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EDITED BY THOMAS HAYNES.
VOIa. VI. WO. 6.
!§§umtorfc of j§£nton,
BY P. L. BOBINSON, State Priater*
Jj«f Publisher (by authority) of the Laws of the United States.
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gaining eereral thoueand name*.
ADVERTISEMENTS inserted at the uaual rates, S|)es of LAND, by Admi
niatraton, Eioeutora, or Guardians, are required by law to be heU on the first Tues
day in the month, between the hour* of ten in the forenoon and three in the after
noon, at the Court Hou** in the county in which the property is Notice of
sheee ealoo must bo give* in e public gazette SIXTY DAYS previous to the day of
sale.
Salo* of NEGROES must bo at public auction, on the first Tuesday of the month
between the usual hour* of sale, at the place of public sales ID the county where the
letters SretimeMary, of Administration or Guardianship, inay have been granted, first
giving SIXTY DAYS notice thereof, in one of the public gazettes of chi* State,
and at th.'door of th* Court House where attch saiaoar* tube held.
Noiioe for the sale of Personal Property must be given in like manner, FORTY
•AYS ptovious to the day of sale.
Notice to the Debtor* and Creditors of an Estate must be published FORTY
OATS. ♦
Nous* that application will bo made to the Court of Ordinary for leave to soli
LAND, must be published for FOUR MONTHS.
Notice for leave to sell NEGROES, must bo published for FOUR MONTHS
before say order absolute shall be made by the Court thereon.
Notice ot Application for Letters es Administration must be publiabad THIRTY
•ATS.
Notice el Application for Letters of Dismission from the Administration of an Es
tate, ere required to be published monthly for SIX MONTHS.
biTauthorityT
LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES PASSED AT THE THIRD
SESSION OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Public—No. I.]
AN ACT making appropriations, in part, for the support of
Government, for the years eighteen hundred and thirty*
eight, and eighteen hundred and thirty-nine.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
the following sums be, and the game are hereby, appropriated,
to be paid out of any unappropriated money in the Treasury,
vh:
For pay and mileage of members of Congress and Delegates,
three hundred and seventy thousand nine hundred and forty
four dollars:
For pay of the officers and clerks of the Senate and House
of Representatives, forty-three thousand four hundred dollars ;
For stationary, fuel, printing, and all other incidental and
contingent expenses of the Senate, thirty-five thousand dol
lars ;
For stationary, fuel, printing, and all other incidental and
contingent expenses of the House of Representatives, one
hundred thousand dollars.
The said * wo »ums last mentioned to be applied to the pay
ment of the ordinary expenditures of the Senate and House of
Representatives, severally, and to no other purpose.
JAMES K. POLK,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
RH. M. JOHNSON,
Vice Fresident of the United States, and
Presedent of the Senate.
Approved, December 22d, 1338.
M. VAN BUREN.
[Public —No. 2.]
AN ACT to provide fir carrying into effect the convention
between the United States of America and the Republic of
Texas for marking the boundary between them.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Lniled States of America in Congress assembled. That
lite commissioner and be appointed, on the part of
the United States, according to the first article of the conven
tion between the United Slates of America and the Republic
of Texas for marking the boundary between them, concluded
April twenty-five, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, be sever
ally appointed by the President of the United States, by and
with the consent of ihe Senate, together with a clerk to the
said commissioner, tn be appointed in the satne manner} and
that for the purpose of carrying into effect the said first arti
cle of said convention there be appropriated, out of any money
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the following
•urns:
I 1 or the salary of the commissioner, two thousand five hun
dred dollars;
For the salary of the surveyor, two thousand dollars;
For the salary of the clerk, one thousand two hundred dol
lars : Provided, That the salaries of the said officers shall not
coiwnvnc*? bihU they shall be ordered into service.
For other expense* of the survey of boundary required hy
said convention, including the purchase of instruments, wage*
to persons employed, and other contingencies, ten thousand
dollars.
Approved, January 11th, 1839.
[Public —No. 3.]
AN ACT to amend an act entitled “ An act to require the
Judge of the dWtrict of East and West Tennessee to hold a
court at Jackson, in said Stale/’ approved June eighteenth,
eighteen hundred and thirty-eight.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
to the counties specified in the first section of the act to which
this i* an amendment, the counties of Madison, Henderson,
and Weakly, are hereby added to compose the district of West
Tennessee, and tlie residue of the counties of the said State of
Tennessee, formerly composing the district of West Tennessee,
•hall compose one district, to be called the Middle District of
Tennessee.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the court to be
held at Jackson, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction and
power of a district court, shall, within the limits of it* district,
have jurisdiction of all causes, except appeal* and writ* of er-
J7 r *. w hich now are, or hereafter may by law be, made cognisa
ble in a circuit court, and shall proceed therein in the same
manner as a circuit court.
. 3 ’ An,i ,>e it further enacted, That the said court shall
e held annually on the first Monday in April, at the town of
Jackson, m the county of Madison, in said Slate, and all
7 r, »Vf n i et P roceM rnn y be returnable to such court on the
n. 7* . a \ ,n A P ril ’ "nd al“» at rules on the first Monday in
'°. r ’ a i * a . ,ne m,nner a* to the regular sessions of said
it. ’ * a '.d wr,ls and other process may also bear test
court * r *i * n October, as though a session of the
nrorw* a * ,e j ° n * ! al at Jackson; and writ* and other
mar ‘/die first Monday in April next
4 *?“ fir,t Mond> *y in October hst. *
-
shall execute throughout his distriuTl 7"r * rner ’ dmcn ''
to him, and issued under th eTu | h!Tu
and shall have the same power, 2X . U 'T - S ‘"‘ e *:
be under the same liabilities withm hi* district"" 1 * ' "'"’c’ ""I
by law upon the other marshal* of the Uni^Sta^'"
Ib-irrospactirodimicl, That’ oHbi
l c. c r *
tggtoww of
Middle District formerly termed the district of West Tennessee,
shall have power and authority to collect the executions issued
or to be issued upon judgements and decrees heretofore ren
dered in the circuit court of the United Slates, at Nashville,
and to serve and execute all process necessary to enforce such
judgements, orders, or decrees, as if this act, or the act to which
this is an amendment, had not passed ; and all writs of scire
facias and other process; upon the said judgements and decrees,
or upon suits now pending in said circuit court, at Nashville,
shall also be issued from said circuit court and returned to the
same, to be proceeded in as would have been done before the
passage of said act to w hich this is an amendment.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That there shall be an
additional term of the circuit court for the Middle District held
at Nashville, in each year, on the first Monday of March,
which shall be held by the district Judge of the United States
for the Slate of Tennessee, and should any question of law be
raised in any cause, the said district judge may at his discreiion
adjourn the cause to the succeeding term of the circuit court.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That the rules of the
circuit courts of the United States in West Tennessee, hereto
fore adopted, shall be in full force and effect in the court es
tablished by this act, and the act to which this is an amend
ment, until the satne are altered by law or by the judges of
said court.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That all suits hereafter
to be brought in either of the courts of the United States in
the Slate of Tennessee, not of a local nature, shall he brought
in the court of the district where the defendant resides or may
be found at the time of the service of the writ; but if there be
more than one defendant, and they reside in different districts,
the plaintiff may sue in either, and send a duplicate writ against
the defendant, directed lo the marshal of the other district, on
winch the plaintiff or his attorney shall endorse, that the writ
thus sent is a copy of the writ sued out of the circuit or district
court of the proper district ; and the said writs, when executed
and returned into the office from which they issued, si.all con
stitute one suit, and be proceeded in accordingly ; and execu
tions may issue thereon to the marshals of either district where
the defendant or defendants tnay reside, or their or either of
their property tray be situated.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That there shall be held
at Knoxville, on the third Monday of April next, aspecial term
of the circuit Court of the United States for the District of
East Tennessee, by the district judge of said district, at which
term shall be heard and tried all issues and matters cognizable
at the regular term of said court.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the judges, or some
one of them, of the circuit courts of the U. Stales, shall have
power to direct said courts to be adjourned, over, to some fu
ture day, designated in a written order to the clerk of either
of said courts, whenever there is a dangerous and general dis
ease, at the place where said court is usually holden ; and the
adjournment over, by the clerk, in the absence of the judges,
shall have the same force and effect as if the judges had been
present.
Approved, January 18th, 1839.
[Public —No. 4.]
AN ACT further to regulate the transportation of the mail
upon rail roads.
Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
the Postmaster General shall not, by virtue of the authority
vested io him by the second section of the “Act to establish
certain post routes and to discontinue others,” approved July
seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, allow more than
three hundred dollars per mile per annum, to any rail road com
pany in the United States for the conveyance of one ot more
daily mails upon their roads : Provided, That nothing in this
act contatnett sfmii be construed so as in any way to remove
or impair the limitations upon the power of the Postmaster
General, imposed by that section.
Approved, January 25tb, 1839.
[Public —No. 5.]
AN ACT to reorganize the district courts of the United States in
the State of Alabama.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the State
of Alabama shall be, and the same is hereby, divided into three dis
tricts, in manner following, to wit: The counties of Walker, Pick
ens, Sumter, Marengo, Green, Petty, Bibb, Autauga, Coosa, Talla
poosa, I 'hambers, Shelby, Jefferson, and Tuscaloosa, shall compose
one distiict, to be called the middle district; and a court shall be
held for the said distiict at Tuscaloosa. The counties of Jackson,
Madison, Limestone, Lauderdale, St. Clair, Marion, Fayette, Ran
dolph, Talladega, Franklin, Lawrence, Morgan, Benton, Marshall,
DeKalb, Cherokee, and Blount, shall hereafter compose one district,
to be called the northern district; and a court shall beheld for the
same, as heretofore, at Huntsville; and the residue of the counties
of said Slate shall hereafter compose the southern district of Alaba
ma ; and a court shall be held for the same, as heretofore, at Mo
bile.
Sbc. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be two terms
of the district court for the middle district held at Tuscaloosa, in each
year, to begin on the fourth Monday in May, and the first Monday
after the fourth Monday in November ; and the district judge of the
United States for the State of Alabama is hereby required to hold
the court* aforesaid ; and, fuithermore, to hold one or more special
terms at Tuscaloosa in each year, if in his opinion, the business of
the court shall require it to be done.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That the fourth Monday in
May, and first Monday after the fourth Monday in November, in
each year, shall be return days for writs and executions returnable
to the said district court at Tuscaloosa; and the parties to such suits
as shall be so returned shall make up their pleadings, under such rules
a* the court shall prescribe, in older to have the causes so returned
in a state of readiness for trial at the succeeding regular term.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all causes at law l or in
chancery, pending in the said district courts at Mobile and Huntsville,
or in the circuit court of the United States at Mobile, in which the
defendant or defendants t esided in the middle district (as hereby es
tablished) at the time of serving process shall be transferred for trial
to the district court of the said middle district, and be proceeded in,
heard, adjudged, and determined, in the same manner as though ori
ginally commenced or prosecuted in the said court; and it shall be
the duty of the clerks of the said courts at Huntsville and Mobile
safely to transmit to the clerk of the district court at Tuscaloosa the
original papers in all cases hereby ordered to be transferred, together
with a transcript of all orders and other proceedings had thereon.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That all suits hereafter to be
brought in either of said courts, not of a local nature, shall be brought
in a court of the district whete the defendant resides; but if there
be more than one defendant, and they reside in different districts, the
plaintiff may sue in either, and send duplicate writ or writs to’ the
other defendants ; on which the plaintiff or his attorney shall endorse
that the writ thus sent is a copy of a writ sued out of'a court of the
proper district; and the said writs, when executed and returned into
the office from which they issued, shall constitute one suit, and be
proceeded in accordingly.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the judge of said dis
trict courts shall appoint a clerk of the district court of the middle
district, who shall reside and keep his office, ahd the records and
documents appertaining thereto, at the place of holding said court:
said clerk shall be entitled to the same fees allowed by law to the
clerks of the other districts of said State, perform the like duties,
and be subject to the same liabilities and penalties.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the district attorney
of the northern, and the marshall of the southern district of Alaba
ma shall respectively perform the duties of the district attorney and
marshall of and for the middle district hereby established ; and the
said marshall shall keep an office at the city of Tuscaloosa, and his
charges for mileage in the execution of the duties of his office with
in said middle district shall be computed from the said city of Tusca
loosa.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the said district court
for the middle district of Alabama, in addition to the ordinary juris
diction and powers of a district court of the United States, shall,
within the limits of said middle district, have jurisdiction of all cau
ses, except appeals and writs of error, which now are or hereafter
may by law be made, cognizable in a circuit court of the United
States, and shall proceed therein in the same manner as a circuit
court.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That appeals and writ* of er
ror in the nature of appeals, shall lie and may be sued fiom the said
district court at Tuscaloosa to the circuit court of the United States
at Mobil" in the Slate of Alabama.
Sae. 10. And be it further That should the judge of the
IIILEEDOEVIKEK, GEORGIA, TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 5, IS3O.
Our Conscience-—Our Counlrv—Our Party.
district courts aforesaid fail to attend at the time and place of holding
the court, for the said middle district, at any one of its terms, afore
said, before the close of the fourth day of any such term the business
pending in such court shall stand adjourned to the next term thereof.
Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That all laws contravening
or opposed to the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby
repealed, «
Approved, Febtaury 6th, 1839.
[Public —No. 6.]
AN ACT to provide for the location and temporary support of the
Seminole Indians removed from Florida.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives o f the
United States of America in Congress assembled. That the Presi
dent of the United States be, and hereby is, authorised to provide a
suitable location, west of the States of Missouri or Arkansas, for
the Seminole Indians who have been or may be removed from Flor
ida; and to provide for their support until they shall be removed to
such location; and that, for these purposes, the sum of ten thousand
dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, lo be paid out of
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Approved, February 13th, 1839.
[Public —No. 7.J
AN ACT making appropriations for the paymeent of the revolu
tionary and other pensioners of the United States, for the year
eighteen hundred and thirty-nine.
Be. it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled. That the follow
ing sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, in addition to
former appropriations, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury
nol otherwise appropriated, for the pensioners of the United States,
for the year one thousand eight hundied and thirty-nine;
For the revolutionary pensioners, under the several acts, other
than those ot the fifteenth of May, one thousand eight bundled and
twenty-eight; the seventh of June, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-two; and the fourth of July, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-six, three hundred and twenty-six thousand two hundred and
fifty dollars ;
For the invalid pensioners, under various laws, three hundred
thousand six hundred and eighty five dollars and sixty three cents;
For pensions to widows and orphans under the act of the fourth
of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, four hundred
and ninety thousand and eighty-lour dollars and fifty-two cents;
For five years pensions to widows, per act seventh Julv, one
thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, one million three hundred
and seventy-two thousand dollars;
For hall-pay pensions, payable through the office of the the Third
Auditor, ten thousand dollars.
Approved, February 13th, 1839. ,
[Resolution.— Public—No. I.]
A RESOLUTION for the purchase of the island at the confluence
of the St. Peters and Mississippi rivers.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Uni
ted States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary
of War be, and he is hereby authorized to contract with J. B. and J.
Ferribault, for the purchase of the island at the confluence of the
St. Peters, and Mississippi rivers, and to report his proceedings to
Congress, subject to their approbation or rejection,
Approved, February 13th, 1839,
POLITICAL.
IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
January 31, 1839.
Mr. WALL submitted the following
REPORT:
The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred “ a
bill to prevent the interference of certain Federal officers in
elections,” report:—
That they have examined the bill referred to them with the
care and attention which the importance of the subject demands.
The object of the Lili proposed in the title and preamble, is to
prevent the great powers given to the officers of the Federal
Government, and other persons employed in its service, from
being used for the influencing of elections, which ought lo be
ftec and incorrupt, and its scope is very broad and compre
hensive. It proposes to enact that, after the first day of April
next, no marshal or deputy marshal, no postmaster or deputy
postmaster, no receiver or register of a land office, or any of
their deputies or clerks, no surveyor general of public lands, or
any of his deputies or assistants, no collector, surveyor, naval
officer, weigher, gauger, appraiser, or other officer or person
whatsoever, concerned or employed in the charging, collecting,
levying, or managing the customs, or any part or branch there
of, noengineer, officer, or agent employed or concerned in the
execution or superintendence of any oftlte public works, shall,
by word, message, or writing, or in any other manner whatso
ever, endeavor to persuade any elector to give, or dissuade any
elector from giving, his vote for the choice of any person to
be elector of President or Vice President of the United States,
or for the choice of any person to he a Senator or Representa
tive in the Congress ol the United States, or for the choice of
any person to be Governor or Lieutenant Governor of any
State, or of any person to be a representative or member of
the legislative department of any State of this Union, or for
the choice of any person to serve in any public office established
hy the law of any of the said States; nor shall any such officer
or person intermeddle in any of the elections above mentioned,
or use any means with intent to influence or control the same,
otherwise than by giving his own vote, under the penalty of
five hundred dollars, one moiety thereof to the informer, and
the other moiety thereof to the United State*, tube recovered,
with costs of suit, by any person that shall site for the same, by
action of debt, bill, or plaint, in any of the distrit* or cir< uit
courts of the United States; and every person convicted of
such offence shall thereby become disabled and incapable ofever
bearing or executing any office or place of trust w hatsoever un
der the United States.
It is a wise and salutary rule, as well for the expounders as
the maker* of the law, to consider the old law, the mischief,
and the remedy. The committee believe that it is beyond all
question that, under the constitution and the existing laws of
the United States, every citizen has “ the right of freely exam
ining public characters and measures, and of free communion
among the people thereon,” “ by word, message, or writing,”
or in any other manner he may judge proper. This right is
not only asserted in the celebrated resolutions of the Virginia
Leiri.slature, in the session of 1798, and of 1799, 1800, as be
longing to the general principles of free government, as well as
the particular organization and positive provisions of the Fed
eral Constitution, but declared to be “ the only efli ctttal gu rd
ian of every other right.” The foundation of representative
government is based upon the intelligence of the citizen, and to
insure that intelligence, it is both the right and the duty of eve
ry one, freely to discuss and communicate, both publicly and
privately, such matters as he may suppose will advance the
public interest, or inform the public mind. Otte of the most
salutary ami effectual agents, to promote such interest, is an
enlightened public opinion. To evolve such opinion, and to
give form and direction to the general course of national poli
cy, and the future destinies of all, every citizen, whether intrust
ed with public office or not, has a like deep, ttbidinir, and active
interest, and no citizen is at liberty to withdraw himself from
this high responsibility, inseparably connected with republican
institutions. One of the most cel brated law makers of one of
the ancient republics, declared every citizen infamous, who
who refused lo take part in the affairs of his country ; ami the
word/7/zo/, derived from the language of that republic, bears
through till time this impress of their institutions, denoting one
who was destitute of the spirit or intelligence requisite lot the
disi harge of this highest duty of a citizen.
The elective right is not conferred by the constitution of the
United States, but belongs to representative government, ami
springs from its very nature; ami the very essence of that
right, under our institutions, is the right of electing the mem
bers of the General and State Governments. The value ami
the advantages of this right, so far as respects the public, de
pend upon the knowledge of public measure"., ami of the qual
ifications of candidates for public trust, and, consequently, up
on the equal and unrestricted freedom of discussing their com
parative merits and demerits. The citizen who, bv the choice
of his fellows, is distinguished hy being selected to'perforin of
ficial duties and trusts, is not thereby elevated above them, nor
degraded below them. He parts with no rights of citizenship,
but remains an equal among his equals; still connected with
them by the strong and enduring ligaments of mutuality ol
rights and privileges. ( Under our constitution, the people, not
the Government, posss?the sovereignty ; and the doors of of
fice can be opened only.by the powerful charm of the public
voice, and no degrading sacrifice ol any of the privileges of cit
izenship. or any separation from the community of rights, feel
irigs, and interests, which bind the people to the Government,
is required.
The object of our institutions is the protection of the equal
rights and privileges of all—the few as well as the many. The
spirit of despotism is widely different; erected upon the tie
struction of the rights of man, its main object is to protect the
few against the many. Hence the policy of separation its offi
cers from all sympathy of feeling and interest with the many,
by attaching to office attractive distinctions and seductive priv
ileges, which create a distinct class, and elevate them above
the mass, or by degrading them by unnatural mutilations, be
low their fellow men, prepare them to become fit instruments of
arbitrary power. Despots who surround their thrones with!
eunuchs and mutes, act upon (be latter principle, and are im
pelled by the instinct of fear to resort to unnatural and i;,,j i:s t
means to retain what is unjustly acquired. Happily our insti
tutions, resting upon the just foundation of popular rights, nei
ther demand nor will admit of the mutilation of the person or
the privileges of citizenship as a prerequisite for office. Under
the existing laws a citizen of a State does not, by accepting
any of the offices under the Federal Government, forfeit any of
the rights anti privileges which belong to him as a citizen of a
State ; and all control over the privileges and immunities of
the citizens in the several States, is expressly withheld from
the action of the Federal Government, and left with the States,
by the second section of the fourth article of the constitution.—
The committee believe that the State and Federal Govern
ments, under our system, are co ordinate departments of one
single and integral whole; that the compact between the States
unites them in a single Government, as to their relations with
each other, and with foreign nations, and as to certain articles
particularly specified, each retaining to itself the other rights
of independent Government, agreeing to appoint in conjnnc
tion for the administration of the Federal branch, and each re
taining its original right of appointing, for administering its
domestic branch, a separate set of functionaries, legislative,
executive, and judicial. These two sets of officers, each inde
pendent of the other, constitute a whole of Government for
each State separately, the powers given to one, specially made
Federal, exercised over the whole, the residuary powers re
tained to the other, confined to the particular State.
The committee have thus stated their views of the existing
liw in regard to the rights of the Federal functionaries, upon
whom the bill referred to them is proposed to operate. What,
then, is the mischief which this bill is designed to prevent ? It
assumes that the great powers given to the officers of the Fede
ral Government, and others employed in their service, may be
used for the influencing of elections, and corrupting their free
dom and puritv.
That elect ions ought to be pure and incorrupt is a princi
ple admitted by all, and no language can be too strong to ex
press the abhorrence felt by the committee against any attempt
to destroy this freedom and purity. He who is guilty of either,
by bribing or corrupting voters, violating the ballot box, or
setting at naught its voice, forging or suppressing returns, or
disobeying the laws enacted for securing any elective right, is
guilty of treason against republican institutions, and ought io
be regarded by all as a dangerous foe to liberty.
The committee are not aware that any such acts have been
committed by any of the functionaries named in the bill refer
red to them ; nor have they been able to discover the slightest
evidence that any attempt has been made to bring the patron
age or power of the Federal Government to destroy the free
dom and purity of elections. Ii is true that such allegations
have been made ; but it will be recollected that it is equally
true that allegations have been made against some of the func
tionaries of some of the State Governments, of in
violation of existing laws, to suppress returns, set aside the voice
of the people, and substitute the will of the minority for that of
the majority ; in fact, to treat elections as nullities, and substi
tute the acts of reckless and profligate officers for the voice of
the majority. We have seen one of the States of the Union
brought to the brink of revolution by alleged efforts of this
kind, and in other States witnessed alarming attempts to defeat
the voice of the majority in elections. This state oftliings would
indeed seem to indicate an alarming laxity of political morality,
to require the exercise of appropriate remedies, by constitution
al legislation. Whether, if true, they are to be attributed to
the action of the functionaries of the State or Federal Govern
ment, or the officers of corporations of associated wealth, which
have been brought, by indiscreet legislation, into too intimate
connexion with both, and whose influence insinuates itself into
all the business of active enterprise and the ordinary transac
tions of society, or to other causes, it is not the legitimate pro
vince of the commit’et to inquire. Those who are charged
with attempts to corrupt the purity and destroy the freedom of
elections, are very apt to make charges of the same kind against
others, in the vain hope of exculpating themselves, or at least
ofdrawing off public attention from their own acts, by incul
pating others. Neither accusations from such quarters, nor
the mere assertions of disappointed office hunters, or reckless
partisan editors, pealing forth the war cries of party, can safely
be made the foundation of such legislation as destroys the use of
unquestionable rights for the purpose of preventing their
abuse.
In thestruggles of parties for power, it is believed by the
committee that it may well be doubled whether the patronage
of office is to be deemed an advantage, inasmuch as while there
can be but one incumbent of an office, the number of those
who are stimulated to partisan activity, by the hope of gaining
it as a reward for extraordinary exertions, is unlimited, to say
nothing of those who may be paralysed by disappointment, or
disaffected by rejection. Public sentiment exercises a salutary
and controllintj influence over the conduct of public function
aries ; and while it properly watches their conduct with jeal
ousy, and scrutinizes their actions rigidly, it tolerates almost
unbounded liberty ot speech in those who are seeking office.
We cannot cast our eyes in any direction without perceiving
the evidence of the fact that, for every office under the Federal
Government, even to the Presidency, the numerical proportion
ol those who seek office by partisan activity is at least three to
one against the possessors. The office seekers have an unlim
ited freedom of speech and of action, denjed to the incumbent
by the circumstances of hi* position, and are nt liberty to at
tack the motives and conduct of the latter, and indulge in pro
fes?iotis of patriotic ardor and disinterestedness, restrained by
no other limits than the elastic credulity of their friends and
party. That the possession of patronage does not insure its re
tention, is proved by frequent instances, both in the Federal
and State Governments,
Ihe committee believe that, tn those places where the Fede
ral officers enumerated in 'he bill tire most numerous, it will be
found that the elections mote frequently result against than in
favor of the Administration ; and this proves either that they
do not liiittg “the great powers derived from the Federal Gov
ernment” to influence elections, or that they use them against
the patty which conferred those powers, or that tto danger is to
h.) apprehended of their destroying the freedom and puritv ol
election. It is believed that even a majority of those who
would be affected by this bill are hostile to the views of policy,
or opposed to the political principles of the present Administra
tion ; and if the sentiments of those who are found in posses
sion of office in the ten mil s square are any test, the majority
would be very great. But the true and conclusive answer to
all such allegations, of bringing the patronage and power of
the General Government in hostility t<> the freedom and purity
of elections, is to be found in the fact that such acts are every
where, in al) the States, punishable by State laws; and the com
mittee are not aware of any prosecution, even, for such of
fence*.
Il is also worthy of special remark that, in those States where :
the most clamor ha§ been raised and the most alarm has been I
P. L. RO!! INSON, PROPRIETOR.
expressed on this subject, the State functionaries arc opposed
to the Administration, and, as they have the power, it is their'
duty to punish such offences. The committee are therefore
constrained to believe that there is nojust foundation for such
an accusation, and to look upon it as uvse of the allegations
which those who are struggling to gam the pow.es tha* they
affect to think so corrupt and corrupting, consider themsehes
justified in making to stimulate their partisans and decoy their
opponents. But whether the mischief actually exists or not,
the committee proceed to consider the policy and constitution
ality of the remedy which is proposed by the btil referred to
them.
The object of the bill is to render what is lawful and praise
worthy, and in strict conformity with both the letter and spirit
of our institutions, for all citizens, criminal in a particular class
who have been honored by the confidence of the people of the
whole States. It is not to punish a crime malum in se, hut to
create a new crime. It is not lo punish bribery and corruption*
the robbery of the ballot box, the suppression or forging of re- -
turns, or usurpation or neglect of official duty in giving effect
j to the will ol the majority in elections, or the improper use of.
I official power, Lut the use of persuasion or dissuasion, of in-,
tcrmerldling to control or influence voters by means that are
lawful and right in others. Every citizen ought to qualify
hitnseli by study, conversation, and every other means of ac
quiring knowledge, to understand the theory and principles of
our institutions, and lo ascertain the best mode of administering
them in their true spirit, so as to promote the greatest good of
the greatest number, and to render himself capable of discharg
ing any trust that may be conferred on him by his fellow-citi
zens. It is as well his inherent right as his duty to discuss and
promulge freely the measures of any Administration, and the
character and conduct of those who support or oppose it, as
well to control them by the censorship of public opinion as to
subject them to the test of the constitution. In doing so he
may win the confidence of his fellow-citizens by his declared
opinions, or may become identified with some great principle
which conciliates their support. All this is innocent and praise
worthy, even if the motive is the acquisition of office, because
it promotes the public good. Can it be wi-e, or even just,
to punish as a crime, when a citizen attains office, what was pa
triotic and praiseworthy while he was seeking it ? Yet why
should office seeking and office bolding thus be separated by
arbitrary enactments, which bestow honors and confidence upon
the one, and penalty and igtrominy upon the other, for doing
the same act ? ||<>w is it possible for any of the officers enu»
inera.ted in this bill freely to dis. uss public men ar.d measures
in private circles, in public assemblies, in the newspapers, or
even in the unreserved confidence of social intercourse, when
an elector is present, before, during or after an election, with
out subjecting himself to the sweeping penalties of this bill ?
11 is unequal. \\ hile one set of functionaries under the Federal
Government, and all those of (he State Governments, and the
officers of the corporations of associated wealth, are left with
an unrestricted freedom of speech anti of the press, this bill puts
gags and fetters upon a few proscribed men, in respect to pub
lic men and public measures. Why this discrimination ? Are
the prosciibed officers more corrupt or liable to corruption,
than other office holders? Is it to guard against the corrupt
ing influence and patron >ge of the Federal Administration? If
Il so, the effect of the bill would be still more objectionable, us in
degrading them by taking front them the rights common to all
others, it would prepare them to become the w illing instruments
of corruption or ambition. This bill would create a caste among
office holders, deriving their authority from the same high
source, the people, and requiring the same high qualifications
to discharge their duties. Those enumerated would be de
graded by the very acceptance of office, and cot off from all
i lentity of feeling, interest, and sympathy with their fellow-cit
izens, by the voluntary mutilation of the very manhood of citi
zenship. It converts those officers into mutes. It enforces
iemporary outlawry of the dearest and most inestimable rights
of citizenship with a penalty suspended over their heads during
the continuance of office, which nt ty be cut hy a word, message
w riting or even a look, and doom them to become outcasts,polit
icallepers, to perpetual incapacity to holdoffice. They would be
dishonored by the very act of surrendering such rights for the
mercenary motives of pecuniary gain and rewards of office, and
thereby proclaim themselves slaves, and the fit instruments for
making slaves of others. They would find the badges of sla
very and dishonor w ritten upon their commissions It .creates
a privileged class of office holders. The President and his
< abinet, the heads <>f bureaus and their clerks, the officers of
Congress, the judiciary and their clerks, and the district attor
neys, the officers oftlte army an I navy, in short, all the Fede
ral ttflicers, w hose emoluments are greatest, and whose sphere
ot influence is most extensive, are left free, while those who de
rive their compensation from fees given for labor performed in
the execution of ilu ir dutieSj or their daily support from their
<L»ilv labor in the offices or employments enumerated, are pro
hibited from intermeddling in elections, by word or deed, save
only by giving their own vote. Is it to recognise distinctions
in society, grades of virtue in officeholders? Is it to imply
(hat the proscribed office holder , being chiefly subordinate, and
many of them hard working men, must “ have bridles in their
m tilths, and saddles upon their backs,” as a preliminary qual
ification for office ? Why should those officers be rendered ali
ens, and be prohibited from the enjoyment of the social rights
of discussing political subjects, even under the. protection of
their own It ntsehohl gods, while the other functionartev-wf the
Federal and State Governments, and the officers of the torpor-'"
ations of associated w ealth, and the employees of private per
sons, are permitted to retain the full rights of citizens? This
bill degrades the right of suffrage, the guardian of all political
rights, by meting it out as a Loon in different portions to dif
ferent citizens, all equally worthy of trust, and distinguished
by popular favor, and by placing it uttderan odious espionage.
It surrounds the proscribed officers with a body of common
informers, stimulated by tw o of the strongest incentives to cot •
slant vigilance—the hope of gain, and the desire of ofice to
watch their every word, message, writing, look, or action, to
torture it into an endeavor to persuade, or to dissuade an
elector, in giving his vote, or intermeddling in an eh ction.
By day and hy night, in public and in private, in the
election of a President or a Governor, of a constable
or a pound-keeper, the omnipresent eye of this new body
ol familiars is alike upon the •collector and his cart
man the superintt ndeiit of the public works, and the day labor
er in his employ. Where is the limit to be found in this bill,
which separates freedom of speech and of the press from its ope
ration ? . I he open, manly independence of thought and liber
ty <>l action, heretofore justly considered the best preservatives
of our iustjunions, iinut soon perish under the parasitic etn
brace of this bill. It not only punishes the freedom of action
but of thought. It forbids, the designated persons as well
hom iutcimcddiitig in atty Federal or State election, as from
u>ing any means with intent to control or it:fluence the same;
thn> Liti oduciiig a new crime in our code, without precision or
technical d finii;o;i, broad and comprehensive as the theatre of"
iiuman action, and expansive as human thought on political
subjet t>. , AS bile it deprives one class of Federal officers of a
pot tion ol tlieir rights, it bestows the most laiitndinarian pow-.
an 'liter class, the farthest removed from the influence'
Ol the people, the judiciary. Them it clothes with jurisdiction,
to decide what is an endeavour to persuade, or to dissuade, an
elector to give his vote; what act is nn intermeddling in an,
election ; and what is using any means with intent to influence
or control the same. It is stamped with the most odious and
miserable impress of tyrranuy, vagueness, and uncertainty.—
It may well be doubted whether the end—the purity and free-,
dotn of election—would justi y such means, a delegation of
such undefined pow“r, even to the purity of the sacred ermine-
Fite history of other countries is full of wanting upon this
subject. The Spanish inq iisition, with all its terrible attro.cL
ties, was reared upon quite as slender a foundation. Its pro-,
fessed object was to render religion pure and incorrupt; and,
tor that avowed holy purpose, the most latitudinarian power
was given to.its ministers. To prevent heresy in religion,
they had, or soon as.timed tor that purpose, (he power to ptin-i
islt all persons who endeavoured to “persuade,” or “dissuade ’*
others, or in anywise “intt?nr)ed4!e” in matters of religion,-L
WHOLE NO. 26«.