f* / SPEECH F 1>*V ^ V -J^ MR. LEAKE, OF VIRGINIA, ON THE OREGON QUESTION DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEBRUARY 3, IS4 6. WASHINGTON: PRINTED AT THE UNION OFFICE. 1 846. . Mi SPEECH. Mr. LEAKE rose, and addressed the committee ap follows : Mr. Chairman : I am not one of those who are disposed to regret the protracted debate vi^hich the question before us has elicited in this House. I am not one of Uiose who believe that wlien a question of the magnitude and importance, the acknowledged importance of this, is brought up for consideration and decision, the debate in relation to its merits and to the consequences which may result from it, ought to be at nil limited. Lt is a question as to which the people of the United States are demanding at our hands the fullest and most thorough investigation \vhich our minds are capable of bestowing upon it. When the eyes of the nation are turned towards oar deliberations here — when all classes and inter- ests are involved in the consideration and decision of this question — 1 say it behooves the American Con- gress, it behooves the representatives of this great confederacy, to deliberate well and to consider ma- turely before they come to a decision on its merits. It is, indeed, no ordinary que.'^tion that we are called upon to decide. It is, I firmly believe, as im- portant a one as any that has ever engaged the atten- tion of the American Congress since the foundation of the government, not excepting even the momen- tous declaration of war, and the deliberations which preceded it, in 1812. I have given to it whatsoever consideration my feeble powers have enabled me to give. I have investigated it as maturely as I could; and such are the impressions and such the conclu- sions at which my mind has arrived. A spirit of levity unbecoming this body, and un- worthy of the occasion, has sometimes manifested itself m the course of this discussion. And I could well rejoice had no matter foreign to the question and extraneous to the subject under consideration been introduced, so tkai 1 might be at liberty to march directly up to the question, as is my wont, and confine my attention, and the attention of the committee, if 1 shall be so fortunate as to obtain it, exclusive!)' to that point. But, sir, I am not thus at liberty. For, high as are the responsibilities un- der which I acknowledge myself to be as a repre- sentative in the Congress of the United States — high as is the duty which I owe to this great confed- eracy of States — yet there is one duty even higher and more sacred, and which calls were loudly upon me for at least a passing notice. The State which I have the honor in part to rep- resent on this door, has been again assailed here by honorable gentlemen from all parts of the hall. Her representatives have been arraigned in a body — not put upon a separate trail, and aJlowed each to plead guilty or not guilty as he might feel — by gentlemen who have thought proper to arraign the Common- wealth of Virginia; and to send intimations abroad, which have been carried on the wings of the press from one end of the Union to the other, that the representatives of that State — those to whom she has confided her interests — are false to their duty and to their country, and recreant to those obliga- tions which they owe to their constituents. . The gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. Hocf..] my friend near me, on Friday last, I believe, took occa' sion to draw a contrast between what he was pleased to term the ancient and modern patriotism of Virginia, and to read a homily as to what were the duties of her democratic members here, with a view to show that we who are the accredited or- gans of that State do not speak fairly the sentiments of the people whom we represent. He read also an extract from a speech made by a distinguished gen- tleman, formerly a member of this House, to show that Virginia had departed from the faith of her fa- thers, and that v/e, her representatives, were occupying ground not only at war with the interests of the country, but irreconcilable with the ground v/hich that Commonwealth had her- self taken. If is a little remarkable that whilst the gentleman was reading the speech of Gov- ernor Floyd, he did not remember (if, indeed, he had ever investigated the matter sufficiently to know) that the position which that distinguished '« gentleman took, (and he spoke the voice of Virgin- ia,) was identical, in all respects, with the position now assumed by her representatives. What was it ? The speech was made in 1829, two years after the joint convention had been renewed, subject' to the limitation in the convention of 1827, to be 'ter- minated on one year's notice. And yet that distin- guished legislator proposed a law here to take pos- session of Oregon without giving the notice required under the convention. He proposed a stronger measure than the representatives of Virginia nov/ propose, although we, too, have one mode of set- tling the controversy as I shall presently show. He desired to erect a military post at the mouth of the Columbia river without giving the notice; and the gentleman from Illinois, if hi.s position is correct, should have denounced him, as well as us, with the intention to steal the territory in spite of the vigi- lance of the people who in fact claim it as their own. I say to the gentleman that, in judging of what belongs to the patriotism of Virginia, whether ancient or modern, he had better leave her repre- sentatives to themselves. They are fully compe- tent to judge. We are responsible to that State, not to the State which the gentleman represents. I trow, sir, that the gentleman will find his hands full in .settling that long account which never fails ;o r»n up against a representative by the time he reaches home; and although he has kindly offered to take charge of us, my word for it, the people I represent (and I believe I may speak for the whole Commonwealth of Virginia) will not thank him tor his interference. But, sir, this is not all. The speech of the gen- tleman from Tennessee, [Mr. Joh.^json] — and it will be remembered that we had here yesterday a beautiful episode arising out of it — contained a still more wanton assault upon the Old Dominion. I will read an extract, not only to show the taste and elegance of the gentleman's diction, but the character of the charge which he has preferred agadnst He says: "Why, the Old Dominion— God blfss her!— tliat had been in the shackles of conseivDtism for several years past — now, when she had freed herself, as they Uad hoped— when Mr. Rivf 8 had been depoeed from ofiice on account of hi;> conserTative position — when the Old Dominion stood erect, 'redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled' from the fetterd of conservatism— that her statesmen should now return 'like a sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire'— was truly a thing to be deprecated by every friend of hers, and by every lover of his country. Now, if his information was correct, ten to four of her politicians had relapsed into the position of conservatism. Now, if Mr. P.,ives was in power, he would undoubtedly stand at the head of the rep- resentatives from the Old Dominion, leading on their co- horts. But the people of the Old Dominion would yet speak for themselves; their voices would be heard from the west- ern mountains to the Atlantic coast, proclaiming in thunder tones our right to the whole of Oregon up to 54 degrees 40 minutes." Did the gentleman mean to intimate, (continued Mr. L.,) in this grave charge, that the State of Vir- ginia, like that which he represents, had ever de- parted from the republican faith, here or elsewhere.' Did he mean to insinuate that there ever had been a time when the constitution of our country was endangered, when the principles of the republican party, which contain in themselves the true exposi- tion of that constitution, had been assailed, when conservatism, or whigism had threatened to sweep away the great landmarks of the republican policy — did he mean to say that the time had ever been when the Commonwealth of Virginia had fallen from the proud position she has always occupied in the ranks of the republican party? This lecture comes from the State of Tennessee. Remember it ! From the State of Tennessee ! And the gentleman who failed to set his own household in order, under- takes to regulate ours; he who had proved inade- quate to preserve his own State, to raise her up from the slough into which she had fallen, undertakes to interfere between us and our constitu- ents, and to tell us that -xe have departed from the faith of our fathers. I say to him that when the State of Tennessee, like Virginia, shall have as- surtied the proud position to which she is so well entitled — when she shall have cast off the slough of federali.sm, in which she has been engulfed for some 3rear.« past — when she shall have proved more faith- ful to her own distinguished son tha*. Virginia has done, it will be time enough for him to lecture us and to show us what our duties are. Sir, I have not come here to pass any eulogium on the State which I ip. part represent. But idnce she has been thus assailed, and an effort deliberate- ly made to cast a blot upon her hitherto unsullied escutcheon, since she has been accused, arraigned, and (if the testimony of the accuser is to be taken) convicted, I have felt it my duty to say a word in her vindication. As to the charge against rnyself, (for I am one of the ten representatives of Virginia on this floor against whom it is brought,) that I had relapised from the ancient faith of my State, I let it pass by me "as the idle wind that I regard not;" but I felt it due to old Virginia, the bulwark of the republican party now and heretofore, to set her right before Congress and the country. I know that when the gentleman from Illinois and others told us that we, who occupy an antago- nistic position to that which he holds, were appeal- ing to the fears of the people, they did not under- stand the force of the terms which they used. We appealing to the fears of the people.' We of the South — of Virginia and of South Carolina in par- ticular — to be accused of appealing to the fears of the people! If we had made such an appeal, it is one that would have fallen as upon the ears of night, which could not be responded to, because there was no such feeling existing. But we made no appeal, except to their caution and prudence.-, i We did not attempt to excite their prejudices or'' alarm their fears by warning them that without just cause or provocation there was danger to their rights or their interests. A word more before I close this portion of my re- rwarks. I say to all those who have assailed us, that whilst we do not vaunt ourselves on our achiev- ments, yet, when thus assailed, I must, as one of her representatives, say that Virginia has never thought it necessary to erect any monwments to her sons; and it is not our boast, as it was justly the boast of the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Giles] the other day, that his State "gave graves to her en- emies and monuments to hef defenders." We make no such boast, because the fame of our Common- wealth is 30 well established on the pages of our histo- ry that it requires no sculptured marble or pyramid of stone to commemorate her achievements, or to per- petuate the virtues of her sons. She builds her monuments on the battle-field, and stamps the rec- ord of her achievements on the destinies of the na- tion. I pass now, Mr. Chairman, to another matter ex- tremely irrelevant in its character, and which I re- gret to be compelled to refer to. I speak of the at- tempt which is made here to read out of the demo- cratic church all who do not agree in the propriety of giving this notice, and to the repeated allusions, in that connexion, to the Baltimore convention and its action. 1 say I regret that any allusion has been made on this floor to a mere party convention — whether held by whigs or democrats. The time has yet to come when caucus machinery shall con- trol the action of the federal government. The time has yet to come when the dictates of a convention shall be regarded as law by an American Congress. And I, for one, do not hesitate to say to this House, and through this House to the country, that I care not what may be the dictates of party, unless they meet the approbation of my conscience I will hot bov/ down to them. No consideration sballinduce ' me to surrender the rights and interests of my con- stituents, or to sacrifice one tittle of the honor and true glory of the nation, because the party with which it is my pride to act, and with which I hope I ever shall act, may think proper to lay down a different rule of action. But what was the decision of the Baltimore- con- vention.' Did that make Oregon a party question.' A certain running resolution asserted our rights to Oregon. Nothing was said about a notice. The convention did not require any one of the demo- cratic p.irty to give that notice. It was an abstract declaration of our right to Oregon, in which I fully concur, and which I expect to carry out by my ac- tion on this floor, either at this session, or at some subsequent time, if I should have the honor of a seat here. Is this a party question? My friend and colleague, [Mr. Pendleton,] the "lone star" of whigism from the State of Virginia, has fallen into some error. In the fierce vehemence of his denun- ciation, he has given a party aspect to the debate unworthy of the occasion, and unworthy of his position as a representative here. I am not about to enter into the history of the Bahimore conven- tion, nor to reply to the hits of my colleague against that convention. It is true, he told us that that con- vention had brought forth, rather suddenly, a cer- tain distinguished individual; that the heterogeneous elements of which the democratic party was com- posed must insure its speedy dissolution; and, in 5 fcis imagination, he was contemplating the prospect ■of that brilliant party with which he had, for at least ten years, hcen associated, gaining ascendency in the councils of the nation, and of our own Stale. I cannot but think, Mr. Chairman, that he had, in his imagination, gone back to the scenes of the ex- tra session of 1841, when a party, llushed with one of the most brilliant Iriumpiis that had ever been achieved, came iiere in the full tide of successful ex- 1)eriment; and, in the short space of six weeks, (a ess time than would be required, in the estimation of the gentleman from Michigan, [Mr. CmrMAN,] to take Canada,) dissolved into its original elements, and was scattered to tlie four winds of heaven, nev- er more to be gathered together. But is this a party question? If the Baltimore -convention so settled it, then 1 charge upon the dem- ocratic party here that they have proved recreant to their duty, and false to the instructions they have received. 1 say, if it is a party question, it is un- doubtedly true that they have violated tlie instruc- tions of the democratic parly. Do you not remem- ber, sir, that at the last session, the proposal to give tliis notice was under consideration.' It ^^^ls submitted in an independent form. It was pro- posed to be incorjiorated in a bill then before the House. And what was the vote.= Of the 8'2 mem- bers who voted in the negative, 79 were dem- ocrats, and 3 only whigs; while, of the 120 who voted in the atlirmalive, GT were wliigs and 53 dem- ocrats. And this, too, at the session which imme- diately followed the Baltimore convention, and after the election of Mr. Polk. But one brief year ago, then, we find the democratic party on this floor re- pudiating the very issue which gentlemen now say was made by that convention, and decided by the people in that contest. Sir, if it is a parly question now, it was so then. If there is now any obliga- '.;on on the democracy here to vote for this notice, that obligation was equally strong upon them at the last session. And gentlemen who taunt u.s with a departure from the household faith on this ques- tion, do but pass the heaviest censure upon them*- selvcb. The gentleman from Indiana in iny eye, [Mr. Kknnedv,] who made a most amusing, as well as an argumentative speech on this question,. A oted at the last session against the notice. Mr. Kkn-xedt explained. He said that, as he presumed it was "not the desire of his friend from V'irginia to misrepresent him on this sul'jert, he would beg leave to state, that he luid at no time du- ring the last session voted agiinst giving this no- tice; but on the contrary, in all possjble ways he had voted for it. He had concurred with his col- league [Mr. OwEN'l ill its introduction as an inde- pendent proposition; and after it was connected with a separate and diflerent proposition, he had voted for ihem both together. It was true that he had voted against conntc/iiig these separate and dis- tinct propositions in one bill; and one of the strongest objections lie had against this connexion, was the fact that it might defeat the final passage of this very notice, and possibly endanger both mcas- 41 res. This was his position, and he understood it to be the position of nearly all, if not all, of those who voted with him on that occasion. Mr. Leakf. continued. These episodes, Mr. chairman, are not very convenient or agreeable; particularly under the one-hour rule. I only state a fact which the journal proves. And I as.sert that of those distinguished orators of the democratic party who have spoken tliis session in favor of the notice, all, with the exception of five or six, voted at ihe last session against it. The gentleman from Mi.ssissippi [Mr. Thompson] undertook yesterday to explain away his vote. And almost every dem- ocrat who now charges us with a departure from the household faith, because we will not go for the notice, themselves voted against it twelve months But I refer to another consideration. If this be a party question, then I do not hesitate to say that the democratic party is now dissolved, and that there must be a new formation of parties. If to oppose the notice makes a man no democrat, then to sup- port the notice is, of course, to make a democrat of the first water. And if you apply the {est of my colleague, who spoke several days ago, [Mr. Bay- ly,] the distinguished gentleman from Massa- chusetts, [Mr. AnAMs,] the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. GioniMGS,] the gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Pollock,] the gentleman from Alabama, [Mr. HiLLiARi), the "lone star" from that State,] and some dozen other whigs, are now democrats of the first water; whilst we, who bore the burden and heat of the day, when, in the memorable contest of 1844, the principles of the republican party were staked "upon the cast of the die;" we who were found in the breach, eye to eye and front to front with the whigs, and who contributed somewhat to the splendid victory which then crowned our efforts, are now to be denounced as traitors to the demo- cratic party and its principles. Sir, if I believed that ihe distinguished man who now fills the presi- dential chair with'so much honor to the country — that man of whom I caJi proudly say that I confide ill him as fully as I would in any man that ever held that exalted station — if, I say, he could give coun- tenance to these assaults upon a portion of his b?st friends, simply because they could not concur with him in a question of mere expediency involving no political principle whatever, I should hold him un- worthy of the station. But, Mr. Chairman, I have not yet refwrcd t the- question before the commitfee. I have felt it ray ' duty to place myself right before the people whom! represent, and to say a few words in vindication of those of my colleagues who occupy tlie same posi- tion. I must confess; and the remark comes in patly here, that I have seen enough in the discussion in this House, and of the action of certain individuals, to excite the fears of a novice like myself. I have seen enough to have caused me, had 1 been an ad- vocate for this notice, (which J was not,) to pause and deliberate before taking a step so fatal and ir- revocable. What have we seen here.'. We are told that this is a party question. 1 congratulate gentle- men, then, on their new allies. I have seen the veteran federalism of Massachusetts, the wild, reck- less, and impudent fanaticism of all the non- slaveholding States, (which finds its appropriate representative even on tliis floor,) and the high and generous chivalry of the West, shaking hands in strange and unnatural concord over this most por- tentous jiroposition. I have seen abolitionists and federalists, tarift" men, bank men, and internal im- provement men, all meeting and acting in harmoni- ous concert upon what they say is a democratic question. Sir, if these are the emblems of democ- racy, I am not a democrat. But they are. not so. And gentlemen who undertake to arraign us, know full well that the test is no test at all. When I was elected to represent the fifth con- gressional district of Viro;inia, I was elected by a people who had ever held their representatives ex- clusively responsible to themHelves. The charter un- der which 1 hold my seat here, comes from the people of Virginia, or & portion of them; and whilst 1 have every confidence in theincumbe-nt of the presi- dential chair — whilst I have every coi fidence in my brethren of the democratic party — and whilst I am determined to contir.r.e by connexion with that psr- 1y (grappled to it as I am v.-ith hooks of principle) through all time to come; yet I look' neither to the White House, nor to members here, nor to party dictation out of doors, as to v/hat I shall do. I shall go home to my people; to them I shall give a full explanation of my course here; and lam content to abide by their verdict; and neither the gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. Hoge,] nor the gentleman from Ten- nessee, [Mr. Johnson,] shall be permitted to step in between us. I proceed now, Mr. Chairman, to notice a few of the considerations which will guide my action on this question of notice. And I beg leave, at the out- set, to observe that 1 shall not go into a discussion of the merits of our title to Oregon, or irito an ex- amination of its merits as compared with that of Great Britain. The matter has been so fully discus- sed and elaborated here, and in the able exposition of our two Secretaries of State, Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Buchanan, that it would be a work of superer- ogation to attempt to throw any new light tjpon it. Suffice it to say, that 1 hold the American title to be clear and unquestionable up t© 49° and-a-half. 1 hold our title against England as good to 54° 40'; but I cannot hold, with the chairman of the Committee on Territories, [Mr. Touglass,] thatv/e may go up to the Arctic circle. Believing this, I shall pursue that course which i believe best calculated to secure our rights to the whole country, and to bring this contro- versy to an amicable settlement. What, then, is the question for us to decide? So. far it has been confined exclusively to the propriety of giving or not giving this notice; but the fart is that the proposition to give this notice is one of the least considerations connected with the question. What do gentlemen mean when they say that you are to give this notice, and that it is an amicable measure? If you do no more than give the notice, I agree that there could not possibly be any danger to the -peace of the country. But that is the least part of it. Your notice means something more than mere notice, or it means nothing at all; you contemplate strong ulterior action, t.o give it force and vitality; otherwise you are merely acting the part of a brava- do. You say that the joint occupancy shall termi- nate in twelve months from the date of the notice; but you also tell Great Britain, by inevitable impli- cation, that you mean to take steps to enforce your title. Is not this so? Must it not be inevitably so ? It is an axiom — a truth that, merely stated, proves itself. Suppose that at the end of the twelve months this controversy shall remain open and unadjusted, aad that Great Britain and the United States should have been unable (and I believe this notice to bean insuperable barrier in the way) to adjust it by ne- gotiatiofi: what, then, will you do? In the first place, you will announce to Great Britain that the notice having been duly given, and believing our title to be clear and unquestionable, you are determined to take such measures as may be requisite to enforce that title, and to take possession. Is this peace? Is this calculated to secure an amicable adjustment of the difficulty ? On the contrary, I repeat that, in my judgment, it is a declaration of war in embryo. ' It is saying to Great Britain that at the expiration of the twelve months, we will take the country by force. I sliall nut undertEike to enter into a disquisitioii upon the relative power of Great Britain and the United States. I know the force, the mighty and irrepressible energy of this nation; and I do not fear a contest with Great Britain, or any other power. But when gentlemen undertake to tell us of the ease with which we can overrun Great Britain and her dependencies — at all events on this continent — it seems to me that they are going to war without counting the cost. Gentlemen say that this is a peaceful measure. I say that the speeches of gen- tlemen look to it as a war measure. If there beno spirit of war in it, if gentlemen wlio advocate the notice do not believe that it will lead to war, whence these beautiful apostrophes to the American eagle, and indignant philippics against the British lion ? Whence the eloquent appeals to the patriotism and the anti-English feelings of the American people, or these fiery deunciations of the arrogance of Brit- ish power? Are these the elements of^ peace, or its signs and emblems? We have seen gentlemen indulging in fierce de- nunciations of the power of Great Britain; we have heard them speak of the ease with which we could overrun her and conquer her dependencies. A gende- man from Missouri, [Mr. Sims,] who made an elo- quent speech here, undertook to tell us, that with no other weapon than the ox-poles of his wagon dri- vers we could conquer the territory and drive the British out. The gentleman from Michigan, [Mr. Chipman,] in the intensity of his zeal, took occasion to tell us that his people could go over into Canada, and in ninety days annex it as an appendage to the State which he represents. And the gentleman from Indiana, [Mr. Kennedy,] finding that these two gen- tlemen had anticipated him in the conquest of the wliole country — having no world for him.self to conquer — but meeting the British lion in his path, very coolly takes him by the beard, and throws him across the Atlantic, where he is now, doubtless, crouching in some of the secret recesses of the Tow- er of London, afraid to show his beard again on this side of the great water. Are these, I auk, the em- blems of peace? I say that the rapidity of their con- quests finds no parallel, unless it be that recorded in the pages of sacred history, where the walls of Jer- icho were overthrown simply by the blowing of rams' horns. And gentlemen seem to think that they can conquer Great Britain by a process as simple and as easy. Why, Mr. Chairman, Caisar, in the height of his power and the pride of his glory, could conquer almost with the rapidity of the light- ning's stroke; but it was necessary that he should first come and see before he could overcome. Napoleon, al- most by the magic of his name, overran many of the mightiest monarchies of Europe, but he wzs backed by hundreds of thousands of the finest troops the world ever saw. But the ancient glory of the one, and the greener and just as imperishable laurels of the other, have been far surpassed by the wordy he- roes who have figured in this brilliant campaign; and I have seen no parallel to the achievements of gentle- men on this floor, except in the conquest of Jeri- cho, or in the classic pages of Shakspeare. We are told thast in the time of Henry iV, certain hot spirits assembled in the quiet recesses of the mountains of Wales, and very coolly jiroceeded to dethrone the reignkig monarch, and to parcel out his dominions among themselves. To so great an exactness did they carry this imaginary co;. quest, that they "cavilled about the ninth part of a hair." Cut two houi-s of time "\fy Shrewsbury clock" sufficed to show the futility of their calculation. And I tell gentlemen here, tiiat, whatever fancies they may think proper to indulge in, however easy in the distance the conquest of Great Britain may appear, something more than bluster, something more eflectual thaw words, will be required to accomplish the object. There is another consideration, Mr. Chairman, which, to my mind, pre.'sents a conclusive objection to tliis notice. When tiy friend from Illinois, [Mr. HocE,] and the gentleman from Tenneesce, [Mr. Johnson,] who have been hunting in pairs against Virginia, were assailing us for the want of democ- racy on this question, I could not but remember the surprise with which I had seen them sit coolly by, and hear the most monstrous follacies advanced on this floor, (on the part of democrats, too,) yet fold their arms in inglorious apathy, and not rebuke them for their want of consistency with the ]irinci- ples declared by the Baltimore convention. Was the Oregon question the only question embraced in the resolutions of that convention' Was nothing said about the tariff? Was nothing said of other great issues? Of internal improvements? When I beard the gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Thompson,] in the course of the facetious speech lie made here the other day, declaring himself in favor of Oregon, end at the same time boldly an- nouncing that the tariff" would remain untouched, 1 wondered that some of these fiery members from the West did not rele, agreeably to the jirovisions of the second and third sections of an act < ntitled Anaet giving to the I'resi.lfnt of tlie United Slates addi- tional powers for the defenc" of tlie United States, in certain cases, aijainst i: v.ision. and for other jiurjioses;" npproved tlie third of .March eighteen hnndieu and thirly-nine; to ac- cept the services of any number of volunteers, not exceed- ing thousand, to serve during the war, or for r.ny less period, in the manner provided for by an act enti- tled ''An act authorizing the President of the l!nitcd States to aecept the services of v.ohmleers, and to raise an addi- tional regiment ofdragoonsor n;ounted reiflmen," approved Uie twenty-third of May, eighteen hundred and thirty-six; to employ llie regular military force of the United States, and to expand and increase the same to any nunibCT not ex- ceeding thousand men; to com|>le(e the piiblie armed vessels now n\it!iori-/.ed by Jaw, and to eijuip, man, and employ in actual service all the naval force . f the United States, -tud to 1 iiild. purchase, or charter, arm, ei;uip. and man, such vessels and sleamboats us he shall deem necessary for the purposes aforesaid. And again it provides: Sf.c. 3. ^ndocitfi:rlhfyrrr:;iylrf^d. That the sum of millions of dollars is hereby appropriated and placed at the disposal of the President of the United States, i^or the purpose of executing the provisions aforef aid; to pro- vide for wlijch, lae Serretary of the Treasury is authorized to borrow money on the credit of the United States, and to ca;i.