Newspaper Page Text
BY JAMES VAN NESS.
published f.veky
THURSDAY MORNING,
IN THE “GRANITE BUILDING,” ON THE CORNER
OF OGLETHORPE AND RANDOLPH STREETS.
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SPEECH OF MR. BLACK,
O F G EORi.IA.
In the Home of Representatives. Feb, 2, 1911
Oa the Treasury note bill.
Mr. Barnard’s motion to strike out the
enacting clause being under consideration,
Mr. Black said: He deemed it incumbent
on him, at ibis late period of the discussion,
to detain the committee lor as short a lime as
the importance of (lie subjects introduced in
to the debate would permit. It the honora
ble gentlemen who preceded him had confined
themselves to the merits of the hill on the ta
ble, he would, in all probability, have given a
silent vole; but the mere question whether we
Rhall authorize the issue of the five millions of
Treasury notes to enable ihe Government to
anticipate a portion of its revenues, had been
wholly lost sight of. It seemed to he conce
ded on all hands that the hill must pass; he
doubled whether the gen tit man hmisc.f, whose
motion was now pending to strike out ths en
acting clause, would vole against its final pas.
sige; nay, the great difficulty with the re
forming and retrenching W lugs who had mar
shalled themselves in apparent opposition m
the bill, was. that instead of ton much, il gave
too liltle. But the issue of Treasury notes, j
whether considered with regard to ihe consti
tutionality or expediency of the measure, had
hardlv been mentioned for the last week the
tarill. internal improvements by ihe Govern
ment —the distribution of the proceeds of ihe
public lands among the States—a public debt
(which they denominate a “loan,”)and a Na
tional Bank, are the vital and important
questions which have absorbed us, since the
commencement ol this discussi in. IV-vet
bimseif a great stickler lor “relevancy ol de
bate,” he was rejoiced that the leading friends
of General Harrison had seized this occasion
to show their hands to the people—part cular
ly to the Southern people, who had gient in
terests at stake upon the policy and measures
of the incoming Administration. He had
never before, from the commencement ol the
struggles between ihe lival parties, heard or
witnessed, from the opponents of Mr. Van
Buren, so bold, candid, and fearless an avow- j
al of policy and principle as had characterized j
their speeches on this occasion, lie ’euiured
to sav, if those confessions ol V\ lug laith had
been made during the last summer, ‘ old lip
had never been President —at least, il his elec
tion had depended on the vote ol the State ol
Georgia.
Sir, said Mr. Black, my delegated light is
flickering in its socket; my representative ca- ;
reer is about to terminate abruptly, and the
trappings of office, which l have endeavored
to wear meeklv, will shortly fall Iront my
shoulders. They will be transferred to an
abler, hut not more honest or zealous incum
bent. But, while, in obedience to the vo ce
of ray constituents, I willingly resign to the
hands of another the high trust, and the rep
resentativecln r icter with which they em owed
me, I am yet “one of the people;” of that char
acter, and of the rights which pertain to it.no
man can deprive me; and in that o a at ‘er,
as one of the sovereign people of the State
of Georgia, I claim to be heard on this fl or.
I avail myself then, sir, of my privilege, not
only as a Representative, but as a constituent,
to advise my fellow-citizens at home ol uuat
is transpiring here, and to warn them that a
high discriminating tarifi, under the specious
garb of a tax on luxuries, is to be saddled on
them, and perhaps on their posterity, l'hat
a public debt, disguised as a loan, is preparing
for them—that their hard earnings must go to
support a splendid system ot in ern i im
provements by the General Government.
That the proceeds of the publ-c lands, in
stead of being made to contribute to the re
duction of duties on imports, are to be ab
stracted from that purpose, and divided out
among the States in proportion to their popu
lation? for the avowed purpose of paying the
debts of those States. That this vacuum, thus
produced, of between three and five millions
annually, is to be supplied by increasing tiie
duty on those articles o commerce, which de
pend for their importation into the country
tfXckiS’Vfly upon the agricultural productions
of the’South. That a National Bank, to
which they have ever been opposed, as uncon
stiuitional, as destructive to their on n .. taie
institutions, and as hostile to their agricultural
and commercial pr.isperit.Vi is to he Tautened
on the country. These are the measures, sir,
which have been openly advanced in this tie
bate —not hinted at or but boldly
proclaimed, as if “by authoriiy,” to he die
measures which are to characterize General
Harrison’s administration. My object, then,
is to give timely notice to the people of Geor
gia, to Whigs as well as to Denvvats, that
their day of trial is at hand—-that at the evil
which it was predicted would follow'he elec
tion of General Harrison is about tohe real
ized, and that all those forebodings which
were denounced in certain quarers as'h? in
terested misrepresentations of polit cai a. D i
rants, are now about to assume the unqu_
tionable character of passing events. $•.
said Mr. B. 1 question the motives of no man
THE COLUMBUS TIMES.
I shall not he so unparliamentary as to deny
to gentlemen here the same rtcliiude ot in
tention that (claim; but, at the same lime, my
high duty as a Representative, which with int
is paramount to all other cou-idetaiions,
constrain rue to speak out plainly and audibly,
without regard to consequences When Ido
this, I shall have done mv duty; and the ;seo
pie of Georgia, who I doubt not are equal to
any emergency, will most assuredly do theirs.
Sir, mv friend from New York [Mr. Van
derfool] delivered yesterday an able speech m
vindication of the present Administration. ]
listened to it with great pleasure, as a prompt
and conclusive reply to the blundering attacks
which had been made on the official estimates;
but there was one rematk of that gentleman
which I regretted to hear. He told us he had
listened to .so much rant and gasconade about
Southern wealth and importance, he had al
most concluded that Pennsylvania and New
York were nothing, more than mere colonies,
in comparison with some other Stales of the
Union. I cannot but regret to hear these
comparisons instituted as to the relative im
portance of ihe North and South. But if
gentlemen will talk ah ut if, I insist that jus
tice at least shall lie done to the South. She
does not urge the comparison; hut when
Northern gentlemen are making these utipro
filahle estimates, let me ask them what would
all l heir boasted commercial import a nceamoi n
to, without the agricultural productions of the
South. If the article of cotton was stricken
from their commercial vocabulary, what would
they export? Could they freight ihe r ships
to Europe with apples, polatoes, onions, and
wooden nutmegs? Let the production of
cotton he destroyed at the South hy actual
legislation, or the prevalence of the Abolition
mania, and what would the State of Maine
do with her ships? Instead of employing
them, ns she now does, in exporting the pro j
duce of the South, and in bringing back the j
manufactmed goods with which our raw ma-1
lerial is purchased, her merchantmen would
freeze in her docks, and rot at her wharves;
un indeed, she embarked them in the ;
commendable employment, of ahduciing our
slaves from their lawful owners. She could
send a few “long, low, black schooners” to
Savannah, and dmvn the Southern coast, in
command of such men as Phiibrook and Kel
leian, who, under pretence of lumbes to the
East, might stmv away a lew negroes between I
the interstices of their timber cargo. iut
however this sort of “traffic in human flesh
might approve itself to the philanthropic sen
timents of the advocates of “human rights,”
yet i apprehend that in a commercial point of
view, the profits of the voyage would not he
quite as large as if they had been honestly
employed in carrying our cotton to Liverpool
or Havre.
[Here Mr. Albert Smith of Maine inter
posed, and said that so far from employing
“long, low, black schooners” in the abduction
of slaves from Georgia to Ma ine, he would j
he very thankful if the gentleman from Geor
gia would abduct the 100 negroes from
Ma ine who had voted’against and beaten him 1
in his own district at the last Congressional
election.
Mr. Black as; tired his friend if he would
deliver these negroes to him at his plantation,
on the Savannah river, at any lime after the ■
lonrth of March proximo, he would employ j
them in a much better business than voting
against and defratingso distinguisheda Dem
ocrat as the gentleman from Maine.]
But, Mr. Chairman, I deprecate this sort |
of discussion, especially with our fiends —this!
unnecessary comparison between the differ- j
ent sections of the Union. Ail that I have I
said on the subject has been strictly in reply, j
St, I take the liberties of this debate to di- i
giess lor a moment to a topic in relation to j
which much has been said, not only in this |
House, hut in the newspapers of ’he day. I j
•illrde to he supposed influence ol British ;
gold in controlling the elections which have |
j si passed. What the extent of that in- i
Alienee was, if it existed at all. in other st c
lions of the United States, I cannot assert ot
mv own knowledge. Hie charge of corrup
lion has been made, and has been met on
this floor bv the gentleman from Kentucky,
[Gov. Pope] only with sileuc- and alleg'd
conUmpt. L may he that in the dense and
crowded cities ol the Ninth, the East, and
even in the V\ est, the “ noble art of pipe lay
ing” was resorted to. to secure the ascendan
cyof the modern Whigs. It may he true,
as I have seen it gravely and circumstantial
ly stated, that in many of the Harrison cotm
tie- of Ohio they have actually beaten the cen
sits at the late elections in that State. But
whatever may be my opinions as to the truth
of these charges, or the manner in winch they
have been met with regard to other and ri s
tant parts of the Union. I am tree to declare
! that so far as they relate to the Stale ol Geor
t ri a —to any of my constituents, wheiher
Democrats or Whigs, they are wholly and to j
tallv false. It is true the party, with which I
am acting, was defeated in October and No
vember last, but it was because th“ ma jority
ol ihe people was persuaded to pit fee Gener
al Harrison to Martin Van Buren—because
•hey believed tha• the administration of the
former, il elected would he strictly conforma
ble to the rig! ts and interests of the South—
that we won and htve no bank—no protective
i tariff! open or dhguis d —n > internal improve
! meets by the General Government —no dis
j it ‘button of the public lands for tiie purpose
of assuming the State debts, or for anv other
purpose—that supposed abuses would be re
mrm and. and last, not ieast, that weshonk! have
! a retrenchment of the expenditures 6f the Fed
: , r:i | Government. Because the people be
lieved that these would be the characteristics
ofa Whig administration, they thought prop
er to sustain our opponents and abandon us.
i \\' e t,,!,) them then, as I tell them now, that
i thev were deluded and deceived bv the false
professions of party hacks, and par v leaders.
But still the people believed,as they had a Lht
to no. in the trurh of tiie professions which
were made to them. That belief, honest, I
have no doubt, to the full < xtent of it. and not
the appliance of either British or American
gold, induced them to the support of the dom
inant party. Nav, sir, so far from the great
mass of the people of Georgia being tainted
or touched with the corruption of gold. I do
not believe that we have even a floating bal
ance of population that could be bought by
such vile means; and the charge, when made !
against any party in Georgia, is false, and a
slander upon the repu ati nos the State.— •
B” the way, said Mr. 8., while I am talking ;
about bribery. I may be permitted 10 allude j
so- a moment to a pictorial representation of
two of my colleagues and myself, which is
now exposed upon your avenue to the public
craze, and ope iv vended .u the Whig print
7hops of this city. I mean the base libel
wh ch exhibits me as bought over by Federa
cm Id to the support of Mr. Van Buren. I
now denou ice it as a lie in its inception, a lie
in its execution, a lie in its promulgation. I
stop not to denounce the poor artist, to whom
it mav have been a matter of indifference
whether he lithographed the truth or a lie.
hut 1 mean to reach the author whoever he
may he. of the base, unmitigated tranumon.
and to tell him that not only my neighbors,
who have known me. and confided in rnv in
Hgrity from my infancy} but the whole peo-
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 4, 1841.
pie of Georgia Will, as one man, proclaim it to
be a tie. With many of the frailties of bu
.manitv lingering about me, those wit}, whom
I am daily associated at home, and who know
me best, have never suspected, nor will they
tolerate the charge of venality and corruption ;
ind the very surest means of vindicating mv
chaiacter from such anonymous slander will
he to exhibit this specimen ot Whig lithogra
phy (which 1 mean to do, if Providence per
mits me to return) to tiie people among whom
I live, tt at they may see and know (lie means
which have been resorted to out of Georgia,
for the purpose of affecting me at home.
I shall not attempt, said Mr. Black, to fol
*ow the three gentlemen who led off his de
bate on tiie \\ i igside of the House through j
the confused and discordant mass of figures
with which they sought to impeach the accu
racy ofthe official estimates. The fate which
awaited them at their own hands, admonishes
ne ofthe impracticability of making estin ates
in detail, without access to the various sour
ces of fiscal at and statistical information with
which the Secretary of the Treasury must
necessarily be most intimately conversant. —
That functionary is in daily intercourse not
only with the different revenue officers of I is
Department, hut with the most extensive and
inlet! gent merchants of our principal empo
riums. It is Ins exclusive business to arrange,
analyze, and digest these facts and this infor
mation. a thorough knowledge of which is so
essentially necessary to an accurate calcula
tion of the receipts and expenditures of this
v ist Government. The gentleman from New
York [Mr. Barnard] acknowledged thismuch,
when he admitted his it formation to be ne
cp-sarilv 1 m ted and imperfect; and vet he
and aws largely on our “generous confidence,”
f >r an approval of his counter es imates.—
Why, sir, they can’t agree among themselves.
They tell us a ppm anent deficiency exists in
| the Treasury. Well, what is it? The gen- 1
jtVman from Maine [Mr. Evans] says it is
somewhere between 07.000,000 andsloooo.- 1
000—the gen leman from Tennessee [Mr.
B'dl] asserts it to he $!8,00O.OOO--nnd ih°
gentleman from New Ymk [Mr. Barnard] 5
out figures item all, and runs it up to S4O,- f
000,000. These are the doctors who are to *
treat the hodv politic for (tie next four years! (
Settle vour differences am ngyourselves first, *
gentlemen, before you tender us an issue of
deficiency.
But, sir,l take ihis broad ground ; and I
call trie anemUm or .m w,,r> —. r ,.,; 0 „i., 1 .
!v to it. Since 1837. Mr. Van Buren, with a
growing and increaing country, and a tariff
of duties gradually diminishing, by the opera
tion ofthe compromise act, has not only paid
the debts and pre-erved the credit ofthe Gov
ernment, hut has actually reduced the public
expenditures nearly ten millions of dollars.—
this i a fact worth to the people of the Uni
ted States just ten millions of dollais more
than all the cyphering of lirese discordant
arithmeticians. In ISSB the expenditures
were reduced Horn those of 1837 —in 1839
they were cut down six millions of dollars—ir
1840 they were again reduced between Hvo
and three millions. The President, in his last
annual message, says:
‘•The estimates and appropriations for the
year 1838 (the first over which I had any
control) were some wliat diminished. ‘1 he ex
penditures of 1839 were reduced six millions
of dollars. Those of 1840, exclusive of dis
hursements for public debt and trust claims,
will probably not exceed twenty-two and a
half millions’; being between two and three
millions less than those ol the preceding year,
and nine or ten millions less titan those ol
1837. Nor has it been foCnd necessary, in or
der to pioduce this result, to resort to the
power conferred hv Congress, of postponing
certain clas-ses ol the public winks, exc* pt by
deleii ing . xpendi mes for a short peiiod up
on a limi‘e-1 portion of them; and which
postponement terminated some time since, at
the moment the Tieasurv Department hy
further from the indebted banks, be
came fullv assured of its ability to meet them
without prejudice to the public service in
other respects. Causes are in operation,
which will, il is believed, justify a st.ll further
reduction, without injury to any important
national interest. The expenses of sustain
ing the troops employed in Florida have been
gradually and greatly reduced., through the
persevering efforts of Ate War Department;
and a reasonable hope may be entertained
that the necessity tor military operations in
that quarter will soon cease. The removal
of the Indians froth onr settled borders is near
v completed. The pension list, one of the
heaviest charges upon the Treasury, is rap
idly dinirdshing by ib ath. The most Costly
of our public buildings arc eilher finished, or
nearly so; and we may, I think, safely prom
ise ourselves a continued exemption from bor
der and fficulties.
“The available balance m the Treasury on
the Ist of January next estimated at one mil
lion and a hail ut dollars. I his sum. with tl;e
ex| ected receip s from all sources during the
next uar. wil. it is believed, be sufficient to j
enable the Government to meet every en
gagement, and leave a suitable balance in the
Tieasury at the end of the year, if the reme
diable measures connected with the customs
and the public lands, heretofore recomended,
shall he adopted, and the new appropriations
by Congress -hall not carry the expenditu es
beyond and e < fficial estimates.”
But, sir, what do we now hear? Instead of
Seconding the economical sugg*s(ions of the
Chief Magistrate, these retienchmg gentle
men. who last year wero tor bringing down
ihi? expanses ot lhe 1 irdcrai Goveiiinient to
the point at which Mr. Adams had it, (sl3-
000,000,) are now taunting us with a close
and niggardly parsimony. Instead ot re- I
sounding affirmatively to the recommendation
of Mr. Van Buren that “Congress shall i o
cariv the expenditures beyond the official es
tinia'es.” their cry is “g ve us more. ’ Jhe
gentleman from Maine [Mr. Evans] tells us
we ought to make “liberal and abundant ap- j
: propria tions, and hiscoadjutor from New 5 ork
jto whom I ave just alluded, fills up this broad
and indefinite ot (line, by it s sting on v;.s ap
! proprint ions for rivers, hubors, roads, and ca
nal®—the Noitheastern frontiei—for hu Iding
! splendid war steamers —for ou'fits and salaries
i for anew set of ministers and charges to for
eign comts —f'r the payment of the 44) in
stalment to the States —f-r French spoliation®,
i and the thousand claims for money which
| crowd your tal le. And stiange to tell, not
withstanding their disgusting clamor last year
| about Mr. Van Boren’s “royal establishment,”
1 they T are now actually demanding another ap-
to buv more furniture foe the log
cabin tUdidate.” What! are not the tabour
ettc*. the gold spoon s the $1,500 French bed
stead, good enough for old 4 ip,” Is the il o!d
pine table.''’ on which Mr. Van Buren eats his
dinner, to he replaced bv costly mahogany, or
must you have a more splendid plateau than
*<he"one which now ndorns the President s la
b!e. and about the cost and extravagance ol
which you discanted before the election, so
economically to the people? lam aware, sir,
that consistency, although a jewel, is not the
question now in order before the committee, nr
I might go on to show the inconsistency be
tween the present demands and ihe former
professions of these administraiioh retrench
ers.
THE UNION OF THE STATES, AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE STATES.
These, sir, are the answers which are now
giviii, by the reform party, o Mr. Van Bu
i reii’s recommends lion that ••fcoftgress* shall
i no’ carry the exyeriditnres beyond tire official
estimates;” and given, too, in tiie face of their
declarations that the Government is largely
in debt. Grant, sir. that there is a deficiency
in the Treasury—is this the way to supply or
rel.eve it? What makes a deficiency? The
legislation of Congress; for without the ‘ au
thority of law” the Executive cannot draw
one dollar out of the public coffers. How
shall we retrieve this alleged deficit? By “lib
eral and abundant appropriations ’ fir a wild,
extravagant and splendid system of internal
improvements? By voting new outfits for
partisan ministers? By laying out millions on
millions upon coasts, harbors, fortifications, ’
and"steam ships, when there is no necessity for ;
ii? By offering inducements to the thousand
speculators who crowd your lobbies to revive
their exploded claims? By spending another
$20,000 to refit the White House fur the re
ception of the “old farmer.” whose chief mer
it it was, but a few months ago, to live in a
log cabin and drink hard cider out of a
gourd?
Is this the way to fill up an empty Treasury?
Strange and unaccountable as it may seem to
tha thousands of honest men who were delu
ded into the support of the Whig party by pro
fessions oi retrenchment and reform; astound
ing as it may be to those who are quietly pur
suing their daily labor at a distance from the
scenes which are now passing palpably and
tangibly before me—yet it is even so. We
are in debt, they say; “but with the honorable
exceptions of the gentlemen from Virginia,
(Mr Wise and Mr. Maleory,) and the gentleman
from Georgia, (Mr. Alford) who of the Whig
party, during this debate, have even uttered
the word retrenchment or offered to cut down,s
the expenditures to the receipts? It would
cccur to plain, honest, unsophisticated men,
that this was the only practicable way , without
raising your taxes, of tilling up this vaunted
vacuum in tiie Treasury But not content
witli these extraordinary demands for more
money, when they say there is no money, they
go further. It is now distinctly proposed by-
Gen. Harrison’s friends, with the above ex
ceptions, to distribute tiie proceeds of the pu
blic, lands among the States.
Those whose occupations will not permit
them to come here ; nd see anc know for them
selves, are unwilling to believe that the Whig
party intend tt effect this distribution among
tl.e States; uium icoo , —. .i--_
Government is about to assume indirectly the
debts of the states by this distribution. Why,
sir, even intelligent men in Georgia seriously
doubt wheiher this can be so. It the proof o :
it depended upon my personal knowledge
of the fact, ii may be that 1 could not make
out a point-blank case; 1 ut so far as the proof
of party measures depend upon the declara
tions ol leading men who compose the party,
there can no longer be any doubt in the minds
oi those who are willing to be convinced by
the truth. I will venture to say that there is
no Senator in the other end of the Capitol who
has not heard Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and
Mr. Crittenden over and often announce this
assumption, either directly, or periphrastical
]y. Why, sir, it is the burden of their song;
they sing it every day, not only to their old
tune oi distribution, but to their new variation
of “our obligations to the States.” Who doubts
it in this House? Who will rise and, in the
name of the Whig party, deny that it is one of
their measures. Did in t the honorable gen
tleman from Virginia, (Mr. Wise) who, even
his enemies will admit, is first among the tore
most of the Whigs, get. up the other day and
not only announce it but denounce it as such!
Did any oneof his friends or opponents contra
dict him? No sir, net one. Let the people of
Georgia know, then, that this is another of the
fruits of the tree they planted. Between three
and five millions oi’ the proceeds of the public
lauds are to be annually abstracted from a de
pleted Treasury, to be given to the Btntes,
and the manner in whith these gentlemen
propose to Jill up the vacuum (by an increase
of the tariff) I will endeavor presently to ex
pose to my constituents when I come to no
tice the extraordinary speech of my collea
gue, (Mr. Nesbit) But , sir, I am opposed
to this distribution because it leads to an as
sumption by this Government of State debts,
and I am opposed to that because those debts
amount to the enormous and alarming sum of
$200,000,000 —pay, even the annual interest
on this extra< r Unary debts it $20,000,000. I
am opposed to it because, if it becomes the set
tled policy oi’ this Government, I, as one of J
the people of Georgia, shall be taxed itidirec-1
tly, by an increase of taiiff duties on imports,
to replace toe three, four or five millions, or
even more, which are thus to be abstracted
and distributed. For we have now no surplus
revenue, and I hope we never shall have,
therefore every dollar that is now taken out
of our already deficient Treasury for extTaor- j
dinary purposes, must and will he supplied j
inured ately, for the ordinary wants ot Go
vernment, from that only other source of re
venue—a tariff on imports. lam opposed to
it because this increase of the tariff! necessari
ly consequent upon the distribution of the pro
ceeds ofthe public lands, fall most heavily on
the South—the cotton growing and revenue
jielding South. I am opposed to it, too, be
cause while Georgia owes comparatively no
thirg, she will thus be made to contribute far
beyond the proportion of her taxable property
i and population, to the payment of an enor
mous debt, for which she never has, and ne
ver vvdl, receive a cent < f benefit. I subjoin
following table of the debt of the different
States, and although I cannot protend to figure
against the gentleman from New York (who
foots up the present deficit at $40,000,00.*)
vet ‘my conscsr.ts may ascortian, by calcu
lating for themselves, the amount of thc:r lia
bilities collectively and individual!}-, if this
Whig measure is made a law of the land.
Stock issued, and authorized to be issued
by the States.
Massachusetts, 4,943.197 93
New York, 13.394.018 19
Pennsylvania, 27,605.003 32 j
Maryland, 16,407.001 39
Virginia, 6,662,089 17
South Carolina, 5,753,770 12
Georgia, 1,500,000
Kentucky, 7,269,000
Tennessee, 1,789,166 66
Ohio, 10,030,162 71
Louisiana, 23.139,000
Indiana, 14,717,000
Mississippi, 7,000,000
Illinois, ‘ 11,600,OCX)
Alabama, 15,700,000
Maine, 554,796
Missouri, 2*500,000
Arkansas, 3,100,000
Michigan, 5,340,000
Florida. 3,900,000
$163,064,385 48
The above table is abstracted from Trotter’s
Finances of the United States, an English
hook, published in London as long ago as De
cember. 1p.39. Ido not give it as exhibiting
u\ accurate amount of the debts of the States
at this time, because, -in some instances, a
portion of the stocks authorized to be issued
by certain of the States, has not yet been dis
i posed of; and besides some time has elapsed
; ince the compilation. However, it will serve
- to show which of the States are indebted, and
■ will indicate something like the amount of
I thc-.r dr-bts. From the best information I can
gather, the present aggregate of ths whole
debt is considerably over $200,000,000; and
the annual interest thereon, cs I liava already
shown, is nearly $20,000,000.
Sir, I confess I was astonished and mortifi
ed at the speech of my honorable colleague,
i [Mr. Nesbit,] who succeeded ihe gentleman
irom South Carolina, [Air. Rhett.] Ido not
intend to attack the motives of that gentle
man, or to express even a suspicion of his in
tentions ; but while I willingly concede ’his
much to him, and promise to set dov\ n nothing
in malice, (shall sjjeak plainly and candidly oi
the position lie assumed, and of the conse
quences likely to result from it. The more I
see ot the gentleman, sir, the more I am con
; vinced of his firmness and resolution. I wi! 1
not say that he ever was a nullifier, eo nomine; i
but that he was a State Rights man, and wil
ling to take the advantage of nullification prin
ciples, however lie may have found it conve
nient to shun the odium of the name, hr
himself will not deny. His old associates,
then, for the sake of their principles, to he
success of which he is indebted tor his pres
ent elevation, ought to have been secure from
any detraction, either direct or indirect, at his
hands. But in his haste to commend himself
to his new and unnatural allies, he has the
boldness to turn upon his old coadjutors, and,
with a small but bitter vituperation, assail
them and their principles in an unprovoked
attack upon the distinguished Carolinian who
represents the palmetto State in the other end |
of this Capitol.
Dees not that gentleman know that the ma
jority of this world fias not yet been able to
distinguish between measures and men? Doe?
he not know that the eminent statesman
against whom he hurled the shafts of his new
born indignation, has, by his able and fearless
vindication ot the sights of the States,
identified himself with the principles upon
which those rights depend? Does he not
know that any assault he may make against
that statesman, personally, must recoil from
the man to the po itical system of which he is
justly regarded as the ‘head and front?—
Wherefore tha necessity of wandering from
the question before'.he House to speak of John
C. Calhoun as a political comet, wild and er- I
ratic in his course, coming from whence he I
know not, and going whither no man could !
tell; as a politician who ought to have a j
hoi? ‘fohoivl ” . r,’ l 1 fin file ‘ jiiy'cVffiealfhfe p 68f>M ;
to be able to tell whence Air. Calhoun came s
on ike State Rights question, and whither he
went; for the gentleman himself, whatever!
he may now think of it, was, in lhat celebrated
progress, the travelling companion of the great
Nullifier. Although he may have worn no
badge by which he might be marked and dis
tinguished, yet he had our countersign, and
was certainly at that time in the State Right:;
camp, wherever he may now be. Notwith
standing all inis, he affects to be extremely
ignorant of Air. Calhoun’s “whereabout.” Sir,
as a Southern S ate Rights man, ( most deci
dedly object to this unprovoked attack upon
an individual, who, in the hour ot our utmost
need, defended us and our rights with an
ability and constancy equalled only by the
patriotism with which he was ready and will
ing to sacrifice himself for the good of his
country. Sir, the gentleman’s arrows were
well dipped, but his bow was too weak. He
may exercise h s archery if he will, but his
shafts fall, as they ever must, far short of the
bright and elevated object at which ho would
hurl them.
Air. B. said he had just alluded to his col
league’s fortitude —he could not but do so
again, sos no man as a representative of the
South, could make such a speech as the gen
tleman had just delivered on the “ tariff ques
tion,” without utterly disregarding conse
quences.
[Air. Nesbit. explained He had no idea
that his colleague would intentionally misre
present him; he therefore asked him to bear
in mind that, throughout the whole of his
speech, he had protested against a tarifi for
protection, and that he advocated duties for
revenue only.]
Sir, said Mr. B. I repeat again, I do not ques
tion the gentleman’s motives. I freely con
cede to him all the benefit of “good intentions.”
He has a perfect right, as an individual, to
choose his position—that I shall not question;
but when he speaks here as my representative,
I must be permitted to dissent, from the doc
trines he has thought proper to ad vance. Nor
shall 1 misrepresent his remarks—l remem
ber them well, for t hey sounded ominously on
my ear. The gentleman did say, more than
once, (and I thought he was unusually solicit
ous to impress it on his hearers,) that he was
opposed to a protective tariff and advocated
du es only for revenue. This was his text,
but did I stick to it? We shall see.
In the first place, “ he advocated duties only
for revenue.” What sort of a revenue? For’
a revenue commensurate with the demands of;
the gentleman from New York, [Mr. Barnard,] i
who estimated the deficit at $40,000,000: to
which he must add his estimates for the cur-;
rent expenses, not only for 1841, but for 1842?;
If my colleague is willing to raise a revenue 1
by means of a tariff sufficient to cover these •
liberal estimates, 1 apprehend he will find but!
few of his constituents who would go with!
him. This is an important point on which we
are left to grope our way through an in defi
nite generality: and 1 protest against leaving
open any door through which these “liberal
estimates” of avowed tariff men may be forced
upon us hereafter, under the guise of “ duties
for revenue only.”
We are told by the gentleman from Geor
gia that lie will support and maintain the com- j
promise act of Alarch 2d, 1833 —for that “it
settles a great conservative principle of the;
South.” The only “ conservative principle” in
favor of the South which that act settles, is to
be found in the third sect on, in these words:
“ And such duties shall be laid for the purpose
of raising such revenue as may be necessary
to an economical administration of the Gov- :
eminent.” So far as that principle is concern
ed, lam willing to support it myself; but to
the two other principles contained in this sec- j
tion, to wit: the cash duties, and the home ralu- j
alien, I am opposed, upon the ground tha’ j
their insertion in the act was a reservation in ’
favor of the tariff interest of the North, whichl
of itself stamped upon the law of 1833 the
character of a “compromise” between the i
conflicting claims of the high tariff and those i
who opposed that iniquitous system. 1 oppose
them, because when they shall come into fall
operation after the 2d June, 1842, they will
run up the maximum of 20 per cent, duties on
imports, as nominally settled by that act to 50
or 00 per cent ad valorem. 1 think the gen
tleman from New York [Mr. Vanderpoel]
proved that these two conservative principles
which mv colleague would support and main
tain, would have precisely that effect to wit:
that this 20 per cent, duty, when levied, as it
roust be if this compromise is maintained, af
ter the 2d June, 1842, “ in ready money,’, and
that too upon ‘•goods, wares and merchandise,”
valued “at liie port where tne same shall be
entered,” will he increased to a comfortable
tax of 50 or 00 per ceu . ad valorem , without
limitation as to time. For although the act
I provides fora reduction of dut'es “in the eon
, tinger.cy either cf an exerss or deficiency of
revenue,” if we may judge of the future by
the liberal estimates of the present, they will al
ways be uia ;e to keep pace with any “excess”
of revenue that may occur.
Let me illustrate these conservative princi
ples which my colleague would maintain, and
by the use of a few facts and figures show the
eiieet they will have on the consumers of im
ports, who at last, it is conceded, must pay this
iniquitous tax. The committee will remember
that tiie imports of 18-10 were much lower
than those of any other year since 183-2, when
they amounted to only Si 01,029,266. In 1836,
they reached to $139,980,035. But take the
imports of 1840—S 104,805,981 —a tarilf of
50 per cent, on that amount would produce a
revenue of $52,402,999. U my colleague
willing to sustain a “compromise” that in all
probability will produce such a revenue! Let
us suppose, however, that the cash duties and
home valuation will not increase tins compro
mise of 20 per cent, to more than 25 per cent,
even that tariff of duties on the unusually
small importation of 1340, will yield to the
Government 829,201,495—his added to
4,000,090 from the sales of the public lands
will give you $30,*201,495 per annum. Is anv
Southern man prepared to support a “compro
mise that will throw this amount annuallv
into the treasury ! (to say nothing of the
revenue that would accrue from a tax of 50
per cent, instead ot 25 per cent, upon an ave
rage importation of one hundred and forty
millions?) This estimate is made upon as re
duced a scale as any gentleman could re-
I quire: and even at tha't rate we should have,
| in it short time, another surplus revenue to
1 scramble for, besides the burden it would im
[ pose upon the people- The public expendi
tures have, lor the last few years, exceeded
l the usual expenses of the Government, in
consequence of the extraordinary character
of the exigencies which demanded them, but
from causes now in operation, as has already
been shown, we have a reasonable expectation
that they will continue to recede in amount,
especially if the retrenchment advised by Mr.
\ an Buren in liis last message, and hereto
lore promised by the Whigs, be honestly and
efficiently carried out by Congress. The ex- i
penditures tor 1841, for ordinary purposes, •
are estimated at 819,*250,000; with economy j
we may hope to find them in a few years down I
to $15,000,000, and yet, with this prospect in
view, my colleague will support and maintain
a compromise which, at the lowest and most
reasonable calculation, must yield, in conjunc- j
1101 l with tire of Oio pnMi ,Inj
IciSr, A o ~:—{
porting such a compromise, I, as a represen- j
tative, and as one of the people of Georgia, do i
most solemnly protest.
The committee are aware that the gentle
man from New York has given notice, that if
the enacting clause of this bill is stricken
out, he will move the imposition of a tax on
silks and wines, and other luxuries; this, with
the other proposition to tax linen fabrics and i
wine; leaves no doubt on my mind of the set- )
tied determination of the great majority of the
Whig party, in the House, to fix upon the;
next Administration the policy of a high pro- ;
tective tarilF. To the tax on French silks and ;
wines, which above all others would he most j
mischievous to the cotton and tobacco growing j
States, my colleague gives his hearty assent. !
Let us see if that assent comports with his [
declaration that he was opposed to a tariff for ;
protection, and advocated duties only for (
revenue.
What is the fact with regard to the con- i
sumption of silks at the South? They have !
grown into general, nay, into almost universal
use; they are no longer to Le looked on as
luxuries —at least not as luxuries confined to ’
the rich. Almost every man, poor er rich, in
the region where l reside, indulges his wife
and daughter iu the u-e of this elegant and
substantial article. To the extent then, sir, ;
to which silks aro used at the South, are the
cotton “goods of Northern manufactories ex
cluded. The manufacturer, sharpened by his
interest, sees and feels ibis—prompted by his
cupidity, and regardless of our rights and pre- i
Terences, lie is now striking at the imports of
silk, by attempting to tax them with a duty of i
20 per cent.. .By your existing laws they are <
free—our farmers’ wives and daughters, tin- i
der this free importation, can afford to wear i
them as well as the wives and daughters of ;
the wealthy merchants, or the bankers; hut i
raise the duty 20 per cent., almost one-fourth j i
of the value of the article, and tack on to it ; ;
cash duties, ami a home valuation, and you j i
effectually deny to the poor man what the ! j
wealth of his neighbor may still enable him to i
enjoy. The manufacturer thus hopes to expel
silks from the South, and to fill up the vacuum
with his own fabrics. Strange to say, this :
expulsion of silks has been urged as an “un
answered and unanswerable argument” why
the South should acquiesce in a tar on wines ■
and silks; that in proportion as silk was ex- i
pelied, the consumption ‘of cotton would be j
increased. This would undoubtedly be a hard ! ,
argument in the mo.'th of a Northern nianu- j
facturer; hut when used by a Southern man j
to the South, the reply is evident and conclu- i
sive. To say nothing of the compulsion upon
which this additional consumption would be
based, it would not only be destructive of the
advantages resulting from free trade, but it
wouid be closing a profitable foreign market,
from whence our cotton is not returned to us,
but it would be substituting therefor a less
profitable market at the North, from which
we should receive payment for the raw ma
terial in the same commodity wrought up,
being made to pay, in the mean time, the pro
fits of the manufacturer. Is not this a “pro
tection” of Northern manufacturers at the ex
panse of our constituents! And yet my col
league is willing to lend his aid to a measure
which will surely effect it. So we see that
profession , at least in this case, is one tiling,
and practice quite another.
Mr, Chairman, this tax on wines and silks
is a blow struck directly at the South—at the
cotton and tobacco growing States. By the
treaty of Paris, concluded in 1331, a system
of commercial reciprocity was established be
tween the French and this count! y highly
beneficial to both parties, and injurious to no
one. Under that treaty cur commerce with
France, which bes >re was comparatively limi
| ted, extended itself rapidly, and was maintain
| cd principally by the exports of Southern cot
! ton. For a period of five years past our ex
| por:s to French ports have varied, in round
numbers, from eighteen millions to twenty
i millions per annum, of which the exports o*
j cotton alone amounted to between thirteen
| and seventeen millions annually, the balance
being of tobacco and rice. Now, instead on
sending back to us, as the English do, the
greater part of this cotton, in wrought goods,
i and thus saddling ns as consumers with all
; the intermediate expenses accruing on ?ao
; commodity from its production to its consump
-1 tion, the French return to us only about one
million of cotton manufactures anrually, near
; ly the whole balance being paid to u* in silks
and wines. They then consume among them
selves, one year with another, an average of
quite fifteen millions of Southern cotton, to
say nothing cf rice and tobacco, for which; as
I said before, they pay us with their silks and
vv ines. Now,- put a tax of 20 per cent, on these
articles, and couple with it, as you must, if
you maintain the compromise act, casii duties
and a home valuation, and what do you effect!
Why, you clove up this outlet for “our cotton
VOL. I. NO. 4.
by taxing, almost to prohibition, the very arti
cles with which .alone the French can pay
us tor our raw material. What further do
you eiihvt ! Why, yea throw back annually
upon the lands of the planters 815,000,000
worth of their cotton. France cannot buy it;
England is supplied without it, and, moreover,
is preparing to grow her own cotton; you
have stifled the foreign market by your legis
lation, and the Northern weaver steps in and
buys it at five or six cents per pound. A
propitious state of affairs for the farmer!—
But, notwithstanding, my colleague is willing,
not only to maintain the compromise, hut to
tax wines and silks, at the suggestion of one
of the rankest tariff men in this House.
Again sir, in proportion as you depress the
commerce of France, tire friend and suppor
ter of our colonial struggles for liberty and a
national existence, you elevate that of Great
Britain. These two nations are the onlv great
rivals for our trade ; and while I would extend
the principles of free'’trade, upon the broad
ground of justice and equality, to our Saxon
forefathers, I would certainly do nothing to
swell her commercial importance over the
just claims of our firs* friend and ancient al
ly. England at this moment is pervading the
whole earth. She is stretching her grasping
and powerful arm over the four quarters of the
globe. Europe, Asia, Africa, and America,
are the objects of her towering and insatiate
ambition. She has colonized India; she is
pushing her trade with the Celestial Empire
“by the grace of God and gunpowder;” she
is dictating terms to belligerent thrones and
rebellious viceroys; she is openly attempting
to dismember one of ihe sovereign States of
this Union, and she is silently erecting her
standard upon our teritory at the mouth of the
Oregon. Nay, sir, pretending to suppress the
slave trade on the coast of Africa, she has
recently boarded and searched, under circum
stances of insult and agravation, an American
merchantman, bearing “the broad stripes and
and ground stars” of these independent and
United States. Her Minister near this Gov
ernment has recently avouched the act of a
British subject which resulted in the destruc
tion of the lives and property, within our own
limits, of the citizens of New York. With
these lads staring us in the face, with this
long account unsettled between us and this
marauding power, is there an American states
man on this floor who is ready to lend our
legislation, however indirectly, to British in
terests, at the expense not only of our own
1 >■>"*.m ‘ire, ‘-ouch.nation, our old and
; r 'Tingiaud'’ ‘/iai 19
the ranks of the Abolitionists ; the proceed
ings of the World’s Convention in London,
at which Prince Albert, the personal repre-.
sentative of the Queen, presided, are proof
sufficient for us that she waits but a time and
an opp irtunity to invade our rights, and rob na
of our property. The English are making
(Strenuous efforts to supplant the great staple
of the Soudi by settling corton plantations in
the East Indies—if she succeeds she will glut
her own markets with her own produce, and
the main source of our wealth and prosperity
will be forever closed up. She is thus grasp
ing directly at our slaves—ii she fails in the
open attempt, she is still endeavoring secretly
and insidiously to destroy the value of our
property by taking away from us the foreign
market for our staple production. Are the
countrymen of La Fayette engaged in such a
crusade against us ! Shall we deal a blow
at the Southern people, by striking at their
commerce with France, when the comparison
stands, as I have stated it, between that Gov
ernment and England? Let my constituents
consult their rights and interests, and then
answer the question. I ask no legislation in
behalf of France; I only claim that our trade
with tout country be let alone —that my con-”
siituent® may be allowed to send the produce
of their labor where and to whom they please.
This they will do, and you had better save
your credit and our rights, by conceding what,
in a certain event, we will take by the help
of “the great conservative principle.”
Mr. Chairman, i may not repeat the iden
tical words'of my colleague, but the substance
of what lie said about the Tariff will long be
remembered by me. It was noticed by every
one around me, particularly by the Democrats,
as a most extraordinary speeeh for a Southern
man to make any where, but more especially
iu the presence of tariff men, and Northern
manufacturers. I never heard a speech more’
thoroughly imbued, in my opinion, with the
principles of protection and discrimination,
than the remarks of that gentleman as they
were delivered to this House. How they
w ill appear on paper, j cannot say—l only
speak of my impression ir m what ) heard.
He said substantially, if not in luce verba, that
formerly the people of Georgia were rabid on
the tariff question—that it had been a mad
dog cry among us. lie remembered the time
w hen any man who ventured to speak in favor
of a tariff, would Le withered by the indigna
tion of the people of Georgia; but, said he,
that day has
last summer /” “Now the intelligence of his
constituents enabled them to think and speak
calmly upon that subject.” Ah? the events
of the last summer—have they wrought this
marvellous “change?” Have the events of
the last summer cast an oblivion on the old
antipathies of the people of Georgia ? Sir,
in the name of the people of that State, I deny
the assertion, and all the deductions that may
Ire drawn therefrom. What changes those
events may have made in the gentleman, I
cannot divine ; but this much I can say, that,
from present appearances, he lias not only
lost his horror of a tarilf but he has ventured
to walk boldly up to the monster. He can
now look it coolly and calmly in the face ;
nay, he even dares io touch it, and handle it
without any apparent concern. Ere long-, sir,
he may have “his foot in the stirrup and his
hand on the mane.” Well, that honorable
i gentleman certainly has a right to mount
what hobby he pleases—provided he rides in
his individual capacity; but in his official
character 1 protest age;ns l the course he has
thought, proper to pursue. At this critical
juncture, when every thing is portentous of
“change;” when we have an evidence of
change before us in the speech 1 have just
adverted to, it behooves no man from Georgia
to be silent. Where are my colleagues ?
They are shortly to be my representatives, and
I ha ve a right, as it is my in'eres*, to know
their present position upon all the great ques
tions (particularly on the tariff questions)
which have been agitated in this debate.—
I therefore invite them to come out—to speak
! plainly and openly, and quiet the hopes and
fears of those whose interests are confided to
the r hands.
Upon the tariff question, the people whom
I represent ‘are now where they ever have
been, and where they ever mean to be.” If
luxuries are to be taxed let it be done indis
crinfinitely, and if any change 8 to be made in
ciur revenue laws* let all the imports of (his
country he taxed equally—indiscrimination—
tio protection. If any imports must be ad
in tied duty free, lei the sugar, salt, iron, mo
lasses. coarse wooiiens and c >arse cottons —
the absolute necctssar es of life, be relieved,
Snd let the revenue raise*! b* sufficient only
for an economical administration of the Gov
vernu.ent. With this sort of a tariff, and
with no tuber, (notwithstanding the events of
the Last summer) wili the people of Georgia