The Columbus times. (Columbus, Ga.) 1841-185?, March 04, 1841, Image 1

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BY JAMES VAN NESS. published f.veky THURSDAY MORNING, IN THE “GRANITE BUILDING,” ON THE CORNER OF OGLETHORPE AND RANDOLPH STREETS. TKit.Vid—Subscription, three dollars per an num. -lavable in advance, three dollar* and a hale at the end of six months,or rooa dollars, (in all cases) where payment is not made before the expiration of the year. N o subscription received for less than twelve months, without payment inadvance, and no paper discontinued, except at the option ol the (Editors, until all arrearages are paid. ADVERTISEMENTS conspicuously inserted at one dollar per one hundred words, or less, for the first insertion, and FIFTY cents for every subse quent continuance. Those sent without a specifica tion of tho number of insertions, will be published until ordired out, and charged accordingly. 2d. Yearly advertisements. — For over 24, and not exceeding 38 lines, fifty dollar* per annum ; for ovr 12, and not exceeding 24 lines, thirty-five dollar* per annum \ for less than 12 lines, twenty dollar* per annum. 3d. All rule and figure work double the above p:ices. Legal Advertisements published at the usual rates, and with strict attention to the requisitions ol the law. All Sales regulated by law, must be made before the Court House door, between the hours of 10 in the morning and 4 in the evening—those of Land in the county where it is situate ; those of Persona! Property, where the letters testamentary, of admin istration or of guardianship were obtained—and are required to be previously advertised in some public Gazette, as follows: Sheri es’ Sales under regular executions for inm tx dats, under mortgage fas sixtv da vs, before the day of sale. Sales of Land and Neorof.s, by F,xecutors, Ad ministrators or Guardians, for sixtv davs before the day of sale. 3 ales of Personal Property (except Negroes) forty DAVS. Citations by Clerks of the Courts of Ordinary, upon application for LETTERS of administration, must be published for thirty days. Citations upon application for dismission, by Executors, Administrator* or Guardians, monthly for six months. Orders of Courts of Ordinary, (accompanied with a copy ol the bond or agreement) to make titles to land, muss he published three months. Notices by Kxecutors, Administrators or Guardians of application to the Court of Ordinary for leave to sell the Land or Negroes of an Estate, four months. Notices by Executors or Administrators, to the Debt ors and Creditors ol an Estate, for six weeks. Sheriffs, Clerks of Court, Sto., will be allowed the usual deduction. Letters on business, must be post paid, to entitle them to attention. 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