage European workshops 
 and European labor to the exclusion of American workshops, and 
 American labor, that would have brought on the crisis precisely 
 the same causes that produced the revulsion of 1837 ; and in the 
 next place to have remedied the evil, it would have been necessary 
 to resort to a different system, by which we should have afforded en- 
 couragement and protection to the labor of our own people in pref- 
 erence to the labor of any other people on the earth ; as it is, that 
 mighty influx of gold that should have been spent among our own 
 people at home, has followed on in the regular channels of trade, and 
 is now to be found in the workshops of Europe. Now, in my judg- 
 ment, he is the wisest man, and the most reliable statesman, who 
 recommends such a system of legislation as would enable the indus- 
 try of the country to protect itself, at all times and under all cir- 
 cumstances, and that would render the country absolutely independ- 
 ent in every sense of the word. Suppose a general war should 
 break out in Europe, in which the four chief powers should be 
 engaged, which I have not only looked upon for some months as 
 extremely probable, but as almost certain, notwithstanding the 
 opposite views that have prevailed in this country as well as in 
 France and England, for I have not been able to see why the Em- 
 peror Nicholas should relinquish the advantages he has already 
 obtained, (by the temporizing course of France and England, each of 
 whom have frittered away their time in idle negotiations, while he has 
 been preparing for war,) towards the accomplishment of an object 
 that has constituted the chief anxiety of Kussia from the days of 
 Peter the Grreat, down to the present time, to wit : the possession of 
 Constantinople. I say, suppose such a war should come, what would 
 be the consequence to us ? The low rate of duties, as I have said, 
 has induced our countrymen to go abroad to purchase many, very 
 many articles which we were able to furnish and should have manu- 
 factured at home, and by that process we have become largely 
 indebted to Great Britain. 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 15 
 
 \ 
 
 The British government is sustained by its monied aristocracy ; 
 they must have money to carry on the war ; the Barings and the 
 Rothchilds will have the control of the entire debt, in all, amount- 
 ing to some four or five hundred millions, and will call it in 
 as fast as it becomes due ; and then is the time that the shoe will 
 begin to pinch ; then will be the time that we shall discover the beau- 
 ties and advantages of excessive importations superinduced by low 
 duties ; and with or without war, pay-day must, and will come, soon- 
 er or later ; and when it does arrive, then we shall see the workings 
 of what many are now pleased to call the free trade system. 
 
 Even now in the absence of a war in Europe, suppose my friend 
 from Texas [Dr. Jones, who sat near by] were here to borrow, on 
 the best possible security, for himself, or his State, a sum of money 
 necessary to carry on some important work of internal improvement, 
 and he were to go upon Wall street to obtain it, would he not be told 
 to go to England and he would be supplied ? Now why should this 
 be ? Why simply because our money has all gone there to be 
 expended in foreign labor, when it should have been expended upon 
 domestic industry. Had our policy been pursued, we should have 
 been able to withstand the convulsions and upheavings of Europe ; 
 for then we should not only have been entirely out of debt, but should 
 have retained the California gold among ourselves. Dead as the Whig 
 party is said to be, obsolete as are its principles, I am as resolute as 
 ever in favor of the policy of protection to American labor and 
 American enterprise, against the labor and enterprise of all the 
 world. 
 
 Mr. President and gentlemen, I have seen no cause to change my 
 opinions on that subject ; but on the contrary, I see every reason 
 why we should hold on to it, and why the other party should adopt 
 it as a part of their policy ; and the time will come, indeed it is not 
 far distant, when all will be compelled to acknowledge that it is 
 the true system for our government to adopt. Nay, the policy 
 of President Pierce (as it lias been foreshadowed by some appar- 
 ently confidential friend) will be to protect all those interests con- 
 nected with the national defences. Here, then, is a virtual recogni- 
 tion of the principle of protection ; and what a margin does it leave ? 
 What is necessary for the national defences ? Iron and lead cer- 
 tainly are ; but will it not also embrace woolens, cloths, blanket ma- 
 king, leather, shoes, and cotton ? because it is obviously quite as 
 necessary that our soldiers (to enable them to resist the elements) 
 
16 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 should have clothing, blankets, shoes, and shirts, as powder, guns, 
 and balls, to resist the enemy. * * * Let us then hold on to 
 our cherished principle of protection. Don't let us throw it aside as 
 a cast-off garment, to be taken up by the first who passes on the 
 great highway, for then our opponents will be entitled to take it, and 
 use it to our disadvantage ; let us rather force them to borrow, or to 
 beg it, and give us the credit for it. 
 
 Then what about that other great question of internal improve- 
 ments, which has heretofore been a bone of contention ? Is that 
 obsolete too ? Why what have we lately witnessed ? We have seen 
 the Democratic party meeting in convention at Baltimore, looking 
 only to political results, patching up a platform in which they utter- 
 ly repudiate every principle of the Whig party, as destructive and 
 ruinous to the best interests of the nation, and going before the coun- 
 try with a candidate pledged to free trade, anti-internal improve- 
 ments, and against an equal distribution of the public lands, and 
 fully committed to sustain the Union and the compromise parties of 
 the country. They succeed their object is accomplished General 
 Pierce is elected, and a few months after we see another convention 
 assembled at Memphis, far larger than the first, composed chiefly of 
 prominent, influential, and talented men of the same party, the 
 object of which is to devise and recommend for the adoption of the 
 government, such measures as are best calculated to advance the 
 great interests of the entire country ; no longer having political ends 
 in view, they recognise all those principles they had just before repu- 
 diated and denounced, and they call upon the executive of their own 
 selection, to administer the government upon those very principles 
 which have heretofore divided the two great parties of the country, 
 and for which the Whigs have struggled, with alternate success and 
 defeat for the last twenty years ; and yet we are told that our princi- 
 ples are obsolete, and antediluvian. Yes sir, that convention asked 
 for protection from the government, to steam communication between 
 the southern and European ports ; they recommended a system of 
 internal improvements that will connect the Atlantic and the Pacific 
 coasts ; and they called for a distribution of the public lands, among 
 the states bordering on the western waters, for improving the naviga- 
 tion of those mighty streams ; and added to this, we see their Union- 
 loving and compromise-abiding President turning a deaf ear to the 
 claims of the Union-loving and compromise-abiding men of the 
 country, while he showers his favors, bestows his rewards, and fills 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 17 
 
 the offices of. the country, north and south, on those alone who had 
 been most violent in their hostility and opposition to the compromise 
 measures the agitators of the slavery question in one section, and 
 the secessionists and disunionists in the other. Here we have Dem- 
 ocratic profession on the one hand, and Democratic practice on the 
 other ; and now I ask you gentlemen, and I would ask the country 
 to survey the position they occupy, and tell me what claims have the 
 so-called Democracy to the confidence and support of our people ? 
 and I ask you farther, if this is a time for any Whig to contemplate 
 with composure a disbandment of our organization ? 
 
 If I have succeeded in establishing the position, that they have 
 no claims upon the confidence of the country, I propose now to 
 show that they have usurped a name, to which they have still less 
 claim than to your support or esteem ; a favorite argument with 
 our opponents, more especially when they address themselves to 
 that portion of the foreign population who do not understand 
 the features that distinguish the two parties, is, that we, the Whigs, 
 are federalists, and monarchists, who are not friendly to the institu- 
 tions of the country, and are incapable of administering the govern- 
 ment. Nbw I take it, that one of the first principles of democracy, 
 consists in a recognition of the right and the capacity of the people 
 for self-government ; let us see then, how far they recognise these 
 two great fundamental truths ; and this we must do by analyzing the 
 argument above mentioned, by which they have acquired such a pre- 
 ponderance of the foreign vote. 
 
 I think it will approximate the reality, if we suppose there are 
 five hundred thousand foreign voters in the United States ; and it 
 will be by no means an extravagant calculation, to put four hundred 
 thousand of them as voting with the Democratic party, and one hun- 
 dred thousand with us ; now then, strike four hundred thousand from 
 their poll, and one hundred thousand from ours, and what an im- 
 mense majority of the native born population of the country is found 
 on the side of those, who are not (according to their statements) 
 friendly to free institutions, and are incapable of self-government ! 
 and in what a lamentable, humiliating, and pitiable a condition does it 
 present us before the world ! that if left to ourselves, we would des- 
 troy our own, blessed, glorious, free institutions ; that we would be 
 incapable of managing our own affairs ; and that it is therefore 
 necessary to call in the foreign population, that flows to us from 
 every quarter of the world, who never enjoyed freedom at home, who 
 2 
 
 
 
IS SPEECH OF THB 
 
 are of necessity in a large degree unfamiliar with our constitution, 
 many with our language, and all with our laws and institutions, in 
 order to perpetuate our form of government, to protect our liberties, 
 and hand down the rich inheritance of freedom to our children; 
 and this is the starting point of their democracy. 
 
 I have had no difficulty, Mr. Chairman, in solving a question which 
 has puzzled the brains of thousands, to-wit : the universal and anx- 
 ious inquiry, Why is it, that the foreigners all vote against us ? 
 Sir, it is the charm conveyed to their senses by the sound of Democ- 
 racy; they give to the term its true signification ; they know of no 
 other democracy than that which is to be found in antagonism to 
 aristocracy, or to despotism and the power of the sovereign ; there is no 
 other democracy than that which b to be found in the power of the 
 people ; and they naturally believe when they come among us, that 
 democracy on this side of the water, means what they understood 
 by democracy at home. Nothing is more natural than that they 
 should identify themselves with those, whom they suppose are strug- 
 gling to maintain the rights, and the power of the people of which 
 they themselves compose a part ; it is not because they are opposed 
 to us, or our principles, but because they do not understand the na- 
 ture of the questions that divide us ; and when they have bben here 
 long enough to ascertain the truth, like other men, pride of opinion, 
 pride of consistency, and old habits and associations bind them down 
 to the party with which they have been accustomed to act. 
 
 But let us suppose that upon the arrival of some intelligent, well- 
 meaning, and reflecting foreigner upon our shores, he were to inquire 
 of some honest Whig, what were the issues that divided the Whig 
 and Democratic parties, and he were answered : We are alike devo- 
 ted to the Union and the constitution ; we alike rejoice in the bless- 
 ings of free government ; we are alike anxious to perpetuate our 
 institutions ; we alike recognize the power and the sovereignty of the 
 people ; but we differ in our views as to the best mode of administer- 
 ing the government, so as to advance the general prosperity and wel- 
 fare of the whole ; as, for example, wt> think it wise and proper that 
 such a system of legislation should be adopted, as will supply you 
 and your countrymen, your wives and children, as well as our own 
 people with the means of making an honest livelihood, by their labor; 
 we ask for a system, by which your industry will be protected, by 
 which employment will be furnished ; by which our twenty-five mil- 
 lions of people shall be induced to give a preference to the labor of 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 19 
 
 the United States, so far as they can supply what is consumed, to 
 the labor of Europe, from which you have just come, to make your 
 living, and improve your condition ; while our opponents, the Demo- 
 crats, advocate a system, by which our people are encouraged to 
 trade abroad ; to import from Europe, what by your labor you could 
 supply at home ; to send our millions to the workshops of foreign 
 countries, which shuts up the doors of our own shops, turns thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands out of employment, who are forced to 
 make a living by the most disreputable means, in lieu of the honest 
 industry they have sought in vain to employ. 
 
 This is one of the great questions which divides us. He would 
 ask : Is that what is meant by Democracy ? Not entirely ! there is 
 another point on which we differ. We think that with a country 
 extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the St. Law- 
 rence to the Gulf of Mexico, with agricultural productions, and man- 
 ufacturing interests that might supply the world, we stand in more 
 need than any other people of such a system of internal improve- 
 ments, as will afford facilities for communication from one section of 
 the country to the other, and of supplying the demands of commerce, 
 by removing obstructions to the navigation of our great water 
 courses, that bear on their bosoms, a large portion of the commerce 
 of the world. We think if the navigation of the Mississippi, four 
 thousand miles in extent, should be obstructed by a sand-bar, that 
 it should be removed, rather than lose the benefit of that wonderful 
 natural channel of commerce ; we believe that our lakes and harbors 
 should be rendered safe from the perils of the tempest ; we believe 
 that the wisdom of our forefathers confered on the general govern- 
 ment the power to do these things ; we believe that the same author- 
 ity which grants to Congress the power to appropriate money for the 
 erection of lighthouses, to warn the storm-tossed mariner, of the 
 treacherous sand -bank, also gives to Congress, the power to remove 
 the sand-bank itself; we believe, furthermore, lhat as the general gov- 
 ernment has assumed control over our navigable streams, by exacting 
 tonnage duties, as well as duties on all imports, passing over these 
 great national highways, that it is in duty bound to improve these wa- 
 ter courses and keep them in good repair, or cease to charge tolls upon 
 them ; in short, we believe, that the government belongs to the 
 people, and ought to be administered rather more for their benefit 
 than for the officious office holders who live upon the public crib, and 
 that such a policy should be adopted, as will best promote the great 
 
20 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 industrial interests of the nation, no matter in what branch of enter- 
 prise it may be engaged, whether agricultural, manufacturing, com- 
 mercial or mechanical. Not so with our opponents ; they believe 
 that government was not instituted for any such purposes ; that the 
 government has no concern with the interests of the people ; that 
 the government should take care of itself, and let the people take 
 care of themselves ; that it has no authority to protect the industry 
 and labor of its own people ; no authority to improve the navigation 
 of our water courses ; no authority to furnish these facilities to com- 
 merce ; no authority to protect the property of our people, or render 
 secure the lives of our seamen, and travelers on these public high- 
 ways, by the removal of whatever might endanger the one or the 
 other ; but that the general government should receive the tolls, 
 while the States should repair the roads, or leave the snags, logs, 
 sand-bars, and beaches just as you find them ; and they profess to 
 believe that it is very Anti-Democratic, that the people should be 
 indulged in any such security either to life or to property, as to take 
 them out of the way. This, then, is another of the tests of what 
 they call Democracy on this side of the water ; but there is still 
 another. 
 
 We have a great land fund belonging to the general government 
 most of which formerly belonged to the several States originally 
 composing the Union, which they transferred to the general gov- 
 ernment, for the common benefit of all ; the balance has been since 
 acquired by conquest, or by purchase, for which all the States paid 
 in fair proportion. This fund has for some years past been used 
 by demagogues in Congress, for the purpose of making political cap- 
 ital for themselves, by voting it away in large quantities to the new 
 States, while all interest was withheld from the old. We have 
 asked for an equal distribution among all the States, if it is to be 
 appropriated to any ; that we should all share, and share alike 
 This the Democratic party opposes, while year after year, millions of 
 acres are voted away to such of the new States, as certain of their 
 leaders imagine can be brought to their support for a Presidential 
 nomination. 
 
 These are the questions that divide us, and all who advocate the 
 one system, are called Democrats, and those who advocate the other 
 are called Whigs. 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, if he were an intelligent man to whom this 
 true definition of Whiggery and Democracy was explained, do you 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. o-j 
 
 not think he would be staggered to tell why they and not we should 
 be called the Democratic party : Would he not be puzzled to find 
 one single principle of democracy in their whole creed? And yet every 
 man of candor and intelligence I think must admit, that these are the 
 questions, and only questions, since the settlement of the bank -ques- 
 tion, which have divided the two parties ; and if they were fairly un- 
 derstood, I cannot persuade myself, that the Democratic party could 
 command one tithe of the vote it now boasts, either from the foreign 
 born, or native population of the country. 
 
 The Democracy claim to be the progressive party, too ! and seek 
 to disseminate the impression that we are the " standstill partyj' 
 or, as some call it, the u do-nothing party." Surely the internal 
 improvement party is not the stand-still party ; the party that is for 
 building up manufactures of every sort, of encouraging the mechanic 
 arts, of giving employment to all, and taking care of all, is not the 
 stand-still party ; it is they who oppose this system they who will 
 'not progress they are the party to whom that cognomen should be 
 applied. 
 
 But there are two kinds of progress through life the one rational, 
 the other destructive ! When I read an account of some dashing, 
 high-spirited young fellow, whose horse has run away with him, and 
 dashed his vehicle to pieces and nearly broken his neck, I cannot 
 but regard it as progress ; but it is something of Democratic pro- 
 gress , rather of the destructive order. How much better it would 
 have been, to have kept the reins in hand and the horse in subjection 
 Sometimes we read of a steamboat that is in such haste to make 
 rapid progress through the water, that she gets up too much steam, 
 and away goes boat, cargo, crew, and passengers in the air. This 
 is certainly making rapid progress, but not of the rational kind 
 it smacks of Democratic progress ; it is a species of Democratic pro- 
 gressive, go-ahead cleverness. It was the same spirit of headlong, 
 Democratic progress that precipitated the New Haven cars into Nor- 
 walk river, with such terrible and calamitous results. So it will be, I 
 fear, with Democratic progress, in affairs of government, when we 
 undertake the only progress they propose, which is to neglect our 
 own affairs, disregard our own interests, and go roaming over the 
 world, in imitation of ancient Rome, plundering our neighbors of 
 their lawful property, and in imitation of Don Quixote, righting 
 the wrongs of all mankind. I would rather have a rational, conser- 
 vative driver, who would control his horse ; a rational, conservative 
 
22 SPEECH OF THB 
 
 firemen, who would not put on too much steam ; and a rational, con- 
 servative engineer, who would co'ntrol his locomotive, and travel 
 witi rather less speed, and more safety ; so, in like manner I would 
 prefer a sound, safe, rational conservative Whig, at the helm of gov- 
 ernment, who would attend to our business at home, progressing 
 rapidly, but steadily and safely extending our commerce, increas- 
 ing our agriculture, enlarging our manufactures, and securing peace, 
 plenty, independence and happiness to all our people ; and if we do 
 not have such an engineer to guide our great national locomotive, 
 who can tell what catastrophe may not sooner or later overtake and 
 overwhelm us ? 
 
 Sir, there is an old Latin maxim -that is full of meaning and good 
 sense " Confir mat usum, qui tollit abusum ;" he confirms the use, 
 who destroys the abuse. We strengthen and aid progress by res- 
 training its abuse; and upon this principle, I hope to see the conser- 
 vative Whig party always act. Let individual citizens, in the exer- 
 cise of their personal rights, (taking care not to infringe the laws 
 of their country,) do as they like, on their own responsibility ; but let 
 the government take care at all times, and under all circumstances, 
 to watch with the most jealous vigilance the faith and integrity of 
 the nation ; let them guard it, as they would " the apple of their 
 eye." 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I am often asked why am I a Whig ? My answer 
 is, because I am a Democrat ; because I believe there is more sound 
 Democracy in the Whig ranks, than in the ranks of the other party, 
 and because I go for the principle, and not the name or the sound of 
 Democracy ; how could I be anything else but a Democrat ? Losing 
 both father and mother when I was but a child nine years old, (by 
 the burning of the theatre in Richmond,) I was soon after sent off 
 to a boarding school, and from that day to this, have been mixed up 
 with the people, sympathizing in all their wrongs, contending through- 
 out my manhood, for all their rights, and struggling for their political 
 equality, despising at all times every thing that savored of aristoc- 
 racy and pride, whether of birth or fortune, ready to resist oppres- 
 sion whenever and wherever I met it ; brought up in the midst of 
 the people and one of themselves, how could I be, in my nature, 
 habits, associations and sympathies, anything but a Democrat ? And 
 yet, suppose I should desire from any cause, to associate myself 
 with the Democratic party, what are the tests by which I would be 
 tried ? To what doctrines or principles would I have to subscribe, 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 23 
 
 to gain an admittance into their ranks and fellowship with them ? 
 They surely could not reject me on the ground that I was in favor 
 of the principle of protection, for that would have excluded Mr. Jef- 
 ferson and General Jackson from the Democratic party, as it would 
 now exclude many thousands of their present friends, including Mr. 
 Buchanan, who, with Silas Wright, voted for the tariff of 1842, and 
 without whose votes, it could never have become a law ; it could 
 not be, on the ground that I was in favor of internal improvements, 
 for that would exclude Gen. Cass and many of the prominent Nor- 
 thern and Western men of the Democracy; and it was but the other 
 day, that here in this very hall, two members of Mr. Pierce's Demo- 
 cratic Cabinet, made speeches in favor of the Pacific Railroad as a 
 government measure. What then would be the test ? Why this, 
 and this only: If I could consent to vote for the democratic nomi- 
 nee, and thus secure to them the spoils of office, I should be con- 
 sidered as good a Democrat as the best of them. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I have said I was a Democrat, not a Locofoco ; 
 I am led by no false lights, but a Democrat in the true sense and 
 signification of the word. I desire to furnish additional proof of it ; 
 not for any personal advantage that 1 expect or desire to derive 
 from it, but because I am generally regarded as the most stubborn 
 and inveterate, and ultra of the Whig party, and if (being such) 
 I can relieve myself of the charge of federalism, it should go far to 
 relieve the party of which I am an humble member, of a similar 
 imputation. 
 
 It has not been long since I was a member of a convention in 
 Virginia, for making a constitution for the State ; and according to 
 my views, there, was the place, and that the occasion to test the 
 soundness of Democracy ; that was the place and then the time to 
 establish the rights, and the power of the people. I knew of no 
 other Democracy than that which was opposed to an aristocracy or a 
 despotism. In that convention I strenuously resisted a proposition to 
 take power from the people, and confer it upon property. I went for 
 protection to property and representation to men, and I went against 
 the wishes of the whole of Eastern Virginia, which was the section 
 in which I lived, and a part of which I represented. I warmly 
 advocated universal suffrage without property qualification ; I voted 
 for, and advocated the right of the people to elect their own officers 
 of every description, judges, sheriffs, clerks, constables, and all ; I 
 went for taking all power out of the hands of the few, and conferring 
 
24 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 it on the many ; I went for taking it out of the hands of the politi- 
 cians and conferring it on the people ; and it was on my motion, that 
 one half of the entire capitation tax of the State, was forever appro- 
 priated to the cause of education, through the operation of free 
 schools ; and in my ignorance and simplicity, I thought I was going 
 for Democracy in its genuine purity, but I was mistaken. If 
 Virginia Democracy was sound, then these principles were federal j 
 my course met with the condemnation of the Democracy. I sacri- 
 ficed my election to Congress to sustain these pillars and corner 
 stones of true Democratic faith. (I may be pardoned for introdu- 
 cing here a few short extracts from a speech made in the convention 
 on the basis of representation, which was not at hand when I made 
 this speech.) I said ; 
 
 u This is a government of persons,and not of property ; and before 
 I would vote for the principle that property should have more power 
 in this government than men, I would vote for a monarchy. I do 
 not know, if I were a large property holder, a John Jacob Astor, 
 what I might be tempted to do perhaps I may not know myself. 
 Every man loves power more or less, and I might fall ; but I belong 
 to that class of persons who constitute a large majority of the citi- 
 zens of this Commonwealth who have little property to protect ; and 
 I will not give power to any man's wealth over me and mine. But, 
 while I will afford to the property holder all the protection he de- 
 mands, I too have some few demands to make upon him for the 
 preservation of my rights and the rights of the large class of citizens 
 to which I belong. Wealth has already too much influence in every 
 respect, without engrafting it as a constitutional principle. 
 
 " Why, in what age do we live ? Are we in the middle of the 
 nineteenth century, when the school master is abroad all over the 
 face of the civilized globe, when men are asserting their own rights 
 and throwing off the shackles of despotism, when thrones are tot- 
 tering and tumbling into the dust, before popular freedom and 
 popular rights ? Is it here for us, here in the Old Dominion, in this 
 old Commonwealth of Virginia, to engraft upon our Constitution a 
 principle that property is entitled to more weight, to more represen- 
 tation in our government than men ? If I stood alone out of the 
 one hundred and thirty-five members upon this floor, I should stand 
 perfectly erect among my constituents, slave-holding and property- 
 holding constituents, and say to them, I trample such a principle 
 in the dust." 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 25 
 
 " The next clause in that bill of rights reads : 
 
 " * That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from the 
 people.' 
 
 " Not so with this enlightened age in which we now live. Free 
 principles have taken a retrogressive movement. The principles of 
 freedom that are extending themselves throughout the civilized globe 
 have been checked, and here, in this consecrated spot in this Con- 
 vention of Virginia sages in this old Commonwealth of Virginia, 
 the principle is about to be subverted, and power is to be given to 
 property , and not to persons. And this bill of rights goes on to 
 declare " that when any government shall be found inadequate to 
 carry out those purposes, a majority " of what ? of property ? 
 No ! " a majority of the community." Does the word community 
 mean property ? "A majority of the community has the indefea- 
 sible, inalienable, indubitable right to reform, alter, or abolish in such 
 a manner as shall be deemed most conducive to the public weal." 
 There is the power. There is where the power of government is 
 lodged by this declaration of fundamental principles. But it goes 
 on to say " that no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or 
 separate emoluments pr privileges from the community." This is 
 what your bill of rights asserts, as to the rights of property and 
 power of persons. 
 
 " Is this representation that you proposse to give to wealth not a 
 privilege ? Is the representation that you propose to give the richest 
 portion of this Commonwealth over the poorer parts of this Com- 
 monwealth no privilege to wealth ? Then carry the principle out 
 and give to the richer counties of this Commonwealth a greater 
 political power than to the poorer counties ; then carry your princi- 
 ple still further out, and apply it equally to the rich, as well as to the 
 poor man, and give him power also equal to his wealth ; if the 
 principle is sound, it comes to this. 
 
 " I would here remark that I feel most proud of the opportunity 
 and of the privilege of standing up here as one of the champions 
 feeble and humble as I am of the power of the people against the 
 power of property. I will give property its protection ; I will give 
 no more." 
 
 Upon the subject of taxation, I said : 
 
 " Well, now, sir, I want to say something upon this subject of 
 taxation. I have proposed an ad valorem system of taxation, and to 
 my mind there is but one system of equality in taxation, and that is 
 
 
26 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 to make every man contribute to the support of government accor- 
 ding to his means and his ability. Our present system operates 
 most injuriously and oppressively upon a large portion of the com- 
 monwealth. If ten men combine together to form a common com- 
 munity, and if each of those ten men has $10,000 of capital and 
 one thinks proper to invest his according to the dictates of his judg- 
 ment, in houses and lots, the second invests his in slave property, 
 the third invests his in merchandize, the fourth invests his in manu- 
 facturing stock, the fifth in bank stock, the sixth in railroad stock, 
 the seventh in drugs and medicines, the eighth in race-horses, and 
 the ninth and tenth in unproductive lands, waiting for a rise, or in 
 any other species of property you think proper to imagine, my 
 opinion is that the only fair and equitable system that can be 
 adopted is to make these ten men pay equal sums upon their res- 
 pective capital to the support of the government. I know no rea- 
 son why one should pay all and the other none. I know no reason 
 why I should be compelled to pay a tax upon the watch in my 
 pocket that may be worth sixty or seventy-five, or one hundred and 
 fifty dollars, and another gentleman who has chosen to lay out his 
 $500 or $1000 on a diamond breast pin or ring should be exempted 
 from taxation. I know no reason why the poor man, who has for 
 convenience or the convenience of his family, a common clock upon 
 his mantlepiece, that cost him from three to five or ten dollars, 
 should be required to pay a tax upon it, whilst the ornament upon his 
 wealthy neighbor's mantlepice, that cost thousands, pays no tax at 
 all. Sir, I despise demagogueism. I am no demagogue. I am no 
 flatterer of the people, but my sympathies are with the masses of the 
 people. I am one of the masses. It is implanted in me by my 
 creator as a part of my nature. I know no reason why the poor man 
 in the country who has a horse which is necessary for the suste- 
 nance and support of his family, should be required to pay a tax 
 upon that horse, whilst his wealthy neighbor in the city who has a 
 cow, perhaps worth ten times as much as the horse, should pay no 
 tax. I am for an equal system of taxation upon the rich and the 
 poor alike: Let those who have the most means contribute the most 
 money for the support of the government. And from what class 
 comes the chief objection to this system of ad valorem taxation ? 
 You will find it to be from the large property-holders, and why ? Is 
 it because they wish to hold property without paying the necessary 
 tax upon it. Or is it because they desire to throw the burthen of 
 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 27 
 
 taxation on those classes that can't as well afford to pay it? In either 
 case I am for enforcing it." 
 
 At another point, I said : 
 
 " If there is any great object above all others that I desire to see 
 established by this Convention now about to adopt a constitution for 
 the State, it is so see political equality, as nearly as may be, estab- 
 lished in this land. Talk about equality among men ! There is but 
 one species of equality that man can control. Man has no control 
 over the nature of his fellow-man. He is made by his Creator, and 
 until you can change the decrees of the Most High, making the pig- 
 my equal to the giant, until you can make the idiot equal to the 
 sage, until you can make the man of feeble, delicate constitution^ 
 equal to the strong, hearty and robust man, until you can make the 
 pauper equal to the millionaire in his influence, you can establish no 
 general equality among men. But you can establish political equal' 
 ity. That is your business and your duty, and that you are partic- 
 ularly bound to do, because the people in their majesty demand it, 
 and will have it. And they are right never to rest satisfied for one 
 moment until they have obtained it. And I will give it to them 
 while I have the power to do it." BANCROFT UIBKAK 
 
 Here then, Mr. Chairman, is the foundation, this is the substra- 
 tum of my democracy, and he who does not subscribe to it is, in my 
 judgment, hostile to the principles of true democracy, or does not 
 understand their import and value. 
 
 Well sir, shortly after the expression of these sentiments, I went 
 before the people as a candidate for Congress in competition with a 
 gentlemen who took the opposite grounds, and was warm in his 
 advocacy of a mixed basis, which gave more power to property than 
 to persons ; by which seven thousand dollars in taxes was to balance 
 the voice of twelve thousand persons. My vote on this question 
 which alone defeated this odious proposition was made a promi- 
 nent feature in the contest; and, although my competitor was 
 a secessionist, which met with little or no favor in the dis- 
 trict, yet the whole entire strength of the Democratic party 
 was cast against me ; my principles thus laid down, did not tally 
 with their views of Democracy, because I was not for securing to 
 them the power and the spoils, by voting for the Democratic nomi- 
 nee of the Baltimore convention. Am I not then justified in saying, 
 I have found public life not only a laborious and unprofitable, but 
 most thankless occupation, and that many of those for whose inter- 
 
28 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 est and welfare I have devoted the energies of both body and mind 
 for twenty years and upwards, were prompt to surrender their own 
 great inestimable natural rights, for which I have always struggled, 
 to the dictation of party, and to the vulgar prejudice of hollow, 
 deceptive, and unmeaning party names ? 
 
 I have thus, Mr. Chairman, endeavored to contrast our principles 
 with those of our opponents, and our claims to confidence with 
 theirs. I have endeavored to demonstrate that Democracy in this 
 country, means anything but Democracy in the old country, and 
 that here it is a party, indebted solely to Us name for its strength, 
 and I believe religiously, that if we had their name with our princi- 
 ples, or they had our principles with their name, there could be but 
 one party in the country ; you could not get up an opposition to it. 
 
 Look at the course pursued by the President of their choice 
 You will recollect what I said here in Newark last fall about Free- 
 Soilism and his New Boston speech you all know that his election 
 was demanded as a triumph of the Union party of the country, 
 against all factions and disorganizing agitators ; and here, after his 
 election, the triumph was claimed for those who had stood by the 
 Union, and the compromise against the hostility of the secessionists 
 and the Free Soilers, and yet Mr. Pierce has done more i n the brief 
 space that he has been in office, to give influence and importance to 
 the secessionists and disunionists of the South, than five hundred 
 Nashville Conventions could have done, and he has done more to 
 revive the fallen fortunes of the Free-Soil party in the North, than 
 five thousand such men as Mr. Seward could do in a life time ; by de- 
 positing all the influence and emoluments of office in their hands, 
 and making their views the only passports to favor ; and there is but 
 one remedy left, and that is the action of the U. S. Senate next 
 winter. If they confirm all these appointments of seceders on the 
 one hand, and the Buffalo platform party on the other, then indeed, 
 we may tremble for the consequence ; we can only hope that they 
 will draw certain lines, and by the co-operation of the Whigs and 
 conservative Democrats, the evil may be averted by rejecting all 
 those who come within those lines. 
 
 Mr. Pierce in his letter to Major Lally, written on the eve 
 of the meeting of the National Convention, used this remarkable 
 language. I say remarkable, as connected with his subsequent 
 cource of conduct ; he says I quote from memory but believe I 
 give his identical words : 
 
HON. JOHN H. BOTTS. 29 
 
 " If we, of the North, who have stood up for the constitutional 
 rights of the South, are to be sacrificed to any time serving policy, 
 then the hopes of the Union and the Democracy must sink together." 
 We must leave it to those of the North who have stood up for the 
 constitutional rights of the South, to say whether they have been 
 sacrificed by the author of this declaration to a time serving policy 
 or not. I think, sir, in despite of his prediction, we shall be able to 
 arrest him in his work of sinking the Union, but he is sure to sink 
 the Democracy, and the sooner he does it the better, though I must 
 do him the justice to say that few could have accomplished so much 
 towards it in the same time. 
 
 There is one subject upon which I wish to make an observation or 
 two, and I will conclude what I fear has been too much extended. 
 
 Very much to my surprise, I saw It mentioned a few days ago in 
 a Whig press of the city of New York, that " all the old issues upon 
 which such fierce battles have hitherto been waged, are in the deep 
 ocean buried," and " that the Sub-Treasury has been so modified, 
 as to be equally acceptable to both parties." This was a most 
 astounding piece of information to be derived from a Whig paper, 
 I wish the editor had gone on to inform us, when, where, and how 
 it had been so modified. I was not aware that it had been touched, 
 and I do know that it has not been in legal and practical operation 
 since its enactment. We all know that Mr. Gruthrie attempted 
 shortly after bis acceptance to office!, to carry it into effect, ac- 
 cording to the provisions it contained, and he found it utterly 
 impracticable and absurd to attempt it, and he abandoned it, and 
 fell back in the old beaten path by which its main features are 
 constantly violated. 
 
 The law provides that all officers and other persons charged 
 with the safe keeping, transfer and disbursement of the public 
 moneys, who shall use by way of investment in any kind of 
 property or merchandize, or shall loan with or without interest, 
 OR SHALL DEPOSIT IN ANY BANK, or SHALL EX- 
 CHANGE FOR OTHER FUNDS, any portion of the public 
 moneys entrusted to him, &c., &c., it shall be deemed and adjudged 
 to be an embezzlement, which is thereby declared a felony ; and 
 any officer or agent of the United States, and all persons advising 
 or participating in such act, being convicted thereof before any 
 Court of the United States, of competent jurisdiction, shall be 
 sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than six months, 
 
30 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 nor more than ten years, and to a fine equal to the amount em- 
 bezzled." 
 
 This is one of the provisions of the Sub-Treasury law. Well 
 it so happened that when 1 was in Congress, in 1848, I had two 
 small claims to collect from the Treasury department for one of 
 my constituents, and on presenting the claims to the Register, I 
 received in payment two checks on the bank of the Metropolis, 
 numbering 1212 and 1213, showing how often similar checks had 
 been given before during the two years and-a-half that the Sub- 
 Treasury had been in operation. Here is an exact transcript of 
 one of the checks, a copy of which I preserved. It reads thus : 
 
 No. 1212. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 
 
 REGISTER'S OFFICE, April 15th, 1848. 
 
 CASHIER OF THE BANK OF THE METROPOLIS. 
 Pay out of the funds placed in your hands, for the payment of 
 unclaimed dividends on the stock of the United States, to Hon. 
 John M. liotts, Attorney, or order, seventeen dollars 54-100, being 
 the amount due John and Thomas Gilbert, and returned unclaimed 
 from the late loan office of Virginia, and for which I have taken 
 a receipt. Lib. 1. fol. 67. 
 
 $17 54-100. Signed. 
 
 DANIEL GRAHAM, Register. 
 
 As you may imagine, Mr. Chairman, I was not a little surprised 
 at receiving these checks, containing on their face such evident 
 violation of the Sub-Treasury act, which subjected all who ad- 
 vised or participated in the act, to fine and imprisonment, arid on 
 my way to thecapitol, I met with the Post Master General, (Mr. 
 Johnson,) and the Secretary of the Navy, (Mr. Mason.) I showed 
 them the two checks, and remarked to them in a jocular way, I 
 want you (they were on their way to a meeting of the Cabinet,) 
 to deliver a message to the Secretary of the Treasury forme ; tell 
 him I have these checks, by which it appears this law has been 
 thus violated in his department and under his eye, one thousand 
 two hundred and thirteen times, and that while 1 am a political 
 opponent, I am a liberal one, and that I will give him his choice 
 of either one of three modes of atonement for this offence against 
 the laws of the country. 
 
 He may either be impeached for a misdemeanor, and broke of 
 
HON. JOHN M. BOTTS. 3 1 
 
 his office ; or he may be indicted before a grand jury of the 
 District, and be sent to the penitentiary for six hundred years ; or 
 he may send 'in another communication to Congress, confessing 
 that his Sub-Treasury scheme is an arrant, impracticable, impudent 
 humbug, and I don't care which of the three he takes. 
 
 After a few days reflection, I concluded that it was my duty to 
 bring this matter to the consideration of Congress, and I accord- 
 ingly addressed a communication to Mr. Walker, calling his at- 
 tention to the provisions of the law, and of this violation of his- 
 obligations, and stated that a sense of public duty, no less than 
 justice to him, induced me to seek such explanation, as it might 
 be in his power to furnish. In answer to that letter I received 
 a long communication from the department, occupying four 
 closely written pages of foolscap paper, which is worthy of pres- 
 ervation in any gentleman's literary cabinet ; which for its logic 
 was rich, racy and unique. Well, what explanation do you think 
 he gave ? Why he set out with a denial that he had any money 
 in bank, although the check read, " P^y out of the funds placed in 
 your hands," and he furnished various accompanying letters to- 
 show that he had no money in the bank, and I don't care whether 
 he had or not, if he had not, he exchanged funds with the bank^ 
 which equally violated the law. He then undertook to show that 
 it was no transaction between the department aod the bank, for the 
 cashier of the bank had an unquestionable right to buy these checks 
 of me, thus making it a transaction between the bank and myself. 
 Then he takes the ground that while he had no knowledge until 
 since the date of these checks, that the Register had been in the 
 habit of making his payments in that way, arid while he has no 
 power to prevent the purchase of these dividends, (or checks,) by 
 the banks, yet he has directed the Register not to do so any more, 
 because it looks like a violation of the law. The Secretary then 
 endeavors to get himself out of the scrape by sending Mr. Polk 
 instead of himself to the Penitentiary, as he says, the Register is 
 not appointed by, nor responsible to him, (although he has just 
 directed him not to da so again,) and lastly, he winds up with 
 saying that it could not under any circumstances be a violation of 
 the law, inasmuch as the charter of the bank of the Metropolis had 
 expired in 1844; that it had never been re-chartered, and therefore 
 it was no bank at all. [Great laughter.] When I go home I will 
 send a copy of this correspondence to my friend Congar, who shall 
 
32 SPEECH OF THE 
 
 have the credit of being the first to lay it before the public ; (it is 
 now attached as an appendix.) You will naturally enquire what 
 I did on receiving this letter from the department, and I'll tell you, 
 I immediately offered a resolution to Congress, asking the ap- 
 pointment of a committee to enquire into all abuses and violations 
 of the Sub-Treasury act, with power to send for persons and 
 papers; the resolution was adopted, the committee was appointed, 
 and I called on the Chairman, (Mr. Root, of Ohio,) over and 
 again, to call his committee together and summon me as a wit- 
 ness ; at the same time I received letters from gentlemen in New 
 Orleans, Cincinnati, New York and elsewhere, authorizing me to 
 have them summoned before the committee, to testify to the 
 abuses and violations coming within their knowledge. But, Sir, 
 everybody in Congress was then engaged in President making, 
 and few could find time for any thing else, and the committee 
 never did meet. And it was not long afterwards that the Whig 
 Convention met in Philadelphia, and nominated Gen. Taylor, 
 which I looked upon as such a death blow to the party, as that I 
 took little interest in what was going on for the balance of the 
 session, and did little more than my duty as Chairman of the Mili- 
 tary committee, rendered indispensable and imperative, and there 
 it ended. 
 
 But this is the scheme, this is the sub-treasury, that this Whig 
 press of New York now says is equally acceptable to both parties ; 
 and this is the defence that is offered for the violation of its provi- 
 sions, which have continued in a thousand times more aggravated 
 form from that day to this, and every day in the year, and which 
 scheme never can be put into practical lawful operation. 
 
 Candor, Mr. Chairman, compels me to say that I do not think it 
 very creditable to a Whig President, and a Whig Secretary of the 
 Treasury, who were in office for nearly three years with a full know- 
 ledge of its imperfections and constant violations, never to have 
 called the attention of Congress to its enormities, and at least have 
 recommended such amendments as would have made it a legal agent, 
 that could legally carry on the fiscal affairs of the government ; 
 and that it was not, is not, and never will be legally executed in its 
 present shape, and that the necessary modifications are such as will 
 destroy its chief claims to the Democratic support, which was to 
 discontinue all connection with banks, bank paper, drafts, or paper 
 evidences of debt, and bring us down strictly to a hard money, gold 
 
HON. JOHN H. BOTTS. 33 
 
 and silver currency. One of two things should be done : it should 
 be executed according to law, or it should be abolished altogether. 
 As it is, it is a humbug that is disreputable to the government, and 
 it is not creditable to any to be satisfied with it. 
 
 But one thing remains, Mr. Chairman, now to be done, and that 
 is for the Whig party to determine what course they ought to pur- 
 sue. I do not know that my opinions are of any value, but accord- 
 ing to my judgment, they should hold on to their present organiza- 
 tion with the tenacity of death ; that they should surrender nothing 
 of their principles ; hold on to such ground as they can occupy 
 without producing excitement at the polls ; let the other party 
 quarrel as they choose over the spoils, and assume the responsibility 
 for whatever is to be done no responsibility can rest on us, and 
 I should be sorry to see the party take the responsibility of origina- 
 ting any measure, but let us raise our flag aloft (that the discon- 
 tented of the other side may know where to find a resting place,) 
 and keep it floating until 1856, when the fruit will have ripened, 
 and we shall have little else to do if we are wise and prudent, 
 than hold out our hats and catch it as it falls. 
 
 Mr. President and gentlemen, I have said all I have to aay, and 
 I am extremely grateful for the patient and anxious attention with 
 which you have honored me. 
 
 3. The Union and the Constitution The foundation of our prosperity and 
 the bulwark of our liberties. 
 
 Letters were read by the President, from Dr. Aycrigg, Jos. F. 
 Randolph, and Wm. Halsted, expressing regret that they could not 
 take part in this mark of respect to one of the country's worthiest 
 sons. 
 
 4. The Protection of Domestic Industry and a System of Internal Improve- 
 ments Cardinal principles of the Whig party. 
 
 This was replied to by Mr. Wm. E. Lay ton in a very effective 
 manner. 
 
 5. The Memory of Hemy Clay Other standard bearers may lead us to 
 victory, but he was our first love, and will never be forgotten. 
 
 Drank standing in silence Responded to by Chief Justice Horn- 
 blower, and upon the conclusion of his remarks he asked leave to 
 retire, which was granted. 
 
 6. Virginia and New Jersey Together in the Revolution, they will yet 
 stand together in the support of the American system, 
 
 This toast was handsomely responded to by I. M. Tucker, 
 3 
 
34 DINNER TO HON. JOHN ST. BOTTS. 
 
 7. The Whig Party Successful in '40 and '48 defeated in '44 and '52 it's 
 our turn in '56. 
 
 Wm. E. Robinson, Esq., being called upon, replied to this toast 
 in a very effective manner. 
 
 8. The Progress and Reform of the Sham Democracy On# step forward 
 and two steps backward. 
 
 9. Newark a Whig city, full of sterling friends of the old cause, may she 
 never in an unguarded hour surrender to the enemy. 
 
 Dr. Congar responded to this toast. 
 
 10. The Broad Seal of New Jersey Always vindicated by the people of 
 onr State, let our efforts be directed to placing it in Whig hands. 
 
 Absolam B. Woodruff, Esq., of Passaic, was here loudly called 
 for and replied in a very effective speech which was most happily 
 received. 
 
 11. The City of Richmond Always Whig, yet when our guest is running 
 for Congress, we regret that there are not two Riehmonds in the field. 
 
 This was responded to by Dr. Fox, of Richmond, who alluded 
 eloquently and warmly, to the guest of the evening, and boasted of 
 his popularity in the old city of Richmond. The remarks were in 
 excellent taste, and were received with great interest. 
 
 12. The new Administration seems about to faint May the Adamantine* 
 find a capital hard place for it to fall on. 
 
 13 As Statesmen we prefer men who never knew where Mason and Dixon's 
 line was, and moreover never wish to know. 
 
 This was handsomely replied to by L. S. Goble, Esq. After a 
 song from Jerry Paul, the party broke up about one o'clock, highly 
 pleased with the entertainment, and with the gathering. 
 

 APPENDIX. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 29th, 1848. 
 Hox. ROBERT J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury 
 
 SIR: On the 15th of this month, I had occasion to collect, for one of my 
 constituents, two small claims for unpaid dividends on the stock of the United 
 States, from the Treasury Department, for which I received in payment, two 
 checks on the cashier of the Bank of the Metropolis. 
 
 By the 16th section of the law, commonly known ,s the Sub-treasury Act, 
 it is made a felony for any officer of government to deposit the public money 
 in any bank, for which offence severe penalties are attached. 
 
 For all that I can see, this law must have been grossly violated in the 
 instance referred to, and a sense of public duty, no less than justice to you, 
 induces me to seek such explanation as it may be in your power to furnish. 
 I hope to receive an early reply. 
 
 I am with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 JNO. M. BOTTS. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, MAY 4th, 1848. 
 HON. JOHN M. BOTTS : 
 
 SIR: Your letter of the 29th ultimo has been received, and the necessary 
 measures were at once taken to answer your inquiries. You refer to two 
 checks, each under date of the 15th of April last, one for seventeen dollars 
 fifty-four cents, and the other for eighteen dollars and sixty-nine cents, in 
 your favor as attorney, bolh signed and issued by the Register of the Treasury, 
 *with a view to the payment of unclaimed dividends on ihe stock of the United 
 States. Annexed you will find a letter from this department, marked No. 1, 
 requesting from the Register of the Treasury an explanation of this transac- 
 tion, No. 2, the reply of Mr. Graham, the Register, and No. 8, an explanatory 
 statement from Richard Smith, cashier of the Bank of the Metropolis. From 
 these communications you will perceive that no public money has been 
 deposited with the Bank of the Metropolis since the date of the act estab- 
 lishing the Constitutional Treasury, approved August 6th, 1846. You will 
 observe that the date of the last deposit wiih that bank to pay these divi- 
 dends, was the 26th of October, 1844; that these deposites were all absorbed 
 by the 10th of January, 1845, and that any subsequent payments were made 
 by the bank or by Mr. Smith, to the persons entitled to these unclaimed divi- 
 dends, without any deposite in the bank by the government to meet the 
 checks. The bank in this manner, or Mr. Smith, became the holder ira4 
 
36 APPENDIX. 
 
 assignee of these unclaimed dividends, and were subsequently paid out of the 
 Treasury by warrants, in strict conformity with the law. No deposite being 
 made with the bank since the passage of the act establishing the constitutional 
 Treasury, and no deposite remaining I here to pay these dividends, the 16th 
 section, then, of the law to which you refer, forbidding future deposites with 
 banks, has not been violated by the Register. 
 
 Many years ago, under the provisions of the law, this fund for the payment 
 of unclaimed dividends was placed under the direction of the Register of the 
 Treasury, in whose keeping are all the books and papers appertaining to the 
 matter. Whilst the Bank of the United States was in existence as a deposi- 
 tory of the government, these claims were paid by the Register, by checks on 
 that institution. When the State bank system was adopted, the funds were 
 deposited by the Register with the Bank of the Metropolis, to make these 
 payments. It seems that the last deposite was imule on the 26th of October, 
 1844, with the bank, and it has had no funds for that purpose from the gov- 
 ernment since the 10th of January, 1845. These unclaimed dividends arise 
 chiefly out of the old funded revolutionary and war debt, and are payable in 
 very small sums, as minute as one, two, and three cents up to a few dollars, 
 and are payable chiefly to the heirs, executors or administrators of deceased 
 persons. The Register finding it very inconvenient to pay these minute sums 
 in separate warrants, adopted the plan before described. After the passage 
 of the act establishing the constitutional Treasury, these checks were given 
 by the Register, which, under the circumstances, are nothing more than a 
 request upon the drawee to advance these small sums, temporarily to become 
 in this manner the assignees and agents for their collection, and to look to 
 the Treasury whenever they may desire, for the payment of the dividends. 
 The dividends in fact are not paid by the Treasury, either to the bank, or to 
 any other person whatever, except by a warrant passed through the Treasury 
 in conformity to law, when the amount is liquidated for the tirst time out of 
 the. Treasury by draft upon the Treasurer of the United States. In this way, 
 a considerable aggregate amount was pa,id by the Treasury at. one time to- the 
 agents or assignees, instead of the separate warrants for a few cents or a few 
 dollars to the persons in whose nam^-s the unclaimed dividends stood on the 
 books of the Treasury. The right of the bank to purchase these dividends 
 and obtain payment for the aggregate sum from the Treasury, is unquestiona- 
 ble, and if this right is vested in the bank, the request to make the purchase 
 and receive the aggregate payment from the Treasury, violates no provision 
 of the law. No money is deposited by the Treasury with the bank, but 
 when it becomes the lawiul holder of tlu>se dividends, it is paid from the 
 Treasury by the usual treasury warrants in conformity with the law. 
 
 It is due to truth, however, to state that this mode of payment by the 
 Register, since the Constitutional Treasury law went into force, was never 
 brought to the notice of this department until since the loth of April, 1848, 
 and although the department possesses no power to prevent tjhe purchase of 
 these dividends by the bank, or to restrain the payment to it as an agent or 
 assignee, yet it has requested the Register to issue no more checks of the char- 
 
APPENDIX. 37 
 
 acter referred to in your communication, not because they are violative of the 
 law, but for the reason that they present an appearance of the deposite by 
 the Treasury of public monies with the bank, when in fact there is no such 
 deposite, and therefore requiring explanation. 
 
 The Kegister of the Treasury is not appointed by nor responsible to the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, and if any error were committed by him, the cen- 
 sure should not fall on this department, unless it had neglected to perform the 
 duties or give the instructions required from it by the law. If the proper in- 
 structions were given by the Secretary of the Treasury, and they were disre- 
 garded by the Register or any other officer, without the knowledge or consent 
 of the Secretary, surely he would not be responsible either in morals or in 
 law. 
 
 The act establishing the constitutional Treasury was approved on the 6th 
 of August, 1846, but did not go into effect as regards the payment of monies 
 under the provisions of the law until the 1st of January, and in fact for some 
 months afterwards. Annexed are printed circulars issued by this department 
 under date of the 25th and 26th of August, 1846, and the 15th of September, 
 1846, marked A, B, and 0, which relate more especially to the matter in con- 
 troversy. The circulars of the 25th and 26th, were not only sent in printed 
 letters to the several officers entitled to receive them, but, with a view to 
 making them more fully known, were published at their respective dates in 
 the Union and National Intelligencer of this city. You will perceive, espe- 
 cially in the circular of the 26th of August, 1846, addressed to "collecting, 
 receiving and disbursing officers of the United States," that the 16th section of 
 this act, as well as the 6th, 9th, and 15th are printed in the circular, and that 
 " the attention of all public officers enumerated in the above section is hereby 
 called to the provision therein contained," If therefore, this 16th section, a? 
 you have supposed had been violated by the Register as a disbursing officer of 
 the government, the act would have been committed, not only without the 
 consent of this department, but directly in contravention of its printed circular 
 and newspaper notice. It is belived, however, that you will be satisfied that 
 no violation of the law was in fact committed by the Register, however much 
 the check, to which you very properly call my attention, might have been 
 well calculated to produce a contrary impression upon your mind. 
 
 I have not placed this transaction upon the ground of any technicality, but 
 (as incidentally referred to by the Register,) the bank of the Metropolis ceased 
 to exist as a Bank on the 4th of July, 1844; its charter then expired, and was 
 not renewed, and it hasoiow no more authority, power or existence as a bank, 
 than if it had never received a charter, and its business is conducted, as avowed 
 by itself and its counsel, as a private partnership, in the name of agents called 
 trustees, and it has no other legal existence or rights than any other private 
 partnership in this District, and is subject to the same responsibilities. Although 
 this is the law, and this partnership is not a bank within the provisions of the 
 16th seciion of the act to which you refer, yet I should regard it as contrary 
 to the policy of the constitutional Treasury to make it a depository of public 
 monies. This department hopes you will perceive that the law has not been 
 
38 APPENDIX. 
 
 violated by the Register, much lees by this department, and that you will sea 
 in the circulars issued by it, that it has been its sincere desire to perform its 
 whole duty fully and fairly in relation to this law. The Secretary of the 
 Treasury, whose health does not permit him at this time to assume the full 
 discharge of his duties, expresses his concurrence in this letter and desires me 
 to tender his acknowledgments for the opportunity afforded to communicate- 
 this explanation. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 M. C. YOUNG, Acting Secretary of the Treasury